Spam-Free Marketing

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I received an email the other day from a work at homemom who recently started a small ...
company. ...
to start selling ... to other WAHM ...
was ... about bulk em I received an email the other day from a work at homemom who recently started a small publishing company.
Shewanted to start selling advertising to other WAHM businessesbut was concerned about bulk emailing them... with goodreason.Spam is the four-letter word that most offends those of usworking online.
Everyone with a website receives it and likebad art, we all know it when we see it. But also -like art-in a way, spam is in the eye of the beholder.
I have participated in discussions that disintegrated because eachmember had his or her own definition of spam and was angryat those who disagreed.In the offline world, it is perfectly acceptable tocold-call or snail mail a business to tell them about aproduct or service you offer. When I worked in an officeenvironment, I took such calls all the time.
Often, I said'no thank you' and that was the end of it. But every once ina while, the call came in at just the time I was searchingfor such an item - and a sale would be made.Of course, the power and low-cost of email make this aninexact comparison.
So what do you do when you have aproduct or service that you *know* your target market*needs* -- and you want to use the power of the Internet tolet them know about it?THE PERSONAL APPROACHThe keywords are 'target market.' Find out who they are bydoing an Internet search to find them. Check out siteswhich include directories of businesses in your targetmarket.
Then, visit those sites - and send their owners a*personal* email pitching your product. Be sure to use their*names* and comment on something you learn about theirbusinesses from their sites.
If they offer newsletters, signup for them and comment upon something you read there. Thisestablishes a prior business relationship and is notconsidered spam by *most* people.
However, even this personal approach will offend *some* webmasters, and it will cost you a lot of time relative tothe number of people you reach. A more efficient meansof getting your message out would be to join discussiongroups geared to your audience and announce your productthere.ONLINE NETWORKING THROUGH DISCUSSION LISTSBut message boards and discussion lists have their own spamissues.
When joining a list, you must read their guidelinesand follow them. Sending out a blatant advertisement to themembers of a discussion list will not be tolerated - but youare welcome to describe your business where it is*appropriate* (i.e., someone asks where they can find aproduct just like yours and you announce that you justhappen to sell that).
You are also allowed to put information in your sig linethat directs people to your website - so whenever youcontribute to the discussion, you have an opportunity topromote your business.When you join, sit back for a couple of days and follow theconversation so you can get a feel for the tone of thediscussion, the people involved and what is customary amongthem. Then, introduce yourself as a new member (which alsogive you an opportunity to bring up the subject of yourbusiness, website, product - within the guidelines they setwhen you join).An added benefit to marketing through discussion groups isthe fact that you will build new relationships with otherbusiness people that can lead to joint ventures, assistanceand even friendship.
In the offline world, it is similar tobeing part of a chamber of commerce or other networkinggroup and it works just as well on the web.At the ParentPreneur Club, we have our own discussion group, PPCAdvisory, where members brainstorm the issues they face aswork at home parents. To join,email .Here are more of my favorite groups targeted to work at homeparents.
You'll find others specific to your needs bysearching for them at and Thisgroup is made up of members of the Club Mom affiliateprogram. All members have websites with mom-related contentand products, which makes them ideal partners for the ClubMom membership program.
You must be an affiliate of Club Momto be a member of this list. Fordirect sales consultants who exchange ideas and suggestionson building a client base, fund raising, recruiting,booking, inspiration, motivation, party games, contests,merchandising, holiday ideas and more.
This is a function of theEntrepreneurial Parents (http://www.en-parent.com ) website.A forum for Entrepreneurial Parents (EPs) to connectdirectly with each other, discussing topics ranging frombalancing work and family under one roof, to sharingpractical business tips, to collective brainstorming, tosupporting each other in responsible parenthood. The MomPack(TM) is a cooperative, not-for-profit organization, foundedby working moms, run by working moms and for working moms toexchange business information amongst each other to helppromote and advertise each other's businesses on andoffline.DON'T FORGET THE SEARCH ENGINES! Do not overlook the value of getting your site listed insearch engines, which will bring prospective customers to*you*.
There are still many engines that will listyour site for free. If you plan to do this yourself, walkdo not run to .
Jim Wilson carriesone of the most complete free site submission resources wehave seen. Merle at also has a wealthof resources at her site.
She specializes in promotingwebsites and handles our monthly search engine submissionsfor the ParentPreneur Club. Her prices are very reasonable.GET PUBLICITYPress releases should be part of your marketing plan, aswell.
There is nothing so cost effective as having yourbusiness mentioned in an offline publication or othermedium. One newspaper article could result in dozens ofleads for your business.
Karon Thackston has put together a free email course on how to write effectivepress releases. To receive it, send a blank email to Karon can alsohandle your PR needs.
Another interesting offer comes from JeriLynn Thomas ofthe Womens News Bureau. Jerilynn is offering a PR Boot Camptailored to the needs of female entrepreneurs.
Check it outat EZINE ADVERTISINGFinally, there will come a time when you will need to payfor some advertising. Ezines that go out to your targetaudience give you a big bang for your advertising buck -your cost per thousand (CPM) is generally way less than whatyou could expect to pay in other media.
Most sites thatpublish an ezine carry an advertising page.We could devote several more articles to the particulars ofwriting ads and creating marketing campaigns. The one thingyou need to keep in mind is that writing advertising copyis not an exact science.
No one can guarantee how youraudience will respond to an ad, no matter how well you thinkit turned out. The big marketers always test ads first andwe suggest you do.
You can buy ezine ads at deep discountsat (another site run byMerle of MCPromotions). We use it ourselves to sell remnantspace in our ezines and have bought adsin other newsletters at a fraction of their published rates.This is a great resource for anyone who needs to advertisetheir businesses.As you can see, there are lots of low-cost options forpromoting your business online that do not entail bulkemail.
They're easy to implement and are proven to work...try them and see! Article Tags: Each Other, Working Moms Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .