Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Build Your Opt-In Email list | 7 Important Basics
You've heard it before, your best friend online is your opt-in email list.
Time and time again you have heard how important it is to develop a list of email subscribers that will allow you to place your products, special offers and priceless information in front of them on a regular basis.
Not sure about that? Let's consider the facts:
Fact: Online buyers are skeptical.
Fact: Online buyers need to trust you before they buy from you.
Fact: Online buyers require your product or service to be placed in front of them an average of 7 times before they actually buy from you.
Fact: Buyers that buy from you once are likely to buy from you again.
Fact: Your email subscribers need to be extremely targeted (interested) in what you have to offer.
Fact: Most visitors leave your site and never return.
So what do these facts mean to you? They mean your success as an online marketer depends on creating, nurturing and communicating with an opt-in email list.
This is what your email list will do for you:
- Allow you to capture your visitor so you can get them to return to your site on a regular basis.
- Allow your visitors to develop a trust in you. The best way I know to gain trust is to communicate with people. Tell them what you're about, what you offer and what your products and services can do for them.
- Keep them abreast of new products, specials and events. If they had a positive buying experience once, they're likely to buy again.
If you're a savvy business person and understand how this strategy can help you build a successful online business here's what you'll need to do.
1) Publish A Newsletter
This is not as hard as it sounds. Start with a simple informational newsletter that you can send to your readers at a minimum of once a month, preferably once a week. Offer information relating to your products or services and sprinkle it with sales offers, product information, website updates, FAQ's, etc. Keep your newsletters fun and develop a writing style that has flair. You want your readers to look forward to hearing from you. Encourage feedback, respond quickly to inquiries and be helpful.
2) Invest In An Email Autoresponder
An autoresponder service or autoresponder software will automatically collect your email list information. It will also allow you to send emails automatically to your list. You can pre-write your emails and schedule them however you wish. It will also send auto replies for any email you receive. The options are tremendous, however the key is automation and we all need lots of that.
3) Set Up An Email Opt-in Form
Typically your autoresponder will help you create a form to put on your website. The key to setting up an opt-in form is to keep it simple. You only need to request a name and email address. Also be sure to state on your form that you will not sell or share email addresses with anyone.
4) Offer Free Incentives
As an incentive to getting your viewers to subscribe to your newsletter offer them something free. You can write a simple e-book and give it away, or find an e-book online that you can give away.
Remember that if you really want someone to do something, it helps if you can give them something in return for their patronage.
5) Write articles
Writing articles is an excellent way to get subscribers. It works by placing a link to your newsletter subscription in the byline of your article. If someone enjoys your article they're very likely to want to find out more and subscribe.
Not a writer? Not a problem. There are plenty of people out there willing to write articles for very reasonable fees. The amount of sign-ups you gain and the potential for sales can more than make of for the cost of the article.
6) Write an e-book
Did you ever write a term paper in school? Writing an e-book is not much different. If you are knowledgeable enough to have a product and a website, you are knowledgeable enough to write an informative and useful e-book on your topic. Think carefully about your products or services and list everything you know about it. You might be surprised at how much you really know.
An e-book will capture email addresses because your e-book should promote your newsletter link as well as your website link. Try giving away your e-book to other business owners to use as a free give away. Once your e-book gets into the hands of interested parties, you're email list will grow like wildfire.
7) Join and participate in online forums.
Respond to comments, answer questions and give advice when you can. Most forums allow you to create a signature line which you can setup with the link to your newsletter opt-in form or the page of your website that has your form on it. Another excellent way to build trust, promote your expertise or simply make a few business acquaintances.
If you can offer valuable information for free, establish yourself as an expert and remind your viewers to come back to your site, you'll be well on your way to achieving increased traffic and in return, increased sales.
© Copyright 2005 Elizabeth McGee
About the Author: Elizabeth McGee is the creator of Pro Marketing Online, an internet marketing tools site with no B.S., no hype, just trusted information on building your business with the very best marketing tools and software available. Sign up for her free marketing tips newsletter at: http://www.pro-marketing-online.com
Implementing an Opt-In List to Optimize Your Internet Marketing Success
In order to make a success of your website or online business, it is obvious that you will need customers.
Although everyone who visits your page will not become a customer, they must have some interest in your product or service that brought them there in the first place and therefore they are a potential customer.
Potential customers are much more likely to become actual customers if you make an effort to keep in touch with them. This essential marketing tool is called and opt-in list.
An opt-in list will allow you to keep track of your potential customers by obtaining their email address in order to keep them informed about the latest updates for your product or service. You can create your own optin list or you can use an opt-in list creator that is available online from several sources.
The benefits of creating your own opt-in list is that you will be able to send personal messages to the potential customers and they will not need to do anything, whereas with commercial opt-in lists, the customer will receive a generated message and will be required to verify their acceptance of the message.
An important part of creating a successful opt-in list is to keep in mind that potential customer will visit your site from many places and may not see your homepage. Therefore it is imperative to have the ability to subscribe to the mailing list from all pages of your site.
You should not, however, make the subscription information a focus point of every page. It is a good idea to put it at the bottom or top of the page where it is visible but not distracting. It is also a good idea to promote your mailing list by using a give-away.
You could offer a service, a discount, or an ebook. You can also drive potential subscriber to join your mailing list by writing articles that will benefit the reader and at the same time, build your credibly as an expert.
You can include the subscription information in the byline of the articles. You could also write an ebook with your subscription information on each page, which will allow the customer to easily access the information and join the list with ease.
Once you have created the mailing list and now have your potential customers within your grasp it is your responsibility to keep them updated and interested. Provide them with quality information that is up-to-date and of interest to them.
Offer discounts or a newsletter, something that the reader can use. This will keep them interested and will drive them to your site over and over,eventually they may make a purchase and if not, they will be informed enough to use word of mouth advertising for your site.
Angela Giles can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: http://www.BurntOutExecs.com/pips.html
Friday, September 23, 2005
Autoresponders Equal Automatic Internet Marketing Success
What if you could send out all the information that your potential customers have requested without checking your email or answering a phone?
While this may seem impossible, it is becoming more and more popular among the most successful Internet marketing gurus. This is all due to what is called an autoresponder.
An autoresponder is an automatic method of responding to emails sent by existing or potential customers and is an must for any Internet business. Time is money and answering emails personally take a lot of valuable time for both you and the customer. Not only do autorespnders allow you to spend the time elsewhere in your business, but it gives the customer access to the information almost immediately.
Since there are so many different uses for autoresponders, they can be of value to virtually any type of business. Some choose to use the autoresponders to answer frequently asked questions about a product or service. Others use them to provide information about pricing or product information. Autoresponders are also a nice way to welcome new members to a website or group as well as thank them after a visit.
One might ask what would be the advantage of using autoresponders as opposed to simply listing the information on the site. An important feature of autoresponders is that they send you an email notification each time a response is sent out. This allows you to track the success of your promotions as well as have the email addresses of potential customers at your fingertips so that you can easily send out updated and new information to them.
It is of the utmost importance to choose an effective autoresponder. An autoresponder should be as personal as possible and send out follow-ups to potential customers since it has been proven that persistence pays off. It could take up to seven contacts before a final sale is conducted. Generally speaking an advertisement should be short and to the point.
However, in this case, the customer has asked to see this specific information and therefore an effective autoresponder should allow you to place as much text on the page as you desire. The autoresponder that you choose should provide automatic updates to customers free of charge.
The autoresponder is one Internet marketing tool that will not cost you an arm and a leg. You can get free autoresponders online from several sources. The automatic responses will be a welcome addition to your marketing strategy and will help to automatically increase traffic to your site all while you do nothing. Be sure that the one you choose includes all the extras that will send you site to the top and your profits through the roof.
About the Author:
Jeremy Smith can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: http://www.StrongFuture.org/pips.html
10 Fresh Ezine Publishing Tips To Maximize Your Success
1. Archive your issues or offer a sample issue.
You'll be able to get more of your visitors that are on the "fence" to join your ezine, giving you a bigger list to market your products to.
You'll also be able to get more new advertisers as many of your visitors will check out the kinds of ads you run, how many ads are published in each issue, and so forth before they purchase ads from you.
2. Promote your ezine in your sig file.
You'll be able to get your visitors, colleagues and email contacts to sign up for your ezine.
You'll also be able get more subscribers when you post your tips and advice to discussion lists and forums that you're a member of.
3. Publish your ezine in RSS.
You'll increase your readership and sales by bypassing all the email filters.
You'll also be able to make your ezine's copy more effective because you'll be able to use all the forbidden words such as "free" without worrying about your ezine getting blocked.
Tip: You can create as many RSS lists as you'd like at http://ezinepublishers.net/rssautopublisher.html
4. Offer a bonus for subscribing.
Increase the value your visitors place on your bonus by telling them how much it would be worth if you were to charge for it.
For example, a $19.00 value.
5. Treat your readers to "subscriber only" sales and discounts.
For instance, you could run a 2 for 1 sale on advertising in your ezine, or you could offer a limited discount on your product.
6. Let your readers know more about you.
An easy way to accomplish this is to include a publisher's note in all your issues.
You'll be able to not only share more about yourself, but you'll also be able to tactfully promote your business or special offers to your readers.
7. Write articles.
Post your articles on your site and submit them to article announcement lists and directories.
Also create an email or RSS list that announces when you've written a new article to ensure that your articles are published on a regular basis by webmasters and ezine publishers that enjoy them.
8. Do an ad swap.
You'll create a win-win situation as both you and the other publisher will get valuable promotion of your ezines at no cost.
9. Swap recommendations.
Use your thank you page to do your recommendation swap, or recommend the other ezine within your publisher's note in exchange for her recommendation of you to her readers.
10. Keep up a regular publishing schedule.
Many new ezine publishers don't realize the amount of work it takes to put out a quality ezine.
If you're just starting out, try out a monthly schedule first, and then as you see how much work your ezine entails, you can switch to a biweekly or weekly schedule.
About The Author:
Ken Hill is the webmaster at http://www.ezinepublishers.net Visit him today to get more unique articles and resources that will help you to get started publishing your own successful ezine.
Using an Opt-In List to Optimize Your Internet Marketing Success
In order to make a success of your website or online business, it is obvious that you will need customers.
Although everyone who visits your page will not become a customer, they must have some interest in your product or service that brought them there in the first place and therefore they are a potential customer.
Potential customers are much more likely to become actual customers if you make an effort to keep in touch with them. This essential marketing tool is called and opt-in list.
An opt-in list will allow you to keep track of your potential customers by obtaining their email address in order to keep them informed about the latest updates for your product or service. You can create your own opt-in list or you can use an opt-in list creator that is available online from several sources.
The benefits of creating your own opt-in list is that you will be able to send personal messages to the potential customers and they will not need to do anything, whereas with commercial opt-in lists, the customer will receive a generated message and will be required to verify their acceptance of the message.
An important part of creating a successful opt-in list is to keep in mind that potential customer will visit your site from many places and may not see your homepage. Therefore it is imperative to have the ability to subscribe to the mailing list from all pages of your site. Y
ou should not, however, make the subscription information a focus point of every page. It is a good idea to put it at the bottom or top of the page where it is visible but not distracting.
It is also a good idea to promote your mailing list by using a give-away. You could offer a service, a discount, or an ebook. You can also drive potential subscriber to join your mailing list by writing articles that will benefit the reader and at the same time, build your credibly as an expert.
You can include the subscription information in the byline of the articles. You could also write an ebook with your subscription information on each page, which will allow the customer to easily access the information and join the list with ease.
Once you have created the mailing list and now have your potential customers within your grasp it is your responsibility to keep them updated and interested.
Provide them with quality information that is up-to-date and of interest to them. Offer discounts or a newsletter, something that the reader can use.
This will keep them interested and will drive them to your site over and over, eventually they may make a purchase and if not, they will be informed enough to use word of mouth advertising for your site.
Joan Yankowitz can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: http://www.WebIncome101.com/pips.html
How To Triple Your Sales & Profits With A Powerful Follow-Up System
No matter what you sell... products, services, or causes... one of the key ingredients to your success will be the attention you give your sales lead follow-up system.
Notice that I used the word 'system' to describe your follow-up program. It's an important conceptual word. If you do not have a well planned, step-by-step system for lead follow-up you are leaving a lot of profits sitting on the table.
It is widely accepted that it takes a minimum of five attempts to close a sale (any sale) before the customer has enough information and confidence to buy from you. My own experience, based on years of in-the-trenches experience suggests that the minimum number of timed follow-ups is anywhere from nine to thirty... depending the complexity and/or cost of your products or services. If your idea of follow-up is to bounce one autoresponder message back to your on-line inquiry and expect the cash register to ring, you are in for a shocking surprise.
You have heard often, and will continue to hear, that internet marketing is based on the building of relationships with your potential customers. It's true! Indeed, this is one of the true Power Principles of internet marketing.
One of the great benefits of the internet is the ease and cost-effectiveness of relationship building.
We must understand that our potential customer is inundated with competing advertising messages from various media--television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, point- of-purchase, direct mail--and now the internet.
All of these marketing methods attempt to build a relationship with its audience in order to make the advertising message credible and believable. Credibility and believability lead naturally to sales.
The one media that stands head and shoulders above the competition is the internet. No other vehicle provides the opportunity to connect with your audience in such a timely and intimate way. Using the combination of web sites and email you have the graphical power of television and the intimate targeting of direct mail--without the associated high costs. It's a powerful combination. Add-in a timely telephone call or two... and you are on your way to increased sales.
If you really want to 'Reach Out And Touch Someone', the way to do it is with the real Killer Application of the internet e-mail.
The two most powerful e-mail tools for effective client follow-up are:
=> Your own e-mail newsletter, ezine, discussion list, etc.
=> A programmed system of timed e-mail follow-up messages.
Let's look at each one briefly:
YOUR OWN E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, EZINE.
I can't say enough about what a regular newsletter or ezine will do for your bottom line. By communicating useful information to your clients and prospects on a regular basis you are building a strong bonding relationship with them. Over time, they will begin to see you as a partner in their success. The trust and friendship you have built through your newsletter will translate to added business and increased profits for you.
Managing a newsletter or ezine does not have to be expensive or very time consuming. There are several free services that will host your publication and provide an automated subscription process. I just switched one newsletter over to the YahooGroups system for new subscriptions and it seems to work fine. It has eliminated all the hand subscription process and automated it for me, all at no cost.
If you are a network marketer, you simply must communicate regularly with your downlines... and your product customers. In addition to the tools available through your company provided websites, you should give serious consideration to producing your own periodic e-mail newsletter. In doing so, you will be building relationships which will fatten your profits quickly.
AUTOMATED E-MAIL FOLLOW-UP:
The use of autoresponders to supply immediate and comprehensive information to your prospects is a very powerful use of e-mail technology and, I believe, a good one.
But, what do you do after the initial lead response? How do you continue to follow-up at regular intervals? If you deal with very few leads of high quality, it's not a problem to follow-up with custom one-on-one messages and it is imperative that you do so if you expect to convert these leads to sales.
If your lead flow runs to big numbers, however, you have a problem. You simply must automate the follow-up process to insure that every prospect inquiry gets properly timed, on-going, information and reasons to buy--a 'minimum' of 5 times. To do less is to waste your lead generation investment... more is better. You must maximize this return-on-investment if you are to succeed and the only practical way to do this is with automation.
A number of e-mail services provide an autoresponder system that will send a series of pre-written, timed, follow-up messages to your leads. This is a powerful use of technology. The real power comes, however, when the messages you send are professionally crafted works of benefit laden sales copy. These timed responses can be profit-enhancing selling tools... or downright intrusions. The difference will be the skill with which you use the tool.
Fortunately for you, you have available numerous high-tech tools. In order to maximize your income you will want to take aggressive advantage of all lead generation tools and systems available online.
The reward for building an automated follow-up system is always worth the effort. The time you spend nurturing your follow-up program will result in:
* Increased sales and profits
* Improved image
* More sales leads
* Lower sales costs
* Shortened selling cycles
* Improved cash flow
* Faster Team Building
* Higher Income
* Faster Return-On-Investment (ROI)
Remember... the profits are in the FOLLOW-UP!
(C) Copyright 2005... Thom Reece is the CEO of On-Line Marketing Group, a direct response marketing agency with headquarters in Hawaii. His firm builds custom lead generation & follow-up systems for organizations & individuals. He is the creator of the Online Marketing Resource Center [ http://www.e-comprofits.com ] . Thom can be reached by email at: thomATe-comprofits.com
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Are You a Brand Name or Generic?
You need to ask yourself that question. Be honest.
The answer to this one question determines to a great extent whether you will be successful online.
If you're just another face in the crowd, you're in serious trouble in the online marketplace.
Two people can place the same type of ads in the same places...and have completely different results from each other. One succeeds. The other one fails.
Which one will you be?
I've been teaching budding online marketers now for years. I've seen thousands of customers who have immediately jumped on what they've been taught. They read it or heard it and then applied it. Many of them received results within days or weeks.
I've seen beginners become successful in less than a month online. I've seen others spend thousands of dollars on products...and attend seminar after seminar. Although they achieve minor success, it's almost as if they can't quite seem to breakthrough.
It's always as if they're standing on the top of a ladder and real success is just barely out of their reach. Sure, they may earn a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars here and there. They just can't seem to ever break through to the next level.
During the past few months I've been asking myself the same question over and over again, "What makes one customer widely successful while another one doesn't quite make it."
They both have web sites. They both run an opt-in email list. They both use all the free advertising available. They both place paid advertising.
Yet, one achieves success so much quicker than the other.
It all comes down to this.
One of them listened to the information, applied it, and combined their unique personality to everything they did. The other one just went through the motions.
One developed a brand name. The other was just another generic marketer in their field.
This is the difference.
The Internet is too big and filled with too much competition for you to just be another face in the crowd. You have to stand out from the crowd as different and as unique.
While there are many ways to do this, I want to start you off by teaching you one of the most important.
You have to be a personality.
Your business online isn't just about your products, your services, or your web site. It's about people. It's about you connecting with them and developing a bond.
Remember this. Your goal is not just to generate customers. It's to create fans. A customer is someone who buys once. A fan is someone who buys everything and recommends you constantly to others.
You'll never be able to do this as long as you keep yourself hidden.
You have to step out into the limelight and let people see who you are. Let them know where you're from, what you're passionate about, and what you can do to help them.
Don't just tell them about your product or service.
Tell them about yourself as well.
If you're promoting someone else's product through an affiliate program, then do an honest review of the product or service.
This doesn't mean ask the owner of the program for a review you can publish. This means YOU write the review yourself...in your own words.
Write it just like you were telling me about it on the phone. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. Forget being an awesome advertiser for the moment and just write the review. People who read the review then go to the affiliate site to see the ad.
When you publish an ezine, write an editorial on the top of EVERY issue. It's OK to publish content from other writers, but it's not OK to use that content in the place of yourself. You still have to have your personality in every issue.
You should be telling them how you feel about the subject. Reveal something that happened in your life this week. Let everyone know your opinion on what's going on in the world.
Every time I talk like this to people, they immediately come up with a few complaints...such as:
"I Just Can't Write."
I'm beginning to lose patience with this one. Neither could I when I started. If you believe some of my critics, I still haven't figured it out. Every single issue of Web Gold has somebody sending in an email of the grammatical problems from the issue.
So what?
When you first got on the bike, you didn't know how to do that. When you first got behind the wheel of a car, you weren't an expert. The best NBA player had to start by missing shots.
Do you know how to talk? If so, then you have a beginning. You start with this and improve. A year down the road from now you may look back at your writing and say, "Yuck."
You have to start somewhere...if you care about being successful online.
"I tried that and People Complained."
I'm sure they did. I've never accomplished anything without someone complaining about it.
People will unsubscribe themselves. They may write nasty letters. They may tell you how awful you are.
Let me give you a hint. Those same people who have a problem with your personality are the ones who are too afraid to ever accomplish anything themselves.
I've received lots of those emails. People can hide behind an email address so things come through which would never come through in person. It's part of the game.
It all depends on how much you want it!
Terry Dean is the webmaster of Netbreakthroughs and a dozen other domains online...Visit today for up-to-date training reports, our weekly ad diary, personal support, and more.
Why Opt-in is really the only game in town
So what's all this fuss we keep hearing about "Opt-In" email then?
Well to put it simply, unlike "Junk or Spam" email, "Opt-In" means you've explicitly received the recipient's permission to send them your message. In other words your readers have specifically signed themselves up to your publication, and the difference can be like dynamite!
SINGLE AND DOUBLE "OPT-IN"
You may have come across these terms. So let's clear them up once and for all.
Single "Opt-In" means that you invited someone to join your list, they provided their email address and opted themselves in to receiving your mailings.
Double "Opt-In" means that the same thing happened, and they signed themselves up to your list, but then - just to make sure they really meant it - they had to confirm their subscription by clicking *Reply* to a confirmation email you sent them or by clicking a web link to confirm their subscription.
SO WHICH IS BETTER? SINGLE OR DOUBLE "OPT-IN"
Well a Double "Opt-In" subscriber list is considered to be made up of higher quality prospects.
Why?
Because by emailing the contact to ask if they definitely want to receive your Ezine, you're performing three important tasks:
DOUBLE "OPT-IN"
*1* You're testing their commitment to receiving your information at all. If they can't be bothered to confirm the subscription, then maybe they didn't want the information in the first place!
*2* You are removing the element of doubt that someone else may have deliberately or inadvertently used their email address to sign up with. Double "Opting-In" means that everything is nicely confirmed.
*3* You're removing any possibility (well almost any) of that prospect complaining to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the future. Or even if they did you'd have evidence that they really had consented.
So Double "Opt-In" is a nice idea in theory, but sometimes it won't be all that practical.
SINGLE "OPT-IN"
One of the techniques frequently used to gather email addresses is a Pop-Up box that you might place on your website. This will invite the person browsing to enter their first name (so you can personalize your message to them) and their email address. This is usually done in return for a mini-series of tips and hints or some kind of free report, frequently followed up by further Ezine Newsletter issues.
Under these circumstances, most marketers would agree that it would get a little cumbersome to be asking people to reconfirm their subscription over-again. After all, the average prospect browsing wants to do things quickly, without being bothered by additional email messages.
So there's a balance to be struck between the advantages of Double "Opt-In" and the speed and efficiency of Single "Opt-In".
Either way at least you will have explicitly received permission to be marketing to your list, and this will put you miles ahead of the brain-dead spammers!
AND SPAM EMAIL IS REALLY DEAD!
Let me save you some trouble. If you were ever tempted by an offer of: "60 million email addresses on one CD for just $49" or something similar....FORGET IT.
Here's precisely what will happen to you if you get tempted to send spam email:
*1* You'll upset virtually everyone you send your email to and most likely won't make any sales.
*2* You'll be the subject of some pretty vicious reprisals. Nowadays this probably includes some very disgruntled individual deliberately sending you a virus.
*3* You'll find yourself excommunicated from your Internet Service Provider and searching for a new host.
Oh, and if that doesn't all sound bad enough, you will have instantly established yourself with a very unenviable reputation. Your brief online business career will be over.
"OPT-IN" IS HARDER WORK
I often hear people grumble that "Opt-In" is terribly hard work. And I can't deny that it takes more time and effort than buying a CD off-the-shelf with a million 'unwilling' recipients.
But done properly, a list of receptive "Opt-In" subscribers will pay you back time and time again. In short - done right - the effort will be well worth the return.
So don't be tempted by "spam" short-cuts, do it properly and build yourself a good "Opt-In" mailing list.
The author, Ezine Guru Michael Green, has developed a toolkit specifically for people looking to build themselves a successful online businesses, based around the principles of "Opt-In" marketing. He shows you how to easily attract subscribers who will form the foundation of a very healthy and profitable online business. Pick up your copy now
Easy Ezine Toolkit
Give your Newsletter a "Personality." Understand How Publishing Your Own Ezine Could Be Your Most Profitable Decision Ever!
Michael Green has developed a that comes packed with hundreds of excellent ways to enhance your newsletter publication.
It also comes complete with hundreds of Copyright Free Articles, DTP Templates a How To Manual and lots more.
A must for all Newsletter Editors!
Are Your Pop-ups Invisible To Your Visitors?
Pop-ups, if you’re somehow, strangely, not familiar with the term, are those little windows that open when you visit certain sites.
** Generation One - The Pop-Up
Until a few years ago, the pop-up was considered the biggest breakthrough in advertising on the web.
When they were first introduced they were a great success and click-through rates went through the roof.
Imagine being able to interrupt whatever your visitor was viewing, by launching a secondary window on top of the browser window and drawing attention to your advertisement or subscription box.
But after a while - like most effective marketing tools - pop-ups started being abused.
A primary popup would open secondary pop-ups till eventually just visiting a page that has a single popup in it, could land you with a barrage of about 15 to 20 pop-ups.
Unscrupulous marketers exploited this to the fullest, especially those hawking porn sites.
Frustrated visitors soon began complaining about pop-ups, and more considerate webmasters began to use cookies to ensure a pop-up was not shown more than once per visitor.
Pop-ups became such a nuisance that developers created popup blocking software.
These applications delete the code that's trying to open a window - and BAM - it's bye bye popup.
** Generation Two - The Pop-Under
Not to be left behind, web marketers came up with another version, the pop-under, which launched a secondary window under the primary window.
In most cases, the visitor didn’t even notice this pop-under until they closed the primary window.
Although less intrusive, these were still a nuisance, and you don't get an award for guessing what happened next.
Right, the pop-up blockers soon started blocking pop-unders as well.
** Generation Next - The Hover Ad
What the beejeezus is a Hover Ad?
Well, it’s a floating window that popup blockers can't stop.
The technology that creates Hover Ads is not new. In fact, it’s been available to web designers for at least 2 years now as DHTML (Dynamic HTML).
Hover Ads are DHTML layers which can be selectively moved and displayed over the primary page that's being displayed.
Although they use JavaScript coding, they don’t require the opening of a new window. Pop-up blocking software are fooled into thinking they are part of the same window, so they are unable to block them.
Hover Ads can be animated, moved around, made to appear once per session, shown after a delay, and more.
These ads don’t work with older versions of Internet Explorer. But since most netizens use browsers with IE 4.0 and above, that are capable of displaying this code, this sort of advertising is being used more often.
So, you may ask "Why should I switch from regular pop-ups to Hover Ads?"
The most compelling reason is that your pop-ups can be, and are being blocked! Hover Ads can't.
Anyone who uses the Google and Alexa (ten million users) toolbars is most probably NOT seeing your popup right now.
The Netscape 7.0 Browser (almost 52 million users) has a built in popup blocker.
Earthlink (five million users) provides its users with a popup blocker.
AOL (35 million subscribers) has released version 8.0 with Popup Blocking capabilities.
At least 40 million internet users will never see your advertisement!
You could be losing out on a lot of new subscribers and potential revenue right now.
"So how do I add Hover Ads to my website?"
For the do-it-yourself-er there are freely available JavaScript snippets that you can put to use on your site today without buying any fancy software. A sample of code can be obtained from CodeLifter.com. The drawback here is that you need in-depth knowledge of JavaScript coding.
Another approach is to use high end HTML editors like Dreamweaver, which have DHTML scripts included under the "Layers" menu. But again, Dreamweaver is an expensive software.
If you need a software that quickly automates the creation of Hover Ads, you should consider the Hover Ad generator.
The Hover Ad Generator creates fully customized and professional looking windows that cannot be blocked by pop-up blockers.
You can download a free trial here
If pop-ups are a big part of your online marketing strategy - and if you have noticed a recent drop in your subscriptions, sales and profits, you can be pretty sure that your visitors are not seeing your pop-ups anymore.
But now at least, you know you can do something about it - and soon.
About The Author
Satyajeet Hattangadi is the CEO of Novasoft Inc, a software solutions provider, that specializes in affordable customized software solutions. Visit his website
This article may be reprinted as long as this resource box is left intact
How To Develop An E-zine When You Don't Enjoy Writing
Do you know that many business owners market their businesses by writing content for their online newsletters (e-zine)? And if you don't enjoy writing, the authors make those articles available to you.
You can find both articles in article directories and article banks located on the Internet. Do you know the difference?
Article directories are one-way places on a Web site where the site's owner lists their articles. The articles maybe available as free or paid content for other publishers. View an example of an article directory at http://coachmaria.com/articles/
Article banks are two-way Web sites or pages within a Web site. They are places where authors "deposit" articles to invest and where lenders "take" the article to use. The "interest" someone pay for using an article consists of a bio or resource box.
Each article bank site includes guidelines for authors and potential publishers. Authors retain first rights - retain ownership - to articles placed on article banks. Some article bank sites publish e-zines that include recently submitted articles, ad swap requests and/or an "articles wanted" area, too. You'll find many article bank Web sites listed below. If you know of a bank I've missed please send them to me.
Both article banks and article directories may provide you with content for your e-zine, magazine, Web site, e-book, etc.
With the permission of an article's author and some times the article bank owners themselves, you will be provided with free content. In return, the author will provide you with copyright information, a brief bio and link to their Web site. Many of the sites below contain both article banks and e-zine directories.
When you visit article banks, look for the other services that the site owner provides for you as a publisher and utilize the other helpful services, too. If you find yourself using an article bank over and over again, consider providing a link from your site to their site - maybe on a "recommended links" page. It's an excellent way to thank the site owner for providing such a valuable resource.
For a list of article banks, go to http://coachmaria.com/articles/articlebanks.html
Have you found an article bank that's not on the list? E-mail me and I'll add it to the list.
© 2003 Maria Marsala is the editor of Elevating You, a "view it and do it" e-zine. It's packed with no and low-cost tips, articles and resources to help you elevate your career or business to the next level and beyond. Get the details now at www.coachmaria.com
Make Your Subscribers Love You!
Competition is so fierce on the internet.
With almost 500,000 ezines (and growing) online now, how on earth do you make yours stand out?
Listen up if you're presently publishing an ezine. Your Number One priority and concern should be on retaining current subscribers, not getting new ones!
It always hurts to see an "unsubscribe me" message, just where have I gone wrong?? You sometimes ask.
And if you've not started your ezine or opt-in list, you must do so asap!
Let me tell you flat out...it's close to impossible to market effectively online, without using some form of email marketing. Be it an ezine, opt-in list, ecourse or report.
So it'll be a shame for you to ignore the power of email marketing, if you consider yourself an online marketer or business owner.
With that in mind, here are 7 surefire strategies to make your subscribers love you!
1. What's In It For Them?
The internet is a crowded marketplace, and subscribers have a vast variety of ezine choices to subscribe to. What makes yours so special?
First, identify a targeted niche to base your ezine on. I mean, really narrow down.
If you're into cellular phones, don't just write about that. Focus instead on a targeted area of cellular phones. Some ideas that come to mind immediately are casings, ringtones, mms, etc! You'll get a much more specific audience this way.
Second, acquire good knowledge on your topic chosen. Learn, find and seek out relevant information to pass on to your subscribers. Save them time!
Third, innovative. Subscribers love a little innovation, something that makes your ezine shine. Having interesting contests is an example.
Wait, anyone done an audio, talking 'ezine' yet?
Hmm..
2. Project Your Personality!
Project your personality in your writing! Show some passion!
Get to know your subscribers and let them know you as a person too. The online world is already very 'cold', and some warmth is much needed : )
However, be positive here, never use your ezine to spread negative comments or throw cold blankets on your subscribers. That would come across as being unprofessional and having poor attitude, and you'll see people unsubscribing in droves!
I mean, even in the real world, who wants to be around negative folks?
So spread some good, old love instead. Be known as an Editor who's real, approachable and friendly to build a better relationship with your subscribers.
3. Show Some Respect
You should be treating your valuable subscriber as a friend. I'm sure you won't mislead, ignore or harm your friend? What I mean to say, show some respect.
For starters, never bombard him or her with senseless ads all the time!
Keep your classified ads to the absolute minimum, and separate solo ads from your regular issue. And never promote just any product to your list just to earn a buck.
Here's a quick guideline for recommending products or services.
a.. Quality products you've used yourself and gotten good results;
b.. Valuable resources that will truly help them in their businesses;
Remember, trust is difficult to acquire but easy to lose - it can be gone in a second!
4. Contact Me Please
Always provide a valid and working email address so that your subscriber can contact you. Do not attempt to hide your email from them. And if your phone is available, all the merrier!
We're talking about a long-term relationship here, and how can a relationship be started or sustained without some form of communication??
Subscribers may need to contact you for assistance, questions or feedback. Open this avenue to them, it'll benefit you too.
And I forgot one important thing.reply to emails!
5. Work Hard For Your List
Here's an absolutely crucial factor - YOUR ezine must be able to provide what the subscriber wants..in other words, true value.
Ask yourself, what makes a subscriber subscribe?? To get your ads? No! He or she does so as they believe your ezine can help satisfy their needs.
That is, the associated value, real or perceived, that your ezine can provide them. This may come in the form of good content, resources, reviews or discounts, etc.
What I'm suggesting here is, you've got to work hard for your subscribers..
a.. Provide relevant quality content, or write your own articles!
b.. Give them valuable tools and resources that cater to their needs
c.. Seek and negotiate genuine discounts and promotions for them
d.. Keep them up to date in their areas of interest..etc!
Putting serious effort into your ezine will make your subscribers appreciate you more, cause it shows.
6. Give Them What They Want
You ain't writing the ezine for yourself.
Find out what your subscribers' needs are, and provide them with the resources to meet those needs if possible. The best way to do that is to ask. Using polls, surveys or basic email exchanges are all excellent methods of understanding your subscribers.
Hear them, hear them!
7. Change Your Mindset
The best way to approach this - imagine yourself as a 'Mentor' to your subscribers, guiding and helping them sincerely. Build them into future joint venture partners for your business...it's a Win-Win relationship!
This mindset, if adopted correctly, can radically change your attitude.
You'll automatically provide the best committment and value to your subscribers once you know how important they really are! :o)
Granted that it's already not easy publishing an ezine, why not make it easier with the above tips?
Make your subscribers love you, and you'll have an enjoyable time yourself!
"The Quickest Way To TONS Of Web Marketing Tips!" Ewen Chia's Power-Packed "Money Making Marketing Report" Reveals Top Internet Marketing Information And Resources So That YOU Can Make Money Online.G'uaranteed! Subscribe F'ree at http://www.Marketing-Make-Money.com
Write an Ezine? But I Don't Know HOW!
If you've been promoting your business on the internet you've probably heard how important it is to have a list. And that it's also important to publish an ezine.
So are you publishing and ezine? If not, why? Is it because you are too nervous or lack confidence?
I can understand how you feel. I've been there, even though I'm a journalist and published my own niche, non-profit newsletter for a year.
But when I started a home business and realized I needed to write about internet marketing - a subject I was still unfamiliar with - I froze up.
I simply could not think of anything to write about. I felt like I just did not have the experience and the knowledge I needed, because I was still learning.
I started my ezine only when things were really starting to take off and I had learned a good deal of what really worked for me in my business.
In retrospect, I don't think I'd have done it any differently, but I did learn a few things from my own experience that might make it less painful to start your new ezine.
1. Start With a Script
Writing the first few issues of your ezine is like starting a conversation with a new date.
You're nervous... you want to make a good impression. Most people will use a few tried and tested formulas to break the ice.
Similarly, when you want to start sending out your ezine, there are a lot of resources out there - tested formulas that experts have used with their own subscribers.
It could be a sales letter, an article, a tip, a template or anything else that you think could get you started with that first issue.
As on a first date, the conversation might be a bit awkward, your sentences may sound stilted. It could be a disaster as far as you're concerned. So what!
The first few articles I ever wrote make me cringe when I read them today. But I know I needed to write them to start building my own confidence.
Disastrous first dates leave much the same impression on people. But the similarity to dating ends there.
Because in writing an ezine you DO get a second (and third, and fourth...) chance to make an impression.
Your date may never call back, but with your subscribers, you can try again and again till you get it right.
If you do make a mistake (like sending out multiple copies by mistake), admit your mistake and apologize. You'll find that subscribers, unlike dates, can be quite forgiving.
When new network marketers approach a new prospect, they are always advised to use a script the first few times.
As they gain confidence, the words begin to flow more naturally and they are able to discard the scripts and become better at selling.
It takes time, and more importantly, practice, to get it right. But if you never start, how will you ever find out if you can do it?
2. Write Like You Speak
As you gain confidence in your ability to write and publish an ezine, you'll begin to get more comfortable with the process of publishing.
Now you might want to start writing your own editorials or tips, to make your ezine more personal and share your expertise in your subject.
To do this, imagine you're sitting in front of an old friend (or that your subscribers are your friends) and that you're bringing them up-to-date with what's been happening in your life.
If you had an experience, good or bad, while promoting your business, that taught you something new, share it with them in the most conversational tone.
Avoid rambling on interminably and leave out boring details that aren't crucial to what you learnt.
And always go back, read what you've written and edit it before you send it out to your list.
3. Keep Learning
There's no bigger turn off than an editor who knows less than her subscribers. So if you plan to write on a certain topic, make sure you do your homework.
If you're writing about eBook publishing, subscribe to all the ezines and article lists on that subject and read them to find out what's happening in that field. Then share the news with your readers.
You could also take some initiative and conduct a survey or two, find out something new about your field and write your own original articles or reports.
4. Speak Your Mind
Once you have established a publishing schedule and have developed a comfortable rapport with your subscribers, don't be afraid to share your opinion on new developments in your field.
If you have a strong opinion on something, its alright to say so. People feel more comfortable when they know where you're coming from, even if they don't always agree.
So what are you waiting for? Send out that first issue and take your business to a whole new level.
Make a date with your list now.
Get more tips, tools and resources on email newsletter publishing.
Priya Shah is the CEO of the online marketing firm, eBrand360. She writes the Marketing Slave blog.
This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.
5 Easy Steps To Skyrocket Your Subscriptions and Profits
Ezine List Building -Wealth Mentor Teaches 5 Easy Steps To Skyrocket Your Subscriptions and Profits
Would you like an Internet Marketing tool that can put your efforts on autopilot?
In a recent interview for the List Crusade program, Matt Bacak revealed what he called the "foundation" for automatically building a successful and profitable ezine.
(Note: To access Matt Bacak's complete audio interview for fre^e, see end of article)
A little about Matt: He was the leading facilitator for Robert Kiyosaki's (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) Cash Flow 101 program. One of his secret techniques he used was to create the Millionaire Minutes ezine, which allowed him to stay in contact with participants even after the seminar was over.
With a several hundred thousand subscribers and around 750 new subscribers each day, Matt knows how to quickly develop an opt-in subscriber list.
The ezine was so successful the he was able to do mailings to his subscriber list three days before an event and fill the room to capacity.
He attributes the success of this ezine with causing him to cross over from wealth building to the Internet Marketing world. He now is considered one of the top Internet marketing mentors in the world.
Bazek gives these steps to develop and promote your ezine.
1) Get a Smart Autoresponder--Your Internet business must have a solid foundation with a Smart Autoresponder. The smart autoresponder allows you to capture names and email addresses.
You can then set it up to email a sequence of messages. For example, one of Matt's ezine has messages set up to be mailed automatically over a period of two years. That means he can go on extended vacations and his sales messages still go out and make him money.
2) Choose a good title and description. Choose a title that captures your Unique Selling Proposition. Next write a 15-30 word description of your ezine to entice the subscriber with benefits of "what's in it for me?" This is absolutely necessary when you begin submitting to ezine directories.
3) Next contact other ezine owners and set up joint ventures. Many will be glad promote your ezine to their list if it has value to their readers. There are literally thousands of other ezine owners out there. You can offer to promote their ezine to your list also.
4) Start submitting your ezine to directories. A search on the Internet will reveal many fre^e ezine directories on the web. They'll list your title and description at no charge. You can begin getting subscribers almost immediately. If you have extra cash to help promote your ezine, try some of the paid directories-for a fee, you can be listed on these site along with many other sites that are members of their network. These can definitely speed up the growth of your ezine.
5) Use a mentor that can help you set up your ezine step-by-step, laying the foundation to put the ezine on autopilot. Often getting first hand guidance from someone who has set up a successful ezine is the boost you'll need to get started.
With those foundational steps, you can quickly start a successful ezine and quickly bring in money, all on autopilot.
Rick Miller is a Certified Master of Web Copywriting and co-founder of List Crusade. For fre^e access to the entire interview and a fre^e coaching session with Matt Bacak, along with 51 other audio lessons from top Internet Marketing and Self Help Gurus--go to: http://www.scientificinternetmarketing.com/bacak2
© 2004 Rick Miller. All rights reserved. Feel fre^e to reprint or forward this in its entirety to anyone you wish.
Get More Opt-In Subscribers for Your Newsletter
5 Free and Easy Ways to Get More Opt-In Subscribers for Your Newsletter
Email newsletters and ezines can be extremely profitable for their owners, providing that their newsletter has subscribers, the more the better.
Without a large number of subscribers your going to have a tough time making money when the only recipient of your ezine is.you.
To prevent this from happening to you, I am going to share with you five free and easy ways you can start generating more Opt-in subscribers for your ezine mailing list.
1. Opt-In Storm
Opt-in Storm is an online list building system that is totally free to join and use, and best of all it actually works, unlike many other list building services.
When you join Opt-in storm you will have thousands of marketers promoting a newsletter ad that you create all over the Internet.
Also the leads you will receive from Opt-in Storm are 100% targeted leads, and Opt-in Storm requires subscribers to enter their primary email address and they do not allow subscriptions from any of the free email accounts. While this may cause you to lose some subscribers, the subscribers you do get will probably be way more responsive. More responsive subscribers = more money!
Another cool thin about Opt-in storm is after someone subscribes to your newsletter through Opt-in Storm, they will promote relevant ClickBank products loaded with your ClickBank ID on the conformation page. Sounds pretty cool huh?
You can learn more about Opt-in Storm here
2. Ad Swap
Another great way to get more subscribers is to participate in an Ad Swap with another newsletter.
An ad swap is when two newsletter publishers each create a short advertisement (usually 5 lines with 60 characters per line) which they then swap and publish each others ad in their next newsletter.
Most newsletter publishers are very willing to participate in Ad Swaps. However, many newsletters will only participate in ad swaps with other newsletters that are of equal size and/or target a similar audience.
The best thing to do after finding a newsletter you'd like to do an ad swap with, is to send that newsletter's publisher an email with a proposal for an ad swap.
It is also a good idea to include the ad you want to swap, so they can make an informed decision. If they say no, that's fine, there are thousands of other newsletters out there, so go find another one and try again.
3. Submit your newsletter to ezine directories
This is something that every newsletter or ezine owner should do, but many do not.
Why? Because people are lazy and it takes time to submit your newsletter to a bunch of different directories.At the time I'm writing this article there are over 110,000 matches for "ezine directiories" on Google.
I highly recommend that you set aside a day or two and submit your newsletter to as many different directories as you can. This can help you in several different ways.
For example, most ezine directories allow you to post your newsletters name, subscription info, a short description of your newsletter, a link to your website, your advertising rates (if you accept advertising), article submission details, ect.
Now when someone searches that directory and finds your newsletter, they will have a wealth of information available to them to help convince them to subscribe.
Also other newsletter owners and product owners can see your ezine and then send you offers for Joint Ventures, advertising, ad Swaps and more.
Many of the directories will also post a clickable link to your website on their site. This will help improve your search engine rankings, by having other sites link to you.
So you see there are several other benefits of listing your newsletter in the ezine directories besides just gaining additional subscribers.
4. Write ezine articles
If you own your own newsletter or ezine, then there is a very good chance that you write articles and create content for your newsletter.
But why stop with just your newsletter, why not ad a "resource box" and share it with other newsletter publishers and allow them to publish your articles in their ezines?
What is a resource box? A resource box is basicly a short 3-4 line paragraph that is located at the end of an article and introduces you to the author of the article and usually includes a link back to the author's website. For an example, look at the resource box at the end of this article.
If you allow others to use your articles in their newsletters, they must use the article in its entirety including the resource box. What this does is spread the word about your website and it also helps to build up your credibility as an expert in your particular field.
The more you share your articles, the more people will know about you, and the more people will visit your website or subscribe to your newsletter, and that means more money in your pocket.
5. Add an exit Pop-up to your website
Many people think that pop-ups actually reduce the amount of sales you will make on your website. Now that is true in many cases, but in the case of gaining new subscribers for your newsletter, the opposite is in fact true. I will give you an example of my own experience.
One of the websites I run is a content rich site built around online auctions, also on that website I had web forms that allowed people to sign up for my free newsletter. Now I was consistently gaining 5 to 6 new subscribers every day, not bad right? a little over 1800 new subscribers a year.
But then I added an pop-up that opened when a visitor exited my website and reminded them to sign up for my free newsletter. Overnight my daily subscription rate more than doubled, I started getting 14-20 new subscribers every day, that's more than 5000 new subscribers year, with just one little exit popup.
Why did my subscription rate double? Its called information overload, and it happens on many websites that offer their visitors a lot of content. The visitor gets engrossed in reading through all the information on the website and then they leave and forget to sign up for the newsletter.
By adding an exit pop-up that contains a newsletter sign up form and only opens when they leave your site, you will remind the visitor to sign up for your newsletter, and chances are they will.
I have just shown you five different ways you can gain more opt-in subscribers for free. Now all you have to do is go out there and apply these five ideas to your own business and watch your email list start to grow.
Resource Box: Tanner Larsson is a veteran entrepreneur and the publisher of the award winning Work At Home Success Newsletter. Subscribe to his newsletter and recieve 4 EXCLUSIVE Bonuses valued at $276. http://www.work-at-home-resource-center.com
7 Super Ways To Use Your Ezine's Thank You Page
1. Swap a recommendation for your ezine.
You'll be able to easily increase your subscriptions by promoting your ezine to people that are interested in what you have to offer.
2. Promote your special sale.
You could promote your sale on advertising in your ezine, your sale on your product, or your special introductory offer for one of your new products.
3. Promote one of your affiliate programs.
Increase your commissions with a personal recommendation of one of your best producing affiliate programs.
4. Do you publish more than one ezine?
Increase your subscriptions by promoting your other ezine on this page.
5. Include your photo and signature file.
You'll be able to promote your business through your sig file, and add your personal touch to your thank you page.
6. Tell them what they need to do next.
Let your visitor know that she needs to respond to your confirmation email, and that if she doesn't receive it to check her "spam" folder.
7. Ask for their ideas.
You'll be able to let your subscribers know that you value their opinions, and find out what topics they'd love to learn more about.
About The Author: Ken runs the Net Pro Marketer Article Directory. Topics include business, marketing and ezine publishing. Browse through the articles or submit your own at http://www.netpromarketer.com
Email Newsletters: Privacy and Unsubscribing
As you likely know from personal experience, the value of email has been greatly tarnished by spam, unsolicited messages, online junk mail. So, many subscribers and would-be subscribers care very much about the exposure of their email addresses.
Since this issue is so important, articulate a privacy policy for your newsletter. Will you rent, sell, or exchange the names of your subscribers to other organizations or persons? While most of us have no plans to do so when we are small, that opinion can change as we grow our list.
Quite frankly, once your list gets to a certain size, you may be able to earn quite a bit of money by renting it out. Many magazine and subscription publishers find that the difference between a profit and loss is list rental income.
If you do decide to keep the list names strictly to yourself, post a message to that effect somewhere, either in the email newsletter itself, at sites where you collect the names of subscribers, or both. By posting, and adhering to, a privacy policy, you will get more subscribers. To read an example, go my newsletter's web page at http://www.abbottletter.com .
If you're not sure whether you will or will not sell or rent the addresses, then put a note to that effect instead. Many companies do this by saying something like this: "Would you like to receive information messages by email from our valued partners?"
To that, of course, you add a checkbox. The default position should be off, which is to say, subscribers have to click on the box to receive those mailings. And, needless to say, you must then respect the choice they make.
You must also make it quick and easy for subscribers to say good-bye. Each issue of your newsletter should contain information explaining how to unsubscribe or be removed from the mailing list. There are many forms this information can take.
To choose one, go through the email newsletters you now receive, and decide which you like best. Then, prepare your own notice, using this one as a guide. Of course, you will not copy anything directly, which would be plagiarism.
On the flip side, add information to each newsletter that explains how to subscribe, and consider, too, putting in a line asking recipients to pass along your newsletter to someone else who would benefit from it.
A simple reminder like that could help you build your list, painlessly. Recommendations from a trusted colleague or friend will boost your subscriber list quickly.
Summing up, develop a privacy policy and stick to it. In addition, give your subscribers an escape hatch they can access quickly and easily.
Robert F. Abbott, the author of A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results, writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Read more articles about Internet communication, as well as email and printed newsletters at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com/ic.html
Email Newsletters: The Header
Managing Subscriber addresses: At the top of your email message you see the header, where you insert addresses and a subject heading. It all looks simple enough, but there are some tricks and tips you should know, and one very important warning. Let's start with that warning:
In addressing your newsletter, do not put subscriber names or email addresses in the TO or the CC (Carbon Copy) field. Addresses in either of these fields are visible to all recipients. And, if you have one unscrupulous person on your list, that person could start sending spam to the rest of the list.
Always put subscriber addresses in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field, where no one but you will see their addresses. This is very important in retaining their confidence. In fact, this might now be the single most important point to remember if you send an email message to any group.
So, to whom should the newsletter be addressed? Probably yourself. You can use your regular address, or set up a special address for the newsletter only.
One other thought: use the CC field as a place to put the name of someone who wants to make their address known. For example, if you include a special offer by a third party in the newsletter, you can CC that third party, and as a result provide a backup email address.
Subject line: Make this line as strong as possible. It's the hook that encourages the reader to scroll down the page to your article(s). Try looking through the subject lines of the newsletters you now receive, and see what works for you.
The simplest approach, and an effective one, is to put the name of your newsletter in the subject line. That works well if readers find the content consistently helpful or interesting. But don't depend on just the name - here are some ideas for other hooks that may increase readership.
Make it descriptive, since many email users quickly scan the subject lines and quickly hit the Delete button if it doesn't immediately grab their attention. If that descriptive text hints at a solution to a problem shared by your readers, then you've got a winner.
Here's another subject line tip that may help you increase readership. Several email gurus recommend putting the date of the issue in the subject line, and I've tried that myself. In the limited testing I've done, it seemed to increase the number of clicks on the embedded ads.
This is how a recent subject line for Abbott's Communication Letter looked to my subscribers:
"April 27-05 Communication Letter - Communication & Company Size"
Explanations: April 27th is, of course, the date. Communication Letter is an abbreviation of the name of my newsletter; and Communication & Company Size is the title of the article that week.
Altogether, the whole subject line seems a bit long, but it does cover several bases, so it's what I'll use until I've had time to do extensive testing.
In summary: Don't look at the header of your email message as something to be finished and forgotten quickly. It can make or break your newsletter.
Robert F. Abbott, the author of A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results, writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Read more articles about Internet communication, as well as email and printed newsletters at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com/ic.html
Don't Look Spammy
We all hate spam and get way too much of it – agreed? Now that we have that out of the way it is important to realize that in everyone’s zest to minimize their spam, we are deleting legitimate e-mails – and those e-mail could be YOUR business messages!
Two factors are at play - not reviewing your trash before you empty it and sending e-mail with indicators that trip spam filters.
When sending business e-mail, it is critical that you make certain efforts so that your e-mail will not be inadvertently, incorrectly perceived as spam.
Several times each day, legitimate e-mail makes its way into my Junk/Trash due to the sender doing or not doing certain things that trigger most spam filters. These are issues you need to be aware of so that your e-mail has its best chance to make it to its intended party.
Your initial contact and making sure your e-mail gives the perception of a serious business entity can make the difference between being read or being trashed. Here is a simple checklist of things you need to put in practice so that your e-mails are not mistakenly identified as spam and deleted before read:
=> Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many e-mail programs automatically send subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: hello, hi, help, new or the recipient's name or e-mail address as doing so can trigger spam filters.
=> Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your email. You know what they are - you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your email right to Trash.
=> Type your subject with appropriate capitalization and structure. All small case or all caps gives the impression of being spam (and lack of online savvy/education).
=> Make sure your full name, not your e-mail address, is formally displayed in the FROM: field. Example: Jane A. Doe is correct – not jane a doe, or Jane or janeadoe@yourisp.com. FROM: fields with all lower case, only your first name or lack of punctuation indicates a lack of online savvy that is typical of most spammers which signals that your e-mail could also be spam. Not using your last name gives the impression you have something to hide. You always want to use your full and formal name in all business e-mail.
=> Refrain from using any formatting just for the sake of doing so. Formatting can also trigger spam filters if not done properly. Think company letterhead. If you wouldn’t have your name in big, blue, bolded letters on company letterhead do not do it in your business e-mail.
=> Unannounced attachments are viewed suspiciously. Do not send attachments without a specific request to do so and they are expected. If you are going to send attachments over 200K, show extraordinary courtesy and ask the other side FIRST when would be the best time to send your collateral. Then follow through and send it at that prearrange time so the recipient on the other side is available to download your files and keep their inbox clear.
=> When using any sort of spam software or filtering system, before you purge your trash, it doesn't hurt to take a quick peak to see if any e-mail is in fact from folks you know or recognize.
By keeping the above issues in mind, you have the best chance of your e-mail getting to the person on the other side and for business e-mail that could make the difference between making a sale – or not.
About the Author:
Judith Kallos is an authoritative and good-humored Technology Muse who has played @ http://www.TheIStudio.com for over a decade. Check out her popular Netiquette site @: http://www.NetManners.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Are Your Business Emails Legal?
In order to be compliant and Legally Run Your Marketing Campaign, all commercial emails that you sent must include the following:
1) Functional return email address or similar `opt out' link for the recipient.
2) Clear identification that the message is an advertisement or promotion (if that is the case).
3) Clear notice of the opportunity to decline future emails from the sender.
4) Valid physical address of the sender.
While most marketing emails I receive now contain the above listed information, I still see quite a few that are lacking physical mailing addresses.
The US public has spoken and Congress is listening. The government does not take kindly to Spammers and if you fail to comply with the CAN SPAM rules, you could be heavily fined.
Once again, feel free to download our 2005 CAN SPAM report that summarizes the original provisions of the Act as well as the new (as of Dec 2004) additions.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for our next installment of the CAN SPAM update.
Remember, be good to yourself and never underestimate the power associated with the intensity of your passion.
Scott Foreman mailto:scott@build-passive-income.com
Wayne and Scott Foreman are co-owners of http://www.build-passive-income.com
This Secret Book Made Terry Dean Rich! You Can Get it Free IF you click below now (you won't believe the simple techniques it reveals that ANYONE can use) http://www.Build-Passive-Income.com/secret
Autoresponders: Get One Before Building An Opt In Email List
It's not a website.
It’s a smart autoresponder and mailing list software.
Be aware, I just said smart autoresponder. Not a cheesy one, I mean regular one.
You know what a regular autoresponder is. It's the thing that a lot of people use when they are out of the office or on vacation. It works like this.
Let's say you are emailing a friend that is out of town. You send the email and then instantly you get a reply back saying something like this, "I'm out of the office right now, I'm on vacation and won't be back until Tuesday the 21st."
Well, that's a regular autoresponder.
What you want to have before you even think about building a list is a smart autoresponder. Here's how it works, when someone sends it an email it captures their first name, last name, email address, date stamp, and IP address.
That's just if they send an email, now what if you had a form on your website or a popup?
It will capture almost any information that you want and get this.
It will give you the ability to run an unlimited number of follow-up email campaigns to tens of thousands of prospects on auto-pilot!
A smart autoresponder will handle thousands of simultaneous follow-up campaigns - a task that would be impossible to manage manually. (working for you 24 x 7 whether you are online or not, accepting subscriptions and sending out your follow-up messages)
They are actually three kinds of autoresponders.
The first kind is software based. It's a piece of software that you install on the computer just like you would Microsoft Word, or Act!. Usually a one-time fee. e links, link exchanges ,search engine optimization, trade links.
The second kind is a third-party autoresponder. These all have a main website where you go to login, usually using your individual username and password. Once you are in and you are able to email your list. Your information is hosted on their server with everyone else. They usually charge monthly fee.
The third kind is a server-based. It's installed on your own web site or web server. It's not a service that runs on someone else's servers, so there are no monthly fees.
You are about to discover the right autoresponder so your email marketing marketing efforts won't get stopped in its tracks.
Let's look at them in greater detail.
Definition: The first kind is software based. It's a piece of software that you install on the computer just like you would Microsoft Word or ACT! Usually a one-time fee.
Problems: What would happen if you leave home without your computer? Well, you would not be able to talk to your list. Not widely used.
Definition: The second kind is a third-party autoresponder. This is when you have to go to a main website just like www.thirdpartyautoresponder.com (that's not one) and login using your username and password. You are subscribing to their service. Then you are able to send emails to your list. This one is hosted on their server with every other customer they have. They usually charge a monthly fee. Used by a lot of people.
Problems: A lot of people recommend this kind, you know why? Because they want the residual (ongoing monthly) money they get from the company or because they do not know better.
Here's a few other problems, remember you are hosting your list on their server so they can and will charge you an outrageous amount of money when your list grows. Also one big thing I have found that most people are not aware of....
... All of the emails are not going through to the subscriber's lists.
Why?
Well, let's say you, Joe Blow and I were using this service. Joe blow is building his list wrong and spamming people. Well, Joe Blow just really devastated our business. Because... when he got in trouble for spamming they shut down his IP address and the IP address that was attached to his email is the IP address of the server and that means it is your IP address too.
In other words, even if you build you list correctly, you won't be able to get your emails through because Joe Blow just screwed it up for you and I.
So the one that I recommend is the third kind.
Definition: A server-based Autoresponder. It's installed on your own web site or web server. It's not a service that runs on someone else's servers, so there are no monthly fees. All emails come from your website's IP address and the only person that could get in trouble is you.
If you get stopped, it's your fault, not anyone else's.
Warmest Regards,
Matt Bacak The Powerful Promoter#1 Best Selling Author & Trainer
P.S. "If you want to get hot rabid, prospects flowing into your newsletter, ezine or email list, just go here right now: http://www.promotingtips.com
Matt Bacak, The Powerful Promoter was Entrepreneur Magazines e-Biz radio show host and became a "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. He has helped a number of clients target his specialty, opt-in email direct marketing systems. The Powerful Promoter is not only a sought-after lead explosion specialist but has also generated leads for some of the world's top experts and businesses whose reputations would shrivel if their followers ever found out someone else coached them on their lead generation strategies.
