The Power of Permission E-Mail Marketing

 

 

It is my pleasure to now be writing for ICS magazine. In my monthly column I will bring you a valuable marketing strategy that you can implement into your business right away. At some point I may move into other subjects such as management, personal success or sales, but for now, I want to bring you a series of marketing strategies that have worked really well for me as well as others.

 

In this first series of marketing strategies, my goal will be to choose things that you are probably unfamiliar with, or at least not using to the fullest extent. In this column, I will always share something that has already been proven and tested in my own cleaning firm.  

 

I am excited about doing this monthly column, but I am also concerned at the same. I am excited because I know how much these marketing strategies will help your business (if you use them). I am concerned because most small business owners don’t implement very many of the strategies they learn.

 

Most small businesses struggle because of what I call “F.T.I.” (Failure To Implement). Many of you will learn this strategy and for a variety of reasons, you won’t do anything with it. Don’t let that happen.  

 

Remember that the BIGGEST difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is NOT that successful are always smarter or more educated. The BIGGEST difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people DO what unsuccessful people DON’T. Not that they can’t. Just that they don’t (or won’t).

 

Don’t let F.T.I. steal your success! Instead, make a decision that you will IMPLEMENT more than you have implemented in the past. Doing just a small thing over and above what you are currently doing will make a difference. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the strategy completely. Usually doing SOMETHING is better than analyzing whether it will work or not, or wondering what you should do, or whether you should do. Just do it. It’s all about production. It’s all about implementing more than the next guy. It’s all about getting more done in less time. If you DO what you have always done, you will GET what you have always gotten. Avoid F.T.I. at all costs. And remember that you have to work “on” your business, not just “in” it. If you want to take your business to the next level, you have to DO something that you are not currently doing.

 

Okay, now on to our subject of the month….

 

“The Power of Permission E-Mail Marketing”

 

The first strategy that I want to share in this monthly column is what I call “Permission E-Mail Marketing”. We are not talking about SPAM here. I am talking about getting e-mails from clients, prospects, and associates and getting their “permission” to add them to your e-mail list.

 

Before talking about how to get e-mail addresses, let’s first cover why you should be using this strategy. Next month I will cover how to implement the system, and I will share how to get e-mail addresses from you clients. I want to emphasize again that we are not talking about SPAM. We are only talking about sending e-mail messages to the people who have given us their e-mail address.   

 

6 Reasons Every Cleaning & Restoration Company Should Be Using “Permission E-Mail Marketing”

 

 Reason #1: Immediate Contact

 

With e-mail marketing, you can reach a large number of your customers  in an instant. It takes as little as ten minutes to create an e-mail campaign and get it out to your subscribers. I use a program called Constant Contact which you can try for free for 60 days. Log onto www.rovingsoftware.com to subscribe.

 

There are other programs that do “broadcast e-mail”, but Constant Contact offers some advantages that programs like Microsoft Outlook for example doesn’t. You don’t necessarily need to have a fully automated auto responder and shopping cart to make this work well for your cleaning and restoration business either. Constant Contact is easy to use even if you are not real fluid with the computer.

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt this broadcast to bring you the following message: “If you don’t have a computer, wake up and smell the new millennium coffee. Buy one TODAY. If your excuse is “I’m computer illiterate…”, stop your whining and sign up for a computer literacy course TODAY!! In today’s business world, you cannot afford to be “behind the times”.  

 

Constant Contact has easy to use templates. By being able to reach your audience instantly, you can get out a special offer or relate to a current event. If you are in restoration, and there is a local disaster, you could send out an e-mail with instructions on how to handle the situation. By the time you get mail out, it is too late.

 

Reaching your subscriber obviously depends on whether they are in front of their computer and whether they open the e-mail or not. Even if they don’t open it, but they see your message in their In-Box, you have scored some points. You want to achieve “TOMA” (Top Of Mind Awareness) at the minimum. Obviously, you want them to open the e-mail, but that will depend on how compelling your subject line (that’s the headline for an e-mail) is.

 

WARNING:  E-mail is NOT a replacement for snail mail!! E-mails get caught in junk folders, they are deleted by family members, or simply overlooked. Every carpet cleaner in America should be sending something to their existing clients every month (assuming they want to keep the maximum number of them and gain a maximum number of referrals). Also, people are in a HURRY when they are on the computer and they don’t often think of printing out the e-mail for future reference and may not even be able to if they are checking e-mail at Starbucks with their Blackberry!

 

Reason #2: It’s Almost Free.

 

I send out about 20,000 subscriber e-mails a month and I have rarely spent more than $30.00 per month with Constant Contact. And as I mentioned, you can try it for free for 60 days. Again, this is not a replacement for mailers, just an inexpensive addition.

 

Reason #3: In Living Color!

 

Constant Contact allows you to connect to any picture on the web. Be sure not to use copyrighted material (especially mine! LOL!). If you have photos on your website for example that you would like to use, you can simply add that photo into the e-mail. In fact, Constant Contact has an image library where you can upload photographs from your computer. You can also link to any page on the internet as well as videos.

 

Reason # 4: Tracking and Testing.

 

Once you get a subscriber base built up, you will be able to do quite a bit of testing. In Constant Contact, you can see how many people opened a certain e-mail. You can see what links they clicked on and how many clicks that link got. You can even export the e-mail addresses that clicked on a certain ad or link.

 

Your “open rate” tells you how good your subject line is. Your subject line is your “headline” for your e-mail campaign. The copy you use in your subject line will determine whether the subscriber is compelled to open it or not. Keep in mind that the time of year and what you are offering has an effect as well. For example, I will get a higher open rate during November which is our biggest month. I won’t get as much in February when it is slower. However, special offerings can change that. If you do water and the temperature drops in February causing a bunch of broken pipes, you will probably get a big open rate if your headline is related to broken pipes.

 

Reason #5: Constant Contact

 

You never want your clients or prospects to forget about you. Ever. E-mail marketing gives you an amazing way to stay in front of your clients. Assuming that you offer a good service, staying in touch with your clients will increase your sales. They are more likely to use your service more often, they are less likely to use someone else, you will be able to “brand” your message in their mind, therefore commanding a higher price by positioning yourself as the authority, they are more likely to use your secondary services (like tile & grout cleaning, etc.), and they are more likely to refer you.

 

Reason #6: Make More Money!

 

Every time we send out an e-mail to our client base we get immediate jobs.

 

How to Implement Your Permission E-Mail Marketing System

 

Step 1: Subscribe to Constant Contact “Do It Yourself E-Mail Marketing” Program. Click www.constantcontact.com and subscribe to Constant Contact. You can try it for free for 60 days.

 

Step 2: Enter your subscriber list. (see how to develop that list below).

 

Step 3: Begin e-mailing your subscriber list using the following tips

 

Special Tip: Be an Invited Guest, not an Annoying Pest.

 

Don’t over use the permission that has been given you. Another thing that Constant Contact will tell you is how many people “opt out” (unsubscribe). Sometimes the SPAM filters catch your e-mail and the subscriber didn’t opt out, but if you see a big spike, it could be that your message was off or it could be that you are sending your message too often. Every industry is different. In my marketing business, I found that most people don’t mind hearing from me twice a week, but with my high end carpet cleaning firm, I have found every 14 days to be a good balance. The every other week frequency seems to keep them engaged and keep them from opting out.

 

Be sure to add value to the message. Don’t just send them special offers. Instead, educate them with a valuable message and always reward them for opening the e-mail by giving them some type of special offer for being an “e-mail subscriber”. Give them something that your “regular” clients don’t get. For example, if you have a special offer going, let them get in early, or extend it just for them. Give them a small extra service with purchase of a regular service.

 

Seth Godin’s Ground Breaking Book “Permission Marketing”

 

Marketing Guru Seth Godin wrote a book called Permission Marketing. In this book he shared how “interruption marketing” used by mass media doesn’t work anymore. Instead, a smaller audience that has given you “permission” to market to them will pay more attention to a message that is “Anticipated – people look forward to hearing from you, Personal – the messages are directly related to the individual, and Relevant – the marketing is about something the prospect is interested in”.

 

Give them valuable information that will help them, but that also helps them to learn about your product and service. This is a form of “Education Marketing” or “Experiential Marketing” as well.

 

How to Get E-Mail Addresses from Your Clients

 

The best way to get e-mail addresses from your clients is to simply ask for them when you take down their address and phone number. But you have to ask in the right way.

 

As you are asking for the routine information such as name, address and phone number, you simply say “and that e-mail address is?” Say it with a positive, assumptive tone just like you asked for the other information. Using the word “that” instead of “your” positions it as less personal. You don’t want to raise any red flags that aren’t already there. In some cases, people will give it to you right away.

 

If they hesitate, say “Well, the only reason we ask for it, is it allows us to send you great tips on caring for your carpet and upholstery, and we sometimes send out special offers only via e-mail. We promise not to abuse the privilege and we certainly don’t offer our lists to anyone. You can also unsubscribe at any time.”

 

Be sure to use the entire script. If you leave one item out, it could be the one item that you need.

 

If they are still hesitant, drop the subject for now. However, there are several other ways to get them to give you an e-mail address:

 

 

I hope that this strategy puts more money in your pocket. Next month, I will be sharing the “Greatest Marketing Tool of All Time”. It is a tool that every small business owner in America should be using, but few are. In fact, I would almost bet that most of you haven’t even heard about it. Can’t wait? That’s the point! I gotta make sure you read next month’s column! I promise that you will absolutely love the strategy I share with you next month. If you don’t, when you see me at Connections, I will share my secret Starbucks stash with you. See you next month. Until then, remember to kill F.T.I. dead!

 

Sincerely,

 

Howard Partridge

Howard Partridge

President

Phenomenal Products, Inc.

 

My Passion is Your Success! ™