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Email Marketing newbie needs advice

by aon92
5 replies
Hello all,

New to this forum, I am hoping to find some good and valuable advice.
I am a young 18 year old, recently started selling my product (bench tops) online, had a great start with relative success but now traffic/interest seems to be dying down, so I am thinking of contacting local small construction companies to see if they're interested.


I was just wondering how I would go about emailing small/medium sized business owners in the construction/building industry?

1) What type of email address will look more appropriate? will a '@hotmail.com' address be suitable?

2)What SUBJECT should the email be? How can I make them read it without them thinking it's spam, too sales-like, or a shotty company/product?

3) How do I go about asking if they wish to purchase my product? (Cheap price is my main selling point)

4) How should I start off my email?
E.g. Dear Business Owner, this email is in regards to... ?

5) Any professsional/business jargon I need to learn of?

etc.

If you have any further advice please do not hesitate to tell

Thank you very much
#advice #entrepreneur #inexperienced #young
  • Profile picture of the author Carl Fridsjö
    A hotmail address would put me off immediately. I would suggest gmail if you don't have your own domain.

    Be honest, polite and to the point while you're selling it in. You tell them the benefits by buying from you, address their fears and problems.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Motion
    I'd get a simple domain name that matches what you're selling e.g. andysbenchtops.com

    Throw a simple website up showing your product and include testimonials from previous customers as well as contact details.

    1) What type of email address will look more appropriate? will a '@hotmail.com' address be suitable?
    Use Google Apps to set up andy@andysbenchtops.com

    2)What SUBJECT should the email be? How can I make them read it without them thinking it's spam, too sales-like, or a shotty company/product?
    There's tons that could be written on this. I'd try something personal. Try and find out who is at the top. E-mail them directly. Again, try and mention something personal to that company.

    3) How do I go about asking if they wish to purchase my product? (Cheap price is my main selling point)
    If that's your USP, then find out the price they're selling at and simply ask if they'd be interested in sourcing something cheaper.

    4) How should I start off my email?
    E.g. Dear Business Owner, this email is in regards to... ?
    "Hi Firstname, just a quick email"
    I find personal quick chatty style emails work best (in my industry anyway)

    5) Any professsional/business jargon I need to learn of?
    Depends on your niche!

    I'd also say just emailing them might not work, you may need to follow up with a call, or maybe even actually visit them. Just get out there and give it a try - def go with the proper web domain and website though. We're talking about $10 and a bit of your time here!

    Try LinkedIn.com as well to connect with business owners in that industry.
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    • Profile picture of the author bobby_shahzad
      May I ask how do you plan to send these mails?

      Email deliverability is important, after all what is use of a list if your message does not reach your audience?

      And your list source is important. Make sure age of your list is not more than six months and it does not have too much bounced addresses. Don't go for scrapped lists as you may be hitting lot of spam traps
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe Motion
        Originally Posted by bobby_shahzad View Post

        May I ask how do you plan to send these mails?

        Email deliverability is important, after all what is use of a list if your message does not reach your audience?

        And your list source is important. Make sure age of your list is not more than six months and it does not have too much bounced addresses. Don't go for scrapped lists as you may be hitting lot of spam traps
        I don't think aon92 intended on emailing hundreds of companies. It seems like a small niche - I doubt he would be using bulk email services.

        Just find there contact details on the contact page of there website, or do a WHOIS check using Whois Lookup - Domain Names Search, Registration, & Availability | Whois.net.

        Remember, businesses want to be contacted!
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      • Profile picture of the author aon92
        I was thinking of going through my yellowpages directory and creating a list of emails, then finding a sort of mass email sender and doing it through there?
        As you can see, I am a bit lost at the moment haha

        EDIT: Or if my list is small I can just copy and paste the emails by hand?
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