There is a new “.eu” top-level domain on the way, which will enable businesses and individuals to choose a pan-European Internet name for their websites and e-mail addresses.

Pre-registration of domains has already started as from 7th December 2005, and this so called “sunrise period” will last for 4 months. During this time, any holders of prior rights can apply for the registration of their domain names, so long as they fulfil the basic criteria, part of which is being resident or having a registered office in the EU.

After that point (7th April 2006), registrations will then be opened up to the general public - rather quaintly, they call this period the “Land Rush” in a way that seems almost reminiscent of the old GoldRush of the Wild West!

So will it be a “Gold Rush”? Well, from an online branding point of view then it is certainly something to be considered - up until now, the two major top level domains for UK companies have been .com and .co.uk so this will now add a 3rd which should manage to grow in strength over time. So , just as I currently recommend UK companies to take the .com domain name even if they wish to trade off the .co.uk, so it may well be valid for companies to consider safeguarding their brand online by registering the .eu domain as well.

For other people the emarketing interest will be if they missed out on the .com or .co.uk version for a specific product or service and still want a top level domain, then this gives them another opportunity to do so and so we may well see a rush for certain sought after domains. Have no doubt that most of the single word terms and acronyms will be snapped up fairly quickly.

Yet with most registrars charging substantial fees for registering during the “sunrise period” and annual price levels being more akin to .com rather than .co.uk levels, then the likelihood is that any initial “goldrush” will be streaming very firmly in the direction of the registrars themselves!

You can find additional info on the EUIRD site.

When looking at how to use email marketing, then the question always arises about how should I send out the emails that I have created to my verified list of contacts. Some look to Microsoft Outlook as a way, and indeed it does have the facility to mail merge from a Word document to a recipient list that you have created. Should you decide to take this route then you will find this overview to be of use.

However, it is a solution that I would have difficulty in recommending to anyone interested in embarking on anything other than a very basic email marketing campaign.

For a more comprehensive and recommended solution to achieving the right elements for an email marketing program, there are a number of options. Firstly you should evaluate between three primary options that exist for you:

1. Use an external agency and outsource your email marketing
2. Run the campaign in house using a purchased desktop / server software system
3. Run the email marketing in house and use a hosted / online system

The initial selection may not always be the most appropriate so it is worthwhile checking out what would best suit your requirements given the internal resources that you have and taking into account the support and advice that you may need to comply with legal and commercial I need to carry it out properly.

a) Use an external agency

Agencies come in many shapes and sizes and will range from large marketing organisations which have added email marketing to their set of marketing services, through to specialist boutiques focused on email marketing or emarketing in general.

In particular, the small agencies may prove to be very effective if they work with you and take help iron out the legal, copywriting that you face, in addition to perhaps designing the emails, personalising elements of the content (essential!!), sending them out and tracking them. The tracking will allow you to judge the success of your campaign as well as permit a better focus as you carry out segment testing that should be standard in an email marketing campaign to achieve the best results.

The flip side is potentially the cost involved, though the Return on Investment (ROI) will almost certainly be a lot higher if they have specialist expertise in the area, rather than using it as an add-on to their offline marketing / mailing services which is a different issue. However, combining the two as an integrated direct marketing approach is perhaps the most powerful and compelling solution.

2. Run the email campaign in house using a purchased desktop / server software system

If you have the necessary in house resource, then buying a system could be an option but do make sure that the software supplier includes upgrades in the purchase price. The market is still developing and the services offered are getting better as well as prices coming down.

A couple of suppliers that offer a service worth looking at are given below, but it is worth comparing the services they offer as this will change, particularly in the tracking arena:

Broadcast (from a company called MailWorkz)
Gammadyne
Lyris

When considering this option, elements that you will want to bear in mind are your internal capabilities in terms of designing the email and working with the software, and your IT set-up including whether bulk email going out through your ISP is something that they will be open to, together with the online processing of bounced emails, unsubscribes etc.

3. Run the email marketing in house and use a hosted / online system

This is probably the simplest method in terms of IT set-up although there is still a learning process with regard to learning the system you select. The system is hosted externally by a company specialising in email marketing and you pay a monthly charge to use the system - this charge is generally either dictated by service level, size of mailing lists or number of emails sent. It is good to check the exact charge configuration if cost is a major issue.

You would import the contacts from your own database or Excel spreadsheet (usually through a CSV format). create the emails within the system and then send out the campaigns from there. Some will offer tracking as part of the package while others offer this as an upgrade so it is worth checking it out if tracking is a key element to your campaign. Some recommended suppliers offering this set-up are:

Constant Contact
Mailer Mailer
AWeber
Vertical Response

If you are combining two or more lists, then you may also wish to consider cleaning the list of email addresses before using it. The basic action will be to “de-dupe” it, which means to remove duplicated addresses or multiple addresses for the same person. Most of the email marketing systems will have a simple de-dupe facility which is probably all that you need – once the system is automatically adding email addresses, then again all of them should do verify current addresses on an ongoing basis before adding a new one. If you have an old list or are unsure about it, then it would probably be wise to verify the recipients as a double opt-in if you want to do this properly, which is what I would recommend.

Email marketing is very powerful but also very diverse in its uses so choosing the right method of sending the emails is key to success. If you are in any doubt about how to run a campaign then it is probably worthwhile finding a small agency to work with you initially to ensure you get it right to - you will then be in a much better position to ask the right questions when you make the move and research your next solution.

Firstly a Happy New Year to one and all and here’s hoping that it will be a successful one!

There are a number of major initiatives that I will be undertaking this year and one of these will be the establishing of a new blog based website focusing on the use of Business Blogging as a powerful online marketing tool called Better Business Blogging.

The site will combine an online set of information together with an email based course covering how to set up a Business Blog and the elements that you will need to consider together with a section on best use of SEO and other methods of promoting your blog and with it your business.

The course itself is a series of emails covering the following subject areas:

• Introduction to Business Blogs and their use for marketing
• Questions to consider (and answer!) before setting up a blog
• Elements to bear in mind as you set it up
• Taking the first steps
• How to keep writing and ideas to help you
• Making best use of your blog for Search Engine rankings
• Mistakes to avoid in developing your Blog
• Promoting your Business Blog
• Round up and help

The series of emails will start in the first half of February which is when the accompanying site will be going live.

If you are interested then post a comment and I can add you to the list. You will then be contacted closer to the time to check that you still wish to receive the emails when it goes live - this is so that we have full “opt-in” from people receiving it.

The site will then focus on the different marketing uses for a business blog whether you are an independent consultant looking to establish your expert credentials in your market niche or a medium sized company looking to find better ways to establish a longer term dialogue and relationship with your customers. We will look at all the aspects and how to use the Business Blog technology to achieve it.

It’s going to be good and your feedback with be much appreciated - I’ll keep you informed as to its progress.