Let's begin our discussion on small business email marketing by first explaining what email marketing really is, and most importantly what it is not.

"Email marketing is where you send out emails with information, and news about your products and services to a list of recipients who have given you permission to do so."

The keyword in the above block-quote is permission. This means the recipients have subscribed to your mailing list, using methods we will discuss shortly, and have agreed to receive information from you and your business.

Now, let's take a look at what email marketing is not. Is is NOT SPAM, and should never be spam. Spam is sending emails to those who who did not agree to receive them, and it also means sending countless, useless emails that serve no purpose other than to promote junk.

I'm sure we all at one point or another have been a victim of email spam. It usually comes in the form of emails containing links to sites selling Viagra, pornography, gambling etc. You need to take extreme precautions to ensure your business is not perceived as one that sends out spam or you will alienate your prospects, and customers.

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways a small business can grow it's bottom line. Using email marketing your small business can:

• Grow it's customer base,
• Increase the number of transactions
• Increase the amount of each transaction
• Keep in touch with prospects and existing customers easily

These are just a fw of the many advantages of using email to stay connected with your customers. In addition it been shown that email marketing is one of the most cost effective ways to market a small business and the rate of return on your investment into this marketing strategy is a whopping $50 to $1. That means that:

For every one dollar you spend on email marketing you can expect a return of $50.

I don't know of any other medium that will give your small business such an ROI. Take a look now at how you are marketing your small business and see if your strategies compare.

To begin using email marketing for your small business you first need to capture emails from prospects and existing clients. The quickest way is to add an email capture script to your existing web site. Most email marketing services such as aweber provide the html code or script you need to insert on your web site to collect your visitors emails. From the visitors perspective it is nothing more than adding their name and email address to a sign up form, clicking submit, and then confirming their registration via a simple email they will receive in their inbox.

The confirmation email they will receive allows them to quickly and easily verfiy that they have subscribed to your list. This simple confirmation will keep you and your business out of trouble as now you have proof that they indeed subscribe. Your business is now conforming to Federal laws regarding spam.

So not that you have this big list of folks who have subscribed to your email list just what types of emails do you send them?

The one thing you don't want to send them is a sale pitch. Don't try to sell them something right out of the gate. You need to pre-sell them with useful emails that will help you gain their trust. Send them useful tips on products or services you offer. For example if you are a plumber send them "10 Things to do to Keep Your Sink Clog Free" and send them one tip a week. Only after you have proven to be valuable to them or they believe you are capable of helping them resolve their problem, then only then, send them information about a product or service. Even that email needs to be more informative than a hard sell. Just don't tell them what you service or product does but why it will be beneficial to them to use it.

In conclusion, email marketing for small business can be one of the most efficient and cost effective ways for a small business to grow it's bottom line. I recommend you take a serious look at it.