Saturday, March 31, 2007

Email Strategies for the Successful Business

Email has now become a very important means of promoting your Internet business. It has many advantages over traditional promotional strategies. It reaches the target audience, bypassing intermediaries. It is very personal, as the decision-maker, the one who decides to buy, gets to know you as a seller, and vice versa. It is virtually free and it’s fast too. Its spread is wide in that you can reach, at once, any number of buyers looking for your product or service. Best of all, email allows you to be in constant touch with your customers for receiving feedback, for improving your sales as well as for modifying your email marketing strategies without much time loss.

Sounds great, but it can appear much more different when you realize that you have to outdo your innumerable competitors in order to achieve success in your business. For this, you have to devise effective email marketing strategies. Remember that what works for others may or may not work for you. But there are some basic principles all follow in promoting their businesses.

Finding out who your target audience is, making an initial small subscriber list, determining when and how often you wish to send emails, identifying your major promotional goals, sending a few test emails and analyzing the results for future adoption or modification are usually considered to be important. But what is cardinal for the success of your business is the design of the email itself.

What to include in your emails
The subject and the very first line of your email will make or break your customer- relationship. Make them short, simple and seductive. People are tempted to open emails only when the subject line holds enough punch. Emails, like skirts, should be long enough to cover the essentials and short enough to be interesting. Long and boring emails probably won’t have the desired effect. While a brief introduction to you and your products and services will be welcome, what actually rivets the reader’s attention is your focus on customer benefits. A small incentive or discount to the first few customers may be offered, for instance. Or, offer useful information that interests the reader. If you have several points to make, instead of running them in a single paragraph, present them one by one highlighting them with bullets. Graphics and photos will definitely embellish your email and attract the customer’s attention. Incorporating links to your website pages in the email is like providing a life line for your business. Your sales presentation, to give an example, can be done by drawing the customer to your website through a link in the email. It is preferable to provide direct links to your website pages where the customer can readily find the listings of your products and services rather than give a link to your home page.

Keep it simple
The basic principle is to make everything as easy as possible for the customer to get hooked to your business proposition. Also, put in place a privacy policy that assures your customers that their personal information will not be revealed, sold or misused. Despite your best efforts, however, if the customer would want to unsubscribe, give him the facility. Finally, include all possible contact information along with your signature: name and address, telephone number, email address, fax number etc.

You may consider using an email marketing software package for managing your website and email lists. This type of software automatically organizes large email lists, subscribes website visitors, deletes unsubscribed persons, responds to emails and does many other things that make your email marketing management very convenient. Shop around for software to find one that meets your needs.

The success of your business through email marketing strategies depends on your reliability and consistency as much as on the unique utility of your product or service.

TJ Klock is an Internet Marketer in Internet Home Based Businesses As well As an Authority on Developing Home Based Internet Businesses Part Time. To find the best home based business tips, and work at home ideas and opportunities Visit: A-New-Start-Today.com

Cutting Costs for Your Business

For a business to be profitable, revenue must exceed expenses. To increase the amount of revenue, many businesses look for ways to reduce expenses. Start by analyzing your current expenses. Categorize them into two distinct groups, one for expenses you have to have, and the other for expenses you can possibly lower or eliminate from your business budget.

Travel and entertainment
The areas most businesses can drastically cut down on are travel and entertainment expenses. You can still have a Christmas party, but scale it down to the staff only rather than inviting spouses. Change the location to save on cost. If your company is in jeopardy of survival your employees will understand. Discuss the reasons why such changes are taking place in advance.

Necessary expenses
Take a look at expenditures including insurance and cleaning. Have your insurance and other variable expenses re-evaluated. You may be eligible for additional discounts. Comparison shop with other companies as well to ensure the best rates possible for the coverage you need. If you are spending large amounts of money to have the office cleaned, consider cutting the services back one or two days per week. This will result in a large savings over time.

High phone and utility bills are often an area most businesses can reduce costs in. Make sure lights and business equipment are turned off when not in use. Have employees keep a log of long distance phone calls. Avoid making them if at all possible. Try alternate communication methods including email and letters.

Standardize your business equipment. Make sure all staff is well trained in their operations. This will result in more productivity and less down time overall. Make sure the use of office supplies is not abused. Recycle paper and binders whenever possible. Consider changing to lower wattage light bulbs to further reduce the utility costs.

Buy in bulk
Another great way to save on business expenses is to purchase items in bulk through a wholesaler. By cutting out the middleman, you will reduce your costs. Reduce the amount of inventory you have on head. It is expensive to store it. If you operate a business with seasonal fluctuations, consider running consistently all year long. This will eliminate the expense of paying overtime during the busy season.

It is very easy for business expenses to spiral out of control it they are not carefully monitored. It is important to evaluate your expenses on a regular basis, and make adjustments as necessary. Keeping your expenses as low as possible will enable the business to increase revenue without increasing production or marketing.

Consider asking your employees to contribute ways the business can save money. Since they are on the front line every day, they can often pick up on things that management doesn’t see as easily. Every little change can add up to large savings over the course of time. Employees who take pride in their work are more likely to be conservative at work with supplies and resources. Do your best to keep the work environment positive and inviting.

TJ Klock is an Internet Marketer in Internet Home Based Businesses As well As an Authority on Developing Home Based Internet Businesses Part Time. To find the best home based business tips, and work at home ideas and opportunities Visit: A-New-Start-Today.com

Tips for getting out of a rut

Do you feel stuck in your life? Has the world suddenly seemed to have closed in around you? In addition, are you are doing the same thing day in, day out? If this sounds like your life then you are probably stuck in a rut, with what seems to be no way out.

Being stuck in a rut can drag you down, make you feel depressed, or as if life is something you just go through but have long since stopped enjoying. You become this way slowly without even realizing it, until one day you wonder what happened and when.

For many of us our daily life is governed by some form of routine which we cannot avoid, for example going to work 8 hours a day, taking the kids to school each morning, this is daily life and routine which for the most part cannot be changed. Another reason behind routine is the safety barrier; we get comfortable with our lives and feel secure in them, so why change?

However, sometimes routine can start to get us down, leave us with a feeling of dissociation and start causing problems in relationships, work and daily life in general, we gradually become unhappy. This is when a change is needed; this is the time to dig yourself out of the hole you have put yourself in and start enjoying life again.

Here are some tips to help you begin to take back control over you life and get out of the rut.

• Do at least one thing everyday that is different to your normal routine, this could be something as simple as taking a short break and going for a walk, sitting down to read a chapter of a book or any other hobby or pastime you once enjoyed.
• Take up a new hobby, make sure that you give yourself some times throughout the day to just enjoy something you like doing.
• Shake up meal times by having something different, you can either try a different recipe or order different take out, try foods from different cultures.
• Get out and meet new people, there are many ways you can achieve this, join a gym, club or attend a self-improvement class or hobby class.
• Drive a different way to work or if possible walk or start bicycling, not only will this break the rut you are in but also get you fitter.
• Take up a new sport; there are many types of sport with something for the fitter to the more moderate forms of exercise.
• Do something each day that is totally out of character for you, start off with small changes and work your way up to bigger ones.
• If you are stuck at home with children then change your routine throughout the day, don’t always do the same chore at the same time, shake up the way you do your housework.
• Make small changes around the home or work area.
• De-clutter your home or work area; it is surprising how being surrounded by clutter can get you down.


TJ Klock is an Internet Marketer in Internet Home Based Businesses As well As an Authority on Developing Home Based Internet Businesses Part Time. To find the best home based business tips, and work at home ideas and opportunities Visit: A-New-Start-Today.com