Let's talk about growing your data base. Remember it's quality not quantity that you're after.

Without a doubt, the best means of growing a subscriber base is to distribute content that people want to read about, or know about. (89% of readers like interesting articles in an eNewsletter - The Aussie Email Newsletter Survey 2007) It can be articles, pictures or even links to other information but it has to reflect your expertise and be relevant to your subscribers.

Remember the aim of the whole exercise is to strengthen existing relationships and build relationships with potential customers. It costs six times more to attract a new customer that it does to keep an existing one, so take time to work out how to inform, entice, spoil or entertain your clients through your eNewsletter.

Take the local restaurateur whose newsletter contains the latest lunch/dinner menus, social snaps of his clientele and special discounts for subscribers. Great, relevant content that reflects the business and strengthens relationships with his clientele. If you ate there, why wouldn't you want to get it? You might even be in it.

Recognise someone in the picture? How likely would you be to forward the newsletter on to them? Smart, effective use of the medium.

How does our restaurateur build his email list? His staff ask for emails to confirm phone reservations. The restaurant accepts email reservations as well. He has a bowl for business cards, with a monthly lunch draw as an incentive. He may even run a competition through the eNewsletter where the receiver needs to reply to enter ... which gets him into his client's email address book as a safe sender. Again, smart interactive content.

Surveys can work as well for the right business and boost your mail list. When Great Look eMail Marketing conducted the Aussie eNewsletter Survey 2007, not only did we get hundreds of respondents, we also increased our email database by over 100. How? Existing subscribers forwarded the survey (and the eNewsletter) to their friends and colleagues. The content worked.

In short

• value your existing subscribers
• give subscribers content they want and they'll pass it on
• always collect email addresses
• make sure your eNewsletter is easy to forward

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