By Jon Rognerud
A practical "how-to" list for email marketing success, from small to large business.
Email marketing is easy (--ponder--) if you know how to do it. Wow, you have heard that one before, I'm sure. Is that not always the case - with almost anything? So, why even say it?
Because - in this case it is really true.
However, so many small businesses make it more complex than it is; they don't fully understand or grasp the impact of list building, what tools, services and techniques are available, and don't recognize what a successful campaign and its results can and will mean for their businesses.
We believe that a) simplicity of application, b) knowledge - and c) immediate action are the first steps to success. And, everything done in an ethical way - you got permission based marketing. Full speed ahead!
1. Get the legalities out of the way.
Did you know that recent changes in the search engine algorithms now recognize a privacy policy page as an important metric in the total number of items that helps your ranking and visibility? In fact, Google has over 100 variables that make up the secret sauce of their algorithmic search engines. Only two engineers at Google know it. (Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google chose not to learn it himself).
So, you should write and always provide a link to your privacy page. Starter text can be obtained from links below - and always make sure to review with your legal counsel for a final review. You will then include a link to it from your outgoing email campaigns.
Here are some places to start:
a) http://www.truste.org/pdf/WriteAGreatPrivacyPolicy.pdf
b) http://www.marketingpower.com/content4740.php
c) http://www.microsaw.com/privacy_policy.htm
2. Your site must capture user via first name (last name) & email address.
Burn this into your head - make it your site requirement - day one. There are too many online businesses that forget this simple rule. It's a must. If you are reading this article, then you probably already realize the importance of mailing lists. Your audience is looking for good (relevant!) materials to solve problems in their life and business. Capture these visitors, and continue to provide this information and free information, you can grow your business by 1000% or more almost overnight, in some cases in any future mailing. It's super-important to have - and build a quality mailing list.
On your 'landing page' (sometimes called a sales page, gateway page, squeeze page, splash page) you should try to include this capture form on the "top of the fold" of your webpage. (Think of this as single sheet of paper, folded in half. The visitors will read the top portion first, from left to right - almost in an F-shaped order).
Therefore, make sure you:
Place this input form in a strategic location, "above the fold"
Make this coding your first priority for implementation - don't make it the last - or never (which many companies do)
3. Example Signup forms.
Search the internet for example sign up forms. A great technique is to look for companies that have this in their URL. Try this in Google (type into search box): allinurl: "free newsletter" (it will search any site that has this contained in the TITLE of the page).
Some examples of successful forms:
http://www.microsaw.com/myform.htm
http://www.marketingtips.com/newsletters
http://www.redhotcopy.com/workshop.htm - using interesting "slanted" pop-under and image (a black/white banana)
Note that you should always apply "up selling" techniques: links to other complimentary tools, software, articles & e-books.
In other words, give something away for free.
This is the Stephen Covey "emotional bank-account" working at its best. Web surfers are getting smarter and not just links to privacy policies and terms of use are recognized, but easy to read pages that are brief and to the point, score high. (Ed note: An example can be seen on the right side at http://www.microsaw.com/myform.htm - the "free 5-day SEO email course").
4. Popups, popunders, popup blockers & search engines.
Traditional popups (yes, the annoying ones) are banned from search engines like Google.
Therefore, smart marketers have come up with other means. They are called "popunders". They use specialized JavaScript to display a pop-up box, but it's not tracked or recognized by popup-blockers or the search engines (Ed. Note: this could change, as the search engines change their smarts all the time).
As of writing, you should use a pop-up box, and capture first name, last name & email. Don't make it an intrusive one though (it needs to follow your style sheet guidelines, in other words). Another way to go is to use what's called 'house-banners' -- ads that display compelling graphics, text - and uses your own local advertising system (example: double-click).
Here's what to do to capture interested visitors:
Apply a page that "slides" onto your page, and have it appear after 5 seconds.
Display this email form capture on all pages.
Only show it once, and only repeat 2-3 days later (assuming they come back). Many of the email marketing systems include this feature for you.
Annoying, but it works. I went from 5% signups a day a 75% increase overnight - only a few weeks back.
Tip: Make a note that the popup is from your site- not a partner site. (sometimes popups are thought to be from sponsors, make a note to your visitor that it's from you).
5. Do you have a newsletter you are trying to promote? Up-sell is the answer!
If you are promoting a newsletter, outside of just getting visitors to sign up, there are 3rd parties vendors that can help you publish and sell your newsletter. Throughout all campaigns, you must make sure to provide useful, relevant and unique content.
Some options for you:
Coregcomplete.com - get signups on thank you pages of other subscription forms this is a great way to promote your wares
Getsubscribers.com
Partner with companies you find, and call them up. Search for 'newsletter publishers' in Google.
When you write articles (yes, you should) - make sure to make a note in the "About Author" that you publish or have newsletters available.
TIP/Warning: Beware of commercial co-regs -- they typically have poor quality names and offers.
Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO and Online Marketing, and has spent over 10 years developing websites and marketing solutions for companies like Overture, Yahoo and Expedia.
His website, Los Angeles Search Marketing at http://www.microsaw.com, provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary email courses on everything you will ever need to know about SEO and Search Marketing. He lives with his family in Southern California.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Rognerud
Monday, September 25, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Email Marketing at Its Easiest
By Sean Mize
Do you have a mailing list, but you just don’t know what to do to communicate with it? Do you have a web site, and you get some traffic, and you are making sales, and you just know you could make more, if only you were mailing your traffic regularly? Are you simply overwhelmed at the process of writing an email sequence to send to your list? If any of the above are true, you are not alone.
You see, many web businesses do not do the business they could simply because email marketing seems overwhelming.
So how to make it easy?
For each individual, the sticking point is something different. In the next few minutes, I am going to go through each of the sticking points, and give you advice to “unstick” them. If you are not stuck in one point, move on to the next.
1) You must have an auto responder service. An auto responder will mail your mailing list on a regular basis without any intervention from you (after you have written the emails, of course).
2) You must include an opt-in form on your website for people to add their name to your mailing list. Your auto responder company can provide this for you and then you can simply cut and paste the html code into your web site.
3) You must write an email sequence. This is probably one of the hardest things for the beginner to do. Just write like you are writing to a friend. To see an example of how this works, subscribe to a few newsletters or mailing lists online, and keep all the emails. Read them. Decide what you like, what you dislike. What types of emails did you most enjoy reading, and which did you want to delete? The key here is to learn from what others are doing successfully.
4) Use your auto responder’s tracking program to determine which of your emails are being opened (that helps you test your headlines), and to test which of your emails lead to additional clicks to your web site (that allows you to test the effectiveness of your writing).
Just remember that when you are just getting started, there is a long trial and error learning curve. Anytime you learn something, note it, or write it down so you don’t make the same mistake again.
Sean Mize is a successful offline and online entrepreneur and marketer, and is the author of “15 Steps to Internet Success“. To receive a free copy, simply follow this link: Search Engine Marketing
Are you interested in learning how to build a responsive mailing list? Click here: List Building
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Mize
Do you have a mailing list, but you just don’t know what to do to communicate with it? Do you have a web site, and you get some traffic, and you are making sales, and you just know you could make more, if only you were mailing your traffic regularly? Are you simply overwhelmed at the process of writing an email sequence to send to your list? If any of the above are true, you are not alone.
You see, many web businesses do not do the business they could simply because email marketing seems overwhelming.
So how to make it easy?
For each individual, the sticking point is something different. In the next few minutes, I am going to go through each of the sticking points, and give you advice to “unstick” them. If you are not stuck in one point, move on to the next.
1) You must have an auto responder service. An auto responder will mail your mailing list on a regular basis without any intervention from you (after you have written the emails, of course).
2) You must include an opt-in form on your website for people to add their name to your mailing list. Your auto responder company can provide this for you and then you can simply cut and paste the html code into your web site.
3) You must write an email sequence. This is probably one of the hardest things for the beginner to do. Just write like you are writing to a friend. To see an example of how this works, subscribe to a few newsletters or mailing lists online, and keep all the emails. Read them. Decide what you like, what you dislike. What types of emails did you most enjoy reading, and which did you want to delete? The key here is to learn from what others are doing successfully.
4) Use your auto responder’s tracking program to determine which of your emails are being opened (that helps you test your headlines), and to test which of your emails lead to additional clicks to your web site (that allows you to test the effectiveness of your writing).
Just remember that when you are just getting started, there is a long trial and error learning curve. Anytime you learn something, note it, or write it down so you don’t make the same mistake again.
Sean Mize is a successful offline and online entrepreneur and marketer, and is the author of “15 Steps to Internet Success“. To receive a free copy, simply follow this link: Search Engine Marketing
Are you interested in learning how to build a responsive mailing list? Click here: List Building
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Mize
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The good and bad of email marketing
by Daya vincent
This is an exclusive service and one of our best Internet marketing tools! Proven successful! We can communicate via email and express our new ideas, techniques and strategies implementing on the website link. So it is give imperative that u must have a clear picture on what is going on in linking services and collecting databases fields and fresh information on day by day. To make people conscious about what you are and what your site can do, email marketing is considered as an unbeatable tool to promote business via email. Email marketing can be defined as an easy tool that helps business people increase their revenue by attracting more people to the site by sending email campaigns concerning the site.
Let us have a glance on email marketing, its role/use in business promotion.
* The email marketing is extremely cheap when compared to other forms of advertising and campaigning programs. It doesn't require printing, publishing, paper etc and cost incurred in such types of work can be avoided if we use email marketing as our campaigning tool. * It is an instant method of campaigning and we never have to wait for hours or days to reach messages to intended users. * It lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in. * It is easy to track. An advertiser can track, un-subscribes, open rates, positive or negative responses, click-through, rise in sales. * Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have opted in to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them. * It has been proven successful when well done
With above benefits it comes with some bad effects too. Spam, the main danger of email marketing sometimes creates hindrance in taking benefits as part of email marketing. Mainly email marketing is used by companies to interact with their customers whereas spam can be defined as a set of unsolicited mails that fills customer's inbox and make it out of use. It is frequently difficult to distinguish between legitimate email marketing and spams. At first spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate users rendering the real issue. To avoid these spammers a lot of spam filters are now introduced in the field that helps blocking only spams and not the legitimate emails.
Eventhough email marketing has the above specified risk, it can overcome easily by the introduction of spam filters and provide people the full benefits of email marketing.
Don't wait, no need to think more, use email marketing as your site promoting tool and become top in the business. To know more about emailmarketing and its services, follow this link and know and explore our email marketing services.We provide our clients tips and tricks for site promotion, how to increase site traffic and thus increasing site revenue.
About the Author
Daya Vincent is the content writer of http://www.newagesmb.com a offshore software development and website design experts. Our focus is Web design, Web Programming, logo design, Internet Marketing , Flash Presentations ,ecommerce solutions and Search Engine Optimization.
source : goarticles.com
This is an exclusive service and one of our best Internet marketing tools! Proven successful! We can communicate via email and express our new ideas, techniques and strategies implementing on the website link. So it is give imperative that u must have a clear picture on what is going on in linking services and collecting databases fields and fresh information on day by day. To make people conscious about what you are and what your site can do, email marketing is considered as an unbeatable tool to promote business via email. Email marketing can be defined as an easy tool that helps business people increase their revenue by attracting more people to the site by sending email campaigns concerning the site.
Let us have a glance on email marketing, its role/use in business promotion.
* The email marketing is extremely cheap when compared to other forms of advertising and campaigning programs. It doesn't require printing, publishing, paper etc and cost incurred in such types of work can be avoided if we use email marketing as our campaigning tool. * It is an instant method of campaigning and we never have to wait for hours or days to reach messages to intended users. * It lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in. * It is easy to track. An advertiser can track, un-subscribes, open rates, positive or negative responses, click-through, rise in sales. * Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have opted in to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them. * It has been proven successful when well done
With above benefits it comes with some bad effects too. Spam, the main danger of email marketing sometimes creates hindrance in taking benefits as part of email marketing. Mainly email marketing is used by companies to interact with their customers whereas spam can be defined as a set of unsolicited mails that fills customer's inbox and make it out of use. It is frequently difficult to distinguish between legitimate email marketing and spams. At first spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate users rendering the real issue. To avoid these spammers a lot of spam filters are now introduced in the field that helps blocking only spams and not the legitimate emails.
Eventhough email marketing has the above specified risk, it can overcome easily by the introduction of spam filters and provide people the full benefits of email marketing.
Don't wait, no need to think more, use email marketing as your site promoting tool and become top in the business. To know more about emailmarketing and its services, follow this link and know and explore our email marketing services.We provide our clients tips and tricks for site promotion, how to increase site traffic and thus increasing site revenue.
About the Author
Daya Vincent is the content writer of http://www.newagesmb.com a offshore software development and website design experts. Our focus is Web design, Web Programming, logo design, Internet Marketing , Flash Presentations ,ecommerce solutions and Search Engine Optimization.
source : goarticles.com
Friday, September 08, 2006
Email Marketing Is Still King Of The Internet
By Lewis Leake
I know! I know! Everybody and his dog has probably been telling you that email marketing is dead. Many people predicted that spam would be the death of email marketing. That blogs and RSS feeds would take over.
Well, if you've noticed, it just ain't so. It just hasn't happened. Sure Blogs and RSS feeds are important and should be a part of your internet marketing strategy but they just can't compete with email marketing when it comes to sales and marketing. Email marketing is still king of the internet.
Think about it, how do you get people to your blogs? I'm talking return visitors! You're probably getting your visitors to opt-in to your list so that you can send them an email reminder whenever you add something to your blog.
Email marketing through publishing an ezine and sending it to your opt-in list is extremely profitable, even if you have a small list. The nature of ezine publishing creates loyal readers and highly responsive buyers for your products and services.
Why is email marketing such a powerful marketing strategy:
- the majority of people check their email every day
- there is a significant savings in time and money
- millions of people subscribe to get information that they are interested in
- increases customer loyalty because of frequent contacts
- email builds your brand
If you have a responsive opt-in list then the potential for email marketing profits is enormous. Thousands of successful internet marketers can't be wrong when they say "The Money Is In The List."
Build your responsive, opt-in list. Send them useful and informative information in your newsletter. Find out what they want. Find that product or service. Offer it to your list. Then do it again and again.
Email Marketing is still King!
Lewis Leake is the webmaster of http://www.emailcash.com where you will find articles, product reviews and resources to help you develop successful email marketing strategies.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lewis_Leake
I know! I know! Everybody and his dog has probably been telling you that email marketing is dead. Many people predicted that spam would be the death of email marketing. That blogs and RSS feeds would take over.
Well, if you've noticed, it just ain't so. It just hasn't happened. Sure Blogs and RSS feeds are important and should be a part of your internet marketing strategy but they just can't compete with email marketing when it comes to sales and marketing. Email marketing is still king of the internet.
Think about it, how do you get people to your blogs? I'm talking return visitors! You're probably getting your visitors to opt-in to your list so that you can send them an email reminder whenever you add something to your blog.
Email marketing through publishing an ezine and sending it to your opt-in list is extremely profitable, even if you have a small list. The nature of ezine publishing creates loyal readers and highly responsive buyers for your products and services.
Why is email marketing such a powerful marketing strategy:
- the majority of people check their email every day
- there is a significant savings in time and money
- millions of people subscribe to get information that they are interested in
- increases customer loyalty because of frequent contacts
- email builds your brand
If you have a responsive opt-in list then the potential for email marketing profits is enormous. Thousands of successful internet marketers can't be wrong when they say "The Money Is In The List."
Build your responsive, opt-in list. Send them useful and informative information in your newsletter. Find out what they want. Find that product or service. Offer it to your list. Then do it again and again.
Email Marketing is still King!
Lewis Leake is the webmaster of http://www.emailcash.com where you will find articles, product reviews and resources to help you develop successful email marketing strategies.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lewis_Leake
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Get Your SUBSCRIBERS to READ Your Emails - Using These 3 Email Marketing Tips
by: Ashley Keane
As home based business owners, when we do marketing by email we ask ourselves, “Why are many of my subscribers not reading my emails? Why are they not buying my products?”
There are many reasons why your subscribers don’t WANT to buy YOUR products. The 3 most common reasons are:
1) Every email they get from you is about products that helped you.
2) They feel you don’t really want to solve their problems because you don’t know anything about them- but their email address.
3) Your emails have a “one size fits all” message. Your emails make them feel like one in a crowd, not like a special subscriber.
It’s not too late to change those common mistakes! Commit to really care for your subscribers. You'll see them forwarding your emails and you'll get more free targeted traffic!
Even more, they’ll look forward to hearing from you. Hence, make them feel special using these 3 tips in your email marketing campaign.
----- Tip 1) Don’t send the same message to all your subscribers. Have your subscriber list divided into at least 3 sublists like by country, US state, date subscribed, and interests.
- Sublist 1: Country, US state of where they live
Have a great product you know will help your subscribers save time? Don’t tell all your subscribers about it at the same time. Think of ways to make your various subscribers feel special.
For instance, let’s say most of your customers live in Ohio. Make them feel special with an email that says something like:
I’m writing to you because you live in Ohio and your state is one of my top 3 states served. In other words, more subscribers have bought my product “5 tips ebook” than in most states in the country!
As my way of saying thank you, I’m offering you, (and only my Ohio subscribers) this related product at 40% off the purchase price! I’m only offering this special for 4 days. After 4 days, all my subscribers and website visitors will need to buy it at regular purchase price. I’m glad to serve you.
Read Detail...
As home based business owners, when we do marketing by email we ask ourselves, “Why are many of my subscribers not reading my emails? Why are they not buying my products?”
There are many reasons why your subscribers don’t WANT to buy YOUR products. The 3 most common reasons are:
1) Every email they get from you is about products that helped you.
2) They feel you don’t really want to solve their problems because you don’t know anything about them- but their email address.
3) Your emails have a “one size fits all” message. Your emails make them feel like one in a crowd, not like a special subscriber.
It’s not too late to change those common mistakes! Commit to really care for your subscribers. You'll see them forwarding your emails and you'll get more free targeted traffic!
Even more, they’ll look forward to hearing from you. Hence, make them feel special using these 3 tips in your email marketing campaign.
----- Tip 1) Don’t send the same message to all your subscribers. Have your subscriber list divided into at least 3 sublists like by country, US state, date subscribed, and interests.
- Sublist 1: Country, US state of where they live
Have a great product you know will help your subscribers save time? Don’t tell all your subscribers about it at the same time. Think of ways to make your various subscribers feel special.
For instance, let’s say most of your customers live in Ohio. Make them feel special with an email that says something like:
I’m writing to you because you live in Ohio and your state is one of my top 3 states served. In other words, more subscribers have bought my product “5 tips ebook” than in most states in the country!
As my way of saying thank you, I’m offering you, (and only my Ohio subscribers) this related product at 40% off the purchase price! I’m only offering this special for 4 days. After 4 days, all my subscribers and website visitors will need to buy it at regular purchase price. I’m glad to serve you.
Read Detail...
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