Building an Online Database
If you’re already in business—and new to online business—it means integrating your existing customers into your online marketing efforts.
For every single person that comes through your door, when they come to the cash register to pay—whether it be by check, Visa, or cash—you get their first and last name, and email address. Every single time! If they object, you kindly remind them that preferred customers get great discounts.
The reason for this is very simple: if you have their email address, you now have the potential to contact them for free from now on! You don’t have to physically mail anything except your actual products. Brochures used to mean at least a buck per piece by the time you add the cost of producing them or a sales person to call them up. By email it’s free!
This is a perfect example of how you raise your profits instantaneously by using this one simple technology that’s been around for almost decades. If you collect the first name, last name, email address, it allows you the ability to personalize every single email that goes out to all of your customers. You just put first name, last name, email address, date they came in, what they bought; one line for every customer. That’s all you have to do.
You’ve just built a database. You can take anything separated by commas and import into any program. People perceive this to be very difficult, but when you break it down it’s super easy.
It doesn’t seem like much when we’re talking about one email to one person. But what about sending to 500 people; mail merges by the date they came in, whatever they did, how much they spent? Within three minutes 500 customers get an announcement of a special offer for them. Do you think that within 24 hours you’ll notice an uptick in clicks, calls, or feet through the door? Of course!
It’s the simplicity of email. It’s faster than Federal Express. It’s faster than fax. You press a button, it’s there. And you can personalize it just for them.
Do you think you’re going to email something to 100,000 people or 500,000 people and you’re not going to make something extra in profit? We can send personalized emails to hundreds of thousands of people every single month and generate a lot of money from that.
Mind you, it can take a couple of years to create that kind of list, but so what? Two-years well spent to begin making $100,000 per month, yes? Think about it. If you send out an email to that list of 100,000, you’ll make a minimum of $100,000 from mailing that list just once! If we do that every month, you do the math. It’s a pretty powerful asset to have.
Just start with something. You don’t have to go high-tech. You don’t have to have automatic everything. Just get online and start marketing, start learning, and start experiencing, because if you don’t, your competitor is going to!
Stay simple. Stay clean. Get the job done. Your job is to be online, to be in business; get the customer to give you their information and buy from you. Whatever your goal is, get that job done online.
This strategy is direct – email marketing, how about social media marketing? What do you think?
Kent,
Social Media is very useful and is a great way to reach your customers. We can post status updates, videos, podcasts, and blog posts until we are blue in the face. But if we don’t have other engines running, such as our email list, our Social Media efforts are wasted. Don’t rely on Social Media alone.
As a “one man band” consultant I have been sending group emails to my database of contacts collected over the years. But my contacts are not necessarily my clients or future clients. How do you recommend that I leverage off these contacts who know me (and hopefully trust me) to find new clients?
I have sent an incentive email to my existing and past clients seeking referrals.
But how might I leverage off my other contacts?
Thanks Harv!
Steve
Steve,
Sounds like you are on the right track. To make it appealing for your raving fans (not clients) to bring referrals you need to reward them, or as you say give them an incentive. Affiliate programs are great because you can reward them with a commission for any business they bring your way. There are many affiliate tools out there like ClickBank.com or in built tracking systems that come with systems like InfusionSoft for when you are selling or giving something away online. Giving something away for free works best and is easiest for your list to send referrals too. From there you can follow up with the new leads and close the sale and then reward the referee.
For services, just make sure you always ask how they heard about you (great for tracking marketing too). Ultimately think of these guys as a separate list with a separate funnel – how are you going to give them value over time. Asking them to refer is like asking a warm lead to buy.
WOW! I was thinking emails will be out dated in the future considering social media and texts that’s where the people are. I send a mass of email out and my response from professionals are Oh, haven’t look today, let me check my e-mails. it’s in spam I didn’t get it, and can you resend it? When I text or social media, yes got it* Quick respond:)
True – people will just ignore the email – and they know you are selling them something. Its especially annoying if you didn’y subscribe to their list but they have imported your details to an autoresponder acccount – It makes me SWEAR!
If people aren’t reading your emails because they know you are just trying to sell them something, why not build a relationship with those customers by providing them with useful content instead?
I would think the same rejecters of e-mails would consider “useful content” to be on blogs, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, etc.
Mark, yes, the content approach is important too – I subscribe to several Youtube channels and like updates via video. Though I have made face to camera live videos, I find that those are the kind of people/videos I favour. It helps to build the trust and relationship. Even for a slow to melt potential customer like myself, I would prefer to give my business to someone who has invested that energy in me.
.. I meant – I have NOT made face to camera videos… yet…. 🙂
When are you coming back to the UK Mr Eker, we need to spread the word and start saving? 😉
Hi Karen,
Yes the relationship is what ot’s all about. I have a couple of people whose emails i will open regularly. I now though think that taking the people to ‘off-line’ networking opportunities will work better for me. I enjoy networking events and seminar events where you can learn and network and realise now that most people (who I attract) prefer that too. Let you email marketing campaigns contain real ‘offline’ invitations.
Thank you Mr.Harv, I’m learning about E-Business and your write was very good for me, Thanks.
Reza,
You are most welcome.
Kent, social media marketing in my experience is more about “adding to the relationship” as it were. You do things that continue to keep your customers/clients thinking about you and hopefully spreading the word (eventually coming to you to buy). Email marketing can be similar, but it’s more effective when asking a question directly, or providing information that elicits an immediate response from your client base. For example, I recently sent a survey to my list that provided immediate feedback. I could have done the same through social media, but it would have come back to me in a more sparodic way. I could in fact have done both, but I chose email because it’s direct. It’s also easier to give immediate incentives through email in my opinion. That is, do this for me and you’ll get……whatever. It’s also easier to measure email marketing. The open rates and click-throughs speak for themselves. Like all methods, each have their strengths and weaknesses and you need to look at what you are trying to achieve to determine which (or both) should be used to produce the outcome you’re looking for (or hoping for as it sometimes occurs :-))
Very good points, Aaron
Great lesson, Try do that more and more will increase out profits of business. Everything in business online need prepare in care, that is certainly and final of jobs we need have thing that get name and email of customer. We will take care them and run our business for more profits.
Thank you
Hi Harv, I’m glad this article confirms I’m on the good way. In Europe, I simply bought a database with email addresses and direct phone numbers of all company owners in the country. 200 dollars, wisely spent for this perfectly legal database!
Diana – buying lists is a legitimate way to start, but the goal should be to have some form of personal connect, or relationship with the recipients. Hopefully you develop a sense of community among the responders of your original list.
Nice article Mr.Harv!
Harv, great idea ! Thank you for all the helpful advice.
Just a reminder, if you are sending emails to people on your list, make sure you give them the option to unsubscribe and then honour their request if they ask to be removed.
Thanks Harvey – how do you integrate this with social media marketing? Or is your email list treated differently?
What are your favorite database/CRM and email programs for someone with a few thousand contacts and many separate mailing lists by interest?
Betsy,
A great email marketing program for smaller lists is MailChimp, and Aweber is another favorite. They both allow you to have many lists and create different campaigns. We use InfusionSoft as our CRM but Office Autopilot is another good one. They are both CRMs and an email marketing program in one, but can also be a bit expensive for those starting out. Well worth it though!
Thanks Harv! Very intesresting, I have to learn to apply all ths ideas in my work..i
We’re in the process of bulding up our online database. Anything to help speed up the process in appreciated. Will keep your advice in mind. Thanks Harv
Excellent read, Harv! Thank you so much!
Here at The Locking Cap, we have initiated our online database and hope to see significant returns!
We are currently the only combination locking cap for prescription bottles, aimed to prevent prescription drug abuse and children stumbling upon their parents’ medications.
If any of you have interests, suggestions and/or advice, feel free to contact me!
Thank you!
Mr. Eker,
Guess I need some technical help to build an
online database. Your lessons sound good
yet to Implement some of your ideas I think I
will need a little help from someone.
Thank You!
Thanks Harv.
I have believed in email marketing and building an online database.
For the last two years, I have slowly built a database, and am working on monetizing it now.
Initially I used TrafficWave, an autoresponder company to help me build my database, but now I have learned to use mysql databases.
Its’ been a journey, that I have enjoyed tremendously.
Thanks for writing this article Harv!
Thanks, Harv.
I needed that! 😉
hey what is your fb page
https://www.facebook.com/HarvEker
Great information Harv.
I am already sending emails. Sometimes work and some others dont. But I think it´s the way it goes…. I don´t give up. Thanks
Thanks, Harv, for getting this particular forum rolling. Very important info and you encourage quality communications, as opposed to surface/thoughtless treatment of people as lists.
Sir, Please help me become successful. I will learn quickly and will improve myself.
Most sincerely,
Abhinav Asthana