How To Run A Successful E-mail Marketing Campaign

Lauren

Mommy's Helper - Mom's Market Ezine
Issue #129
Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

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Editor's Rambling:
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Note from Anita

My oh my ... where oh where should I start? Things have been the normal crazy-busy around here. Something new popping up everyday!

I guess I'll start with my doting about one very special friend of mine, Lauren Haugh. Lauren has been busily working HARD to open her brand new website (or should I say castle) called www.MomsOnlineRetreat.com. Kara and I have been personally helping her in creating "The newest online hideout for moms who just want to get away for awhile and focus on themselves, their own hobbies and interests." (And we ALL NEED this once in a while, right?)

The grand opening of Lauren's castle is today starting at 9:00 A.M. EST. There will be guided tours of the old castle, an opportunity to chat with the Retreat Coordinator herself, as well as many other moms who may share your interests and/or hobbies. Be sure to stop by and wish Lauren a congratulations on her most unique website, www.MomsOnlineRetreat.com. She'll be in the Public Chatroom - Retreat 1 until 10:30 P.M. EST located at http://www.momchats.com/chat/chat-room.html

And I'll only make one more note before I this gets too long ... We have a few spots open yet for our next online class, Offline Events. If you're need in new local customers, be sure to stop by http://direct-sales-news.blogspot.com/2006/05/need-new-local-customers.html for more details.

Till next week...

~Anita DeFrank
Mommy's Helper

Note from Kara

Happy Wednesday! It's been a fun and busy week, what with a new project in the works. It's not actually *new*, but rather an "add on" to a current website. I'm brushing up on my SEO skills by taking a class, and working on my copywriting skills at the same time.

This may be the last weekly issue you see of MHMM. Are we going to stop publishing? Nah, we've worked too long and hard on this ezine to walk away. Instead, we are switching to a bi-weekly newsletter. You'll recieve this newsletter every other week instead of every week. We are doing this so we can focus more on our Direct Sales Newsletter, and other projects out there to better serve the WAHM world. If you have any questions or comments, come on over to Mommy's Helper Community and share with us!

See you in TWO weeks!

~Kara Kelso~
Mom's Market

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Article
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How To Run A Successful E-mail Marketing Campaign

E-mail marketing has received a bad rap in recent years with most considering all efforts to be little more than "spam". Firewalls have been erected against them and filters set in place to prevent marketing e-mails. However true this may be, it is nonetheless one of the most inexpensive ways of marketing any product or service. Add to this that there are nearly a billion people connected to the Internet with millions more being added every month, and you have a market so vast that it literally boggles the mind. For someone offering a legitimate product or service but with limited funds for advertising, e-mail marketing is often the best option for growing a business. Here are some tips that will help you reach that vast audience via e-mail marketing.

Make your email personal. No-one appreciates being regarded as just a number or an email address in cyberspace. It is usually pretty obvious to the reader if the email has been generated by some kind of bulk mailing software if the message is not personalized in any way. A non-personalized message is far more likely to be deleted immediately than one that actually uses their name. Personalization is very important within the subject line of the email. The subject line will determine whether the email will be deleted without opening or if the email will be read beyond the subject line. The response rate is directly related to the effectiveness of the subject line. Also, it is best to avoid any kind of gimmick within the subject heading such as $$$ or an excessive use of exclamation marks and capitals.

Any successful e-mail marketing campaign will have a clear call to action. If you have sufficiently stimulated their interest but do not tell them exactly how to proceed in using your product or service, everything has been wasted. Most successful e-mail marketers use links to direct people to a site where they can sign-up to receive the products or services being advertised. Regardless of whether or not you use a link or just post a phone number, just be sure that there is a clear route for people to take once they have decided to purchase your wares.

Perhaps the best e-mail marketing tip is to experiment. Do not hesitate to create 2 or even 3 different versions of the same offer. Then, try sending a hundred of each out and see which generates the greatest response. It is usually a good idea to experiment with link placement, subject heading, and the copy itself. Just be sure to only change one thing at a time. First, find the best link placement. Then, try 3 or more versions of a subject heading, and so on. It will take some effort but you will eventually end up with a refined e-mail that will generate the results you want.

E-mail marketing may have a bad reputation but this does not mean it is ineffective. If this was so, we would be seeing fewer and fewer commercial emails flying into our inboxes. In fact the opposite is the case, e-mail marketing is growing. So as long as you remember to personalize, experiment and include a clear call to action, then your subscriber list will bring you the profits that you are looking for.

Desmond Mantor is the Sales Manager for Have Traffic that specializes in providing highly targeted traffic for commercial websites. For further information on how to drive highly responsive traffic to your site today visit: http://www.havetraffic.com

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Childcare
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10 Memorable Gifts You Can Give Your Children for Their Bday

Everyone loves a special gift on their birthday: especially our kids! I have put together a list of 10 memorable gifts you can gift your children on their birthday without breaking the bank.

1. Art supplies: almost all kids enjoy crayons, markers, stickers, colored pencils, gel pens, special papers and scissors, sidewalk chalk, water colors, homemade rubber stamps, "how to draw" books calligraphy instructions, or origami instructions and colored paper. An art supply gift not only encourages the youngsters to use their imagination, but it can be an extra treat when you spend time with them using them.

2. Books are always great gifts for any age: you can get musical or squeaky books for the little ones, short stories for preschoolers, adventure books for 9-11 year olds, and so on: there is a book for every taste. You can also buy books about your child's interests, books about careers, etc.

3. A classic movie, which never goes out of style, great for when friends come over, or on that day when they are bored and nothing else could help.

4. For older boys, a tool kit would be great: gives them the opportunity to work side by side with dad, and possibly learn a life skill.

5. For older girls, beads could mean hours of fun. Buy a variety of colors and shapes and watch you little princess enjoy hours of happiness.

6. To the gourmand give a roll of sugar cookie dough from the grocery store, along with a couple of cookie cutters, and a rolling pin. Again, this would be a lot of fun for the little one to make, and share with friends and family.

7. For the nature lover, a gardening kit with a couple of small pots filled with potting soil, some seeds, and a plastic watering can give countless hours of fun, while caring for the plants, and watching them grow.

8. A disposable camera will add a boost to the party. If your budget permits, add a small picture album, and you've instantly created wonderful memories of that birthday.

9. A basket of fun: find an inexpensive basket, or another container, maybe a pail for kids and fill it with fun, cheap stuff. For instance, silly putty, a water gun, a deck of cards, sidewalk chalk, etc. For boys, you can add some little cars and for girls, throw in some hair accessories. Finish it off with some candy or a pez dispenser and you have a fun gift. If you find some fun, small things that most kids think are neat, pick up a bunch so that at any time you have a supply of items to mix and match for a birthday.

10. Children crave attention from important people in their lives, (mom, dad, grandparent, aunt, older sibling). Give that special child the gift of time: a day out with you complete with lunch, a movie, and/or shopping for the gift of their choice.

Adriana Copaceanu provides people with creative gift ideas that don't blow the bank. Find many Gifts Under $5 at her site. In a hurry to get a gift? Check her Gifts 911, where you'll find last minute gifts for any occasion. And for more Article written by her, check out http://www.free-content-resource.com/

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Coffee Break
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Unsolved Mysteries

?Lisa Barker

What?s Furry And Smells Like Toothpaste? Answer: One of our cats.

If you guessed correctly, then I know you are the parent of at least one toddler and you have my sympathy.

It seems that young Mr. Aiden (my two-year old) discovered the toothpaste my oldest daughter, Rachel, keeps in her backpack to clean her teeth at school.

Well, maybe he thought it was hair gel. He and the cat had spiky, blue, minty-fresh hair.

They just don't prepare you for these things when you're about to become a mom. They never tell you that the VCR will hold exactly one toddler-sized fistful of Cheerios or that a banana can be mashed through a window screen.

Now don?t get me wrong. I supervise my children, but they?re good at sneaking under the radar. How do they do that? By doing things I?d never dream of in a million years.

Did you know dog food floats? And did you know that when an entire bag is poured into the dog?s water dish that it swells up four times its size?

Did you know that peanut butter in a pillowcase looks suspiciously like something else? Have you ever seen a white cat with Crayola Marker stripes? And can you guess how many marbles it takes to stop up a toilet?

If they can make diapers that dissolve, why can?t they make crayons that dissolve ? like in the washer BEFORE they go into the dryer?

Why can?t they make perfume, baby powder, flour and vegetable oil with child safety caps? Why can?t they make kitchen chairs with pressure sensors you can set so that when you step into the other room to plunge the marbles out of the toilet, you know when your little one is attempting to build a sophisticated ladder in the kitchen to get the cookies on top of the refrigerator.

Why can?t my husband find the permanent black marker in the top drawer, but my toddler can? Can?t they make postage stamps that don?t stick to anything but envelopes?

I?m not complaining. In saner moments I can reflect on these incidents and see not just the humor, but the intelligence my little ones possess. And then I have to ask, ?Why can?t God create children with time delay intelligence, so that they don?t amp up until they enter kindergarten?? I mean, that?s what the teacher is trained for, isn?t it?

I?d love to spend my parenting energy guiding my children and encouraging their latent talents, but I don?t have time! The Alphabet Song and counting have been replaced by the need for me to sleuth and figure out just why the cat has tartar control hair.

I went to college for this?

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Jelly Mom? is written by Lisa Barker, author of "Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane...Doesn't Mean You Are A Bad Parent!" and syndicated through Martin-Ola Press/Parent To Parent. To publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments, please visit http://www.jellymom.com.

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Recipes
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CROCKPOT CHICKEN ALA KING
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
I celery rib, chopped
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 package (10 oz.) frozen peas, thawed
2 tbsp. diced pimentos, drained
Hot cooked rice

Combine soup, flour and peppers in crock pot, stir until smooth. Stir in chicken, celery, onion and green pepper. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or until meat is cooked through. Stir in peas and pimentos. Cook 30 minutes longer. Serve over rice.

Do you have a favorite recipe to share?
Post them at Mommy's Helper Community (www.MommysHelperOnline.com/phpBB2)!
Note: Recipes must be quick, easy, healthy, and original. Nothing from a cookbook or a box please.

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