Building Your Mailing List

Not everyone who looks at your website will become a customer immediately. Home inventory services are an investment; people buying investments generally take their time in making a decision. Giving site visitors the opportunity learn more about the service by signing up for your free e-newsletter is one way to convert more prospects into customers.

How do you build your mailing list?
Sign up for an online list management service. These can be free (ad-supported, with the option to upgrade to ad-free, for a fee), like Bravenet, or paid, like Constant Contact (Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing). Both services will offer you code that you can copy-and-paste onto your website to capture a visitor's e-mail address. (Both are opt-in services, meaning the prospect must provide their e-mail list before being added to the list.)

How do you get people to sign up?
Easy. Ask them.

• Put a "Subscribe" box on the home page of your website.
• Put another "Subscribe" box on the "contact us" page. Put a teaser above or below it "Want information about protecting your valuables? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter."
• Have an "Articles" or "Resources" page? Add a "Subscribe" box to that page. Put a teaser above or below it "Want more great articles with ideas on protecting your home? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter."
• Tell visitors why they should subscribe. You can setup an autoresponder with a free report (i.e., "Protecting Your Valuables." or "Why You Might Not Get What You Expect When You File an Insurance Claim") when they sign up for your e-mail list.
• Ask your referral partners (insurance agents, real estate agents) to send an e-mail to their database offering your free report if they sign up for your newsletter.
  

Once you have a mailing list, make sure you send an e-mail to them at least once a month -- include free tips, reminders, and advice (disaster checklists and preparation ideas.).

Be sure to also create a privacy policy to reassure e-list members you won't spam them.

For example:
[Your Company] respects the privacy of our online visitors. As a general policy, we do not anonymously collect personal data from visitors to our web site, though we may use "cookie" technology to gather non-personal information from visitors. This is standard practice on the Internet. We use the information gathered by cookies to improve your experience when you visit our site, among other things. We also may collect aggregate information about our visitors. For example, we may track the total number of web site visitors in a particular period.

In general, when you visit our websites and access information, you remain anonymous. When you sign up for a our electronic newsletter or e-mail list, each message you will receive will include instructions on how to unsubscribe from that list. Any personally identifiable information you provide is used solely by [Your Company] or other companies who are involved in the operation of this web site. [Your Company] does not sell this information to third parties, though we may share aggregated non-personal information with advertisers on our site, if applicable.

However, we will disclose personal information when required by law, in response to any demand by law enforcement or other appropriate government authorities, or if the personal information is pertinent in a legal proceeding or court action.


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