Introduction to

Introduction to "Creating E-Mail Newsletters - A Practical Guide for the Real Estate Community"

This book is designed specifically for agents and brokers in the residential real estate business, and those servicing this industry. It provides a concise guide, demonstrating how to implement e-mail newsletter campaigns that best fit your time, wallet, resources and expertise.

Everyone can have a professional looking e-mail newsletter (or Website for that matter). You do not have to be a technical guru to accomplish this. Regardless of your technical proficiency, there is a course of action outlined here for you. This book gives you the knowledge and identifies the tools that allow you to create a strategy compatible with your unique circumstances.

Hundreds of hours of research and years of experience have gone into creating the information here for your benefit. The goal is to help you derive a personal roadmap for launching your own e-mail newsletter. Rather than taking a shot in the dark, readers will gain a clear understanding of what is involved and what resources are available to assist them. Exhaustive research has distilled a myriad of confusing data down to the essential information, tools and applications that best serve the real estate community in this endeavor.

Readers will save hundreds of dollars and countless hours of research. The research has been done for you. Free software that can be downloaded off the Web is identified, as are reputable commercial packages and "outsource services" vendors. The “do’s” and “don’ts” of electronic newsletter publishing are covered. Why and how to create your own professional Website for under $10 monthly is explained.

Those who dive into creating a newsletter without first understanding the scope of the project, or what options are available, often suffer through a frustrating and expensive experience. You will learn how to avoid the pitfalls doom a newsletter to failure. You will learn how to create and manage e-mail newsletter marketing campaigns that boost your earnings while requiring little ongoing effort or expense.

People who are in the real estate business are cost-conscious. While you want an effective marketing campaign that helps your sales, you don’t want it to spend a lot on it –in some cases, nothing at all - or have it consume too much of your precious time. That is why emphasis here is placed on identifying free or inexpensive solutions that both enhance your productivity and will help your newsletter be successful.

In here, you will find simple explanations of what can be complex subjects. Charts, tables and summaries reduce a plethora of data down to just the essential elements you need to understand. This approach lets you easily identify solutions that best fit your needs.

Each chapter builds on the previous, culminating in a process guaranteed to yield a strategy that works best for you. When you complete this book, you will have a straightforward roadmap of how best to proceed, an understanding of the costs (if any) involved, and an idea of how you can upgrade initial efforts in the future.

The book begins by defining the nature of an e-mail newsletter, explaining its content and immense benefits. It also tells you how to avoid pitfalls, like being accused of "spamming."

For the economy-minded, the book explains how you can use your own PC, along with Microsoft Outlook, Word and free Web downloads to create attractive, interesting e-mail newsletters that can be regularly sent to your customers, prospects or partners. We ultimately graduate to more sophisticated tools and outsource services. In-between, it shows you a variety of options for adding low-cost capabilities to dramatically enhance the success of your e-mail newsletter campaigns.

You will learn how to automate newsletter processes for ongoing management and prospecting. For those with (or contemplating) a Website, you will learn how to leverage newsletters to drive traffic to your website. And if you don't have a Website, you will learn why you should consider this step and what low-cost, easily-implemented options are open to you.

Written in plain English for non-techies, with plenty of examples and buyer comparison charts, the book is intended to pinpoint solutions that best satisfy your unique goals and budget. Specifically, you will learn how to:

Create interesting, attractive e-mail newsletters.
Prepare newsletter content, and where to find free articles and other information sources.
Where to get free newsletter templates.
Find free resources that will help you design your newsletter.
Gather e-mail addresses and grow your prospect base.
Promote your persona so that your name and face become synonymous with the local real estate market.
Avoid legal and market pitfalls when creating and sending e-mail newsletters.
Minimize the cost of creating and managing newsletter campaigns by using your own PC, Microsoft Word and Outlook, and free Web downloads.
Become more effective by spending just a little money to get integrated commercial tools that magnify your productivity.
Easily create or link to a Website and why you should consider this.
Create inexpensive Websites with substantial benefits.
Employ easily-implemented tools that automatically manage and promote your e-mail newsletter.
Engage "worry free" outsource services that automatically send personalized newsletters to your clients.
Develop a strategy that works best for you, identify specific approaches and costs (if any) upfront.

Throughout this process, the book provides interactive links to a multitude of Websites where additional information or suggested software can be found. Free e-mail newsletter templates, wizards, content sources and marketing tools that can be used to your advantage are also identified.

Anyone in the real estate community contemplating an e-mail newsletter will benefit immensely from the contents of this book. Readers will gain exactly the degree of knowledge necessary to be successful. With the information learned here, you will avoid common pitfalls and enjoy a streamlined implementation. You will also do this at less expense than those who stumble into launching a newsletter. Unlike some horror stories you may have heard, you will know where you are going, how to get there, and how to achieve this within your personal budget.

Assumptions About You, the Reader

You do not have to be a "techie" to benefit from this book. Anyone who has used a personal computer (PC) and Microsoft Office products will be able to easily grasp the material presented herein. Creating and using effective e-mail newsletters is not a difficult undertaking if you understand the essentials of any word-processing and e-mail application.

For the purposes of this book, it is assumed that you, the reader, own or have access to a PC or Macintosh, have a basic familiarity with Microsoft Windows (operating software), Word (word processing) and Outlook (e-mail), and are capable of interfacing to the Internet and navigating Websites. The processes outlined in this book can also be applied to alternative tools, such as Word Perfect and Eudora e-mail, but you will have to make the technical translation yourself to accomplish that. Regardless of what PC mechanisms are employed, the concepts and information contained herein will provide you with an understanding of how to approach, create and manage e-mail newsletters as a powerful marketing tool.

It is assumed that you are an experienced PC user, who knows how to use a mouse to select, cut and paste documents, photos, logos, text and Website links. Within Word, you should be comfortable with:

The creation, modification and manipulation of tables and columns.
Inserting objects (photos, etc.) into Microsoft Word documents.
Selecting, copying and pasting objects and text.
How to modify the font and appearance of text.
How to create and manipulate tables.

If you can do these things, you can create impressive e-mail newsletters that will dramatically enhance your marketing effectiveness. A cursory review of these operations is included, but it is suggested that readers consult Microsoft Word Help for detailed instructions.

It is also assumed that you have not been living in a cave or distant planet for the last five years and that you are aware of, have seen and probably read an e-mail newsletter. But just in case, we cover that subject too.

Lastly, it is assumed that you are willing to try something new, something that requires effort on your part to be successful. You must be personally motivated to master e-mail newsletters and willing to learn the steps involved in their preparation. After all, the more effective you become in using your newsletter as a marketing tool, the more money you will ultimately put into your pocket.

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