2 Email Marketing Mistakes You Cannot Afford to Make

Networking and word-of-mouth referrals rank way up there when it comes to generating leads for your business. The people who know us and know what we do are the ones that are most likely to buy from us and refer us to the people they know.

So why is it so many of us fail to systematically follow up with the business contacts we make?  It’s a lack of time for the most part, but I would venture to say,

“It’s a lack of the right priorities.”

This is important stuff. Why haven’t we made a point of finding a permanent solution for this problem?  Sure following up is time consuming and, for us highly distracted types, extremely boring. But that’s no excuse. We are leaving valuable contacts out there with no chance of doing us any good.

As a technology and Internet marketing solution provider, I see it as an email marketing issue mainly because email, with a little automation, can so easily make this problem completely go away.

Here’s what I recommend you do to avoid the two email-marketing you really cannot afford to make.

#1 Email Marketing Mistake to Avoid - Failing to follow up with the business contacts you make

I can’t tell you how often I walk into someone’s office and find piles of business cards stacked on their desk. Those cards are obviously failing to drum up business for the firm. If you fail to follow up with someone you meet in two or three days, you drastically reduce the chances the person will remember you.  You also come off as less than interested or at best, sloppy and disorganized.

To solve this problem, I use a tool called Infusionsoft. It tracks all my contacts much the same way Saleforce.com does in larger sales organizations. It has one primary feature, and it’s one I find priceless.  It automates the sending of one or many emails to any contact you like.

Here’s what I do. As soon as I get to my office with my stack of business cards, I enter them using a simple InfusionSoft form. It has everything you’d expect: name, address, phone number, email address, etc. It also has some check boxes I use to categorize each one. For example, I tag them as interested in marketing solutions versus websites. I tag them as small business owners, lawyers, accountants or something else that helps me decide how best to interact with them in the future.

The form also as a box where I can type a few words like,

“It was good meeting you at this morning’s networking breakfast. Thanks for recommending I speak with your friend…”

When I hit submit on my form, the tool sends my brand new contact an email that starts with the few words I entered in the form so it's personalized.  Then it's followed by a few paragraphs describing my business and how I typically help my customers.

For some contacts, I also enter closing words on my form like,

“I plan on being in your area later this week. Maybe we can meet for coffee.”

The point is your are following up quickly in order to connect with your new contact and you begin to foster a positive relationship.

Now again, there is the matter of time.   I have to come clean.   I lied about typing my cards in myself.  What I really do is write a few words on each business card and give them to my virtual assistance.  From then on out, it happens automatically as far as I'm concerned.

Note: To help in this area, I offer a virtual assistant service that uses this same technique.  I include it with the Internet marketing packages I offer getting the 10 to 30 business cards you collect every week into your system.  So this is one chore you have 100% covered.

#2 Email Marketing Mistake to Avoid- Failing to follow up consistently so your contacts remember you.

So now you have this great introductory email out to your contact and nothing else happens. That might be an even bigger waste than not getting the introductory emails out in the first place.

If you read my Incredibly Powerful Website e-book, you’ll learn a lot about how easily you can create material for showcasing your expertise. You take information you probably take for granted and use it to educate existing and future clients on the expertise you have and how it brings value to your customers.

You take this information and email it to the contacts you’ve entered into InfusionSoft.  Limit yourself to a a single email a month each one containing a different tidbit of knowledge you can share with others.

If you’re a lawyer, share an idea for avoiding trouble with a client or vendor. If you’re a tax lawyer, provide some tax advice that can save a business owner money. If you’re someone like me, share with people tips on how to use email tools to stay in touch with their clients.

There are Internet tools galore and tons of ways to use each one to simplify running your business.  Many of them only require that you make the time to learn them or hire the right people to get them working for you. The Internet has the benefit of having virtually no cost when compared to other forms of marketing and advertising.   You really need to make use of them or get used to keeping up with competitors that do.

Hope this helps!