Yes, I am an advocate of the personal touch; there is, in my opinion, no better way to develop a lasting relationship with a client than with a personal contact. I have been challenged this week, and agree that e-mail as a marketing tool can lead to the personal touch. With e-mail you can reach a lot of people in a short period of time with little expense. The caveat is, doing it the right way so that you don't offend those receiving your e-mail.

To implement a successful e-mail campaign requires a lot of thought and the development of a marketing plan. The following is an outline for developing a result oriented e-mail campaign.

• The starting point is to determine what you want your e-mail reader to do; what action do you expect.
• With the many tools available on the internet, your e-mail can become a very unique and attractive marketing piece. Spend the necessary time to design your e-mail to help the reader take  the action that you desire.
• If you promise, than you must deliver. I am referring to the frequency with which you send e-mails to your clients. If, in your initial e-mail, you state that you will be sending one out every two weeks, than make sure it goes out every two weeks.
• There has to be value to the reader in your e-mail. This again is part of the marketing development process. Perhaps you can offer a price reduction to your readers. Valuable advice to help your readers live a better life style connected with  investments, or physical improvement, or ???? is also well received. This value added part of your e-mail should be tied in to the profile of your targeted market. 
• Targeted market means just that, don't spam the world hoping to catch a few new clients. Carefully develop and grow a list of potential clients. You should add to your list on a weekly basis. By targeting your market you will have better results.
• Remember, don't tell your whole story in an e-mail; it could get so long that the reader never gets to the "taking action part" The "taking action" part could be to place an order via e-mail or to set up a personal meeting or to visit your store.  My point is to keep your message short and to the point in order to stimulate the desired action.

Like any other worthwhile marketing program, an e-mail campaign requires both time and a tie in with your business plan. Remember, you can't be everything to everyone, nor can you implement dozens of successful marketing plans. If an e-mail campaign is going to be used, take the time and effort to develop one that works.

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By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.