Magic In Word Blog

One of the most important keys to success in online marketing is building your own opt-in list of prospective and previous customers. For those that are just starting out online, this process should start even before you start planning to publish your own ezine/newsletter.

As you initiate your business you can begin to build your opt-in list in order to follow-up with these prospects and customers. It doesn’t have to be a formal ezine initially, it can just be a once a month update on new products and services. When your list starts to increase to a good size then you can consider a formal ezine.

So how do you capture the addresses? There are several ways to do this, and it will take time to gather information and create the ultimate list.

A Web Site Sign Up Form is an ideal way to gather information. Place a sign up form on every page of your website. Or at a minimum have a “subscribe” link on every page that goes to a separate subscription page. Make sure that you just don’t put “subscribe to our ezine”. That means nothing for a potential client. Just a short description will greatly increase your subscription rate. For instance. Using “Weekly Marketing Tips and Techniques emailed to you! Subscribe today” would be better than “Subscribe to Our Ezine”.

Give something away free like a free white report with information that is geared to your site’s content. Make sure they have to request the information so you capture their email address. Using an autoresponder can help you automate this process by sending out the information to your subscribers. That way the information is available 24/7. With most good services you will receive an information copy as soon as someone requests the information and it will have their email address in it. But, and this is important, just don’t send them the free information. Make sure that at the end of your auto responder text that you send them, there is a short blurb about your website services/products and your ezine if you have one. But don’t over do it.

Another important item is that you do not just add the person’s email address to your opt-in list or ezine. You don’t want them filing a (CanSpam Act and CanSpam Legal Brief)SPAM complaint since they didn’t ask to be on your list. Offer them the ability to get future mailings from you as indicated above in the mailing itself. You want to create a true opt-in list.

An exception to this would be if you were offering them a free gift for subscribing to your list. Then they should be added to your list.

Many will ask - Is it all right to email someone that has requested some free information report from you? Yes if you do it the right way. By using an autoresponder, you can also send an invitation to your e-mail list.

Follow Up often, this way you are not forgotten. If a potential customer does not want your services, than they will ask to be un-subscribed.

To learn more about using autoresponders to build your e-mail list, sign up for GeekSpeak To English, 101 on Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm PT. And watch for the podcast next week at North San Diego Business@Large.

Debra reveals how to use ListBandit.

Almost every marketing forums has confused newbies asking
the same questions almost everyday, and screaming out for
help on how to use ListBandit properly.

Well now I have the answer, and what’s more I’m giving the
book away for you to download.

Debra

p.s. Have you joined for free yet - the greatest viral
advertising tool on the web?

I’m Speaking To San Diego Women, Inc. on Thursday, June 28th.

I’ll be sharing no cost and low cost ways to market your business online. You’ll learn how to create passive income with your website and other strategies to raise your online visibility. This is your chance to get your Internet Marketing questions answered.

You’ll walk away with strategies you can implement immediately! Come and join me for networking fun in Mission Valley with other small business owners.

Register Here for an exciting evening of networking and learning at San Diego Women, Inc.’s monthly meeting.

Show Notes

Audio of GeekSpeak to English, 101 June 13, 2007 webinar. Tips on editing audio in WavePad.

Ok, I’m on, yet another teleclass, learning to perfect my craft….and I’m Stumbling, AGAIN!!

I ran across this video on YouTube. David has some great info on internet marketing to maximize opportunities online.

The Business and Learning’s Work at Home Expo is a virtual event providing a venue for home based business opportunity presentations during the day and high powered business learning opportunities each evening. The creators and volunteers of the Work at Home Expo will be visiting the blogs of fellow work at home entrepreneurs the week prior to the famous Work At Home Expo coming May 7- 12th.

Here is a partial list of speakers at the Work At Home Expo and here’s a list of the exhibitors.

If you want to learn more about how to start a homebased business, this is the Expo for you! Visit the expo site today!

See you at the Expo!

Debra

Ok, I’m hanging out in my office, behind my computer yesterday and today. Why, you ask? I’m at the International Podcasting Expo learning how to hone my craft.

So I use Firefox as my browser. One of it’s plugins is “Stumble” where you put in your preferences, likes, hobbies, etc. and just “Stumble” along different websites. It’s one of my favorite things to do while my virus scan is running.

Today, while I “stumbled” along I discovered this very clever video. Enjoy!!

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger on Vimeo

In order to create a successful informational product, no matter what your format, audio, ebook, etc., you should begin with the end, rather than the beginning in mind.

People purchase info product to make them feel better, look better, have more fun or make more money. They want to solve a problem or learn how to do something themselves. So the object of your info product is to help your purchaser with a problem, at the same time structuring it to sell to a large pool of prospects who are looking for information on a your topic.

Your objective is to create an informational product that, no matter what the subject, will be highly sought after by your niche market. It’s an exciting prospect to be able to witness the journey from having a great idea and seeing the finished product. Many ups and downs, as well as successes and failures mark the creation process. Some days are better than others!

Keep in mind, it’s customers you need who are eagerly awaiting your info project. Before you begin, you need to research your niche pool of potential buyers by contacting owners of lists that would be most interest and suggest a joint venture. Look at whom else markets to your niche and have them introduce your product to their list, and you can offer the same in return. Both businesses will prosper by offering additional value to each set of clients.

Remember this. Creating your informational product and making it as good as you can possibly make it is important, even vital. However, even more important is the ability to sell the product you produce at the price you need to reward you for the time and effort put into the product’s creation.

If you need help with creating an info product, check out the four week webinar series given by The Expertise Experts.

Remember, April 24th’s GeekSpeak to English, 101 is about what to do with your blog, now that you have one!!

Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Ok, I’m totally stoked (gives away my generation, right)!! I’m the special guest on The Blog Squad’s Blogging and Beyond Podcast.

We’ll be talking about using multimedia to raise your website’s visibility, your own credibility and your business profitability through podcasting and webinars.

The Blog Squad specializes in working with bloggers to make their blogs stand out amoung the millions of blogs. They’ve been blogging since 2004 and really know their stuff. If you want to take your blog to the next level, check out The Blog Squad

Success can be broken down into components. It’s the little things that pile up into fulfilling rewards eventually. Like ingredients to a wonderful delicacy, success is cooked up by introducing the right mix of components.

Success in email marketing is no different. It can be broken down to three distinct and critical factors that will ultimately make or break any campaign centered on such. All three factors should be complied with, as the non-performance of one can cripple the entire system.

What are these factors? How can you ensure that they will be at their peak?

Factor 1: Attraction

Your emails should be attractive in order for the recipients to open the same. A bland email will just be left untouched, even if it finds its way to the recipient’s inbox. The first thing that the recipient will see, is of course, the subject title of the email. Hence, much care should be exercised in crafting the subject title so that it may capture the attention of the recipient and prompt them to click on the same and read your email.

There is a challenge here. You cannot just add any subject title you wish, least you violate the Can Spam Act which mandates that the said subject title should be relevant to the content of the email. You can’t say “Congratulations, You Just Won,” when the recipient never won anything. The title may be catchy, but it is deceiving, as it is illegal.

The trick is in developing a subject title that is witty, one that will capture the interest of your audience without breaking away from the spirit of the content. Hence, “A Personal Message” and “I’ve Got Great News For You,” though vague, have been considered as great attention grabbers.

Factor 2: Readability

Would you read an email containing purely technical jargons you could not understand? How about an email that is so poorly written it’s almost unintelligible? Or a comedic one when you’re expecting something serious?

Poorly prepared messages affect readability. And your recipients should read your content to be able to get your business message. The only way you can get them to read your mails is by grabbing their attention and never letting go, through compelling content that is pretty much difficult to resist.

The way your mail is written plays a big part in all of this. A poorly written email will just turn off your readers. Worse, it may brand you negatively.

Take time to formulate an email that you can be proud of, and your read rate is sure to increase.

Factor 3: Response

So, your recipients actually receive your emails, and they actually read the same. But do they respond in the manner you want them to respond? Do your emails help you reach your business goals?

If not, then your email marketing campaign is suffering from a low response rate.

To increase the response rate, you must have some effective calls to action in place. Calls to action are the mechanisms you implement to compel the subjects to do what you want them to do. In marketing, this may be in the form of special offers, urgency offers, and gratuitous offers. Mastering these mechanisms will greatly help your online business. Including them in your eZine will be the coup de grace, as you’d be able to reach a lot of people with just one message.

Study successful sales pages. Ask yourself this question: why did such a sales page make me want to buy what was being offered? Chances are, it’s because of the potent call to action that was put in place. Copy these calls to action and make some adjustments to include them in your campaigns, and you will enjoy a higher response rate.