While customers’ in-boxes are overflowing, here are some tips to get them interested in your company’s e-mail newsletters

By Carmine Gallo | Businessweek.com

I recently received an e-mail that had me riveted from start to finish. It contained a true story about two men aboard US Airways flight 1549—the one that crash-landed into the Hudson River. Both passengers had regularly backed up their critical computer data. One did this by transferring info from his hard drive to a second computer, but he had taken both laptops on the plane. The other passenger had used an online backup service called Mozy (owned by EMC). I read their stories in the monthly Mozy newsletter, which I chose to receive when I signed up for Mozy myself. It’s full of fun, interesting, and valuable stories and tips.

During a recent interview, Dave Robinson, Mozy’s vice-president of marketing, explained how any business owner can make an e-mail newsletter more compelling. I also spoke with Janine Popick, chief executive of VerticalResponse, an e-mail and direct marketing provider for small businesses. Here’s their advice on how to get customers to read your e-mail newsletters.

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8 Inexpensive Marketing Strategies

From © Kelley Robertson, for About.com

In a recent marketing workshop I attended, I discovered that most business owners rely on just two or three marketing strategies to attract new business. However, there is a multitude of ways to drive new business to your door. Here are a few:

Networking. Networking is perhaps the most commonly used approach by small business owners. However, it is often poorly executed. Many people attend a networking function and take the wrong approach by trying to meet as many people as they can. They bounce from person to person, handing out business cards like it is an Olympic event and they are vying for the gold medal. They fail to realize that the most effective way to network is to cultivate relationships and give referrals to other members first. Read article…