It’s that dreaded time of day… opening your email. How much junk mail did my spam filter miss? How many times will I have to click to get rid of all this UCE (uh, Unsolicited Commercial Email, ). That my friends is what most people think of when they think of Email Marketing… Junk Mail, aka SPAM (still not sure what the association with a fine nearly meat product is…?)

For those of us that live our lives in cyber-space, we’re used to wading through a bunch of junk mail everyday, every once-in-a-while finding a gem even. But most Internet citizens think of it as the worst the web has to offer. Too bad, because it can be a very useful communication tool with the businesses you want to hear from, say Super Suppers or Creative Courtroom (just to name a couple of completely random companies).

Email Marketing is simply using email to distribute your marketing message, instead of (or in addition to!) the newspaper, magazines, or (Heaven help us!) telemarketing!

I actually do quite a bit of Email Marketing, almost 10,000 emails a month, and all of it with one vendor, Constant Contact!

Constant Contact is a service that gives me the tools to manage my contact list, design email from very simple to very elaborate, and automate the sending process. They also spend a lot of time working with ISP’s to make sure as many of their emails get through as possible AND making sure they stay off the RBL’s (real time black lists!). No small feat my friends.

I’ve included a link below if you want to try them out. They have a 60 day free trial going on right now so don’t miss it. You can also email me if you have any questions about how it works or how to make the most from your email marketing campaign!

- Thom