Wikipedia defines email marketing as being:
“The act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It involves using email to send advertisements, request business, or solicit sales or donations.”
Does Email Marketing Work?
So, according to this definition, it seems that an aspect of this process is to hopefully get new clients as you build the trust with your readers. The reality is that this is very difficult to do. And people are hesitant to hire someone they meet through email or the internet.
The Truth Behind Email Marketing
Truth be told, most clients that I have gotten have been through referrals. In other words, a trusted friend and not an email list brought customers to me. It has only been a small percentage of jobs I’ve done that have actually come from the web, organically speaking. Meaning, without purchasing ads and just relying on keyword placement.
And Example of When the Internet Came Through
An example of one of these clients is someone who came to me from a VERY NICHE website that I had at the time about having marketing services for actors which I used to do a lot of. Anyway, someone had searched keywords like “actors demo reels” and so on, and had found my site. This person also joined my email list which did help to reinforce our relationship.
Low Expectations, But Still Useful
I don’t have an expectation that through our email list that we will get that many clients or if any at all. So why then do we do our newsletter? First off we enjoy the process of doing it and second of all it adds “credibility” to those referrals we get. Also email marketing does help to position you as an expert which is very important.
Exciting New Product
All that said, we have a new product coming out soon that we believe has the potential to sell itself. It is at the moment a service that is needed but is currently underserved. More to come on that soon!
Why the 4th Wall?
To me breaking the 4th wall is letting you in on things that have worked for us, while you simultaneously have the potential to one day become one of our clients. It could happen! Anyway, we shall see…