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By Terry Dean SPAM...Everyone is
talking about it...And Most Everyone hates it. For those who don't know what
"Spam" is, it is the practice of sending email to thousands or millions of
people who have not requested it or have never contacted your company before.
I know you get "spammed"....Everyone does. Personally, I receive around 50 or so
a day of these emails selling whatever product or service they have to offer. I delete
most of them with barely a glance, yet they keep on coming.
They are usually (Though not all of the time) poorly written and full of extremely hyped
messages. One will be for bulk email products. The next might be for search engine
submissions (I wonder why they have to bulk for it if they are so good at search engine
submissions?).
The list goes on and on. I get ads for dolls, cars, credit cards, merchant accounts, and
more. We won't even talk about the worst stuff which is sent out. One piece after another
has to be deleted...and it just keeps coming.
Why So Much Bulk "Spam" Email...
If everyone is deleting it, then why do they keep sending it? It's simple. Although
the response rates are extremely low, they still do get orders for their product or
service. Their financial cost in sending it is almost nothing, so it is looked upon as a
good advertising vehicle. Some sales are better than nothing...Right?
Wrong...In all of the offers about bulk emailing, notice that you never seem to receive
the other side of the story. What happens after you send bulk email?
You could lose your local Internet Service Provider, your web sites, your email addresses,
and more. Just a few complaints (Which you will get even if you try to hide) and your
server will cancel your account.
This doesn't even cover your reputation or the legal ramifications of sending unsolicited
bulk email. Currently, several states have laws on the books or in the works which can
fine you $500 or more for each piece of bulk email you send without a prior business
relationship.
Bulk email just isn't worth the ramifications. If you have considered bulk email, don't do
it. There are SO many other more effective ways to market your product or service on the
net that it is not necessary to take the risks that go with bulk email.
"What Should You Do?"
I can tell you in one sentence what you should do instead of bulk email... "You
should start building Your Own Opt-In Email List TODAY!"
Email Marketing is effective. That is why so many people are using it in the
"Spam" arena. It can produce sales constantly in your business!
Anytime I see someone trying to build a business online without developing any type
of Opt-In list I know they are shooting themselves in the foot. It is possible to build a
business online without a list, but WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO?
Email is free to send out. Even if you have to purchase a listserver or some other type of
application to do your email, we are talking about only a couple hundred dollars a year to
send out UNLIMITED communications to your prospects and customers. Go to your local post
office and ask them if you can send out as much mail as you want whenever you want for one
low lump sum. I guarantee you will be laughed at!
Usually when I tell this to people, they give me One of three excuses about why they can't
do it:
1) They don't know how.
I usually am the least patient with this excuse, because everyone of us had to learn at
some point in time what to do. I don't think anyone jumped on the internet and all of a
sudden knew exactly what to do every step of the way. As a matter of fact, I know they
haven't.
There are many resources online to learn how to start your own ezine. Dozens of ezines
come out every week talking about the subject...not the least of which is this one you are
reading! We even have an entire course devoted to this subject called the
"Email Marketing Secrets" course which you can get more info on at emailmarketing@aweber.com 24 hours day!
Ignorance is no excuse. You can learn How to do your own Opt-In list and you can learn how
to profit from it. Don't let me hear you use that excuse!
2) They can't come up with that much content.
Maybe, you don't believe you can come up with that much content, because you aren't a
writer. First of all, I hope you know a lot about whatever subject it is that you deal
with in your business. Whatever you are selling...whatever problems you are solving...can
be the basis for much of your content.
The second thing you can do is use other people's content. Hundreds of ezine publishers
will allow you to use their articles in your ezine as long as you leave their contact
information attached to the bottom of all of the articles. All you have to do is ask and
most of them will give you their articles free to use. I know I will!
3) There are already too many ezines and newsletters out there.
Who said your Opt-In Email List had to be an ezine? When I speak of Opt-In Email, it
doesn't have to just mean ezine, although this is the most popular application.
Being innovative and creative in your online business can often be a major key to your
success. Ezines are not the only Opt-In lists which I have seen become extremely popular
and profitable. To get your creative juices flowing, I want to give you some other ideas
for your own Opt-In list.
Besides ezines, a quick mention of other types of Opt-In lists which I have seen
which are very successful are "____ of the Day" lists. The most popular of these
that I know of is "Joke of the Day." There are also "Recipe of the
Day," "Business Tip of the Day," and more. What idea could you come up with
in this area?
What about a daily diary of your business? This is one I have started seeing much more
recently online. In these, the publisher writes down something involved in their business
everyday that happened. They did this or that...whatever they know will be of interest to
their readers. This one not only keeps you in contact, it can also help you develop
trust even quicker with your prospects.
What about a Free Online Class? You could develop a 6, 12, 24 lesson class on a certain
subject and have them receive the next issue every week, every 2 weeks, or once a month.
Then, once they complete that class, you may have advanced classes, etc. You could also
put them on an updates list for new information constantly.
How could you use any of these ideas in a new way? Don't limit yourself. If you need help
coming up with an idea and would like my input on it, email me at webmaster@bizpromo.com I am ready and
willing to help you in whatever way I can.
One admonition I want to leave you with though is to get started TODAY! If you don't get
started in one way or another today in either the development of an idea or in the actual
set-up of your idea, you by odds will NEVER do it. Owning your own Opt-In list is so
important to the effectiveness of your business online that I have to stress you need to
get started today if you want to succeed in your online business.
Terry Dean is the webmaster at
http://www.bizpromo.com For FREE Information on how you can develop your own automatic
internet money machine, email emailmarketing@aweber.com
for more information and a free report today! |