Here is a list of a few features of five very popular services, to help you make your decision easier:

1ShoppingCart – 1SC is a great all in one solution for all of the things you will need as a coach, consultant or speaker, but it has levels of service for different prices that make it affordable before you need everything they offer. For just $29 per month you can get a basic email service that allows you to send HTML newsletters and set up auto responders (messages that are sent automatically when someone signs up for something that you have them opt in to). It’s easy to use, and allows you to set up templates to make sending emails a breeze. Many VAs are familiar with 1ShoppingCart, as it’s a very well-established service and quite popular as well.

You can also set up multiple lists with 1SC so you can keep your marketing projects separate when necessary. I always recommend 1SC when you start out simply because you can grow with it as your business grows – and then you can use the shopping cart and the affiliate software make up the professional package for $99/month, when you start selling things and working with partners and joint ventures.

Aweber – another very simple and popular email and autoresponder service, Aweber also allows you to set up separate lists for different events. Their templates for newsletters and opt in boxes are just great, and easy to customize. Aweber’s basic price is $19 per month, and I know many of my clients and colleagues like it because it is so simple to use. it doesn’t require a whole lot of technical expertise to send your own newsletter and that’s a big selling feature! It also integrates with your Facebook and Twitter easily, so you can reach your whole audience when you send out your newsletter. Aweber is a service that you can learn to use yourself, so you can split the workload with your support staff if you like.

Vertical Response – Vertical response is another good newsletter service that has an interesting feature – you can pay for it monthly or you can pay per email sent. It also offers great templates to build your email and is very easy to use. It supports multiple lists as well which is helpful if you work with events or if you work with partners. You also have the option to run surveys through Vertical Response, and it integrates with Facebook and Twitter as well. Vertical Response pricing starts at $10 per month or around a penny an email if you choose that option.

Constant Contact – many of my clients and colleagues started off using Constant Contact as their email provider. Some still use it and some have moved on to other systems (usually to a shopping cart system). Constant Contact is famous for being user friendly and they also allow you to set up autoresponders with your basic email marketing service. They also have optional add on services for online surveys and event marketing as well. There is great functionality in using these services as they are designed precisely for what you need to use them for. They have a huge inventory of templates for each of their platforms and they really require very little technical skill to set up professional looking correspondence. Pricing starts at $15 a month for their basic services.

Mailchimp – Mailchimp has become much more popular  lately due to their new list of features. I always hear great feedback from people who are using it. It is also very simple to use, provides many templates, has a great deliverability rate and also has some great ‘power features’ that you will want to check out. It’s easy to set up custom templates and send campaigns, and the reporting is very complete as well. The coolest thing about Mailchimp… it’s free for up to 500 subscribers or 2,000 emails a month. If you are just starting out, it sounds like a pretty easy decision to me!

Whichever email service you decide to go with, be sure to try out a free trial. Most services offer a 30 to 60 day free trial along with tutorials so you can learn how their features work, and if they are the right fit for you. If you are planning to work with a VA for your email marketing, be sure that he/she knows the system you are planning to use, inside and out.

Building a relationship of course begins first by finding your ideal client, but after that you want to build the know, like and trust factor (KLT) with them. Once they know, like and trust you, they will be more likely to buy from you. One of the best ways to start to build that relationship is to send out a regular newsletter like this one!

The first thing you want to determine when you are setting up a newsletter is what kind of content you will have in it on a regular basis. Determining this will be almost entirely based on what your ideal client wants to read about. Newsletters really are a dime a dozen these days and everyone’s inboxes are so filled up with so many things, that you will want to be sure to provide good content for your audience, so they don’t unsubscribe.

A great newsletter layout is one that is similar to this newsletter: a personal note from you at the top, a feature article (or tips), and then something you recommend. This newsletter setup is an effective way to build KLT because it has three key elements: the personal note helps people feel more connected to you on a personal level; the article shows them that you have expertise in your area; and the recommends area helps you to share things that you want to share with your people.

How often to write? It may seem overwhelming to put together a weekly newsletter but it really is important to stay in touch with your people at least once a week. Once you get going it really isn’t that difficult, and the feedback you get on a regular basis is really good – you can adjust your content based on questions you receive from your audience too.

What to do when you can’t write an article? You don’t even have to write an article each week. You can just touch base and send out a few tips on something you came across through the week. You can send out some of your favourite resources. You can even send out a notification for someone else’s event (don’t forget to use your affiliate link for passive revenue!) The key is to provide that contact point weekly, and once you start, be sure to keep it up!

Once you know who you are writing to, and what you are writing about, then you need to determine a service to use. Many of them make building your newsletter so easy because they provide templates to get you started. There are all different kinds of services at different price points. You guessed it … we’ll talk about some of the most popular ones next week!