News
Keeping in touch with customers without spending much money is something many businesses would like to do.
By Robyn L. Davis
Business First Correspondent
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/
Cyndi Masters knows this well, and that's why her firm, Digital Business Solutions Inc., has created a program called PostOffice Express that allows businesses to manage opt-in e-mail programs.
The software is in testing, but it will be available to the company's clients in January.
The software costs $250 for a one-time setup and $50 a month for up to 10,000 e-mails per month. The cost stairsteps up from there, depending on how many e-mails a company sends out, Masters said.
Digital Business Solutions, located at 333 Guthrie St., develops software that relates to the Internet and builds Web sites. It employs six people, plus about six more contract workers.
The company, which was founded in 2000, does not disclose revenue figures.
Masters' firm focuses on small and medium-sized businesses, she said, and her goal is to offer them the same kind of customized programs that larger businesses are accustomed to using.
Masters said the product is managed by her firm for her client companies and is not for sale to those who are not clients.
How it works
Opt-in e-mails are sent by a business after a customer goes onto a company's Web site and fills out a form indicating they would like to get more information from the company.
It gives businesses a ready list of potential customers, Masters said, while avoiding those who don't want to receive e-mail from the business. "Opt-in e-mail is a really, really powerful marketing tool," Masters said. "It's a really cost-effective way to communicate with people."
The software, which was released in September for beta testing, has proven popular with clients. Seven clients have been testing the software for Digital Business Solutions.
Those clients include Louisville-based CompEd Inc., Oxmoor Center, HBH Insurance, and Agents Helping Agents, plus two Elizabethtown, Ky., companies, Whirlpool Tubs and Spas and Lincoln Trail Home Builders Association Inc. Masters said she could not disclose the name of the seventh business because of a confidentiality agreement.
Digital Business Solutions program can be customized to meet the needs of a business.
For instance, Oxmoor Center can set up its e-mail opt-in program to include questions about what customers like to shop for and where they usually buy, allowing the mall to target information to specific customers, she said.
Oxmoor's new Web site is live at www.oxmoorcenter.com she said, but mall officials still are determining how they want to set up their opt-in e-mail program and what kinds of information they want to collect.
Oxmoor is using PostOffice Express in its testing phase to collect e-mail addresses from shoppers who want to receive newsletters from the mall, according to Lisa Cofer, mall marketing director.
"We can notify our customers if we are having a winter sidewalk sale or a bridal show for those who are interested," Cofer said. "It is the decision of the customer if they want to participate."
Other firms interested
Masters already has heard from potential customers interested in PostOffice Express. A software firm in North Carolina in the financial services industry wants to offer it to its clients, as do several local Internet service providers, Masters said. She declined to identify the companies interested in the product. Masters said the companies heard about PostOffice Express through "word of mouth" Organizations such as nonprofits can use the software to keep members up-to-date on events or other information such as updates on legislation that affects the organization and/or its membership, Masters said.
Digital Business Solutions wants to expand and open offices in Cincinnati and Indianapolis next year, she said, but the software-development work and other functions will remain in Louisville. The other offices would serve clients in those cities, she said. Digital Business Solutions has about 50 clients in 13 states, she said.
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