Emails are a business's most powerful asset. It's the most effective way of marketing and communicating DIRECTLY to your customer, with a number of benefits: - Low or no cost - Low barrier to entry - All digital, so no production/lead time - Customers so their inbox on a daily basis - Scalable - Can create a good relationship through campaigns CRM stands for "Customer Relationship Management" and is a software that communicates with customers and nurtures the relationship you build with them. An email CRM is the most popular use of this system, which allows you to send a variety of messages, promotions, updates and exclusive content to your email list. How do you collect emails? There are a number of ways you can build your email list, including but not limited to: - Landing page: offers, news, etc. - Payment page - Asking through conversation - Buying data Let's have a look at an example of how you can use your CRM with your customers... 1. You set up a landing page on your website or social media accounts which says "EXCLUSIVE 30% EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT". This attention grabbing header is followed by a bar that allows viewers to give their email with the hope they get a juicy 30% discount code to use at your store. 2. After inputting their email address into your landing page, your CRM will automatically send an email to their inbox with your special promo code. Whether they use it or not, you've now got their email and they've agreed to receiving promotional content. 3. A couple days later, your CRM will send them a new email saying prompting or reminding them to use their promo code (maybe with a time limit to create scarcity) in your store if they haven't already. 4. A week later you can send them another email sharing all the new products you're bringing to your store, using eye catching pictures and engaging language. 5. At this point they're starting to recognise your name popping up and a relationship is starting to be built. You will continue to send them news and updates that they might be interested in to keep them entertained. 6. Now you need to convert them into a paying customer and send them another exciting promotion you have on your store: "2 FOR 1 ON ALL PRODUCTS". You must incentivise your email list with more promotions and reward them for being a part of your email campaign.

Whether you like it or not, life is a competition. There is someone competing for your dream job, for the girl you like, for customers in the market your business operates in, to look better than you, to life more than you, to have a stronger network than you. Someone will always be there to take your place or overtake you in the race to greatness. In this competition, you must be constantly improving and working hard to not only keep your spot, but to move up and take other peoples' place. It's just reality; the higher up you are in the competition of life, the more benefits there are to capture. Choose to be mediocre (or worse), or choose to be competitive in every aspect of life and beat the competition which is out to get you.