How To Use Your Home Savvy eZine

 

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Link your HSM to your Website
Invite Reader by Using "Teasers"
Bulk Email Software
Include Your HSM Link In Your Existing Email Newsletter

 

 

Link your HSM to your Website

By providing a link to your HSM directly from your Website, your HSM can effectively keep visitors on your Website longer to help you build brand awareness quickly and more effectively. It can also help you to boost your search engine page rank through the use of recripricol linking (i.e., link from you Website to your HSM, and from your HSM back to your Website).



 

Invite Reader by Using "Teasers"

As an option to creating your own invitational emails, you can use the teaser we provide. Simply drop your teaser into your outbound emails that you send to your contacts list or new contacts. YOUR teaser can be located by adding /teaser to the end of your HSM address. For example:


http://absoluteinsp.homesavvymagazine.com/teaser

(Instructions for using the teaser are located below the teaser image.)




SAMPLE OF "TEASER" GRAPHICS (NOT ACTUAL SIZE)

To add and send a teaser in your outbound email message, just follow these simple instructions:

  • Go to YOUR teaser page.
  • Simultaneously hold down your CTRL button plus letter A to "select all" (CTRL+A). the highlighted areas will appear with a gray cast over them.
  • Simultaneously hold down your CTRL button plus letter C to "copy all" (CTRL+C).
  • Open your email application and start a new email message.
  • In the body of your email message, simultaneously hold down your CTRL button plus letter V to "paste" your teaser (CTRL+V).
  • After you have dropped the teaser into your outgoing email, you can begin editing the personal text located below the main header graphic. Use the text editing tools provided in your email program to stylize the text to your satisfaction.
  • You will need to add your Unsubscribe instructions, and add your mailing address plus your telephone number in the footer of your teaser as required by law.

It's that easy! And, if you are using an email program that allows you to edit the source code of your outgoing teaser email, then you can change background colors, page layout, and other elements. Please note that some email applications may strip our background color out. Keep in mind, too, that if your email application is set to send only text emails (as opposed to HTML emails), you will not be able to use our teaser.

Be sure to always get emails from every new contact you meet including new clients, new prospects, and new business connections. Call past contacts and clients in your Rolodex® and ask for their email addresses if you don't already have them. Make sure you have their permission to send them your HSM teaser.

If sending email, be sure that your email complies with state and federal anti-spam laws. the Federal CAN-SPAM Act does not restrict you from sending unsolicited emails, but here's a rundown of the law's main provisions:


  • It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.

  • It prohibits deceptive subject lines. the subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.

  • It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.

    Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.

  • It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

 

Bulk Email Software

You are responsible for sending your own emails as we are not in the email delivery business. This is primarily because HSM is a Web-based publication and business system, not an email newsletter. With that being said, there are numerous bulk email software application available to you. Some are free. Some are not. Whichever system you choose, you need to choose one that offers these basic features:

  • Import Lists - Your software should allow you to import text or CSV (Comma Seperated Values) lists.

  • Source Code Editing (HTML Capable) - Your software should allow you to create, edit and/or import HTML code if you plan on sending emails with graphics or stylized text (such as bolded or colored text).

  • Subscribe/Unsubscribe Management - Your software should allow your recipients an easy way to subscribe or unsubscribe to your list and automate the process. Keep in mind that different emails application handle this differently, so pick the one that use a method you like. For example, sophisticated software may use a Web-based form-field that communicates directly with a server-side database while less sophisticated systems may only require that subscribers and unsubscribers send an email with "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe" order [in the Subject field] to a specifically assigned email address that you use for email campaigns. In such cases, you software will check that email and match the sender's email address against your list and mark it according to the order found in the subject line.

  • Sending Limits Removed - Most "freeware" versions of a bulk email software application set send limits as a means to motivate you to buy their "Pro" version. Sending limits range from 50 emails per campaign to a few hundred emails per campaign. If you have a very large list, then you will want to make the small investment to purchase the "Pro" version, or you can send multiple rounds of smaller campaigns.

Here are two bulk email applications we recommend:

NAME SendBlaster Pro
PRICE 75 euro (about US$110) per license
FEATURES • Very low cost for the features it offers
• Runs on your computer. Does not require server installation.
• Built-in templates
• Up to 100,000 emails per list
• SMTP or Direct Send featuers
• WYSIWYG and HTML editing (like MS-Word or other word processors)
• Manual and Automated 'Subscribe' and 'Unsubscribe'
• Multi-list storage
• Multi-thread sending (up to 20 threads per campaign)
• Send-speed management
• Hard and Soft bounced mail management
• Attachment capabilities
• Import/Export list capabilities
• Domain blacklisting (so you don't send to certain domain you don't want)
• Triple HTML mail, Text mail or Multi-part sending
• Downloadable, pre-integrated email subscription forms (from SendBlaster Website)
CONSIDERATIONS • Does not offer campaign statistics
• Does not offer campaign scheduling (automated sending)
• Does not allow campaign interruption and restart from interruption point
• NOTE: Email campaign stats are not necessarily required unless you simply need them as we can provide you with Web stats. Remember, you are not emailing HSM, so it is not vital to know how many people opened your email when we can already how many people have actually visited your HSM site.

NAME Send Studio NX
PRICE $279 per single-use license - Volume Discount
FEATURES • Requires installation on Web server
• Built-in templates
• Campaign statistic tracking capabilities
• Campaign scheduling (automated sending)
• Send hundreds-of-thousands of emails per campaign
• Open source PHP (Fully Unencrypted)
• Create campaign auto-responders
• WYSIWYG and HTML editing (like MS-Word or other word processors)
• Manual and Automated 'Subscribe' and 'Unsubscribe'
• Multi-list storage
• Multi-thread sending
• Send-speed management
• Hard and Soft bounced mail management
• Attachment capabilities
• Import/Export list capabilities
• Domain blacklisting (so you don't send to certain domain you don't want)
• Triple HTML mail, Text mail or Multi-part sending
• Integrated subscription form builder
CONSIDERATIONS • For more-advanced users


 

Include Your HSM Link In Your Existing Email Newsletter

If you already send a newsletter via email to your contacts list, then consider adding a link to your HSM in it. Users of Constant Contact, Aprosite, Home Hints eNews, and other email newsletter systems can still use HSM to increase the amount of time your ad and brand are in front of people. This, of course, increase brand awareness and helps to build top-of-mind name recognition - and that's the whole point of marketing!



 

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