At the beginning of every year, a friend of mine in the retail space vows to get serious about using email marketing for his shop. But then the day-to-day of running his business always gets in the way of those good intentions. Sound familiar? The situation got me thinking.

What if we could break that pattern of wanting to do better with email but not being able to find the time?

I dug a little deeper into this problem with my friend. He told me that even when he finds himself with 15 minutes to devote to email marketing, he’s not sure what to do with the time. And so he ends up focusing his attention on something else. How could we make it so that 15 minutes here and there would be enough to make good on those email marketing resolutions? I brought this challenge to the team at Constant Contact. The rules:

• The solution has to be simple
• Each task can be completed in 15 minutes or less
• People should know exactly what to do next

That’s how we thought up this virtual workshop series.

We’re designing a series of tools and virtual workshops so you can take full advantage of those 15-minute increments. You’ll end up with more than an email marketing plan for the year; you’ll know how to execute on that plan. Mark this as the year you will increase sales for your retail shop with email marketing.

Here’s what you can expect for your first batch of easy-to-use tools:

• The 2016 Marketing Opportunities Worksheet
• The 2016 Email Marketing Planning Calendar
• Virtual Workshop, Part 1: The 15-Minute Email Marketing Plan

Here’s what these tools will do for you:

The 2016 Marketing Opportunities Worksheet Jot down the important dates for your retail shop on this simple worksheet. You’ll also find a list of special dates and holidays for the year. You’ll end up with a one-page overview of your email marketing opportunities for the year. Get your 2016 Marketing Opportunities Worksheet The 2016 Email Marketing Planning Calendar Here you’ll enter the dates from your worksheet in an actual calendar. Then you’ll plot a short series of emails and the dates they need to go out for each promotion. Get your 2016 Email Marketing Planning Calendar Virtual Workshop , Part 1: The 15-Minute Email Marketing Plan  The tools above are designed for you to use on your own. But we know sometimes it’s better to go through the process with someone. That’s the purpose of this workshop. We’ll walk you through how to use the worksheet and calendar, and spend some time answering your questions. Watch The 15-Minute Email Marketing Plan Workshop here. 

Here’s what you should do next:

1. Bookmark this post. We’ll be updating it with links to all of the assets for you.

2. Register for Part 2: Write Your Email in 15 Minutes or Less (Register to receive the recording even if you can’t attend live.)

3. If you’re an overachiever and want something extra, watch Beat the Odds: Get Your Customer Engine Running as a primer to the Constant Contact approach to email marketing.

What about the rest of the tools?

We’ll provide you with more information regarding the tools and workshops associated with the following areas in the coming weeks:

• Part 2: How to Write an Email in 15 Minutes or Less
• Part 3: How to Brand Your Email in 15 Minutes or Less
• Part 4: How to Measure the Impact of Your Email Marketing
• Part 5: Checklist: Grow Your List, Grow Your Retail Business

Hope to see you at the workshops. Let us know if you’ll be joining us in the comments below. The post Announcing the Virtual Workshop Series for Retailers: How to Increase Sales with Email Marketing appeared first on Constant Contact Blogs.