Unless you have been living under a rock, I am sure you have already read all about using email marketing, list building, or newsletter subscriptions as a strategy for your business.

Possibly you feel overwhelmed by the thought of adding one more thing to your to do list. Perhaps you feel like you have nothing to say in a newsletter. Or maybe you think it is too difficult, time consuming or expensive to send out a quality newsletter.

It is time to dispel those misconceptions and embrace email marketing as the perfect strategy for any type of biz, of any size and at any stage.

Here’s why:

1. Signing up for a newsletter gives people something to do when they come across your business and like it. Not every visitor to your business is ready to buy: some are just browsing; some have happened across your business by accident; some are just curious; some are just plain not ready for what you sell. A newsletter is a simple, low risk call to action for fans, customers & visitors.

2. When people sign up for a newsletter, they are telling you they want to hear from you. They are giving you their permission to contact them about your business. The marketing you do with your newsletter is directed to people who are already interested in your business. That makes clicking ‘send’ feel so much easier! It is a lot easier to sell your thing to people who want to hear about it.

3. Most marketing we do for our business puts the ball in the consumer court. You hand out business cards, post facebook updates, get your website online, or place ads for your product – these all rely on the hope that a.) customers will come across your site/ad/update in their busy lives and then b.) remember to visit again or call you when they need your thing. A newsletter lets you control the ball. You get to send the right information, straight into the hands of people who want to hear from you.

4. The question I get asked the most from little biz builders is “What are some ways I can promote my business?” Everyone is looking for a low cost but effective way to do marketing. Guess what? This is it. if you use a platform like mailchimp, email marketing is

  • free (for a very long time anyhow)
  • very easy (mailchimp takes care of sign up forms, subscriptions, autoresponders, branding, templates and more!)
  • and won’t take much time (once you have everything set up all you have to do is pop in your content each time you send out a an email)

5. Email marketing is flexible. You can make your ‘newsletter’ be anything you want it to be – a letter, a magazine, an image gallery, a link round up, an ecourse, a newspaper…. the sky is the limit really! Create something fabulous to match your brand, appeal to your right people, and express your own unique expertise and style. Give your newsletter a great name and have the mission of blowing the socks off of your subscribers.

I always tell the biz builders I chat with to do what they love, to not get overwhelmed by all the things they ‘should’ do, and to do things their way. The reason I like to recommend newsletters as a biz strategy is because you can make it fit with your own biz goals, priorities and style. And it does not have to be another ‘thing’ to add to the list, newsletters fit in really well with strategies you are already using such as social media marketing, blogging, word of mouth, strategic business relationships, generosity marketing and much more!

When done well, list building and email marketing can be one of the best strategies you add to your business. It doesn’t have to be perfect right away, just get started. Have some fun with it and your right people will too. You can perfect your ideas as you go!

It is time to dispel those misconceptions and embrace email marketing as the perfect strategy for any type of business, of any size and at any stage.