The 2009 Major League Baseball season is upon us and each team is going to face many obstacles and challenges over the next six months in order to reach the postseason.

Some teams win with hitting, some with pitching and some are lucky enough to have both. Over the course of a season, players get injured, hitters go cold and pitchers all of a sudden can't throw one over the plate.

Depending on how a team deals with these hurdles can determine if they are successful or not in the end.

Achieving success on the baseball diamond is not any different than in business.

If you are an email marketer for example, one of your greatest challenges is figuring out how to add new subscribers while retaining your present subscribers and keeping them active.

More so than any other part of your email marketing practices, you must review and optimize how you capture addresses to allow for easy additions and changes.

With the global economy in a downswing, many email marketers are going to see subscriber lists decline through no fault of their own.

This is when you have to start thinking like a crafty bench boss who just found out his best hitter sprained his ankle.

You can't rely on an email home run to save the day all the time, so the following tactics should help you retain more subscribers:

• Remind subscribers of the value and benefits of remaining on your list. Don't be shy. Brag about how great your service is and all the top features you offer. By making this clear, a subscriber will be more likely to stay on the team than look elsewhere.
• Sell them on the benefits at the point of sign-up. Make your message as enticing as a fastball right down the middle of the plate and the chances are much better it will turn out to be a home run.
• Survey your list of inactives regularly to see if you can return them to active status before cutting them from the big club. If they don't play ball, at least you tried your best and can move on.
• Stay on the top of subscriber's minds through regular mailings. Taking a trot around the bases on regular basis will certainly keep fans interested in your product or message.
• Promote other communication channels to allow your subscribers to follow you in other networks, besides email. Include your network accounts (Facebook profile, Twitter ID, etc.) in the administrative footer of your messages and call them out prominently in your welcome programs. Remember, not every fan of a particular baseball team became a follower the same way. They may have liked an individual player, the color of a team jersey or even the comforts of the home stadium. Regardless of how they became a fan, the end result is the same and that is more backers for the team and more subscribers for you.
• Always show interest to your clients. A personalized message can do wonders when trying to retain customers. Ideally your play on the field keeps the fans interested but if you can make them feel special, they may just stick with you. Why do you think baseball teams have fan appreciation days?
• Increase the choice a customer has by providing more information beyond your usual service. Baseball teams are always trying new ideas to give fans more access and let them feel more involved. In terms of your business, this could include offering complimentary services, discounted rates or sneak previews of upcoming features if they remain on your list

By adding any of these helpful tactics to your email marketing efforts, you should be ready to take the field and compete at a high level.

Play ball!

If you want to read more useful tips and what best practices to follow, remember to visit SimplyCast's articles and resources page.