Email Marketing: 95% rules and 5% creativity

If you're one of the people who worries that your customers
will think you're spamming if you send them email, no
matter HOW useful the information is, I urge you to
reconsider.

The truth is, when you do your email marketing right, not
only is it an excellent source of income for you, but your
subscribers and customers will actually appreciate hearing
from you!

Here are three tried and tested ideas for successful email
promotions:

Damaged or returned stock promotions: Offer damaged or
returned stock for 50% off! Everyone gets returns, it's a
part of doing business. And of course damaged stock is
unavoidable.

Why not take advantage of email to clear out your stock
that's otherwise going to take up space, while at the same
time offering your customers deals that they're sure to
appreciate?

Limited time offer: By offering a great discount on your
products for a limited amount of time, people who receive
the email feel like it's urgent they respond, so there's
less chance they'll close the email to "think about it" and
never come back.

Limited quantity offer: Similar to the limited time offer,
the people who receive this email will also feel a sense of
urgency.

If you go with "limited time or quantity offer" stick with
the offer. If you write in your email that a product is
available for a .... time, stick to it.

Sometimes you see that a product is available till
midnight, 14 days later it's still available till midnight.
Doesn't look right to me.

And those are just a few to get you started. Use your
imagination, and I'm sure you'll come up with all kinds of
things to send your list that they'll really ENJOY having.

Do you panic at the thought of writing your own promotional
email?

Here's something you should know: writing an email is 95%
rules, and only 5% creativity.

So as long as you stick to the rules, you'll write an email
that's suitable for sending to your customers every time!

Hypnotize the reader with compelling benefits: The most
effective email promotions grab readers' attention with
compelling benefits that speak directly to the readers'
deepest desires and greatest fears.

Benefits build the value you need to drive people to act
when presented with your call to action.

Write your email like you were talking to a friend.

Be informal, use contractions, and don't be afraid to start
a sentence with "and" or "but."To transfer ownership, you
want to make sure your reader can actually picture
themselves using your product.

Use automation to create personalized offers: Nothing is
more appealing to people than the 'sound' of their own
names, and nothing grabs someone's attention faster than
something that affects them directly!

We don't recommend you try to get yours subscriber to
purchase directly from your email. Instead, you should ask
them to "click here now to learn more," or something
similar.

How it LOOKS makes a big impact on readers, too. Here is
how to format your email.

Width: Be sure to format your email message in a table that
is not over 60/65 characters wide. If you exceed that, your
message may be cut off on the right side of the screen or,
at the very least, not print properly

Images: Try to avoid using graphics whenever possible.
People with slow connections will have trouble downloading
them, and people reading your message offline won't see
them at all.

Bolding: Use bolding just to emphasize the biggest and best
benefits in the offer. You should be able to scan the
message and instantly understand the biggest benefits

Bullets: Using bulleted points is one of the best ways to
break up your copy and make some of your key points really
stand out. As will all formatting techniques, make sure to
don't swamp your email with bullet points.

Finally, once you've written the letter, give it a final
"scan test." Set it aside for an hour, then return to it
with fresh eyes BUT don't read it word for word. Scan over
the letter and see which sections jump out at you. Make
sure that those sections contain the key benefits.

Stick to these few simple rules, and you'll have no trouble
turning out emails that get a response, because your
customers actually WANT to receive them!

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Bjorn Brands is a successfull enterprenuer who transitioned
from having his own building company to a great online
business. Check out his site and see for yourself at
http://www.moneyacces.com