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The cost of paying for somebody to click your ad on Google can be anywhere from $1 to $10: that’s for just a click! So what does it end up costing to get somebody to call you or email you? This is a big dilemma for many small business owners looking for new clients. In fact, sometimes it might seem easier to just send a good, old-fashioned letter!  

The value of your client database is higher than ever

Xero is often used as a data base of customers you’ve done business with but there are other ways of building a much bigger database – your email software. Every person who is interested in what you do and gets a quote is a potential subscriber to your email messages. 

I wrote before about the value of a database when things are quiet and there are smart ways of building a database without changing too much about what you do. 

The most important issue to consider when building a database is that you remain antiSPAM compliant. That means your subscribers should have the option to easily opt-out from receiving any future messages. Technically they need to opt-in as well!

Why so many people use MailChimp for email marketing

Some people I speak with think they can just use Outlook to do their email broadcasts by putting all their email addresses in the BCC field – sound familiar? The problems begin when someone sends a reply asking to be removed from your list, what do you do then? If your answer is to just remove the email address from the list then you’re missing the point of having an automated system that does everything for you – that is why Mailchimp is so popular.

MailChimp email marketing software is free for up to 2000 subscribers, something they are now referring to as your Audience, and that is PLENTY for most small businesses. This makes it the perfect choice because you can now just focus on using it.

Read about our MailChimp & Email Marketing Training Course which is currently in development

MailChimp training course for real people

I love speaking with business owners because they are constantly faced with challenges from every angle – accounting, managing staff, marketing, time management! One gentleman I spoke with recently has operated an electrical and air condition business for the last 20 years and confessed to me that he had fat fingers. It was his way of saying I prefer to be on the tools rather than typing on a keyboard or onto a touchscreen phone. 

Neville uses Telstra’s Online Services for his website and email services and I’m working with him to find a better way to attract new customers but also to be more organised with his digital business setup. 

Make sure you subscribe for updates as Neville and I work through his digital marketing!

About the letter I received in the mail…

So I received this letter in the mail the other day. It was novel and it made me smile, but truth is, I threw it in the bin within a day. Trouble was, it wasn’t relevant to me and so I ended up binning it (although I obviously thought it would be an interesting and relevant blog topic!)

The cost of the mailing and the paper would have been $3 or so; then there’s the time to manually insert and seal for all those letters which would have been much more. But I simply wasn’t looking for the services that company offered. Talk about throwing a wide net in the hope of catching something!

The great benefit of creating a relevant website (I recommend WordPress of course) and even creating and paying for Google Ads, is that you will reach people who are searching for, and interested in what your ad has to offer. I say “what your ad has to offer” because the potential customers should also think your website landing page is useful too. More to come on this soon.

Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Courses in Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks are now available separately from just $99. 

 

 

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