Why should you have a contact list? People rarely make a purchase during the first encounter or during their first visit to a website. Regular communication with a prospect through a Contact List allows the prospect time to get to know you and your product until the time comes when they are ready to make a purchase. Once they become a customer, the Contact List allows you to keep in touch with them so you can let them know about new products and Specials.

It is of paramount importance, when someone trusts you with his or her contact information, to treat each communication with great care. It is easy (and it should be) for people to remove themselves from your list. This means you need to re-earn that trust with each Email you send!
Here are some Do’s and Don’t’s I pay attention to when sending Email to my Special Contacts List, along with some suggestions for a Newsletter.

Do allow your Contact an “out”
Instructions for unsubscribing from your List should be at the bottom of each Email.

Don’t make your letters too long
Consider how you feel when you open a long Email. “Click me out of here!” is how I feel. It only takes one or two times of clicking away before a contact figures out he or she is not actually reading your Emails. When this happens, sooner or later you will lose this Contact. Decide what you want to say, say it and then edit edit edit!

Don’t pepper the Email with links
Concealing a lot of information behind a shower of links is just as overwhelming, visually, as a long Email, maybe more so. Minimize the number of links in your Email.

Do maintain a respectful distance
If you send too many Emails within a short period of time, your Emails may begin to feel intrusive. By the same token, if you allow too much time to pass between Emails, contacts may forget who you are.

Do give what you promised when they signed up for
If they signed up to hear about sales, give them that and only that. If they signed up for a Newsletter, then just send them your Newsletter. Sending Emails with other than what was promised is an effective way to shorten your list.

Do be personal.
If you strive to sound too professional, you could end up sounding cold, but on the other hand, if you are overly friendly, this can backfire as well. Find a balance which feels right to you.

These Do’s and Don’ts also apply to a Newsletter. Composing a good Newsletter takes time! The goal should be this: to create a Newsletter so filled with valuable information that people will enthusiastically forward it to friends and family! Here are some suggestions for what you may want to include.

• Essential oil usage tips. “How do I use the oils?” is the eternal question. Give a little more info on this in each Newsletter!
• Two or three testimonials briefly reported. Remember – edit edit edit!
• Your company’s monthly essential oil Special, details about the oil and how to order it.
• Uses for the oil(s) on Special.
• Interesting background information about your company. This builds confidence in your company, your product and in you.
• Medical journal articles supporting the use of essential oils. Find one here and search for more on that site.
• Seasonal suggestions, i.e. why you should be diffusing essential oils, and which ones to diffuse, during the closed-in winter months.
• Gift Ideas, for example – Graduation, Valentines Day, Birthdays!
• A good, related, link worth visiting. All your contact info and the best times to reach you.
• Your business location, hours and map.
• Do you have a table at your Farmer’s Market – let them know they can meet you there!
• Details about your upcoming meetings/workshops and company sponsored events
• Announce any promotions or incentives you are offering personally.

Talk about Terra Cotta Pendants and how they help you to diffuse wherever you go!

Finally, your Newsletter, your Email, like your website, are windows into who you are. While you can get ideas from other Contact Lists and Newsletters, you cannot duplicate someone else’s style and you really don’t want to do that. It is true of the local Marketplace, but especially of the Internet Marketplace that we buy from people we feel we can trust; people we like. Be yourself. And enjoy this unique and privileged aspect of doing business on the www!

Photo credit: John Benson

 

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©2007 Terra Cotta Pendants About the author: Lori Gosselin has worked in network marketing since 1997. In 2003 this passion led to the creation of www.Terra-Cotta-Pendants.com This is the last in a series of twelve Articles which outline a simple way to market essential oils.

Yes, you can share this Article with your downline, post it on your site, blog or include it with your mail-outs, as long as you keep it intact and include all the links and the signature at the bottom.