Database Building

I'm going to try and keep this short because I've filled my writing quota for the day returning emails ( ;-) Thanks Therese) but I wanted to jump on here and discuss something that came up in an email conversation between a reader and I today.

Database management.

It got me thinking about the importance of maintaining the database that you have, expanding that database, and continually asking for business and referrals from everyone in your database.

Personally I use an autoresponder to send newsletters and important emails to my database informing them about specials that I put on or new "products" that I'm going to be launching. (i.e. I sent a mass email to everyone in my database about the real estate photography asking for any LO's or Agents to contact me for a special rate on photography)

Some of you may not know what an autoresponder is... for that check out http://www.aweber.com and they'll explain it in far more detail than I ever could.

If you don't like autoresponders and prefer something a little more "manageable" you can also use a contact management system like ACT (http://www.act.com/)

Why do I "waste" 19.95 a month (yeah i do monthly billing) on an auto responder service? Because building a business is about REPEAT business. It's about REPEAT customers.

Sure, getting new customers is a great way to expand your business... and you should definitely be doing that on a daily basis. However, you should never be neglecting the people that have ALREADY BOUGHT from you. These are people that have already opened their wallet for you and already have the trust required to spend more money. These are also the people that are most qualified to give you a recommendation/referral to their friends and family! That's HUGE selling power... if you harness it right.

So, how do you stay on top of their minds?

By staying in contact with them... that's how.

How do you stay in contact with them on a regular basis without writing 600 emails every month?

An auto responder.


At this point, some of you are asking: What do you propose I do with this auto responder?

To that I say: SEND YOUR DATABASE VALUE! Give them a reason to remember you... hell, even look forward to your emails!

How do I do that? you say:

There are an infinite number of possibilities that I could use to answer that question. The simple ones are: newsletters, promotions, etc. but everyone is doing that. The point here is to set yourself apart.

What if......

You created a wedding checklist in a nice convenient .pdf format and sent it over to all of your brides.

What if......

You set up a contest and gave something away to a lucky winner?

What if......

You wrote an article on 25 ways to better present your home while listing it (I'll probably do this for my realtors)

What if.....

What if.....

What if.....


Think outside the box people! Get yourself in contact with the people that already spend money with you and they're more than likely going to spend a little more if you ask the right way...


Just food for thought.