Sending emails with goal of building and enhancing the relationship with current and former clients and to promote loyalty, cross promotions and up selling. According to a recent study by US Online Marketers 47% of respondents claim that email marketing is their best avenue for online marketing. In fact, email marketing returns an incredible $48.29 for every dollar spent .

Be careful here folks. I'm not talking about buying or renting a list of 10,000 local businesses and sending your message to them. That's spam. We're talking about building a quality list over time.

If there is only one strategy you employ for your business, email marketing is the choice.

Here are seven tips to be connected to your customers online 24/7.

1. Automate blog posts. Blogging is a great way to connect with your audience on a very personal level. Unlike articles, blog posts can be written in first person and create a connection no other medium allows. The great thing about blog technology is that you can write your blog posts in advance and schedule them to be posted each day, thus enhancing your customer contact.

2. Incorporate RSS. RSS technology enables customers and website visitors to subscribe to your online content. You can utilize RSS for your website and blog to notify your audience each time new content is added. It’s a great way to connect to your customers on a regular basis.

3. Automate Twitter posts (but don’t forget to interact too). Twitter is a handy social marketing tool because it can also be set up to post on Facebook. And with one of any number of tools, like Seesmic, you can write your posts in advance and schedule them just like a blog. This give you double the opportunity to market your new content, promotions and business-related news, and also provides you with an ongoing opportunity to connect with your customers around the clock.

4. Consider outsourcing 24/7 customer service if you sell products. Customer service is a valuable tool if you sell products. It enables your customers to ask questions right away and enhances the possibility that they’ll actually make a purchase. You can outsource this type of customer service or utilize a software solution. Services like Live Chat have improved conversion rates for some businesses by as much as 20%.

5. Autoresponders for inquiries. There’s nothing more frustrating for a customer than to send a question or comment and not know whether your comment has been received. Autoresponders can be set up quite easily to confirm receipt and to let your customer know how soon they’ll be hearing from you. It’s just good business to respond to customers immediately and autoresponders enable you to do this even when you’re away.

6. Autoresponders for purchases and opt-ins. Another great use for autoresponders is to set up thank you messages for purchases and opt-ins. Let your customers know you appreciate them automatically. You can also use this opportunity to up-sell or to provide more value by offering them something like a coupon on their next order. You can set up a series of autoresponders to be emailed weekly to stay in touch with customers too.

7. A consistent flow of valuable information. While e-newsletters have diminished over the past few years as blogs and social networking has taken off, newsletters, report clubs, and a consistent flow of valuable information is still appreciated by your online customers. Consider using regular emails to stay in contact with your customers on a regular basis and provide them with content and promotions they’ll appreciate.

As the Internet becomes more and more competitive and customers become more and more demanding, it pays to be available to them 24/7. Use technology to help you get the job done. A bigger, better bottom line will be the reward.

#1 What happens next?

Analyze your target audience’s problems. Quite often once your product solves the problem you believe your audience has, you think you’re done. However, if you ask yourself what happens next, you’ll be on your way to brainstorming new ways to promote your product and new products to promote.

For example, if your product is a weight loss book, someone buys your book and then what? What happens next? Well they’re either going to use your book and lose weight or they’re going to face other problems. Perhaps one problem that comes to you during a brainstorming session is that people need help grocery shopping, a new product or even a freebie could be a shopping list to go along with your weight loss program.

#2 Follow-up.

Repeat sales and upsales are the key to retaining customers. Don’t neglect the follow-up. Autoresponders, newsletters, and special promotions all help keep you in touch with your customers and at the front of their mind.

#3 Stay on top of trends in your industry.

Reading industry publications, blogs, and using online trend tracking tools will help you stay at the top of your industry. You can use this information to capitalize on trends and offer products and services as they’re becoming popular and in demand.

#4 Network.

Online and offline networking is a great way to take advantage of new opportunities, meet potential partners who can help you expand your business and to connect with your customers. Attend networking events, conferences and seminars offline, and participate in social networking, forums and chat rooms online.

#5 Evaluate your spending. It’s often quite easy to increase profitability by simply analyzing what you’re presently spending. Could you save money by consolidating your software accounts into one system? For example, if you have an autoresponder account and a shopping cart account, they could be combined by using a service that provides both. Additionally, take a look at where you spend your time. If you can outsource a task that eats up your time and spend that time on money making tasks then outsourcing can increase your profitability.

Increasing your business’ profitability is sometimes as easy as looking at how you can do what you’re already doing better. Stay on top of trends and in contact with your industry and be prepared to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Always striving to offer your customer the best experience possible is a great way to increase your business.

How to Increase Your Business’ Profitability

#1 What happens next?

Analyze your target audience’s problems. Quite often once your product solves the problem you believe your audience has, you think you’re done. However, if you ask yourself what happens next, you’ll be on your way to brainstorming new ways to promote your product and new products to promote.

For example, if your product is a weight loss book, someone buys your book and then what? What happens next? Well they’re either going to use your book and lose weight or they’re going to face other problems. Perhaps one problem that comes to you during a brainstorming session is that people need help grocery shopping, a new product or even a freebie could be a shopping list to go along with your weight loss program.

#2 Follow-up.

Repeat sales and upsales are the key to retaining customers. Don’t neglect the follow-up. Autoresponders, newsletters, and special promotions all help keep you in touch with your customers and at the front of their mind.

#3 Stay on top of trends in your industry.

Reading industry publications, blogs, and using online trend tracking tools will help you stay at the top of your industry. You can use this information to capitalize on trends and offer products and services as they’re becoming popular and in demand.

#4 Network.

Online and offline networking is a great way to take advantage of new opportunities, meet potential partners who can help you expand your business and to connect with your customers. Attend networking events, conferences and seminars offline, and participate in social networking, forums and chat rooms online.

#5 Evaluate your spending. It’s often quite easy to increase profitability by simply analyzing what you’re presently spending. Could you save money by consolidating your software accounts into one system? For example, if you have an autoresponder account and a shopping cart account, they could be combined by using a service that provides both. Additionally, take a look at where you spend your time. If you can outsource a task that eats up your time and spend that time on money making tasks then outsourcing can increase your profitability.

Increasing your business’ profitability is sometimes as easy as looking at how you can do what you’re already doing better. Stay on top of trends and in contact with your industry and be prepared to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Always striving to offer your customer the best experience possible is a great way to increase your business.

These articles are commonly submitted to article banks, websites, and ezine publishers. This is one of the most effective ways to market a service or product on the Internet, and it can become even more effective when it is combined with the use of an autoresponder.

Begin by setting each of your articles up in your autoresponder. It is important that each article have its very own autoresponder address, so you will need an autoresponder service that will allow you to do this. Next, make a master list of your articles, with the autoresponder address for each article listed beside the title. You can even add descriptions of the articles on your master list if you want to.

Advertising your articles one at a time can take a great deal of time… but advertising one autoresponder address – the one for the master list – won’t take very much time at all. Simply put it in your newsletter and on your website. You can even allow other ezine publishers to use this is a free resource for their subscribers!