"Why Didn't I Start an Email List Sooner?"

woman using tablet

If you're a small business owner without an email list, at some point your future self is going to think, "Why didn't I start an email list sooner?"

It takes years to build an engaged email audience. If you're successful (and of course, you want to be), at some point you'll have something exciting to tell all your customers and colleagues - past, present and future - and no easy way to do it.

All the reasons to start email marketing can be boiled down to this: an email campaign gives you an audience for your news and information. If you do it well, conversations (and "conversions") will result.

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Reading of 2013

Image
The best reading from our newsletter contributors during 2013... Does your writing pass the $1-a-word Test? by Neil Everton, Podium Media & Communications Coaching If you are looking for a quick and certain way of giving your words more impact, look no further than your purse or wallet. Take a look at the last thing you wrote. It doesn't matter if it's a letter, email, report, newsletter, web content or promo script... read more Marketing to Your Tribe by Stephanie Holmes-Winton, The Money Finder This just in: some people don’t like what I have to say. They might unsubscribe from my newsletter, or they might make a snide comment on social media... read more Anyone Can Find Business on Twitter by Anita Hovey, Twirp Communications That’s right... ANYONE. The next time someone says “Twitter is just a bunch of nonsense” I want you to share a link to this post... read more 6 Ways to Become Part of Your Customer's Story by Bernadette Jiwa, The Story of Tell...
Keep reading »

Find Marketing Opportunities in Your Own Content

Image
Marketing analytics can be confusing. You need to learn how to use the software to get data. Then you need to figure out what information you want from the data. Then you need to figure out what actions to take now that you're wiser. Here's a simple statistic for you to discover and use to your advantage - most read blog posts. Regardless of which platform you use, you should be able to access some basic info. Here is a screenshot from this blog: screenshot Now that I know which post is the most read on my blog, what actions will I take? I can use it for marketing by adding calls-to-action for current promotions to the footer. I continue to share it on social media because it's obviously still relevant. I know I need to maintain it , to make sure it has no broken links and to keep it relevant. I have clues about other blog post topics that may have similar success. (I can use Answer the Public to research more .) You're working hard to create ...
Keep reading »

How to Make Smart Marketing Decisions

Image
Small business owners can spend a lot of time and money on marketing initiatives. Sometimes we're successful and sometimes not so much. I think of marketing as an experiment because - really - there are no magic bullets. There are best practices, there is good and bad advice, there are lots of experts and gurus. But we, the business owners, have to make the final decisions and... live with the results. Marketing isn't cheap (even if it's our own time) and poor decision-making can hurt more than our wallets - our reputation may also be at risk. So, how do we make decisions about things we have little experience with? How can we possibly know what all of our options might be when it comes to getting a new website? Or knowing which social media platforms will work best? Or building a content strategy? We can't... unless we put some extra effort into it. Step #1: Clearly identify the decision that needs to be made. Sometimes it'll be staring you in the face ...
Keep reading »

List Building Questions Answered

Image
Back in June, I had the honour and pleasure of being a guest on Mary Jane Copps' monthly webinar . The topic was "How to Continually Grow Your List... and Why It's Important". We had a wonderful chat and answered common questions about list building. You can watch now on YouTube. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

5 New Strategies to Supercharge your eMail Marketing

Image
If you've been publishing a regular monthly newsletter, you already know the benefits of reaching out to your contacts. You've invested time and money to build your readership and your reputation. You've provided value consistently and people have come to look forward to your newsletters. It’s time to crank it up a notch and send more emails. You've earned it. The 5 strategies listed below weren't invented by me but some of them may be new to you. Or perhaps you've rejected them in the past and it’s time to think again.  The goal of implementing these ideas is to ‘touch’ your contacts more frequently than you are now. There are other advantages built into each one as well. 1. Create and promote a new free resource. Make it amazing. Make it better than any other resource you've ever created. Make it something people would pay for. Give it away with no strings attached. Am I suggesting you give it away without getting an email address in return? Y...
Keep reading »

A Season of Shedding

Image
I’ve started off the year by getting rid of things. Jane, my organizer friend, would say that’s a good thing. But I’m not talking about emptying closets and trips to the curb. I’ve been shedding bits and pieces of my business. It feels like a weight off my shoulders; casting off the old to make room for the new, a fresh start… and many more clichés. This year I am focused and oh boy, am I getting in control. Some decisions have been difficult ones – like finally putting my training career to rest. Some have been much easier – like getting rid of my Yellow Pages ad after 7 years of no payoff. (Can you believe this? The rep actually said, “Well, what’s $16 a month?”) All have been the result of the Plan I developed at bootcamp last month. I have never understood the terms ‘niche’ and ‘specialize’ like I do now. What a pleasant surprise: decision-making has now become so much easier and straight-forward. No waffling. Does it fit with the Plan? No? Then, out the door with it, ...
Keep reading »

There's a Solution for every Problem

Image
photo by derekbruff That’s a pretty bold statement for me to make, I know. I’ll qualify that by saying that sometimes the solution is tougher than the original problem, so isn't viable. When someone says, “There’s no way to do that,” my ears perk up. It’s like throwing down a gauntlet and I immediately want to prove them wrong. It’s the ultimate challenge to my intelligence. Sometimes I discover that there is no way to do it... that makes sense, is reasonable and viable. But at least I know and I learned something. In my past corporate career, I attended days and days of training in problem solving - different philosophies, different techniques. I've even written and delivered my own problem solving workshops. As a society, we've been conditioned to embrace problem solving as a key skill. We identify a problem and then we initiate a flurry of activity to try to solve it. When we compile our lists of alternatives, there’s often a key choice that’s left off: the ...
Keep reading »

Using Pinterest To Create Brand Moodboards: Part I

Image
(guest post by Alison Knott) So you’re starting the process of making a brand or logo for your new business. Or, you’re about to hire someone to do it for you. Congratulations! It’s now time for the daunting task of articulating whatever the hell is in your head into something concrete. Eep! I’m here to help you help yourself. It can seem difficult to put into words how you do (and do not) want to represent your brand that doesn’t exist yet. So… how do the pros do it? We do research and create moodboards, which are a visual collection of images, colours and graphics to illustrate a certain mood . Now, as a brand designer I use Adobe InDesign and Illustrator to put final mood boards together for my clients. But you want to know what has saved me and my clients so much time? Having clients send along their own little Pinterest brand modeboard collection to help me get inside their head. Yes! That thing you’ve been using to save 783 pictures of living room renos you’re nev...
Keep reading »

What I Learned from Susan Sweeney

Image
I was surprised and delighted to hear that my website had been used recently as an example in a webinar that Susan Sweeney facilitated for the Centre for Women in Business. You see, without knowing it, Susan has had a huge impact on my website. The first workshop I attended of Susan's was in Regina in 2002. It was long before I actually had a website. Among the many takeaways that day, one has always stuck with me: the importance of fresh content and quality control for your website. When I started my business, I knew the only way I was going to have fresh content was if I took control and managed my own website. By constantly working on it, I’m inspired about what changes to make. Keeping content fresh creates another challenge – it means a lot of changes. And a lot of changes mean opportunity for mistakes. I’m a stickler for details and I know how I react when I click on a link and it doesn’t work. When I asked Danielle to be our official Daley Progress website au...
Keep reading »

Design Colour Trends for Spring 2018

Image
excerpt from Pantone's NY Fashion Week Spring 2018 We're just getting back to serious work after summer vacations and the design world is already thinking about spring. I like what I see but then I'm a sucker for bright colours. You'll find these used online next year, too , not just in clothing stores. Pantone says: The Spring 2018 palette encourages a sense of fun and playful release. With an air of complexity and distinctiveness, we find ourselves in a sanctuary of color that is ideal for some more unique and dramatic color mixing. Click here to see all 12 colours in the Spring 2018 Collection on Pantone's website. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »