Hi All,

Just wondering about doing an email marketing campaign and has anyone done one before. If so, what was your success/sales/conversion rate like.

Is it worthwhile going down this road?

Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Regards

Elise

There are rules about sending unsolicited email so make sure that whoever you send to has given permission. That being said, I get so much unsolicited email that I would never to that to another person. Email from someone I don't know gets deleted and not even read.

__________________
Julia

Good Question! I would like to know too! Anyone have success?

I agree with Julie, I am annoyed by unsolicited email so I will not send either. However if you have a subscription list then that would be different. There are many networking groups out there (and alot of feedback from them here!) to take advantage of. I have gotten my clients from networking and then from referrals. Instead of sending email blasts unsolicited I take them time to contact those I have met or who have been referred and it seems that they may not turn into clients right away but will contact you down the road when their needs arise.

__________________
Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I agree with the majority here. I do not personally like unsolicited mail, therefore I do not choose that method as a form of marketing. Most of the time people just toss it to the trash, and if they do read it, many get annoyed with it. I've seen women really go off in forums about e-mail marketing campaigns.

To each their own though. If it's something you want to try, go for it. My best friend went to a seminar on e-mail marketing (I think it was a Constant Contact seminar). She said she learned that all unsolicited e-mail must have an unsubscribe link at the bottom and say something about the spam act. I'm not sure exactly but I'm sure someone will chime in after me.

My most effective form of marketing has been networking and forum participation also. (And the sad thing is I've been neglecting my participation since I started maintaining somewhat steady business.) It is true that it takes longer sometimes, but all the while worth it. I have met outstanding people and love working with them!

Hope that helps.
Dawn

__________________
Dawn Lawson | At Your Service
http://freelanceadminsupport.com

I would be interested to know if this has worked for anyone and how they execute.

But I would also agree that unsolicited email is annoying. When I get email blast from various vendors, I delete them immediately. If I've not requested a newsletter or information from a company, I don't expect or appreciate receiving email or mail.

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback thus far. I would be looking at purchasing an email list which people have advised that they are ok to be contacted. This is a professional list from a professional organisation. They then send the emails out on your behalf and monitor what has and hasn't been opened.

My question, I guess really relates to, as anyone actually tried and got a successful sale or client out of it.

I agree about receiving unsolicited mail and this organisation knows the Spam Act as this is their business - email marketing. Just don't want to waste money on getting the list and then paying per contact to be emailed if it isn't going to produce results.

Ta

I send an email newsletter to clients every month through iContact so I can track open rates and what they click on and my open rate is around 50% which is considered high. Keep in mind these are actual clients who despite seeing the newsletter is from me they do not open it (or it is on their junk or trash). What percentage of total strangers do you think would open an unsolicited email? It is not a great way to market.

This has been something that I have toyed with for sometime now. So many people have newsletters that it's impossible to read them all. I have a file in my Outlook where I route newsletters to and dare I say I have over 300 that are not read!!

I am not sure about anyone else, but I am choosey about where I subscribe to so if we are deleting unwanted newsletters, someone else will do the same. I guess I am not sure about the time and effort...seems to me my blog could handle most of what I would want to say...

What say you VAs? Good, bad, in-between?

__________________
Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Interesting thread--I have looked into an email distribution, but I believe there is a cost to do this, unless someone knows of a free or low cost service, I would be most interested in hearing more.

I followed up on a link I found doing various research for my VA business, and came across Buyer Zone(?) and inquired about obtaining a list, and it seemed to be pretty costly, at least for a start-up business.

Thanks for sharing and for any replies.

__________________
Dena Peters
http://www.denastoolsandtips.com

I shy away from unsolicited email, because it will probably go into the spam folder anyway.

I've been experimenting with using an emailed newsletter that's sent to all my previous clients and other people who have "opted-in."

The concept makes a lot of sense, in that you're regularly sending something of value (and you do have to make it content-rich) to people who know they may at some time need your services. So it's a way to stay on their radar and also to "take care" of your clientele.

__________________
Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Email marketing does not only include sending emails out to unknowns in the hope of finding more business. An important part of marketing is maintaining good relationships with existing clients.

An HTML e-birthday card sent to an existing client could also be called email marketing. So could a "Thank you" note after the successful completion of a major project.

These forms of email marketing might be a more productive route than the "shot in the dark" approach as it is always easier to keep an existing client rather than find a new one.

I don't like unsolicited emails but if you decide to look for clients, be sure to make your subject line catchy. Sometimes when I get those "unwanted" emails, I open some of them based on the subject line.

Is there really a law about unsolicted emails? I wasn't aware of this if there is one, since I get a ton of them. I thought the law only applied to faxes. I have clients who send unsolicited emails all the time.

Originally Posted by rdpeters40

Interesting thread--I have looked into an email distribution, but I believe there is a cost to do this, unless someone knows of a free or low cost service, I would be most interested in hearing more. I followed up on a link I found doing various research for my VA business, and came across Buyer Zone(?) and inquired about obtaining a list, and it seemed to be pretty costly, at least for a start-up business. Thanks for sharing and for any replies.