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Home: 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Date: December 10, 2002
CONTENTS
=> Editor's Welcome
2. FREE Content for Webmasters
3. Caution about Lead Purchases
4. Get Inspired
5. Recommended Resources
6. Subscription and Contact Info
Ros Rants & Raves
Greetings
First of all, my apologies that this newsletter arrives
late. Unfortunately, there was a probably with Aweber's
system last Friday, and your newsletter was one of those
that came back 'undeliverable'.
However, in light of today's topic and recommended
ecommerce resource, I hope you see both the humor and
the irony.
Anyway, back to business....
I am always surprised when asked to review a subscriber's
site and discover that they're not offering a newsletter
through an opt-in subscription.
Most of them are also wondering why their sites aren't
making any money.
Hmmm... not having a way to get in touch with site
visitors might have something to do with that. Let's
find out.
In todays article, 'It's All in the List', you'll learn
why you absolutely MUST have a newsletter or ezine.
I also discuss how NOT to get subscribers and which
autoresponder/newsletter service will give you the best
bang for your buck.
Until next time, I wish you Health, Wealth and Happiness!
Rosalind Gardner
The Net Profits Today
1. Article: It's All in the List
(c) 2002 - Rosalind Gardner
If customers must be exposed to a product an average of 7 times
before they buy, and you don't have a way to contact a surfer
after their first visit to your site, how do you remind them
about your product six more times?
Do you simply hope they'll remember your name, your company
name or your URL? Do you invite them to use a 'Bookmark
Now!' link?
Have you ever seen a typical file of 'Favorites'? I use the term
'file' very loosely. Filing is rarely involved, and it's unlikely
anyone will find your site again amidst his or her 500 other
'favorite' sites.
Even if those methods did work to bring your visitors back,
how would reading your sales copy six more times convince
them to buy?
It wouldn't.
That's why Internet marketing experts all agree, without an
opt-in list or email newsletter, you are losing sales and
money. Put simply, having your own ezine is absolutely
essential if your online business is to achieve its maximum
potential.
'Ezine' is essentially a contraction for the term
'electronic magazine'. They are also known as opt-in lists,
email newsletters or simply 'zines.
Ezines allow you to contact your subscribers via email without
spa*mming, as they've 'opted' to receive your information.
In other words, interested prospects have given you permission
to send them news and information.
Publishing an ezine that captures and holds your
subscribers' interest takes some time and effort. You
must
commit to a schedule, and give your readers
attention-grabbing, useful information in an easy-to-read
format. Your objective is to earn your readers trust by
establishing yourself as a credible source of valuable
information.
Does that sound like too much work? Are you not convinced
that publishing an ezine is worth the effort? Consider this.
What is the first thing most people do when they turn on
their computers in the morning? They read their email! If
your newsletter is in their Inbox, your product gets seen
before the competition's site is visited. Browser windows
may be closed without book-marking, and names forgotten, but
your email is still in your subscribers Inbox!
The ezine itself is relatively simple to set up. Do not use
software that resides on your computer to build your mailing
list. As your list grows in size, you run the risk of having
your ISP shut down your connection for excessive
bandwidth
use or allegations of sp*am. It happened to me and it's a
costly mistake that you can and should avoid. Instead,
purchase a service from one of the many companies
offering
mailing lists and autoresponders.
As your autoresponder or mailing list service charges remain
the same, your customer acquisition costs decrease as
your
list grows. That makes publishing an ezine the most
inexpensive way to build relationships with your website
visitors.
Your effort and investment will pay off. Sharing your
knowledge to help others is both good for the soul and
financially rewarding. A newsletter that readers look
forward to can grow to thousands and tens of thousands of
people. An average conversion rate of one percent on a very
large list can be a large reward in exchange for
the time it takes you to write your newsletter.
Communicating with your customers on a continuing basis
builds trust, goodwill and increases their willingness to
buy from you. Remember that it is 7 times less expensive to
market to an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one.
Start your own ezine. The effort will be well worth your time.
Click here to check out the autoresponders that I use and recommend.
2. Content for Webmasters
You may use the article above on your website or in
your publications. Simply place the following 'resource box'
after each article.
Rosalind Gardner is dedicated to helping you grow a
profitable Internet business. Get valuable tips,
techniques and tools and start earning
today.
3. Caution about Lead Purchases
I've always believed that the only way to build an opt-in
list was to bring people to your site. You then encourage
them to sign-up for your newsletter by offering
value.
In my humble opinion, acquiring email addresses by any other
means is dishonest. It's sp*am and I hate sp*am. I don't
want it sent to me, and I'm certainly not going to send it
to you or anyone else.
As you can see by the amount of crap you get in your
email
everyday, not everyone feels as I do about sp*am.
There are companies selling their mailing lists to other
companies, who then turn around and sell those lists. The
'get rich quick' hopeful who spents 500 bucks to buy a
few thousand addresses is just that - hopeful. Not rich.
Many operate on the rationalization that anyone who has
indicated an interest in internet or home-based business is
a valid 'lead' or prospect' and wants to receive piles and piles
of worthless crap quasi-related to those topics.
If you're buying leads to populate your list, you might
want to reconsider after reading the notice below.
ProfitLeads, an MLM company, that sells leads for between
$59.95 for 60 and $669.95 for 1750 PER MONTH, has just
been red-flagged... and goodness triumphs again. YAY!
Lead Import Notice
I regret to inform you that lead imports
from the following vendor are no longer being accepted:
Profit Leads http://www.profitleads.com/
Profit Leads are now banned due to the high volume of spam
complaints they generate. Any member found importing Profit
Leads into their ProAutoResponder account risks the
immediate termination of their account.
Our exchange with Profit Leads management
leads us to believe that a remedy is not forthcoming in the
near future. Hence, this measure is deemed necessary.
Sincerely,
Randy Dryburgh
President and CEO ProAutoResponder.com
4. Inspiration
"You are never given a wish without also being given the power
to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however."
-Richard Bach
5. Recommended Resources
I highly recommend using ProAutoresponder to build your
mailing list and send out your ezine. You'll get WAY more
bang for your buck with them than the others I use
or have reviewed.
Their system is super-simple to use, and unlike the
others
you can do HTML, text and Audio mail. They allow
unlimited
campaigns, messages, contacts and autoresponder addresses.
Most of the other services charge the same or a higher
monthly price just for ONE responder.
Check it out, sign up and start your profit-generating ezine
today!
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