35.email Marketing Basics

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Cautionary Email Marketing

Various Types of Building An Email List (Good And Bad)


Every business online or off line needs a promotion. The type of business we wish to
research is email marketing techniques.

Using newsletters, announcements, promotions, is a good, inexpensive way to reach


prospects and customers with your message.

Being totally honest and keeping our integrity we don't want to send promotions without
consent of the people receiving our emails.

You probably already have a number of email addresses collected in your contact
management software. This would be a first source of addresses to use. With time you
will know if the prospects are interested or not, usually you will get a notice

Renting lists from vendors that sell addresses of people who have given permission of
address use. There are a variety of vendors who sell targeted opt-in lists for one-time or
multiple use. The vendor will do the mailing for you and you retain addresses after
recipients take an action that gives you their email. The prices on lists vary widely
(usually starting at $.10 per email), and it is likely that you will have to make a minimum
order of at least $500.

This can fit into the spam category, and some associations and groups specifically
prohibit bulk mailings to members by other members. Some associations will expel you
for this kind of activity, but some are more permissive. Do research on what is permitted
here!
Add a newsletter promotion to your email signature file. In addition to promoting your
web site, this is a good way to get people you know to sign up for your newsletter if you
aren't comfortable with adding them to the list automatically.

You can often set up list exchanges with other businesses for one-time or multiple use.
Make sure that you have the permission of your list members to do this or you can create
a lot of anger among your list members.

Many people publish their email addresses on the web. This way is used by many, by
manually collect these email addresses or use software to do this automatically. This
method is in the spam category, so not to be recommended.

Promote the value of your newsletter or mailing list on your web site and use special
functions to encourage sign-ups:

 Pop-up windows
 pop under Windows
 Registration for articles
 Membership registration
 End of page opt-in's
 Exit pop-ups
 And the list goes on and on...

There are simple affiliate-type programs that enable you to buy live addresses from site
visitors. Average cost is $.25 per each email address Well, this too fits into a spam
method, but it can work. Many of those list are more likely not alive any linger either,
and had been sold over and over.

Create the opportunity for your subscribers to forward your email newsletter. If your
content is high-value, this "viral" method can multiply your subscribers very effectively.
Your great content can encourage subscribers to sign up for your newsletter, and the cost
of the promotion is the use of your content. Many newsletter publishers will allow you to
promote your newsletter in their mailings for a fee or for some kind of exchange,
including promoting their newsletter in yours.

There are a number of sites that promote or list different newsletters for people to
subscribe to. You can also join up with other newsletter publishers with common target
markets and list your newsletters together on each of the publisher's sites.

The implied endorsement is nearly the most powerful way to boost return on investment
within advertising and email lists.

Presenting a great value to your niche market and becoming the "must have" newsletter is
going to be important in building your list. This kind of value travels fast by word-of-
mouth. Not to mention having a product, that is so attractive valuable tha people are
raving after it.

The product that creates it value on it own and repays and doubles it´s value: after all you
are not after the product solely, you are buying a value for yourself, a service , a solution.
Essential Rules For Successful (And Proper) Email Marketing
You own an online business (or you're on the way to owning one) and you know that to
make money you need a list of people, a list of passionate buyers who are hungry for
your offer and will devour it when you send it out.

How do you create such a list? And even more important how do you maintain your list
of prospects?

It’s not as easy as you probably thought at first. You must have a squeeze page where
people opt in to your list. On that page you should tell your prospects that the
information they provide will be kept private and that they will receive only the
newsletters they subscribe to but not a whole lot of spam from different sources.

Don’t forget to use the double opt in model because people may not remember that they
opted in to your list. Using the double opt-in method you ensure that all people on your
list gave you the permission to send them your emails.

Your auto-responder email messages should be mini sales letters including a solid content
to keep your list subscribed. And finally, you want to send the emails at a regular basis,
but not too often, so your subscribers don't forget who you are, or worse, get
overwhelmed by your messages.

It requires much time, testing and measuring to choose the right email marketing strategy
and set it up in the right way but it is well worth the efforts in the end.

Let’s talk now about 3 simple but incredibly important rules to set you on the right path
with the email newsletter:
1. Keep the lines width up to 65 characters.

Most people read many emails every day. So, your purpose is to compose your email
message so that it is not boring or fatiguing to read.

The last thing that your recipient wants to do is scrolling his eyes from one side of the
screen to the other. No matter how good your content is, if it is fatiguing to read, it risks
to be abandoned after a few lines.

The optimum width of the line is around 65 characters.

You just type 65 symbols, for example asterisks or dashes, across the top and then
measure your text returns against this. MS Outlook Express, NoteTab and some other
email programs allow you set the line wrap to any character width you require. So, you
don’t have to hit enter every time you think you need to.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some email programs force line wrapping at 60 to
65 characters on emails received. So if you send an email wrapped at 100 characters your
reader will receive an email that is broken down. This makes it look unprofessional.

2. Don’t write in ALL CAPS.

It’s bad email etiquette. It’s like you’re shouting at your reader. Nobody likes to be
shouted at and if you are trying to sell something at the same time, you won't make any
sales, and even worse, you may lose some subscribers.

Some caps, underlining and bolding is necessary but don’t abuse it! Too many caps,
exclamation points, underlining and bolding work against you. An email all in caps
would destroy the reader’s confidence very quickly.
3. Always check your spelling and grammar.

Have you ever seen a website, sales page or email with spelling mistakes? What do you
think about the professionalism of the owner or email sender?

Some people may not pay attention to the mistakes, but for some people one spelling
mistake will completely destroy the credibility of the message.

It is very important to spell check your messages before sending them. And even better if
you have someone else to proof read your message before you send it out.

A fresh look always helps discover the slips and mistakes that you might miss.

Your reputation and sales are in direct proportion with your messages.

The better your message is, the higher the credibility of your readers is and, thus, more
sales you make. So, take the time to get it absolutely right.
Is Your Email Marketing Considered Spam?
Email marketing can be very effective as long as it is not viewed as spam. This is critical
because when your email marketing is viewed as spam, it will not likely be read by the
recipient and may not even reach the recipient if it is trapped by the Internet service
providers spam filter. For this reason it is critical for business owners to work hard to
ensure the email marketing they use is not viewed as spam by either the recipient or the
recipient’s Internet service provider. This article will take a look at email marketing and
specifically how business owners can ensure their emails are not viewed as spam.

The distribution list for an email marketing campaign is one of the critical elements
which can help to ensure the emails sent by the business owner are not viewed as spam.
Before this can be accomplished it is important to understand exactly what spam is. Spam
is essentially email which is unsolicited and sent for the sole purpose of advertising or
promoting a product or service. Internet users receive mass quantities of spam on a daily
basis.

For some Internet users this quantity of spam is a huge source of frustration. Other
Internet users have become so used to the amount of spam they receive that they barely
even notice these emails. Neither of these scenarios bode well for business owners who
are using email marketing campaigns to promote their products or services. Internet users
who are angered by these spam emails may react harshly and report your emails to their
Internet service providers. Internet users who do not even notice spam are likely to either
automatically delete your emails and may block your email address to prevent future
emails from getting through to them.

Paying special attention to your email distribution list and only including recipients who
had specifically asked for additional information will help to keep your emails from
being viewed as spam. One way to acquire email addresses for the purposes of
orchestrating an email campaign is to ask interested customers to register with your
website and specify whether or not they wish to receive future emails with additional
information, advertisements or other useful tips. This ensures the recipients of your
emails are genuinely interested in your products and services and are not likely to view
your emails as spam.

Another way to ensure your emails are not viewed as spam is to offer recipients the
option of being removed from the distribution list with each email. This is important even
when the recipients specifically asked to receive these emails because they are entitled to
change their opinion at any time.

Offering the email recipients the opportunity to remove themselves from the email
distribution list whenever they want is worthwhile because it allows recipients to have
some control in the situation.

This is a stark contrast to spam in which the recipients feel as though they have no
control over the situation and no way to stop the spam from bombarding their inboxes on
a daily basis.

Lastly, business owners can help to ensure their email marketing campaign is not viewed
as spam by including quality content in the emails they send to the recipients on the email
distribution list. This may include providing feature articles, product reviews or a series
of short useful tips which will likely be of interest to all who receive these emails. These
emails may also include a soft sales pitch but this sales pitch should not be the focus of
the emails.

Putting too much attention on the advertising is likely to lead the recipients to assume the
email is nothing more than spam.

Conversely, providing quality information which is useful to the recipient and subtly
urging them to perform an action such as making a purchase or investigating the details
of a product can make the email seem much more worthwhile and less like spam.
The Art Of Subtle Email Marketing
Everyday Internet users receive tons of emails telling them to buy certain products or
visit particular websites. While these emails arrive in the inboxes of unsuspecting
Internet users each day, most of them pay very little attention to these emails. That's
simply because emails which are blatant advertisements are often viewed as spam.

Most Internet users have very little tolerance for spam. Reactions to spam tend to range
from simply ignoring the emails and having the email addresses blocked from sending
future emails to reporting the emails to their Internet service provider for further
investigation.

We realize many Internet marketers have difficulty keeping their email marketing subtle.
Therefore this article will provide some useful information on how email marketing can
be kept subtle so it is not viewed as spam.

One of the most important criteria for ensuring your email marketing is subtle and will
not be viewed as spam is to provide something of quality to the recipients. This may
include insightful articles, interesting quizzes or other useful facts which members of the
target audience are likely to find useful.

When email recipients realize an email they received is offering them something
worthwhile such as knowledge or information about a particular niche subject they are
much more likely to spend some time reviewing the email because they will not consider
the email to be spam.

In addition to using the creation of this copy to convince recipients that the email is not
spam, the business owners can also take advantage of this copy by providing subtle
advertising. This may include product references in the articles or links to your website
throughout the email.
Avoiding language which makes outrageous claims can also help to keep advertising
quite subtle. Using superlatives and describing the greatness of specific products is likely
to be viewed as blatant advertising. When this happens, it is not likely that website
owners will believe there is validity in anything contained within the email because they
will believe the entire email is simply one big advertisement for your products or
services.

Another way to keep advertising subtle when running an email marketing campaign is to
only send your email to those who are likely to be extremely interested in your products
and services. This is important because when email recipients receive an email which
does not reflect their interests at all, they are not likely to take the email serious and may
view the email as a blatant advertisement. However, when the email is only sent to those
who share a common interest the email seems more personalized. In this case the email
recipients are not likely to view every product reference as a blatant advertisement
because they understand there is sometimes a need to mention products or services.

Keep in mind, email marketing remains subtle when the content of the email is written as
though it is not coming directly from the business owner. The copy may speak about the
products and services as though they are being offered by a third party. This make the
advertising seem more subtle because it does not appear to come directly from the
business owner.
Hiring A Consultant
Savvy business owners realize the importance of email marketing even if they do not
know how to run an effective email marketing campaign. Simply stated this means a
business owner may realize it is imperative for him to run an email marketing campaign
to help him meet the needs and expectations of his target audience but he may not know
how to orchestrate an email marketing campaign which is truly effective.

Fortunately for these business owners they don't have to know a great deal about email
marketing because there are plenty of Internet marketing consultants who can assist them
in planning and running an effective email marketing campaign. This report will provide
some tips for finding a consultant to assist you in orchestrating an email marketing
campaign.

One of the most important criteria in seeking a consultant to assist you with our email
marketing campaign is experience. Specifically it is experience which has resulted in past
success. This is important because one of the best indicators of how well a consultant
will perform for you is how well they performed in the past. This means if a consultant
was able to help a variety of past clients to attain their goals through email marketing, the
consultant will likely be able to assist you in the same way.

Another important criterion when hiring a consultant to assist you with your email
marketing campaign is the opinions of past clients. Before committing to work with a
particular consultant you should request references from past clients. You should not only
request these references but also contact each of the past clients provided and question
them about their experiences with the consultant. It is important to keep in mind the
consultant will likely only provide reference he is confident will offer a positive opinion
of his services. However, you can still learn a great deal about the consultant’s style,
personality and techniques through these references. This is important because the
consultant’s personality as well as his skill and abilities is also very important.
If you do not get along with the consultant and have difficulty talking to him, it can be
difficult to work with him. Additionally, it might be hard for you to meet your business
related goals because you are likely not providing the consultant with enough information
or offering feedback which could help him to adjust his strategies to better meet your
expectations. While it is true that skill, knowledge and ability are all important sometimes
none of these matter if personality conflicts prevent you and the consultant from
communicating adequately. Therefore your personal opinion of the consultant should
always be carefully considered before making hiring a consultant.

Although consulting references is a good idea, you should also consider contacting the
Better Business Bureau (BBB) as well and also seeking out independent reviews of the
consultant you are considering hiring to assist you in your email marketing campaign.

The BBB can provide you with a great deal of information regarding the past
performance of the consultant. If the consultant has been in business for a number of
years and does not have any unresolved complaints with the BBB, this is a good
indication the consultant performs adequately and treats clients fairly.

Conversely a consultant with a number of unresolved complaints against him is not likely
going to be a good choice.

Similarly a consultant who has a number of independent reviews raving about the quality
of his service is likely a good choice to assist you in your email marketing campaign
while a consultant who has a number of poor reviews on the Internet is not really a good
choice for assisting you with your email marketing campaign.

Likewise, you can assume if past clients were not happy with the services he provided,
you will likely also not be happy with these services.
Final Thoughts
Finally, business owners can help to ensure their email marketing efforts are not viewed
as blatant advertisements by keeping reference to your own website to an absolute
minimum. Most Internet users often view links from one website to another strictly as an
advertisement.

For this reason it might be worthwhile for business owners who are marketing an email
campaign to keep links to a minimum and to carefully weave these links into even the
most quite benign copy.

The links should be provided as though they were only included to provide you with an
opportunity to learn more about the products and not as a way to encourage you to
purchase these products.

It might be worthwhile to consider hiring a writer with this type of experience to ensure
the copy conveys the desired message and has the desired effect on the email recipients.

Take all of these points and this information into consideration when you're developing
and maintaining any email marketing campaign at all. It's important that you stay safe,
legitimate, and don't tarnish your reputation in the realm of making money online.

Your word is your bond, and you should always be honest and follow the rules when it
comes to marketing both online and offline.

With that said, good luck and stay safe! To your e-mail marketing success!

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