BY: ANDY O'NEIL

Direct email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to communicate with your current or potential customers. However, to be a good email marketer, there are a few basic things you must keep in mind.

I have run across many businesses and organizations who send regular emails to anyone and everyone they know that has an email address, whether they asked for it or not. Unfortunately, organizations who send mail messages this way are, by the definition of the law, spammers. 

Your best option for sending legal bulk email is to find an Email Service Provider (ESP) such as Mail Chimp or iContact to help you in your email marketing efforts. There are many good ESPs out there, so look at what several have to offer your organization before making a decision. Using an ESP will help keep your emails legal, and will also help keep your email from being marked as SPAM by email service providers (i.e. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) Most ESPs have great tutorials and tips on how to be an effective email marketer.

If you are in a situation where you have a list of customers who you want to invite to be on your email list, simply send them an individual message (from your company’s email account) inviting them to be on your email list. In your email you should tell them about the list and explaining why they should subscribe. Simply include a link to your online sign up form where they can subscribe to be on your email list.

When people subscribe to your email mailing list, you should be specific in what kind of information you will send them and how often. For instance, tell them whether you are going to send them a monthly newsletter, or weekly specials from your business. If you want to send both, create two lists so your subscribers can choose which emails they want to receive.

When you send emails to your subscribers, try to be as engaging as possible. Remember, there are real people on the other side of that sent email. Encourage subscribers to reply to the email and let you know what they think. Consider asking your subscribers a question. Your emails might also point them to your Facebook page or website to better facilitate a conversation. Ultimately, you don’t want to just broadcast information to them, you want to engage them in a conversation.

Keep in mind, when it comes to writing great emails, less is more. Most people are going to scan your email in just a few seconds to see if it is something they want to read further. Keep your emails short and to the point.

In short, be considerate of your subscribers. Don’t send them unwanted or unsolicited mail, let them opt-in to your email list, and keep your message short, concise, and on target. Treat your subscribers well, and they may just return the favor.Enjoy the rest of your summer!