The Power of Email

Moving your e-mail database

I spoke about moving your e-mail database on CinchCast this morning. I thought it might be fun to marry what I do here with what I do there. Take a listen!

Signature Line Power

Did you know that the signature line has power?

If you use Outlook or something like that I’m sure your signature line has your name, title, phone, fax (ha!) and extension number in it.

But that’s not dynamic, or interesting or valuable. Actually, it’s probably quite valuable. In business emails I love it when the person’s phone number is in the signature line.

But you don’t HAVE to use it the way people normally do.

What if you started your signature line with “best regards, your name” then put a P.S. after it? You could change that every week with a new P.S. you wanted them to know.

What if you started it with “And, . . . ” thus it melded into your email as if it were part of your email. Then you could dynamically change every single autoresponder at once telling them about your new offer, idea, promotion or blog post.

Don’t just leave the signature line sitting there. Make it powerful!

For more on niche internet marketing click here.

Should You Manually Add Emails?

So this week I was asked “how do you get people who give you their email address at a live event, how do you get them onto your list?”

Let’s start with the reason that you’re speaking. What is that reason? If the reason is to move your BUSINESS forward, then we have room to talk.

If it’s for any other reason (like ego or for fun) then the answer to your question is to click on the email subscription button on your website and input their email address into that form. To make sure they click the subscription button, make sure the “verification email” they will get says “Thanks for coming to the presentation today” and then “please click here to start getting coupons and deals”. And hope for the best. 🙂 Continue reading “Should You Manually Add Emails?”

Moving People to Your List

It costs a lot of time and energy to get a customer. It might sound easy, but there’s a whole lot of steps between the time someone doesn’t know you exist to the point they’re buying something from you. If you don’t endeavor to “capture” information from each person – you’re relying on HOPE as your marketing plan.

As you’ll hear me say over and over again. . . .

“HOPE IS NOT A MARKETING PLAN” (click here to get the merchandise)

One of them I wrote about on my blog this week, after going to a

Darryl Worley concert the other night. I noticed there that the musical artists performing made no attempt to capture the names and e-mail addresses of the folks in the audience. In the post I spoke about a few ideas they could have used to achieve that means.

Getting your customers to your website and into your list should be a critical part of your marketing efforts. When someone buys something from you, don’t forget to inspire them to get on your list. Have your web address printed on the register receipts for “special discounts and promos”.

Use surveys, postcards and giveaways to drive people back to the web. Give away coupons with a blank line they have to fill in to redeem. If they go to your website and register, they’ll get an e-mail with the code to put on the coupon. Easy, eh?

Remember if you have to type their name into the computer, you’re either missing a step or going above and beyond. Just think. . . what will you do when you get 1,000 names/week? You’ve got to figure out how to automate it

Carrie Wilkerson puts a shortened url on her PowerPoint slides that point to an opt-in box to get something – relevant to the slide of course.

E-mail marketing doesn’t sound sexy but it’s a fantastic way to keep in touch with your customers. With it you can get them involved in contests, move them to your Facebook page, invite them in to get a discount and solve any problems they may have.

If you can give your customers something they want, they’ll likely give you their e-mail address in order to open or download it or use it. For more on niche internet marketing.

Setting Up the Backend

One of the hard parts about marketing and subsequently building a database of your customers is the back-end.

Even trying to market a single product can be difficult to do effectively, if you don’t have the back end in place. Once you’ve done the work necessary to acquire new customers, there’s no sense is spending the same money attracting them again. When you get their contact information, you have a “back end”.

The propensity of a person to buy something from you is highest if they remember you, trust you and appreciate the information you’re presenting. Having just bought a product from you, or having just eaten in your restaurant you already know you’ve jumped that hurdle. Continue reading

Getting Email Addresses

Getting email addresses is a pretty important part of any business strategy. I mean, if you spent all that time reaching out to the customer in the first place – do you really want to do it again?

So at our MeetUp this week, we spent the time talking about great ways to get email addresses. Here’s some ideas for you – but if you have ideas of your own – don’t be shy. Please pass them on to the rest of us. Continue reading “Getting Email Addresses”

Red Hot Chili Peppers at Bonnaroo: Marketing Brilliance

I turned on YouTube the other night to catch the Red Hot Chili Peppers taking the stage at Bonnaroo. In fact, I turned it on a few minutes early and watched the stage hands finish up prepping the equipment. But what caught my eye and hopefully the eyes of millions of people watching around the world were the two screens on either side of the main stage.

Imagine the darkest night with only a few flashlights on an almost imperceptible stage. But then like a sun in blackness, two red billboards shown out over the crowd. Both said “Buy and download tonight’s concert, go to http://rhcp.com/live”. And history is made. Continue reading “Red Hot Chili Peppers at Bonnaroo: Marketing Brilliance”

How to Use a Free Report in your Marketing Efforts

“7 Ways to Avoid Getting Ripped Off by _________, just enter your name and e-mail for instant access”. That’s it, isn’t it? That’s how you’re building a database of names interested in your niche. And when the prospect exchanges their information for your information it’s game over. You won! Congratulations!

But what is it you’re giving them? I’m sure it’s good information – perhaps even great information. And it’s quite possible you created this report by putting together 7 of your Ezine Articles or rewriting some PLR. (Actually, I’m not sure what you’re doing to write your reports – leave a comment at the end, I’m curious).

Moreover, I’m willing to bet your report is written in the second or third person with sentences like “A person looking to hire a ________ should first do this. . . ” or “You should do this: _____________, before engaging this kind of service.” And your reader probably had no problem understanding it – and was likely appreciative.

So my question to you is “Are you becoming the expert in your field merely by giving away the free information OR are you becoming the expert because you are the information?” That’s a huge distinction.

Well, I’d like you to scrap that report. That’s right – toss it out. Or at least open the editable version and start editing. Your “free report” shouldn’t be generic. It shouldn’t be a compilation of articles or PLR snippets. It should “BE YOU” (which is a great book, by the way – ask if you’re interested in reading it). Take your 7 tips articles and write them in the first person. That’s the first step.

The first person is so cheesy isn’t it? Well, instead of saying “The first thing you should do is . . . “, start with “I’ve noticed many of our clients were making this mistake. As in the case of Betty Clemens, we were able to help her avoid that mistake by first doing . . .”

See. You’re not only providing the 7 tips but you’re proving the worth of the tips by showing them in action and proving that you’re the expert when it comes to implementing these tips. Explain how you or your client screwed up the first time, learned from it, then tweaked and now “own it”. Put you and your expertise into it.

Don’t just give away a free report. Give away a little bit of you to engage that little bit of them that wants to hire you. Give them a taste of your expertise. Imagine how much more comfortable you would feel if the pamphlets your doctor gave you were all about experiences with his patients? That generic garbage doesn’t make you an expert – it just makes you the source.

If you’re interested in learning more about that “expertise part”, read my post on “Dog the Bounty Hunter”.

And don’t forget to leave a comment about how you’re creating your reports. I’m sincerely interested.