If you are going to start an automated email marketing campaign, you need to give good value. I always look for websites that are using an email capture. There are very few businesses even doing email marketing. However about half of those who are are not giving away anything of value in order to compel customers to join their lists.

People are willing to give you their valuable time in the form of an email. We all know that emails are gone through on a regular basis. We all look for items of interest to us. Simply sending a newsletter to subscribers is not enough. You need to give value in order to receive back value in the form of more business.

A restaurant can give a free dessert for signing-up for instance. At least a discount is appreciated and will get you more people joining. That list is going to give you back instant profits beyond anything you are giving away. A returning customer spends 67% more than a new customer. That is because the fear is gone.

If you are also communicating with your customers with email, they are going to naturally choose you over anyone else when given a choice. Why? You are no longer a stranger. We all like to do business with people we know. Let them know you care and value their time and you will benefit many times over.

By the way did you notice on Sterling Ventures Marketing site, we offer a free 15 day demo on email marketing? That is known as reciprocity. I also like to call it my ‘ethical bribe’. Go ahead and give it a try.

During these rough economic times, we hear lots of disturbing news of people and businesses failing. The industries we once held as dear are rapidly disappearing. The biggest factor in starting Sterling Ventures Marketing was to help local companies not just survive, but flourish right now. For local businesses marketing has been through traditional venues for decades. Now however, prospects are no longer going to those places to find products and services. The Yellowpages have been replaced by Google searches. Customers no longer tab through pages. Instead enter the exact phrase they believe will fill their needs and are instantly presented with results on web pages. Whoever comes up on the first page of Google’s results are implicitly the best and gets the most patronage.

Radio has been replaced by the iPod or satellite radio. There are no local commercials to interfere with a person’s music again. Televisions are still just as popular. Yet, you won’t see many people reciting those famous commercial jingles of the past. Tivo and DVR’s allow watchers to pass up every advertisement with the push of a button. Even the local newspapers are declaring bankruptcy. There is no patience to wait until the paper gets delivered to catch up on the local sports team or political scandals of the day. Most people can check all of that right on their cell phones.

Local internet marketing is no longer an option. Just having a website that you never check doesn’t count. Everyone of you potential customers is searching every day for exactly what they want now. If you are not in front of them on the internet your competition is. Will you let your business be another statistic of a bygone era or will you choose to dominate the next wave of marketing online?

Do you know how much Youtube spends on just monthly maintenance? Over $4,000,000 every month! They must figure it is worth the expense. Do you know how much it costs you to place your video on the Youtube service and stay there forever? Nothing!

It is unbelievable that local businesses are not leveraging the greatest marketing tool ever created. Sterling Ventures Marketing can help you create your own customized Youtube channel.

You do not have to be George Lucas either. What gets people’s attention on Youtube are ‘reality’ style videos, not slick production. As a mater of fact the higher production value the less interested people are in watching.

You can market your company on Youtube for pennies on the dollar. As prospects start looking at your videos they feel a common bond. It is much less a barrier for these people to come in a spend money with you now that you are a celebrity. Don’t wait to get started, you may get left behind.