Email Marketing vs. Facebook!
With all the changes that Facebook is constantly making to our Business pages, I for one am not going to rely on FB to promote my business.  (Nor have I done so).  I know a lot of pet entrepreneurs really depend on FB to try and get their name out there, but people – you can’t put all your eggs in one basket!  I will still post to FB for my business page, announce new members, events, articles and enjoy my regular personal page by posting pics and interacting with friends – but no longer will I be worrying about how many likes my biz page has or shares I have.  Call me crazy but there are other ways to stay in front of your costumers or audience.
While social media sites come up with new rules and regulations to increase their revenue through advertising, (and really you can’t blame them), more businesses are looking to other ways to stay in front of their customers.  Yes FB can be a great tool, but you have to stay on top of the changes, and that can be way more work to do than business owners have time for.
So what to do?  How to stay in front of people, get new customers and share our stories?  One thing that I have been consistent with for five years now is email marketing.  I believe email marketing is still king (or queen if you will!) – that’s why you get so many emails from different businesses.  You need to be consistent – but not annoying with your emails, have new and vital information for your audience weekly, bi-weekly or monthly is important.  Pick one and stick with it, bi-weekly or monthly is usually a little bit easier for businesses to do.
You don’t want your email to be all about selling your product or services, can you say unsubscribe or delete?  You want to have a worthwhile email going to in-boxes, and here’s the kicker – so people share your email on social media – all platforms!  And better yet, forward the email to their friends, family and co-workers.  I can tell you every week after our Pet Events Newsletter goes out – I get a decent amount of opt-in new subscribers, and a bunch of emails from people appreciating the email they just got from me.  Which is HUGE feedback I am so grateful to get as I put a lot of effort and care into each and every email that is sent out.
So if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the changes on Facebook, need something new that you can share your message with an audience.  I would suggest start with email marketing, it might seem old school, but it is not.  Here’s a key point:  don’t copy other businesses emails or ideas, be unique and have your own voice and message.  That my friend is how you will stand out in a crowd and shine.
How do I stand out?  What can I do that is different?  Here are a couple ideas: Do you make or sell a product – but there are a lot of products out their like yours?  Share info with your readers on something that will help them and ultimately buy your product.  Here’s an example.  Say you make pet clothing; a lot of people don’t know how to properly measure their pet for the proper fit, nor no what size to get for their pet.  Why not shoot a simple video on how to measure a pet properly (with a big dog and little dog or cat) for that beautiful coat you sell?  Or what if you’re a pet sitter, why not give information on what people should look for when hiring a pet sitter?  And then show that you have all the accreditations a new pet parent may be looking for in a pet sitter – bonded, insured, certified in Pet CPR, good references or anything else that will make someone want to hire you.
Information that you can give in an email that ties back into your business will equal new customers, sales, subscribers, etc.  Don’t be so blatant about it that it will turn people off, but give simple tips and share your expertise that relates to your business that will engage the reader and help turn that email into sales.
Constant Contact is probably the most popular email service for businesses, but if you have up to 2,000 subscribers or email contacts then MailChimp is free.
How do you collect emails?  A few ways, if you have a brick and motor store or location, have a sign up sheet right at the register and offer them something as an incentive to sign up on the spot.  
On your website put a Sign up for our newsletter tab or box right on your home page, above the fold.  You can also add that to, well your Facebook business page. Again be creative, be unique, find your own voice, share your expertise – and bring it back to your business!  (Cute pictures of pets don’t hurt either, but be sure to use your own pictures or purchase stock photo’s – don’t just take pictures off the internet, that my friends is copyright infringement!)]]>