The request from my client was simple:
Kathy, how do I make my email newsletter pretty?
My response….
Speaking of pretty…. this isn’t going to be. <grin> (Remember, my clients are VERY tech challenged….)
The key you to creating "pretty" email newsletters is known by the name H-T-M-L. Basically, you’ll have to create an HTML page on the web and then "reference" it in your newsletter. Then, when you’re creating your newsletter, you’ll have to remember to use FULL urls (Dreamweaver will assume you’re creating a web site and will make the links relative).
And if that weren’t enough to discourage you, by sending an HTML newsletter you’ll decrease your "deliverability" significantly. And to add insult to injury, those images you worked so hard to use in the newsletter will be blocked by most email programs. Some spamblockers mark ANY HTML email as spam.
What I would recommend for someone who doesn’t currently own Microsoft Front Page (a discontinued Microsoft WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor) or someone who doesn’t WANT to get to know HTML is to create your newsletter in a different way. I suggest using a plain text newsletter with links to the blog articles you’ve posted in the past month.
To create the email newsletter below, I went to my blog at http://www.beyondnichemarketing.com and chose my "best" posts from the month, then featured them in the newsletter below. Take note that I include the FULL URL to the article. To get that, I clicked on the article’s title which, because I’m using a Word Press Blog, took me to the "real" URL of the post.
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BEYOND NICHE MARKETING – CREATING MARKETING MAGIC
"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Creating Advertising and Marketing
Messages That Deliver Results
July 2007
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Create your own niche
In my book, I talk about how important it is to developing TOMA
(Top of Mind Awareness) for your business through your advertising.
There are filters at work in your customer’s mind which help to protect
them from information overload. Well, in addition to those filters, your
customer’s mind is also filled with assorted hierarchies which we’ll refer
to as “TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) ladders of the mind.”
These assorted ladders help you to decide quickly and easily where you’ll
go for certain products or services.
Click here to read the full story:
http://beyondnichemarketing.com/2007/06/26/create-your-own-niche/
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All that matters is what’s important to the customer….
As you try to reach out and touch someone with your marketing or advertising,
it’s ESSENTIAL that you focus upon what’s important to the CUSTOMER.
Click here to read the full story:
http://beyondnichemarketing.com/2007/06/05/all-that-matters-is-whats-important-to-the-customer/
————–
Using niche marketing in real estate
Great post over at Canadian Real Estate Online about the power of carefully
wording your ads to attract the RIGHT kind of clients.
In this case, the investor had a property near a university but didn’t want to
attract university students as potential renters. By carefully crafting their
message, they were able to "weed out" students before they picked up the phone.
Click here to read the full story:
http://beyondnichemarketing.com/2007/06/22/using-niche-marketing-in-real-estate/
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Find My Niche is written Kathy Hendershot-Hurd who is the
founder of Virtual Impax, a small business marketing
consulting firm and the author of "Beyond the Niche"
available at online book stores everywhere.
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FIND MY NICHE – CREATING MARKETING MAGIC is intended
for informational and educational purposes only. It is
not a substitute for a personal consultation with a
mental health professional, a legal professional or tax
and accounting professional and should not be construed
as a form of, or substitute for any of the above.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Kathryn Hendershot-Hurd
Virtual Impax
PO Box 13073
Fort Pierce, FL 34979
http://www.virtualimpax.com
http://www.findmyniche.com
http://www.beyondnichemarketing.com
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(c) Copyright 2007 Virtual Impax. All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights: The above material is copyrighted
but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you
wish as long as not a single word is changed, added
or deleted, including the contact information.
Reprint permission will be freely granted upon request.
Advance written permission must be obtained for any
reprinting of this material in modified or altered form.
