ePOWER TIP: (full story)
Grow Your Online Business With An Automatic E-mail
Marketing "Drip System" ...
Okay, we all know e-mail leads are a great
source of new business, but what do you do with
the ones that are just not ready to act for
another three to six months? Well, you cultivate
them into a whole new crop of business using a
very powerful, yet automatic, e-mail marketing
"drip system" that does all the work for you!...
According to a recent study
done by a major East Coast MLS, only 5% of initial
online real estate inquiries are from people who
are ready to act now.
InterSend
is an easy to use, yet powerful Web-based
application that helps you nurture and capture the
other 95% that will eventually do business some
time down the road. Here's how it works:
When someone sends you an
initial e-mail inquiry, in addition to answering
their question, you can ask if they would like to
receive a series of bite-sized e-mail "articles"
that will help them learn more about whatever
process they happen to be interested in. (NOTE:
this part is important because you are explicitly
asking for their permission so as not to be
labeled a spammer).
Assuming they say yes (and
many will --especially if they perceive it to as valuable information), you simply enter their
e-mail contact information into the appropriate
InterSend AIR System (Automated Internet Response)
"campaign" and let the system do the rest.
A Campaign For All Reasons
A campaign is simply a series
of pre-written e-mail messages about a specific
topic that are sent according to a particular
schedule. Hence the idea of a "drip" marketing
system that automatically doles out contact with
prospects over time. What is important to note
here is that the schedules are "relative" to the
day you start someone on a campaign. Therefore you
could have any number of people receiving messages
from a particular campaign at different times.
This means that eventually you should build up a
steady flow of people finishing up a campaign with
a much higher probability of doing new business
with you.
The system is totally
flexible and allows you to modify the number of
messages, their content, and scheduling for each
campaign. In fact you can create an unlimited
number of new campaigns for your particular
marketing needs. For example, if waterfront
property owners were part of your target market,
you could craft a specific campaign on how to
maintain and enhance the value of their unique
property. A powerful way to "earn the right" to
stay in the forefront of their minds when they
think of themselves or others for your services!
InterSend makes it easy to
get started because they have pre-loaded over 15
campaigns you can start using immediately --if you
are comfortable with the messages they have
written. If not, they are a snap to modify (along
with any other part of the system) using just a
Web browser. It is recommended that you do review
the content and schedule of each campaign message
you intend to send. Make sure it reflects who you
are as a professional and offers *real value* to
the recipient --not just a sales pitch. Keep in
mind that the quality and tone of your messages
can have a huge effect on the ability of any
system like this to generate new business for you.
Lastly,
InterSend is very
Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC) "friendly" since
it allows the recipient to "opt-out" from
receiving any further messages at any time.
The Possibilities Are Endless
Imagine all of the new
business you could generate with just FSBO and
Expired Listing campaigns --all done automatically
while you are out generating new business in other
ways. Now that is leveraged marketing power! There
is even more to this system than I have the space
to mention here. However it is the ability to
nurture online leads using a fully customized
"drip" marketing system that I find most
appealing.
In talking to its creators (a
highly successful REALTOR and a skilled programmer
partner), I recommended some improvements to the
system. For example, ideally each campaign will
allow a unique "signature" at the end of its
respective messages, which isn't currently the
case (there is a workaround to implement this,
however it is not straightforward). Also, each of
the messages default to being sent out in HTML
mail using one of the stationary templates they
provide. Knowing that not everyone can or wants to
receive HTML mail, I would like to see this only
as an option, rather than mandatory.
Overall I like what I've seen
so far and suspect it will only improve in time.
This kind of online application is the next level
up in sophisticated online "lead retention" and
conversion. You can try view a live demo of the
system by going to the site or use it live at no
risk for 30 days. And, if you do decide to
purchase the system for your business, you can
save over 16% each month by simply mentioning you
heard about it from Mr. Internet as part of my
e-Bate™ program.
Remember, 95% of your online
leads will likely dry up and blow away --unless
you nurture them to fruition!
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