Do you have an email service provider?
Starting and growing a mailing list will be a key part of your content marketing strategy. While it’s easier and quicker than ever to publish your thoughts using online tools such as blogs and other social media tools, just putting your content out there is not enough.
When you have a list of people who have shown interest in what you do and agree to hear from you again, you can build on that initial contact to grow those relationships. Whether they hire you personally, refer you or simply pass along your information to someone else who may hire you or refer you, you never know what can come out of staying in touch.
An email service provider allows you to broadcast emails to a group of people at once. Using one of these services is the best way to ensure that you are complying with anti-spam regulations. Each company offers their own collection of tools to help you grow your mailing list and keep in touch with your readers, clients and prospective clients.
I use and recommend AWeber*. They’re a pioneer in the industry and are constantly evolving and innovating. I’ve also heard excellent things about MailChimp, Constant Contact and iContact.
If you’re blogging (which I hope you are), AWeber, MailChimp and FeedBlitz (and perhaps others) each make it easy to send blog updates. They provide a template that automatically compiles your latest blog posts so you can send links to those in a broadcast email to everyone on your mailing list.
(*The above text was adapted from Write Your Way to More Clients Online. As of June 2013 I have been using MailChimp to deliver the Blogging Tips newsletter.)
If you want your prospective clients to think of you when they’re ready to take action, you need to be in their Inbox more often (you can’t be last week’s news). But before you even consider increasing your email frequency, make sure you have an email service provider in place.