It's a lot of work to write an ezine and the payoff isn't what it used
to be. A friend of mine was just telling me that he worked for a company
where they built a 35,000 name ezine list. Yet when they sent out a
promotion, they got only around 1,000 click throughs to a page and then
200 clicks on that page to another page.
For the time and energy required, you could be better off concentrating
on one of the other Plan's we're presenting to you.
Every business and market is different. If you're in a niche without
a glut of ezines, then having one is probably a good idea. But if you're
in a niche or market that is loaded with free ezines, take another route.
Maybe try starting a paid resource for $20 a month where people get
the monthly ezine and access to a password protected area with resources.
I've seen a few marketers do this with success in the crowded field
of Internet marketing. One of my friends built his ezine list by buying
out ezines from publishers who weren't making any money!
Having said that, if you have an email list where people have purposefully
and deliberately opted in to your mailing list, don't wait! Cash in
on it. For example, if you publish an online ezine or newsletter, you're
set for action.
The secret -- and this is very important -- the secret is to send a
mailing to your list SEPARATE from your ezine or newsletter. If you
only reference the product in your ezine, you will not make nearly as
many sales as you will if you send an endorsement as a separate piece
of email with no other information in it.
I suppose some people won't like the fact you sent them something other
than the ezine. Where do you draw the line? I don't know. That's up
to you. I would set it up in your terms and conditions of subscribing
that you will be sending people the ezine AND stand alone emails that
are commercial.
Why? Because if you aren't making money off the ezine, why publish
it? And I doubt you're going to make much money from advertising in
today's market. Only the biggest ezines will do that.
It's funny. A lot of people want something for free. But they don't
realize you CAN'T afford to continue providing the freebie to them if
you don't profit.
That's why I don't publish a regular ezine. The "I want something
free and don't sell me anything" mentallity drives me crazy. What
I do publish is a weekly marketing tip. It's one tip, a resource of
the week with one commercial plug. One-for-one.
As far as your email promotion, the best thing you can do in this email
is just tell the truth about why you liked the product and specifically
how it has helped you in your business. The more specific you make it,
the better. If you increased your lead production, your hits to your
web site, your hits to sales ratio or if you decreased the cost of generating
a lead, those are all good things to mention.
If you've increased your overall sales or income, that is good. If
you got an idea for a specific email promotion to your customer base,
that's a good one to mention and give the dollars you made from it.
To stimulate your thinking, read through my testimonials:
http://www.amazingformula.com/cgi-bin/testimonials/testimonials.cgi
Here's an example of an email you might send
Subject line: A personal invitation . . .
Body:
This message is for John Q. Customer
Hi John,
Would you like to know the best investment I've made this year?
Awhile back I ran across a marketing product that really made an impact
on my business.
As a subscriber to my publication Name of Publication you know I'm
very particular about products I recommend, especially those related
to Internet marketing.
But I can honestly say that one product has made a very significant
difference in the way I run my online business. You may have heard of
it. It's called The Amazing Widget That (insert info)
Here is how it has helped me in my business:
* Benefit one
* Benefit two
* Benefit three
* Benefit four
In short, the product has given me tremendous (insert benefit), helped
me find new (insert benefit), shown me ways to (insert benefit), and
opened my eyes to new possibilities I didn't even know existed.
It's unlike any of the other products on (insert benefit). That will
be clear to you when you read about it. If this has only a fraction
of the impact on your business and your thinking as it has on mine,
it will be the best investment you make this year.
I would like to personally invite you to read more about it, click
here.
Regards,
Your name
Your company
If you have a list of people who have asked to placed on your mailing
list but you need a convenient way to email them, I recommend one of
the services on our resource list.
The great thing about these services is that when you send out an email,
it contains an unsubscribe link. So people can unsubscribe just by clicking
on the link. You don't have to dig through your email box looking for
someone who wants off your list but subscribed under a different email
address from the one they unsubscribed with.
That is a real pain!
If you don't have an ezine list or a mailing list, it's easy to start
one. Just use one of the vendors on our list, and put their subscribe
form on your web page. All these vendors provide a subscribe form your
visitors can use to subscribe to your mailing list.
This article courtesy of Marlon Sanders' "Associate Program Marketing
Handbook" from http://www.betterwebsite.com/affhandbook
For 22 other ways to get more traffic and sell more associate program
products grab your copy of the Associate Handbook today!
Just go to: http://www.betterwebsite.com/affhandbook
