| Nov. 18 2008 at 10:32 AM |
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Hi everyone,
By the end of this year I will be launching a web based business that generates leads for a particular business segment. I am researching various ways to market to these businesses. So far I've thought of, direct mailing, PPC, and email marketing. I have ready access to all of the addresses & email information of nearly all of the businesses I'll be marketing too. The obvious kicker is, I can't just send these people unsolicited emails.
I'll be using direct mailing on a small scale, but email marketing can potentially be very cost effective (especially since I'm on a very tight biz budget). So, I wanted to see if anyone had any experience/ideas on how to get businesses to opt-in to your emailing list?
Sincerely,
Mike
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| Nov. 18 2008 at 2:15 PM |
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Provide valuable information on your website and get it linked to. I get signups to my newsletter from people who visit the website. But I get visits to the website by participating in forums, writing articles for other websites, ect... Provide help, provide information of value and you'll prove you're expertise and people may sign up.
Get helpful tips, techniques and ideas for web design at betterwebdesigner.com.
Jeff specializes in small business web design for redFish|blueFish design. Feel free to email jeff at redfishbluefishdesign (.com) or call him toll free at 1-877-619-9489 (extension 701).
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| Nov. 18 2008 at 6:17 PM |
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It is not spam to send out direct mailing to your lead list but could be quite costly. I have spent up to $400 per 1000 postcards including postage. Getting sales from DM only works when you have a specific buyer lead list. I used a list of "internet buyers" to promote my waterless car wash and only had a 1% conversion rate. I am testing a Blog about waterless car washing and have had great results. I agree with Jeff's idea. Finding forums that relate to your business will drive customers to your website. You definitely should not try to sell your product in the forums. You should give out advice and provide useful information.
http://www.ultralusterwash.com
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| Nov. 20 2008 at 8:58 AM |
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Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, even mentioning my site on the forums related to my market will most likely result in a ban. That includes just having a link in my signature. They have pretty strict rules on this. What they do have is adsense ad blocks that I can target. That's fine, but only a fraction of these business visit these forums, so I'm trying to find ways to reach them via email. But, getting them to opt-in is the tricky part.
Any further suggestions?
Thanks,
Mike
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| Nov. 22 2008 at 4:44 AM |
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Business information always in a flux. It's indeed important for us to maintain an updated database to save the money and time.I recently came across an online business directory. This site also offers a solution to maintain with accurate contact information. I think you should try this.
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| Nov. 25 2008 at 6:15 PM |
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Here's my thoughts ... Having done this for clients large (fortune 500) and small at the agency I used to own, building an opt in email list is truly not a difficult thing. However depending on the time you have vs. your budget it can be slow or fast, cheap or costly. Assuming that you have a limited budget, here is what I would recommend.
- Create a white paper, special report or something to entice people to trade their contact information. Put the white paper behind the sign up form - meaning that they don't get it until they enter their contact information.
- Market the white paper or special report using cheap adwords, long tail keyword seo, forums, blog commenting, etc.
- Build your email marketing list based on the opt ins you receive.
From a budget perspective, ppc ads will be costly while SEO will be free.
Here's an article I wrote specifically on building a customer list. Here's another article I wrote on generating sales leads online.
John Utz - Managing Editor, Small Business Internet Marketing Online -
the place for small business internet marketing information and resources.
www.sbimonline.com
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