[01.08.10]

According to a recent survey by VerticalResponse, over two-thirds of 831 small business respondents said they plan to increase their use of both email marketing and social media in 2010.

Let's face it, even if you do have a Web site, the chances are that it's competing with hundreds of thousands of other sites to get your prospective customer's attention. Rather than trying to pull readers to your information, push the information out to them. Do this through an email newsletter.

Email marketing is an effective method of keeping customers updated on events, specials, and new services you provide. You can also use it in the same way you would a blog: providing industry information, interesting facts, or links to content you've published online.

It's also a great way to build your social media lists. Ask the recipients to follow you on Twitter or Facebook by providing the links.

The bottom line on what users like about email newsletters: convenience. Once they are delivered straight to the subscriber, they require no further action beyond a simple click.

Keep in mind: Your email blasts can do many things, but always make sure they are informative, are published spaced out over the year, give your clients a reason to come back to you, and don't sell them anything they're not willing to consider. All email newsletters should have an easy to use unsubscribe option.

To see how well your email blasts are working, make sure you use software that gives you statistics on open rates, click rates, and bounces.