Do you have time to waste browsing for answers on the Internet?
Didn’t think so.
Did you realize that about 1/5 of all people who subscribe to an online publication of some sort don’t actually ‘confirm’ their subscription? If you’ve got your own newsletter than you probably knew this.
The question is, what can we do about it? Unfortunately not much. Sure, single opt-in is an option, but not a viable one in my opinion.
So in this welcome message, let’s have a look at 5 Quick Tips for the world of eMail marketing. My goal here is to deliver SOLID information to you that will help you create more profit online, in the shortest possible time.
Grab hold of these Quick Tips and run a comparison against your own website. Ask yourself, how do your website measure up?
Download my free Special Report “The 10-Point Web Success Checklist” to see if your website stacks up – and how you can make it better! .
1. I mentioned that 1 in 5 don’t confirm a requested subscription. Sad but true. Some people will tell you that single opt-in a good idea, and sure, if you go single opt-in you’ll end up with more subscribers in the long run, but you’ll also end up with way more spam complaints.
But that can get you and your web server (host, site, emails and all) shut down. It happened to me back in 2003 and again in 2008.
It SUX! BIG time.
Avoid it and single opt-in like the plague.
2. So *should* we ever use single opt-in? Yes, just as the book of Ecclesiastes suggests, there is a time and a place for almost everything… including single opt-in.
A single opt-in mailing list should ONLY be used when you’re building a PAID customer database; meaning, someone had bought and paid for a product from you (perhaps through PayPal) and they have to enter their name and eMail address into a subscription form to then get the download link of the product.
It’s not a very efficient way to do business, but it’s better than nothing and far better than asking a paid customer to ‘confirm’ their subscription before download of product they’ve already paid for. This is the only way you should ever use a single opt-in auto responder / mailing list.
Note: Ideally you should have your ordering system plugged into an automated client management system… but more on that another day.
3. Have you noticed the high number of “squeeze pages” in use these days? Every one and his dog seems to have one.
What do you think of them? Do you usually subscribe? Would you perhaps grab your download and then unsubscribe? These are the questions that your prospects are thinking about when they come to *your* squeeze page. Many will just dump and run.
So here’s an idea to get a better hit rate and a better stick rate –
Personalise it! Don’t fall for the bare-bones-basic model, but instead stick your picture on it. Get a picture of yourself holding it up (like a sign, as I have), ad some audio (a 10 sec msg) to stand out – something different!
And that’s the key… BE different. Be you!
4. There’s another way that you can easily set yourself apart from “the masses” with your eMail marketing, and that is to ‘talk’. Don’t write…. talk.
I’m not talking about audio here, I’m talking about ‘talking’… or perhaps I should say “writing AS you talk.” Writing the same way that you talk.
Can you almost hear it in your mind as you read this? Can you almost imagine me in your head “talking to you” (creepy thought huh, LOL).
But being different is what works these days. Actually, it’s always worked, we just kinda got lost in the “do what they do” thing.
So stop doing as ‘they’ do, and do what *you* do… because you’ll do that the best :]
5. Is it OK to send offers to your list? Yes.
Is it OK to bombard your readers with offers? No. Well, not unless that’s what they signed up for as a subscription list… and that’s the difference.
This newsletter is called Internet Business Quick Tips. It comes out every few days with a QUICK tip that you can grasp hold of in just a few minutes. That’s what you asked for, so that’s what you’ll get. Sure, from time to time you’ll get an offer for some thing or another, I gotta make a living; but only if it’s related to Internet Business and you can get through it quick. If not I’ll tell you in advance.
I suggest that you set about to do the same. What is it that your subscribers signed up for? Did they register for a PDF download plus 25 follow up ads for Clickbank products? Probably not, I’ll bet that’s *not* what was on your squeeze page!
A little while back I decided to make use of an old list with a few hundred subscribers by changing its focus and its direction. I told them that the change was coming and that if they didn’t want it, that they should unsubscribe.
Guess how many did… 12! That’s right, just 12… 3%. Not much at all.
Tell me something, when was the last time you asked your current subscribers to “unsubscribe”? I reckon we should do it every year, and keep our lists clean.
Follow the old essay formula; tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them what you’re there to tell them, and then tell them what you’ve just told them!
That way we get better feedback, provide better content which leads to more sales.
That’s what Internet Business is all about – quick, direct, and valuable; otherwise no one will take notice of it.
That’s my goal for you 
Paul Barrs.
PS. If you done so already take a moment to request your own copy of “The Website Success Checklist”. It will give you a breakdown of the key aspect to internet business as they apply to your website… from your customers point of view!
This really is gold and might just be the thing that gives you the winning edge over your competitors.
