I use an eblast system to send out this newsletter. And I recommend that you do the same. If you are not already sending a newsletter or at least some sort of occasional communication to your clients, you are missing a tremendous opportunity.

As one of my clients recently told me, his eblasts are by far the most effective means he has of marketing his business. People still read email. Perhaps not everyone on your mailing list will open and read whatever you send them, but many will and some will be stimulated to contact you for business.

Who do you write to and what do you write? It all begins with a good, reliable list of email addresses. The more, the better. If you can segment your list in some way, that too is helpful.

Your goal should be to send specific, interesting mail to your recipients. Simply advertising your goods and services often is not enough. You want to provide something of interest to them. It could be useful information, humor, noteworthy ideas and developments in the industry. Whatever it is, it should interest and entice your reader. Make them come back for more and want to open your next email. And it should not be a hard sell. A useful article that helps them improve their business can lead them back to you in the future when they do need what you’re selling.

Don’t underestimate the importance of subject lines!  (click here to read more)

I’m often asked “What else can be done to market my business on the Internet?” Whether you’re an independent consultant, an artist on a shoestring budget or a large and growing law firm, every enterprise can use free marketing ideas to promote their brand, products, or services.

Here is a list that Ken Lyons pulled together of 63 free (or almost free) marketing tips and tactics that any business can use to generate publicity, buzz, and awareness. Below, I will list just five, but the other 58 can be found here.

1. Find bloggers to review your products. Use simple query operators, such as “[your product type] + reviews [or] review” (e.g., “lingerie reviews”), to locate promotional review opportunities for your product offerings. You can also use free link building tools from Buzzstream to generate prospecting queries.
2. Similar to leveraging product reviews for free promotion, mine the search results for bloggers who host product giveaways, using simple query operators, such as “[your product type] + giveaway” (e.g., “charm necklace giveaway”).
3. Hold a sweepstakes, contest, or a giveaway on your site, promote it on your site, and on your social media accounts for some free buzz.
4. Pool proprietary data from your organization’s niche, industry, or even customer database (get customer consent and anonymize the data, of course) and compile it into a free report, like the HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing Report or the Veracode State of Software Security Report.
5. Author and publish guest posts on high profile or well-trafficked sites in your niche. It’s a great way to promote both your brand and your expertise. Free guest blogging communities, like My Blog Guest and Guest Blog It, are a good starting point.

And there are many more, but the above can get you started. Best of luck!