Constant content

Let me break this to you gently: you are not reading it.

The perfect e-newsletter features a smoking subject line that demands, not asks, that you open the e-mail.

The design and layout looks like a piece of art. Subtle and sophisticated, it complements the words on the page beautifully.

The first headline fastens you to your seat like a nail gun at close range.

The articles suck you in and command you to call, click or e-mail, credit card or checkbook in hand.

The perfect e-newsletter.

And you know how many people will read that perfect e-newsletter?

That depends on one key factor: -whether or not you actually sent it.

It’s a trap that many small business owners fall into. You want your e-newsletter to be perfect. What happens is you sweat the tiniest details and then get caught up in the other many details of your business. Consequently, you miss an easy opportunity to consistently stay front-of-mind with customers/clients, prospects and, probably most importantly, your network.

One of the many beauties of the Internet age is the ease in which you can evolve your marketing materials with very little associated costs. A website, for example, is never truly finished because you should always be adding content. It’s the same for an e-newsletter. You put out your best effort and then keep tweaking to make the next effort even better.

Will it cost you business if you put out an e-newsletter that not done particularly well? Maybe. Will it cost you business if you do
nothing and you don’t maintain consistent contact with your target audience? Most definitely. And that’s the true price of perfection.

Why Constant Contact works for me? – A Constant Contact Review

: Joe D’Eramo, freelance copywriter, says “Constant content is another reason to use Constant Contact.”

Over the course of the next several weeks, HiRoad Communications will be interviewing Constant Contact users to get their take on why Constant Contact remains their product of choice for e-mail marketing, event marketing and surveys.

First up, yours truly, HiRoad Communications, a Constant Contact user and reseller since 2002.

How long have you been using Constant Contact?

JD: We started using Constant Contact back in 2002.

What Constant Contact products do you use?

JD: About 99 percent of the time I use the e-mail marketing tool. Occasionally, we’ll dabble with the survey tool.

What do you use it for?

JD: I put out a monthly e-newsletter, Changing Lanes. It’s nothing that fancy. Just a newsletter that features some type of business writing tip. Usually, it’s just about sharing some product or tactic that’s worked for me in the past. Sometimes it’s anecdotal. In the past, I’ve even used testimonials from clients. It’s really just my way of demonstrating my expertise and knowledge on this subject.

What do you like about it?

JD: There are people on my e-mail list whom I’ve never met. There are people who I met several years ago and haven’t seen in person in more than five years. Yet every month, it feels like they hear from me on a frequent basis. Now I know part of that is my writing style because my writing has the feel of a conversation on the computer screen. But another part is they get used to seeing an e-mail from me, so I’m never completely out of mind.

What’s been your biggest challenge in using Constant Contact?

Biggest challenge might be a bit of an oxymoron when it comes to Constant Contact because it is so easy to use. I’m not a graphic designer by trade so I would have to say knowing where to put images so that it looks nice. Calling that a challenge is a bit unfair. It is so easy to use the templates that if you just follow what’s already set up, you can’t go wrong.

How successful has Constant Contact been in helping you grow your business?

It varies. I probably pick up an additional 5-10 percent in revenues because of my monthly newsletter. That’s either from work from previous clients or referrals from somebody on my mailing list.

If you could cite one reason why companies, small business owners and organizations should use Constant Contact, what would it be?

Just did. Keeping in regular touch with your existing customers and network is the main reason. One the main complaints you hear from small business owners is when one of their regular customers goes to a competitor for a service they offer. Now, there could be a number of other reasons why the regular customer went somewhere else. The most likely it was because they didn’t know the small business owner offered that service as well. With Constant Contact and a regular monthly or quarterly e-newsletter, you can easily prevent that from occurring.