e-mailennium

There is a time coming . when many things will change. E-maillennium!

The Internet has changed the way we do business. Customers expect you to have a website, information links, one-stop-shopping online - and businesses are scrambling to meet their demands. "Be proactive. Embrace the Internet as a powerful marketing tool and you will reap the rewards of this new medium."

To keep myself at the forefront of this new medium and to use it to market my own business - http://www.theMARKETINGSITE.com - I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject. I believe that you will also benefit by reading this practical, step-by-step, how-to guide Internet Direct Mail by Steven Roberts and his Team.

Steven defines E-maillennium as the era, at the beginning of the 21st Century, when direct marketing evolved from paper mail to electronic delivery over the Internet.

Advantages of Internet Direct Mail over traditional Paper Direct Mail:

	It is faster - you can reach your target within minutes, even seconds
	Response is immediate - 90% of your responses will be in within 4 days
	E-mail is a global medium - it eliminates time and place restrictions on business
	It is less complicated to produce
	It costs less to send - cents rather than Rands
	It works as well as or better than regular direct mail - in many instances. It increases response rates by making the purchase easy, fast and at a time and place of the buyer's choice
	It is interactive - instantaneously

Internet DM can be used for many activities and will improve your marketing results:

	Acquire new customers
	Sell more products and services to existing customers
	Get orders for your products or services
	Generate requests for follow-up from your salespersons
	Direct prospects to your website
	Generate enquiries for more information
	Create affinity programs
	Announce new products, services, pricing and renewal policies, contracts and subscriptions
	Promote special offers
	Conduct market surveys
	Invite people to participate in a seminar or online discussion
	Precede or follow-up on paper direct mail/marketing campaigns
	Publish or distribute an online newsletter (e-zine)
	Use as a reminder or teaser
	Build brand awareness
	Promote your own company or your online presence
	Provide added value for customers
	Convert web surfers to online buyers
	Build customer relationships and employee relationships
	Increase frequency of communication at minimal cost, and many more

What the e-experts have to say

If your company is networked and has a website, nothing should stop you from marketing directly to your onlinecustomers and prospects. E-mail campaigns are not only less costly and more effective than paper mailings but also bring you instantaneous results and help you form lasting relationships with your customers in a way that is impossible using 'bricks-and-mortar' techniques.

Abbie Lundberg, editor of CIO magazine: "When the dust from the transition to the new e-conomy settles, the corporate landscape will be strewn with the carcasses of organisations that were unable to adapt."

Jane Applegate small business editor: "If you own a small company and you are not online or planning to be online within the next 6 months, you are heading towards obsolescence and you will ultimately go out of business."

Internet entrepreneur, Dr Jeffrey Lant: "To succeed in the new millennium, you must succeed on the Internet."

So, is traditional Direct Mail Marketing dead?
Some believe that "Direct Mail will remain viable for certain niche markets." And others, that "it will not remain viable for large-scale consumer-based or B-to-B marketing operations." According to a study by Forrester Research - the Internet will siphon 10% of all US ad spending - a total of $27 billion - away from traditional media, with newspapers and direct mail being the hardest hit.

However, the Father of Direct Marketing - Lester Wunderman did say, that one medium has never destroyed another and never will. Writer Umberto Eco, supports this opinion, saying that "The appearance of new means of information does not destroy earlier ones; it frees them from one kind of constraint or another."

Steven sums it up
The e-maillennium is here - to stay. Add the Internet to your marketing arsenal. However, tighten your focus on paper direct mail, catalogues, print and press advertising and other general advertising so that you improve your return on investment. The race to win in e-business is on. By mastering e-mail marketing, you gain an edge that will soon leave your competitors in the dust. To look for more golden nuggets in this wonderful guide, go to http://www.edithroman.com