Maybe you've subscribed to one - or maybe you've just heard that they're "marketing magic" for your business but an email marketing newsletter is a "must have" application for every website owner. 

Quite simply, an email marketing newsletter is simply a form of DIRECT MARKETING where visitors to your website or blog can sign up to recieve communication via email from your business. 

However, if you've ever just stuck an email newsletter sign up form on your website and waited for the subscribers to line up so they can buy what you're selling - you may have discovered the first dirty little secret of an email marketing newsletter...

The first dirty little secret of email newsletters is that people won't sign up unless they get something.

While there was a time when you could just stick a sign up box on your website and watch the subscribers sign up. Now - with spam filling email boxes and Can Spam laws ruling the land - not only is it ESSENTIAL that you use an email newsletter service which enables you to "scrub" your list with a double opt in process - you also MUST provide something of value in exchange for the reader providing his/her VALUABLE email address to you.

A double opt in process is simple - when a visitor subscrbes to the newsletter, they get a "confirmation" email which contains an email link which allows the subscriber to "confirm" his/her subscription. If

One you get your email newsletter subscribers to jump through the hoops to actually complete the confirmation process - then it's a matter of delivering QUALITY relavent content to your subscribers.

It's not enough to pummel your readers with a constant barrage of "buy! buy! buy!" followed by "buy now!".  You have to provide relevant valuable content to your subscribers. 

Your email newsletter may be a form of direct marketing, but it's NOT junk mail.  These people have signed up to get free information.  This is your chance to share more information - information they need to make a sale.

They didn't subscribe to give you the opportunity to be closing repeatedly.

I'll never forget signing up for a respected marketing author's brand new email newsletter.  I watched as he treated the medium like is was junk mail and each message was yet another attempt to close the sale on one product or another. 

It wasn't long before he responded to reader inquiries in one of his newsletters.  He included exerpts from emails where people were BEGGING him to give them additional information - the kind of information he'd promised to deliver when they signed up for the newsletter.

His response - right there in the newsletter - "I'm doing this to make money.  If you don't want to buy anything, unsubscribe."

OUCH!  I lost a LOT of respect for his marketing sense with that salvo!

The third, and final, "dirty little secret" of email newsletters is this....

Your email newsletter will NEVER deliver new customers and sales when it’s given the task of delivering a message that isn’t relevant!

Your email newsletter is another form of marketing communication.  The first step to marketing a small business is to know WHY customers are buying from you.  If you don't know WHY customers are buying from you - you won't be able to create effective, compelling and selling email newsletter messages.

If you don’t know WHO your audience is (or if you think your audience is "everyone") then you can’t carefully craft a message that is RELEVANT to your email subscribers.

Then again, if you don't know WHO your audience is - you'll probably have real trouble coming up with a legal bribe that entices them to subscribe in the first place.

What isn't a "dirty little secret" is the tried and true saying, "The money is in the list."

A while back, I launched my 8 Week Power Blog Launch program and solicited the help of a prominent blogger and a colleague to help promote the program.

The prominent blogger had literally thousands of RSS subscribers - and thousands of web visitors. Meanwhile, my colleague only had at her disposal an email newsletter list of a couple hundred subscribers.

Both began promoting my program heavily - partially because of their love and devotion to me, but also because I offer a hefty 50% affiliate commissionon the $77 sale.

When I began paying out affiliate commissions, I was STUNNED to see that the list was out performing the "power blogger" nearly 3 to 1 in sales.

While the power blogger was getting thousands of visitors - the email newsletter list owner had been regularly sharing valuable tips and tools with her readers.

When she offered my resource, her newsletter subscribers started buying in droves.

However, that list wasn't built overnight - and she maintained readership by communicating regularly with messages her audience found incredibly useful. Instead of "buy! buy! buy!" - she'd send out emails saying, "Here's a helpful tip." Followed by a "If you were thinking about buying this product - skip it!"

When she sent the message - "this is a winner" - her readers trusted her and the rest is money making history.

Email newsletters are powerful tools. If you need help setting one up - I recommend VVA Web Help to my clients.