Does Free Email Marketing to a HUGE Prospect List equal GREAT SALES?

3 Questions worth asking:

1. Does it work? It can! 
   
2. Will it always work? No! 
   
3. Will it work for you? Who knows?
   

2 Truths to understand:

1. It's not “super" easy and it’s not “always" free - especially if you account for your time (time is money, etc.). 
   
2. It can be done effectively, but you have to put in creative time and effort and exercise patience.
   

5 Thoughts to consider:

1. Making it work is going to be different for every business. 
   
2. What works effectively this year may not work next year - the rules keep changing. 
   
3. Think carefully before purchasing a list from some company - it may not be as wonderful as it's proclaimed to be. 
   
4. You “will" have to put in time, effort and patience to create and manage a list. (See truth #2) 
   
5. Follow the “Golden Rule” and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. IE: If you wouldn’t like receiving the email, your potential clients won’t either.

12 Simple things that you can actually do:

1. Carefully use any existing email addresses you already have. Manage, sort and filter according to your need. 
   
2. Garner new email addresses - use a combination of the following, if applicable:
3. Good old pen and paper sign up if you have a retail establishment. Tell them what they will get if they sign up for your periodic emails.
4. Add a sign up form on your website.
5. If you don't have a good website or don't know how to create a form, get professional help. Oostas is one of the many companies that can help you. See our Website Packages.
6. Add a sign up form on all of your social media venues.
7. If you are not taking advantage of social media, you should! Oostas is one of many companies that can help you. See our Social Media page.
8. Don’t send too often and be sure you are providing something useful to your reader - not just a sales pitch.
9. Work hard at finding and offering something that is your niche or differentiates you from everyone else. That's obvious but so important.
10. Do A/B testing. Try something. If it doesn’t work, don’t do it again and try something different. Track your results. (See Things #10)
11. Use a good database or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system.
12. Take advantage of free email resources like MailChimp.
13. Create a good looking HTML email - not just plain text. There are plenty of templates available or Oostas can custom design one for you.
14. Ask for as little as possible and offer as much as possible. (See thought #5)
15. Create quality landing pages on your website and direct responders to those pages. Make sure your software can track the “opens” and “clicks”.
16. Read and research - there are many great articles online which offer a boat load of advice but they don't all apply to a broad range of businesses. We’re trying to keep it simple in this post with things that can apply to most businesses.

1 Final Note:

Make sure you include the ability for them to opt out of receiving additional emails. ALWAYS!

Check out our FREE Website Audit .