Are you thinking outside the inbox?
Strategies to help you reach a wider audience 
One of the things I really love about social media is that it gives you a great publishing platform for your emails at little to no cost. Here are some ways that you can give your emails a longer life, outside the inbox.
Post Your Emails to Your Social Profiles Now a days, it's pretty easy to post your newsletter to Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. In fact, if you use an email service like Constant Contact, it's as easy as checking in a box when you schedule your email. But if you're using a system that does not provide this service, you can still do it by cutting a pasting your email's URL and then posting the link on your profiles. To get the URL, you can create an archive of your email. Or you can view your email in a web browser and cut and paste the URL from there.
Make Your Emails Easy to Share There are three things you can do to make your emails more share friendly. First of all, provide content that people want to share. It could be a great tip, an interesting case study, a good deal or just something funny. Next make sure you provide your subscribers with "Social Share" buttons and "Forward to a Friend" buttons. A good email service provider will have share buttons and "Forward Email" links that you can add to your emails. You can also encourage people to share your content by including a call to action like, "if you found this interesting, share it with a friend." Repurpose Your Content If you write original content, you can take your main article and post it in article directories and blogs. Many blogs welcome guest posts. Look for blogs that talk about a similar subject but are not in competition with you. Include a "subscribe to this email" link in the footer or bio of your articles.
Create an Archive Page for Your Emails You can create an archive page for your emails and link to it from your social sites, and include in the footer of your emails and your website.
Broadcast Your Email Sign Up Online and Offline Include a "Join Our Mail List" link on your website's home page. If possible, include it on all your web pages. You can create the HTML script for this through your email service provider. Add a call to action to your business cards, brochures and in-store signage, encouraging folks to visit your website to sign up for your newsletters, special offers, etc.  In fact, you can include a Quick Response code in your printed pieces that takes them directly to your sign up page. To learn more about QR codes, check the links in the side bar. To see it in action, scan the code in this email and you'll be taken directly to my sign up page in Constant Contact. Pretty cool!
These are just a few ideas. For more, visit the Empowered Woman Summit or the Social Boot Camp. Main Takeaways: Post your content in your social sites and in blogs and article directories. Make your content easy to share. Promote email signup on your website and collateral pieces.
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