When you talk to most business owners or entrepreneurs about email marketing campaigns, they will probably tell you that email simply won't work. In fact, many experienced marketers will agree.

And, I must admit that if you are using email campaigns incorrectly, they will prove to be ineffective - a large waste of time and effort. Indeed, if used improperly, they can even scare off potential customers.

But, what if you use them the right way?

Email advertising can definitely be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate new leads as well as stay in contact with previous customers. For example, my business focuses on owner builder construction loans. Therefore, my office not only needs to use email to generate new business, but we also need to stay in touch with previous owner builders who will want to build again - not to mention refer friends and associates our way.

Our owner builder financing is a nationwide service that we provide, so the bulk of our marketing revolves around the internet and emails. Online advertising through email marketing campaigns can be a very effective way to bring quality traffic to your web site if you do it properly.

Email marketing can only be effective if you build a quality list of potential customers. There's a pretty common saying among marketers: "The money is in the list."

So, the first step is to realize that SPAM is not the way to go. As frequent recipients of SPAM, we don't like it, so we shouldn't expect potential clients to like it either.

If you send out unsolicited emails to people who have no interest in receiving your message, then your email marketing campaign is doomed for failure. You will waste a lot of time and money, as people simply delete your emails without ever glancing at them.

Or, worse, your company will quickly build a poor reputation within your specific industry. It doesn't matter if you're selling owner builder construction loans or the latest organic fruit juice. You don't want your company to be known throughout your industry as being SPAM happy.

So, what are you supposed to do to make your email campaigns effective? First, just like any strong direct marketing, you need to email your message to a focused, targeted audience.

You need to have a list of people who have agreed to receive information on your type of products or services. This means running a lead generation ad of some sort, whether it's online or not. For example, for our owner builder loans, new leads find us on the internet and request that we send them some free information or a free report of some sort. At this point, they have identified themselves as potential owner builders who have raised their hands, asking for more information. They have essentially given us permission to email them.

And, you must build your email campaigns so that you obtain maximum exposure for your marketing dollars.

Building your list does not have to be difficult. There are a variety of ways to get people to opt in to your list. What are opt-in subscribers? They are people who have agreed to subscribe/receive information on your product or service. These people themselves have chosen to receive information by way of emails.

One of the easiest ways to get prospects to opt in is to bribe them with something of value if they provide their information. Free reports, free books, or other toolkits of some kind - anything that is specific to your target audience - are effective ways of doing this.

If you don't want to build a list, or want one even faster, you can always purchase lists of "opted in" prospects. This method is not as effective as building your own list, but it can get you jump-started while you work on your own list building techniques.

But, either way you decide to do it, understand that a targeted list is the key to success.
Now that you have your list, you can send emails. Leave all of the hype out of email advertisements. Focus on telling your potential clients the really important message:

o How your product will benefit them.
o Why they need your product or service. Or, better yet, why the WANT your product or service.
o Why they should choose you over your competitors - what makes your product unique.

The main reason why email advertising/marketing does not work for many marketers is because most of their campaigns are sent out to untargeted subscribers who consider their ad to be spam. In our case, if a person hasn't told us they are considering being an owner builder and want more information, then our emails would just be a waste. It will work the same for any industry, not just owner builder loans.

In order for your email advertising campaign to work you must ensure that you are specifically targeting those individuals who have agreed to receive information that pertains to what you are offering through your website.

If you don't do it correctly, email campaigns will be a huge waste of time. But, if you remember that the money is in the list, you will be well ahead of the game. You will build a strong list of focused, targeted leads who wish to hear what you have to say. At this point, email campaigns become a cheap, effective way to get your message to them.