You do not have to have a million dollar budget, just connect to the *right* network

Yesterday, one of my clients sent me an e-mail asking how to share content from a ConstantContact Newsletter on to Faceboook. As I have stated in previous articles, ConstantContact is not my favorite tool for e-mail marketing systems (http://www.examiner.com/business-technology-in-philadelphia/what-is-an-effective-e-mail-marketing-campaign). My personal favorite is iContact. Researching the answer for my client, added another reason to prefer iContact over ConstantContact. ConstantContact does not share the storage link for their e-mails – usually you will see – if you have trouble viewing this e-mail in your browser , click here XXXXX to view on the web, so my client could not share the content to her social media distribution network.

I have said a mouthful of technology terms but all I am really saying is – there is no built in connection between ConstantContact and Facebook. This is an important asset when choosing an e-mail marketing campaign because social media websites are now distribution networks. It is important to share the same information across multiple distribution channels. The Newman Networks Newsletter goes out twice a month via e-mail to 6,000+ business owners in the Delaware Valley. This is just 35% of our distribution network.

Here are the channels:

a) iContact (e-mail marketing) – 6,000

b) Facebook

• Personal Profile page (http://www.facebook.com/nickynewman) – 5,000
• Business fan page (http://www.facebook.com/newmannetworks) – 1,750
• Personal fan page (http://www.facebook.com/nicolewrites) – 850

c) Twitter @nickynewman – 100 (not utilizing this tool, just a pass through to www.linkedin.com)

d) Linkedin

• Personal Network (http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolenewman) – 1,400
• Groups – Nicole Newman is a member of 15 groups – 2,000+

Altogether, our total distribution network is 17,100 and the majority of the channels are social media websites. Having a connection between the e-mail marketing campaign and the distribution networks is a buying decision for your business. iContact allows me to share my newsletter because all newsletters are stored on the community space of iContact online (techie way of saying I have a URL or link for each newsletter). Since each newsletter is hosted on the web, I can use a free web-based tool like http://www.addthis.com or www.sharethis.com to publish the content to my social media distribution channels. Read more @http://www.examiner.com/internet-business-in-fargo/integrate-social-sharing-like-twitter-and-facebook-into-your-website.

Social media has become the best distribution channel in terms of ROI (no cost will always have a positive return), if the websites are used properly. Join me on Saturday, September 11th at Drexel University from 9:30am – 12:30pm as I teach you how to use Social Media for Business. Register Today @ http://socialmediasept2010.eventbrite.com/ .