“The fortune is in the follow-up.”

That’s what Ali Brown, online entrepreneur and marketing expert says. In fact, it’s how she built her now thriving business and coaching career – one that led to her recent appearance on ABC’s Secret Millionaire spring 2011 finale.

But it’s not just follow-up – it’s the right kind of strategic follow-up that creates the relationships that ultimately lead to a fortune in business.

Brown tells business owners (I’m one who’s listened to her in recent years and used her program to engage my clients and leads, especially using the one approach I’ll get to in a moment) there are three ways – these days – you can effectively engage your list:

1) “Send a quick EMAIL to say “nice to meet you, here’s a link to my website, and let me know if you’d like to discuss further, etc.”

2) “Give them a CALL and try to set up a meeting or initial consultation to find out if it’s a good fit.”

3) “Add them as a friend on FACEBOOK and TWITTER, so they can get to know you and your services/products a little better.”

These approaches hopefully lead to a response. If one, or any of them do not, it can feel like you’ve reached out in vain.

Response is key.

But how do you help assure that you will eventually get a response? We’re accustomed to immediate response these days when we reach-out and engage others through text messaging, a tweet, a comment on someone’s Facebook page/wall, even a sent email.

Brown comments, “But in today’s online environment, it’s crucial that business owners recognize that a RESPONSE is multi-dimensional. A person isn’t ready to buy until they scope out your website, read a few testimonials, find you on Yelp, and check you out on Facebook.”

She adds that one of the most (still) effective tools out there to maintain that responsive relationship is with, what she calls, an ezine. Brown admits (and I had the same thoughts since we’ve been introduced to the power of social media) that it’s easy to dismiss an enewsletter as being so…well…”1999!”

Consider this from Brown’s research and expertise…

“According to a 2010 study by ExactTarget, 56% of U.S. Internet users interact with brands only via marketing emails, compared to 1.3% who interact only via Twitter and 0.7% by Facebook. (This doesn’t dampen my social media fires at all…it just reminds me how slow to adapt many are. And it’s those slow adopters that we’ll reach via other media. Just a thought…)

And business owners are responding… A 2010 StrongMail study found that marketing and business leaders still choose email marketing as the top area of investment growth (65%) in 2011, above social media marketing (57%) and search marketing (41%). Email is still very much a heavy hitter in the online marketing game.”

No doubt, having (or reviving) another tool in your client development toolbox could add dollars to your bottom-line. And in this economy you and I can use all the help we can get!

I’ll cover some of the keys to success that an ezine or enewsletter can bring to your biz in an upcoming post. Until then, check out Ali Brown’s resources. I’m a satisfied user!