How other chamber members use e-marketing.(SMALL BIZ BEAT)

Anita Mitzel

President, GraphiColor Exhibits

We have been sending out monthly newsletters for about a year and a half. We use an affordable web-based e-mail marketing software program to minimize any chances of our emails being caught in spam filters or causing our server to crash. Our monthly newsletter has three purposes. Besides keeping our company top of mind, we also use it as a way to inform or educate the reader about tips, best practices, trade show and event-related information and resources. We inform or remind people about some of the offerings and specials we have as well, but we try not to make it look like a sales ad. Lastly, we keep it short enough to skim thorough quickly. What I discovered was that people would often save a newsletter that had a product or service they were interested in, and contact me months later when the need arose - even if the "deal" was no longer available. People tell me that they don't always open our newsletters, but they do remind them of us. We have had very few people opt out of our newsletters, in part because we make a concerted effort to ask their permission before we add them to our email list. If your email contains something of value for the reader, they will want to keep receiving it.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Nicholas Stroia

Owner of Stroia Securities Services, Inc.

Wealth Management Consultants