Networking Continued

One of my favorite tools is Constant Contact. If you haven't heard of Constant Contact by now, it's an e-mail newsletter program. It allows you to create professional e-newsletters and manages your subscriber list as well. You don't have a list? Start with your friends and family. If you have business cards with e-mail addreses from people you've networked with include them too. With Constant Contact you can also create a subscribe form you can put on your website. It takes time but your list will grow. PLEASE DON'T SPAM!!! Send e-mails to people you have a relationship with only and it will pay you back in the long run. Unsolicited mail rarely acheives the result you want anyway. T o give you an examples; I have been using Constant Contact for a some months now and here are my average results:
55.9% Opens
21.1% Clicks

Constant Contacts average results are:
37% Opens
8.9% Clicks

At the risk of sounding conceited, I am pleased my results are much higher than the average. Maybe us designers have an advantage when it comes to creating ad's that get results; hmmm. At any rate, the moral is: make sure you are always on the top of your clients, and friends and families minds. It may take a while before you see any results, so be patient. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day and if you expect to have any longevity in this business it will take some time. Don't quit it and it won't quit you.

You can find more information at: www.constantcontact.com.

Brent