They Don't Trust You.

Don't take that personally, it just means that somewhere in the sales process, you have lost credibility in the minds eye of that prospect, they have decided to click off your site and go somewhere else to spend their money.

Each of the Six Immutable Laws of Direct Marketing Online speak very directly to that singularly most important issue of credibility.

Here are the Six Immutable Laws of Marketing Online.

Number 1 -- Testimonials

1. You must have Testimonials at you website. I recommend that you put one or two brief testimonials on your home page, with a link under them that says "Click Here For Even More Comments From Our Satisfied Customers, Members, Subscribers, Clients, etc." Each time I mention that phrase, you plug in the appropriate word for the target you are trying to reach, if you are after buyers, subscribers or whatever.

On the page the testimonials link goes to; I want you to put right at the top, "Just Look At What Our Satisfied Customers, Subscribers etc. Have To Say About Doing Business With Us". And then begin to layer in those testimonials, one after another.

Listen, testimonials are amazingly easy to get. If you haven't made any sales yet, no problem, don't fabricate them. Wait until you make a few sales, then write those people that have done business with you, tell them in the email you send them, that you would like them to send you a testimonial, and when they do, you reserve the right to edit their testimonial for clarity and brevity, and that you will publish only their first name and the initial of their last name, and the city or the country they are located in. And then tell them this: Tell them that if their testimonial is selected for publication, and if they have a website address anywhere, you will give a brief description of that website and publish a live link to it. In doing that, you will get all the testimonials you could ever use.

How many are too many? There ain't no such animal. Put up all of them that

make sense and just begin to overwhelm your prospects with what others have

to say about doing business with you. By the way, during this process you will

learn some interesting things, you may discover some problems about your

program, product or service that you will be able to take care of.

Testimonials, it has been said, no matter how poorly written, shout volumes more eloquently about your product or service than your best salesman ever could. They are essential to your marketing success.

Number 2 --Guarantee your product

You need to have a strong, specific and bold guarantee. The longer, the bolder,

more specific your guarantee is, the more sales that you will make. And I

suggest if you can guarantee your product or service for 30 days, you can

certainly guarantee it for 60 or 90 days, 6 months or even a year. There is an

absolute direct correlation between the length of the guarantee and the number

of sales you will make, and the returns you will have. You see, the longer your

guarantee, the less likely the prospect will return the product. The reason for that

is: you remove from the equation the otherwise "short fuse" requiring your

customer to make the purchase decision again, but the longer the guarantee, the

longer the period of time they have to become comfortable with that purchase

decision. And secondly, the longer, the bolder, more specific your guarantee you

proclaim to the world that you have such supreme confidence in what you are

offering you are establishing a new level of credibility for you. Let me read to

you what I feel is the perfect guarantee.

If after you purchase this product at any time up to six months you feel for any reason it fails to live up to our promises or even if it does and you simply change your mind just return it to us and we will immediately and cheerfully give you a 100% refund of the purchase price.

See how bold and specific that is? Very effective marketing.

Number 3 ---Privacy Statement

You need to have a clear and concise privacy statement. Your privacy statement needs to be placed immediately in the vicinity of anywhere and everywhere at your site where you have a call to action. Your call to action is anywhere and everywhere at your site where you ask your prospect for any information about himself, even if you are just asking them for their email address. Here is your privacy statement - Adopt it, and stick to it:

NOTICE: We never rent or sell our members, customers, subscribers, clients, etc. data to anyone. All information held is strictly confidential.

Don't make the all to common mistake of putting your privacy statement on a separate page at your website which would then otherwise require your prospect or surfer to click away to find the page. In doing so you risk the chance of them not getting back to the call to action page, the order form, or whatever it is you want them to do at your site. Once they leave that page to go look at your privacy statement all kinds of things can happen to make them change their mind, they get distracted, something else may happen that may cause them to not want to go through with that decision to do business with you. Put it immediately in the vicinity everywhere and anywhere you ask any prospect to give give you any information about themselves.

Number 4 --Merchant Account

You must have a merchant account if you are selling anything on the Internet. I am not suggesting to you that you run out and spend the several hundred dollars it takes to get set up with a merchant account and interface it with your website, and do real time processing and so on. You should do these things, but wait until your site is generating some money and you can justify that expense. In the meantime, see the resource section, where I list different companies who will take your product order form page, put it up on their secure server, and they will technically become the seller of your product, or service for you. They typically charge a percentage of the sales price. The percentages vary, so go look at all the options I give you. The reason they have different percentages is because it may vary depending on the price of the product or the type of product or service, so just go with the program that makes the most sense for you. And you can have a merchant account order form on your website virtually instantly.

Now, don't use programs like PayPal exclusively. PayPal is a great program, and fills a wonderful need in the marketplace, but programs like PayPal shout to the world, that you are small guy, small operator, small time. PayPal is great for an added way of convenience purchasing, but if your prospect does not have an account with them they will have to open one first and thats an impediment to the sale process.

People feel good about doing business with established companies, or companies that have the appearance of being credible and established. You are not going to fool Internet shoppers today. They know that if you don't have a merchant account - 1. You may not qualify to get it. Or 2. You are not making enough money, or sales where you couldn't afford to get it. Both are bad situations for you. So go to one of these companies, and until you can justify getting your own merchant account, let your buyer click on the "Order Now" button, and Zap they will go to a secure order form and that order form will be customized to look exactly like the color scheme, and graphics at the rest of your website. And by the way, the obvious thing is without a merchant account you just can't expect people to send you a check. You may get a few orders by check, but you will open up the floodgates when you have a merchant account, a way for people to buy conveniently by using a credit card.

And if you do use a 3rd party processor , be sure to work it out with them up front that you have access to the customers name , address and phone #. These are important for off line marketing and most 3rd party processors are not willing to give you this information, as they technically own the data and the customer via their agreement with you . They do this because of the requirements in their merchant contract.

Exceptions can be negotiated , but you will never get the credit card info. Which means if you sell a monthly program and the processor goes belly up or decides to cancel your account ...you’re sunk.

Unless of course you have your own merchant account.

Number 5 ---Brand Awareness

I’m going to be spending a little time on this subject. Everyone, anyone, I don’t care what your selling or marketing, you must adopt these methods I am about to reveal to you, and all that apply to you and begin branding your business online. You brand your business online by selecting, or rather I should say, designing your own caractiture, say for example, the Snoopy character. And put it in every graphic ad you ever run. It becomes your little icon, your identity. You brand your business online by designing your own logo, example the Nike symbol, put it everywhere in every graphic ad you ever run, use it over and over again.

You also brand your business online by developing your own USP. “USP” stands for “Unique Selling Proposition”. Think of it as a “Slogan With a Punch”. For example, at BannersGoMLM.com our USP, our “slogan with a punch” is “Free Unlimited Advertising and a $15 Signing Bonus”. Here’s another one “Built Ford Tough”. See where I’m going with this? Develop your own “Slogan With a Punch”, your own USP and put that message in every graphic ad and every text ad you ever run.

If you own your own top level domain name, do not make the all to common mistake I see so many marketers make, which is, don’t put a blind link to it, you know, “Click Here” only where the URL is hidden behind it. Always spell out that URL name, every time. If you own or control your own product or service, give it it’s own unique name and put that name in every graphic ad, every text ad you ever run. If you have joined any program as an affiliate or an associate, don’t make the all to common mistake most of those people make by branding that other company for them. Believe me, those bigger companies will be just fine with one less person working to brand them.

Instead begin branding your own company name, or your own top level domain name, or even better yet, your own individual name. Listen, you can build for yourself a following on the Net, people will recognize your name, it doesn’t happen quickly, it happens very gradually, you can do it alone just through banner advertising, a few thousand, then a few hundred thousand, a million or more later, you can become successfully branded on the Internet using these techniques. This is important because 96, 97, 98, 99 or more percent of the time your online ads are seen, I have news for you, they are never clicked on. Why waste an enormous opportunity to tell the world over and over again, who you are, what you sell, what your name is, what your URL is, what kind of a graphic image identifies you, you can become branded on the Internet very successfully by selecting all these techniques that are applicable to you.

Number 6 --- Contact Information

The Last and Final Immutable Law of Direct Marketing Online --You need to put your contact information on your website, everyone knows that. But the kind of information you need to give is what most people are failing to do. This is called personifying your website. You need to give your visitors your name, you need to give them your position with the company, you are the webmaster, you are the president, the director, the founder, you are the whatever, the title doesn’t matter, give them a title.

You need to give them an your offline physical address. If you are working from home it is okay to show a post office box, no problem. You need to give them a fax number. Don’t have a fax machine, don’t worry, you don’t need one in this crazy wild business. Go to www.eFax.com and get a free fax number. They will take your faxes, convert them to email, and send them to you via email. You need to give them your phone number, yes I said your phone number. Now don’t worry, if you are working from home, and you are concerned about people calling you at all hours of the day and night from all over the world, number one, you shouldn’t be. We have over hundreds of thousands of members and less than one half of one percent ever call our office. They use the preferred method of communication which of course if by email, but you want to give them the phone number, so at least go out and set up a cheap little voice mail box somewhere. Lastly, of course, you need to give them your email address.

These things are vital and I recommend strongly that all these items are put at the very bottom of your home page, and the reason for that is this: Most visitors to your site will in fact leave your site if they choose not to surf through it, from the bottom of your home page. They may be inclined to go look at the home page, its on that home page that you must convince them that you are a credible, reliable, responsible business person, on the Internet and by giving them this information people feel more secure about doing business with you. After all, you are like this, I am like this. If the proverbial you- know- what hits the fan, the product shows up and something is wrong, or worse yet, it doesn’t show up, we want to know who to call, how to get a hold of them, how to email them, how to fax them, how to write them, how to report them, everything so we can get justification for the deal we have just made with them that went south on us.

That is why you have to nip it in the bud and give them all that information on your home page, and again at the bottom of the home page. Even when people make the decision to surf through your site, they will often times come back to your home page, and exit your site from the bottom of your home page even if they have to scroll down to it, because they want to give your site since they have made the time commitment the opportunity to answer any questions they may have.

Okay, there are the Six Immutable Laws of Marketing Online. Break them at your peril!!!! Install them as soon as you can if you are having any trouble at all with conversions. If you are getting people to your site, but you are not getting them to do what you want them to do, you are weak in one if not several of these areas, and you will see the conversion numbers, the percentage of people that visit your site versus the percentage of people that decide to go on to the next step of doing business with you beginning to come up, very quickly and very nicely for you.

Chapter 2 Power Words

SALESMANSHIP IN PRINT

In direct marketing the words you choose WILL, not maybe, not sometimes, make or break your promotion. And it is just as important in your e-mail or your web site as it is in direct mail, television or radio spots, and even inbound and outbound telemarketing scripts. Lastly, let's not overlook those cheap little classified ads that can be so powerful.

The carefully selected words you choose should convey not just the product or service's features & benefits- but convey with enthusiasm, passion, and all the emotion you can deliver. First you must fall in love with your product or service, then just tell the world all about it.

Through the years I've authored well over 100 successful sales letters with off line mailings in the millions, online mailings in the hundreds of millions, two infomercials, numerous radio & TV spots,and countless telemarketing scripts. Through it all I've amassed a secret weapon - a veritable arsenal of power words and phrases. Use them to compel your prospect to action. Use them in your headline, body copy, and yes, even in your banners. But don't overdose. As always, too much of a good thing is sometimes just too much.

bold daring exciting enthusiastic breakthrough announcing incredible magnificent magical warning free how-to revealing secrets overwhelming totally temptation enormous burgeoning compliment accomplish love fear proud favorite picture imagine courage vivid best succeed health win earn lead prosper security more gain future save wealth money easy expert protect sale astounding evaluate beacon appalling unadulterated stunning nailed thwart unprecedented monumental audacious chaos radical personal dazzling stunning extreme outrageous muscle acclaim celebration immutable

inevitable destiny fate

you, you, and more you and a few of my favorite phrases: never before, right now, more time, sure fire, come closer, listen up, get paid, bulls-eye, laser guided missile, breathtaking, extraordinarily new... and just a few fun words-let your personality show: kowabunga, shazzam, fungolas, kemosabe and a few phrases thrown in for that extra punch: This is the standard by which all other ____ ______ _____ will be judged. I have seen the future of ___ ___ and this ___ ___ is what I have seen. There is no speed limit to your success if ___ ___ The seven reasons why you must ___ ___ The amazing secrets of ___ ____ Hot new report reveals ___ ___

and for our valuable Quick Tips to direct marketing:

-Make 'um one hell of an irresistible offer

-Put it in the email or on your web site and send it to them

-And by far the most important, send it to the right person. (Don't wasteadvertising resources on an audience that you have not identified as being the most likely to purchase from you).

Chapter 3

JUST WHAT KIND OF WEB SITE ARE YOU ANYWAY?

I thought you might find it interesting to know the six basic types of web sites proliferating on the Internet. It is through this attempt to isolate and clearly identify the types of sites we stumble across on our daily surfing and searching that you may be able to take the best of the best of these types, mix and match their various features so as to present your web site in a more definable and user-friendly, and yes, profitable format.

So let's get started.

1. INFORMATION ONLY Information web sites are typified by those that are solid gold context rich. These types of web sites offer nothing but pure information. They sell nothing. At least not to the visitor. Information only sites can be sites offering free items as well as where to find free items, i.e.; the information. Sites in this category are always supported by those advertisers anxious to place their text or banner links in front of the eyeballs of those people seeking information that is relevant or germane to the interest of the advertiser. For example, and all search engines started this way, by the way, a visitor who accesses a search engine looking for a particular book will quite often find themselves staring at an animated banner offering Amazon.com books or other titles in the genre.

2. COMMERCIAL ONLY -

These web sites exist for the sole purpose of selling something, a product or a service, or an opportunity. These sites are not advertiser supported. They are indeed the advertiser in and of themselves.

3. BUSINESS SUPPORT -

These kind of sites typically support and bolster the efforts of the marketing department of those businesses who wish to provide more information to their prospective customers in an environment which enables the customer to select from the information they seek and examine it in detail. Everything from manufacturing specifications to engineering schematics to 3-D animated display of various products and their features are presented on these types of web sites. These sites further are supported through the business presenting the material exclusively.

4. ENTERTAINMENT SITES -

These sites are purely for the fun, game and enjoyment that the internet can bring to a monitor near you. Entertainment sites are not only ad supported by advertisers seeking to reach the demographics the site attracts, but also are typically commercial oriented as well. In other words, entertainment sites very frequently offer various games and other entertainment devices for sale at the site.

5. INFORMATION/COMMERCIAL SITES -

Okay -you got me. This really is a combination of the first two. But, it's appropriately placed on this list of five basics because it is so prevalent. After all, it's the valuable content information that inspires the visitor. Once the visitor is there, why not sell them the product, the service, or the opportunity to which the information applies.

6. FREE SERVICES -

Free services web sites are quickly growing in popularity - These sites almost always offer web marketers valuable tools without having to install any special programming script on their servers or downloading programs. Examples include free auto-responders, free page stat tracking, free linking networks, free banner traders like www.BannersGoMLM.com, free direct submitting, free merchant account processing, etc. Sites of this type are always ad supported and may even require the service user to trade banner ad space that the service provider then sells. Additionally, these sites frequently offer an upscale or "professional" version of the service for a fee, either one time or on an ongoing basis.

Go ahead. Throw them all in a bag and mix them up and see what you get. It's possible to take an entertainment site and turn it into a commercial site, just as much as it is possible to turn a business support site into an information site which does more than passively support the business but actually draws the visitor as a result of the valuable information, and hence, new prospects to the companies front door. You can take an information only based type web site and very quickly turn it into an info/commercial site, and while you're at it, why not seek out those advertisers who wish to reach the visitors your site attracts and support the web sites efforts with even more revenue from these hopeful advertisers. For fun and profit mix and match all you want - there are NO RULES!

Chapter 4

THE SEVEN WAYS TO LITERALLY FORCE YOUR VISITORS TO ASK YOU TO CONTACT THEM AGAIN

The most important objective for any web site marketer is to get those unique new visitors. That's a given. This being so, and it is so, the second most important thing any web site marketer can do, and in fact must do, is capture the name and e-mail address of as many visitors as possible.

Don't think for a moment that your visitor upon landing at your web site has finally found exactly what they've been looking for all their cyberspace lives. Your visitors are just like you and they are just like me. We're short on time, and long on responsibilities. We've got things to do and places to go and we can't spend an afternoon or an evening studying countless number of pages looking at countless number of web sites, to find what we're looking for.

You have got to sell them fast, and sell them now - or they're gone. At least those that have other things to do, and you know what? That's the majority of your visitors.

It doesn't matter how successful your web site is. The ideas I'm about to lay out for you can turn a successful web site into a super success. A marginal web site into a profitable site, and a losing site into a money making machine. The reality of it is simple. The number of sales of your product or service that are generated directly from your web site will be, not may be, significantly enhanced and not by some double digit percentage, but by some multiple exponential percentage - IF you can successfully collect a huge percentage of your visitors contact info. You must take the time to develop an e-mail collection method at your site, and then stay in touch with your visitors. Put your message in front of them often. Don't get squeamish about this. The methods you are about to learn will position and advise your prospective customers exactly what you have in mind and why. They will be expecting your e-mail offers. So let's get started.

1. Offer a free newsletter or free ebook- it's been said that inside everyone is abook. Well, I've got news for you. Inside every web master who has some skills, some product, some service that they market is also a newsletter waiting to be born. And don't worry about being a pro at prose. Write it the way you feel, think, and speak, and send it to your prospects.
1. Offer a free money making or money saving report that deals specifically withyour area of expertise. Pack it thick and brag about it. Establish your credentials, and toot your own horn. If you know what you're talking about, put it in a report, and give it to your visitors free. Send it to them via auto-responder, or
2. give them access to the pages the information appears on after entering their e-mail address.
2. Are you a middleman for other people's products or services? No problem. Elect articles covering the specialty of the product or service you are offering, assemble them into the free report form, or otherwise categorize them and make them available as per the above suggestions.
3. If your web site deals in software of any kind offer a free downloadable trialversion.
4. Offer a free membership discount club. Turn your creativity loose on this one. Tell your visitors the club membership is free and close out items or specials that are very limited will be announced only to club members and not posted at the web site due to modest inventory supplies or special trial offers, and as your way of offering only club members discounts not available to non-members.
5. Offer a free drawing. Give every visitor the opportunity to win as the grand prize the product or service you are offering at your site. Or better yet, to select from any number of products or services you offer at your site. Depending upon traffic levels, offer your drawing to be held at least once a month if not more often. A free drawing for your product or service lends itself to a higher perceived value in the prospects mind's eye. And don't be concerned about your prospect entering the drawing and not purchasing - because on the registration page you can deal with this issue simply by stating if you are a purchaser and you are selected to win, your purchase will be rebated 100%.
6. Develop an icon or button offering your free 'whatever' to web marketers whovisit your site, which they can place on their sites, as a way of benefiting their visitors and using your program to attract visitors to their site. This works just like a powerful affiliate program, but instead of having to pay other web marketers for their referrals, they get to use "your" free report, newsletter, etc. as a way to attract more visitors and enhance their site. You could even offer to other web marketers a shameless bribe "If they'll carry your link for your free 'whatever', in exchange you'll recipricate with a link to them." Or you can just invite them to join your affiliate program where they earn comissions on all the buyers they send your way.

Lastly, a few vital pointers for you on the registration page. Make absolutely certain that you inform those registering for your free 'whatever' that you will from time to time offer specials, discounts, closeouts, whichever is applicable to your campaign. And, that you will never rent or sell their address, and that they may unsubscribe from these special bulletins at any time. You might also wish to (if it's appropriate to your web site) mention that from time to time you'll bring to their attention items that you are impressed with and that they might find of value. A statement to this effect will open the door to sending your registered visitors offers from other promoters who wish to have access to your growing list of visitors.

The point, simply tell your visitors that you will be in touch with them.

Don't keep it a secret. Let them know.

And let them know for what purpose, but always state it positively and as a benefit. If you are going to offer them runner-up prizes tell them so. (By the way, that's an excellent strategy to offer everyone who doesn't win, as the runner-up prize could be a significant discount not available at the web site, or even an offer on items not offered at your web site.) And, be absolutely certain to inform your registrants that they can opt out of your list any time.

If you are honest with your visitors and then provide them with top quality and sincere and valuable offers - if you say discounted, make sure they are; if you say closeouts, make certain that they are. Your list subscribers will stay loyal to you and will reward you month after month after month with purchases of your products and services and all you have to do is get their e-mail address and name one time.

Chapter 5 The Big Back-end

First things first. Let's set the record straight. I'm not talking about a burgeoning, under exercised derriere. I'm talking about the "semolians" you can make by offeringother products, other services, to your in-house customer list.

And you can practice this methodology either from the very beginning of your strategy, from the first sale to your customer; or continue to develop, invent, and conjure up other products and services to offer your in-house list.

First the presumptive premise. You spent a lot of money in finding the customer the first time. You spent even more money convincing them to purchase your product or your service. And then you spent a significant portion of the gross sum you received in the delivery of your product or service, and you were left with some profit.

Hopefully.

Now listen. It's OK in some marketing schemes if you do not make a profit on the first sale because if, and this is a big if, your customer was totally satisfied with what they purchased from you; that you delivered it in the condition, and up to the standards that they expected, and then some; then, my friend, you have just enrolled a customer in your data base that is far more likely to purchase from you again, and again, and again, than other individuals.

Every active marketer knows the single biggest expense in the sale process is the first sale. Afterwards, well let me succinctly state it this way, thar's gold in them thar lists.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to offering you this information. I suppose it's because I've been doing it, practicing this methodology so long that's it's become second nature, habitual, a daily routine for me, and I just haven't given it much thought until now.

Frequently when I travel, in fact inevitably, I'll meet someone who comments that they have received mail from me, and many such encounters result in discussions where I am informed that they continue to receive mail from me. Hum, what's going on here?

Listen. Here's my motto. If I think someone is going to buy something from me, whatever my most recent passion for selling happens to be, I'm going to write that person twice, sometimes three times. And if they flinch, if they respond in any way, I'm going to write them again. And if they buy, we're going to be pen pals for life.

Any time we wish to market a new program, a new product, a new service, we always offer it first to our house list. And we do this for two reasons.

1. If our house list doesn't buy it, it will be a dismal failure in the open marketplace.
2. When our house list does buy, it is always at a profit point far above, usually two and sometimes three times, what we make in the open marketplace. Hence, our house list typically finances subsequent marketing campaigns. In other words, it's a fast way to raise cash and test your new venture at the same time.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of people I bump into who have enormous in-house lists of satisfied customers and they have never gone back to that customer list, giving them the second opportunity or the second chance to buy the same product, perhaps at a slightly discounted price. Or gone back and offered a similar program, or product, or service to the house list. Or, and this one's a bit more creative but certainly feasible and always profitable, endorsed another marketer's product, service, or campaign and simply rented their house list to a company whose product sells well to the demographics of the house list.

Now before you pummel me with stones on the above remark, ie: "endorsing and renting", know this. Every business can turn their house list into extra cash by putting it into the open rental market. There's no magic, no mystery, no real science to that. There are lots of quality brokers in the marketplace ready, willing, and able to represent your list.

But to achieve maximum income from your house list you can't do much better than to endorse, recommend, or at least in some manner acknowledge another company's product or service, for additional revenue far and above beyond the rental rate, and then share your house list with that company. Or even drop the mail for your partner with them picking up the mailing cost.

I have never, in an endorsed list rental agreement, not received, sometimes two-hundred, sometimes three-hundred, sometimes even more, percentage increase in response when the list owner simply includes a brief cover letter introducing my company and my product to his list. Am I'm delighted to pay twice the rental rate, sometime more, for such an endorsement.

Correspondingly if I like the product or service being offered my house list, I'm more than happy to make reciprocal arrangements with the company seeking to mail to my list.

So what's the point of all this hyperbole for net marketers?

Well..hang on, here it comes.

Targeted e-mail lists are quickly growing in numbers and evolving into one of the hottest ways to reach prospects via the net, and its becoming popular in the net-dustry to offer their lists with added value services such as we are discussing. Even an innocent comment that does nothing more than make the affinity connection between the list owner and the marketer sending the targeted e-letter will most assuredly boost response significantly, and, if nothing else, these kind of arrangements should be done every day by the list owners as an added value just to encourage testing and continued usage of the list.

And for the lawyers who inevitably look for ways that things will not work, and why they shouldn't, I offer this. A casual comment from the list owner, such as, "we recently stumbled across an opportunity from xxx, and we thought you might be interested in examining it", is absolutely harmless, poses no liability on behalf of the list owner, but more importantly, carries with it the connection between the list owner, the customer, and the new proposal being made, and offers a powerful advantage to any targeted e-mail campaign.

So there you have it. If you're looking to rent or JV targeted e-mail lists, ask the owner for an endorsement, acknowledgment, or just an affinity connection such as above. And if you own a significant data base of house addresses, then you should be very seriously developing a pricing structure that not only will assure customers flocking to your target e-mail door, but reward you with added revenue in exchange for list mailing and endorsement. You can do this on a fee basis or on a revenue share basis.

Chapter 6 14 Proven Laws of Banner Advertising

Banner advertising remains a very popular method for not only branding your business online but for driving traffic as well. With costs far below what it used to cost to run a successful banner campaign . I have therefore assembled for your review the 14 principles of successful banner advertising.

You are encouraged to incorporate these concepts into your online marketing strategies, to not only boost traffic to your site, but to leverage it as well.

1. Join two, three, or four quality exchange organizations. A typical exchange organization will offer you usually one-half to .7 or .8 credits, each time you host another member's banner at your site, and a full credit will earn you the displaying of your banner on another exchange members site. Some exchanges offer multiple page coding so you may host members banners on numerous pages throughout your site. Thus membership in multiple exchange organizations allows you to leverage visitors not only as a result of each unique visitor producing multiple credits for you, but also as a result of visitors who go beyond your home page, explore your web site, and earn you additional exchange credits through the impressions they are exposed to on any or all of the pages you host banners on. It's highly possible to earn, with a ten page web site, and a visitor who sees all ten pages, ten or more credits, meaning impressions due you just for belonging to two exchanges. Now that's leverage. My personal favorite is of course www.BannersGoMLM.com Where you get a full 1-1 exchange and 10% of all the credits earned by your referrals on each of 5 levels. There are 32 different site categories to use to target your banner to the most ideal audience. And you can exclude specific categories of competitors banners appearing on your pages.
2. When dealing with seconds, and sometimes fractions of a second, to grab the attention of the viewer, it's vital that your ad screams LOOK AT ME NOW. You accomplish this goal primarily through and in this order, your copy, color, graphics. Therefore spend as much time on the five to ten words that little box has space enough for as you did practicing to ask for that first date.
3. Bright colors almost always out perform the reds and the blacks which are less effective. Use yellow, orange, blue and green.
4. Animated banners have multiple advantages over static or single screen banners. Use them to layer in additional copy. A three screen animated banner easily provides enough room for five to seven words per screen. Just make certain the copy that you choose for the first screen is compelling and attention getting. Focus on your web site's premium benefit. Why do people visit your site? What's in it for them? Build your headline, ie: the first screen, or your static banner, based upon your single most prominent, compelling benefit.
5. Banner size, should be maintained at 3-5K which is ideal if you can accomplish your copy and creative objectives. If not, up to 7 is OK. Never more than 10 as it takes much longer to load and you run the risk of the visitor not seeing your banner at all.
6. I can't stress this enough. There is no reason not to brand every banner you ever create. Branding your banner can be accomplished by doing nothing more that placing your product or company logo on one of the screens in the animation process, or simply giving the name of your company, or domain name, or a picture of your product. With average click through responses in the 1-2% range, why waste 98% of the impressions by not telling the viewer who you are or what your product is? Off line advertisers have known for decades the power of branding, and with properly designed banners you can accomplish both direct response advertising and branding simultaneously. With branding you can get your name, your product name, continually in front of your prospects, even if they don't "click" on.
7. Don't get hung up on hosting banners on your site for fear that you'll lose a visitor. Listen, they're going to leave anyways. If they're interested in your site they'll stick with it until their interest is totally satisfied. If not, you're going to lose them in any event, so you may as well get some mileage out of those visits.
8. Do not try to qualify your visitor. In other words, let the site do the qualifying and selling job for you. After all the name of the game is to get each and every unique new visitor to your site as possible, thus leveraging credits due you should you belong to a banner exchange.
9. When building your five to ten word static banner, or five to seven words first screen animated banner copy, rely on these themes. Fear, curiosity, humor, the big promise. Example, Warning, you must see this before you purchase xxx; never worry about losing xxx again, learn the secrets of cashing in on xxx, do you know how to xxx? As an aside, a warning banner is an enormously powerful approach. Many off line yellow pages publishers will not even allow them because the other advertisers complain about the unfair advantage such an ad delivers. Try one.
10. The number one drawing card in banner advertising is the use of the word FREE. Put your creative talents to task here. Write a free report that solves a problem, and post it at your site. Offer a free drawing, free subscription to a e-zine. Free advertising, free trial offer, free download for software, etc., etc.
11. Never assume your viewer knows what to do next. Always, in one or more places, insert the words click here, or, click here now, or show a drop down box with a click arrow prominently displayed.
12. When appropriate to your marketing campaign, buy click throughs and not impressions. With click through purchases you can lock in on the cost of each unique new visitor. Purchasing click throughs helps to eliminate concern over rigorous and ongoing testing and new banner design and creation concerns, as well as the arduous task of ongoing meaning daily, monitoring of each of your banner's effectiveness. When purchasing click throughs and paying only for those new visitors, all of those issues become someone else's problem. Web Promote offers an excellent click through program as does the www.Bannerco-op.com
13. Targeting. If you are a niche market advertiser, or a local or regional advertiser, targeting is vital to the success of your banner campaign. You'll want to very carefully select sites or work with an ad agency that offers the opportunity to reach those prospects who are the most likely to be interested in your product or service. On the surface, purchasing targeted impressions is more costly, however, it represents the best way to reach your audience. If you're selling automobiles in southeast Florida, it makes no sense to place your banner into a national network where only a fraction of the audience would have any interest. Instead you'll want to target web sites serving the community you service, including Chamber of Commerces, newspapers, radio stations, television stations, and other local and regional businesses serving the same geography.
14. Test, test, and test some more. Once you've got the perfect banner working, design another one because sooner or later even the best banner runs out of steam. It's generally accepted that after a prospect sees a banner for the third or fourth time, the likelihood of a click through plummets. When testing, always test the next new design on the same site or on the same network, so you are indeed comparing apples to apples. Testing is a continual ongoing, dynamic process. Review your stat pages on a daily basis and be prepared to act quickly when results begin to lag. Remember the three most critical elements of your banner. First the copy, next the color, and next the graphics. Once a successful banner has been created, tweaking and modifying these elements can keep it alive and producing strong click-throughs for many months.

Chapter 7 Database Marketing On and Offline

THE VALUE OF YOUR CUSTOMER IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK

If I think a prospect is going to buy something from me, I'm going to give them the opportunity to do so. In fact, in the direct response mail order business, I'm going to write that prospect at least three times, and if they flinch, I'm going to write them again, and when they buy, we're going to be pen pals for life.

A lead generating campaign in the offline marketing world can easily cost

$5-10 dollars per qualified lead. Easily. And, a direct sale campaign where you go for the order now, with postage, printing, list rental, etc. adding up to 50 cents per mail piece or more, can easily cost $25-50 per sale or more.

A modest one thousand piece mailing resulting in a one percent purchase response rate produces just 10 sales, but with an average mail cost of $500, and a whopping 2% response (and the offer has got to be good and the list has got to be perfect) produces just 20 orders, but still with a sale cost of a whopping $25. Which by the way, is A-OK, if your fulfillment cost and production numbers are just right. The general rule of thumb here is a five times mark up on your product cost is a minimum, and 10 times is even better. Here's an example: Suppose you're selling information (always good) if in report form or on CD or audio tape form, your cost should be less than $2 per, or if in book form under $3-4 per.

Listen, any product, any service, can and will be sold through direct mail marketing strategies. So if you are dealing with a more expensive product or service, and it's not practical to remain competitive with a 5-10 markup, no problem, just make sure your profit per sale can support your direct mail expenses, and provide you with a minimum acceptable return just to make the project worthwhile.

I want to share with you my insights, and hopefully offer some guidance for your data base marketing strategies.

Every person who ever contacts your business, whether they visit your web site, stop by the office or store, or respond via 800 number, or send in an order form, or an inquiry form, needs to be put into your database as either a buyer or an inquirer.

Your buyer file is TEN TIMES more likely to buy from you again and again and again, then any other group of people. And your inquiry file is 5 times more likely to buy from you than any other group.

If you're operating a commercial sales oriented web site and you are not offering your visitors the opportunity to 'opt in' for future announcements, discounts, special offers, updates, etc., you are leaving one enormous mass of future profits floating about cyberspace. And, in your offline marketing strategies, if you are not collecting name, address, and yes - the phone number, of every prospect and buyer, you deserve to be banished to direct marketing jail.

Your customers and your prospects that have made prior contact with your business are entitled to get first crack at all future sales, special new programs, any discounts, any coupons, any new exciting customer free trial offers, you name it - you can get as creative with this concept as you wish - but you must continually go back to your in-house database and offer these prospects something new something different. And they will buy!

And if you have just a single line product you offer, then form strategic alliances with other companies who have products and services that you can endorse and recommend to your prospect database, obviously and of course in exchange for a percentage of every transaction.

Probably the single fastest way to lost a prospect is to lose touch with them. People a year from now, or six months from now will most likely not remember having done business with you. They won't remember your company name in most cases. But, if you continually stay in touch with them, putting your name, your company name, and your special offers in their hands, they will indeed remember you. You will be - through this process of database marketing developing a customer bond that can last and produce profits for years to come.

I strongly recommend customer contact at least once a month. If you are collecting e-mail address through your web site, which you should, thecost of doing this is of course, next to nothing. And, in offline marketing, a good solid offer each time you make that customer contact, trust me on this, will produce successful, profitable results each time. You can not contact your database group of customers and prospects who have already demonstrated an interest in your products/services, or confidence in your company and have purchased from you, and not have a successful direct mail campaign. This is so even if you are not a world class copywriter, and even if the mail piece is not 100% perfect.

For years I have raised quick cash through this very method. In fact, it is not uncommon for this system to work extremely well with existing customers, and then fail miserably to an outside list. And again, the credibility issue, i.e.; the customer trusts you, has been overcome, and they will buy from you again and again.

The process begins with the very first contact. A thank you letter. Online it's easy. An e-mail thank you for your inquiry or thank you for visiting our web site, with a 'by the way, don't forget about our yadda, yadda, yadda... here's the special offer we have for you today."

And offline, for your inquiry file, ditto, but send the mail first class and promptly.

And offline, for your buyer file, the very first letter must go the day you receive their order, thanking them for the order, telling them when to expect it, reminding them of it's benefits and expressing your gratitude for the trust and confidence they have demonstrated in your company. And you will find this very letter will set the stage for strong customer allegiance for years to come.

Chapter 8 How to Build Your Swipe File

SOMEONE ONCE SAID, "I'D RATHER MODEL GENIUS THAN INVENT MEDIOCRITY" SO... BUILD YOUR SWIPE FILE NOW

What do you currently do with an e-mail message that you might receive that is particularly well done? A well-crafted offer; that begins with a strong headline, and the first paragraph is very compelling, literally forcing you to read the next paragraph... I hope you keep it for future reference.

In fact, you should begin, effective immediately, keeping all eye-catching, compelling ads from classified to display, to full page magazine ads and newspapers as well.

Don't forget the sales letters you get, probably every week. They are a treasure trove of catchy phrases, not to mention a valuable resource if you're looking for hot new trends.

Now I'm not suggesting plagiarism, far from it. But maintaining an organized file of effective compelling direct response advertising copy from email, sales letters, and yes even those kick-butt web sites, you'll be able to, with relative ease, design, present, and build your next killer campaign.

Not only that, but over time, you'll begin to see the trends taking shape. You'll be able to determine which of those products and services are selling best, and through which publications, and through what media methods. And if you watch closely, you'll be able to spot those products and services that seem to sell well month after month, year after year. And in fact some have been selling well for decades.

Want to do some interesting research? Visit a major metropolitan library and go back through several years of any number of popular magazines. 'Field and Stream', 'Success', and others similar. Also, check out the tabloids and their classified sections, and again go back a few months or a few years. You will see, guaranteed, the same kinds of products and services, and in many instances from the same people, being advertised year after year after year.

Need some ideas for a successful work-at-home entrepreneurial business?

The libraries are loaded with them, and so are these newspapers and magazines.

You don't have to be inventive to make it big today. Just build a model that has already been established on a successful foundation. Follow the other entrepreneurs down the path of success. Through time your success file will teach you where to advertise, what to say, and how to best present your offer. Initially, it will take some work. But trust me on this, it will take far less work, with a lot less capital, then the otherwise most popular method which of course is trial and error/waste.

If you already have a favorite product, or program, or service that you'd like to offer, all the better. Find those publications that currently promote similar offers, and devour them. Start building your swipe file immediately, and then prepare your own ads, your own sales letters, your own postcards, your own target email letters, and your success will be virtually assured.

And here is a valuable closing tip for you: If an ad appears in a monthly magazine in the fourth consecutive issue, it is making money - and plenty of it. Up until that point, it's promoters are committed to the lead time constraints imposed upon them. For example, many magazines take up to sixty days to place your first ad. And before those sixty days are up, you have run into the next issue's closing deadline. Then, before the first issue even begins to prove it's effectiveness, you've run into another issue's closing deadline. Hence, three magazine ads committed to before you know whether the first ad is a success. Newspapers, same deal, shorter time frames. Four weekly insertions, it's a winner. So whatever you do, don't make the all too common mistake, and assume just because the ad appeals to you that it will work in the market place. Give someone else's pocket book the chance to test a product or service or opportunity before you jump in.

And if your business is direct selling, nose to nose, toes to toes, face to face, or over the phone, use this same concept, modeling genius instead of inventing mediocrity, and take a superstar to lunch. I think you'll be amazed at how readily available most super successful sales people are, when only asked if they would be willing to share their secrets.

Chapter 9 Rating Your Product or Service

How To Choose the Right Product or Service

Follow These Four Rules & Prosper - Break Them & You'll Get Burned

There's a lot more to sell on the World Wide Web than sex, psychics, and computer stuff. If you'll just pay close attention to the time tested truisms of direct marketing, you can be very effective and very successful marketing a wide range of products and services on the 'net.

After all a web site offers the opportunity to have the least costly office or store location anywhere. Obviously real estate is not a factor. Your clients, customers, and visitors are all there, just waiting for you to say, "Hey, take a look at my site for the greatest buy on-" well, you fill in the blank here.

Let's face it. Web based marketing gives every entrepreneur the opportunity to slay the traditional competitor in the price war. Countless numbers of entrepreneurs are quickly discovering through licensing arrangements, wholesaling, and drop ship arrangements, that they can be a successful business owner where their only storefront is in cyberspace.

OK. Let's assume you're ready to take the plunge. You want to set upshop on the net and start raking it in big time, but you're not sure just what it is that you should offer-what product or service could you promote that would insure your success?

Well first - the number one rule that you should never break,

Pick a product or service that you can love. Develop a passion for it!

Enthusiasm for what you do is the number one determining factor in your future sales success. It spills over. It's contagious. Build your web site with passion and enthusiasm, and it will infect your visitors faster than a net virus.

Next, you'll want to apply a simple and almost certainly sure-fire formula for determining whether your product or service concept is suited for broad-based, mass marketing on the web.

product or service being offered with a "quick overview" page that can be accessed directly from the home page. The quick overview page obviously is a tremendous advantage the web site offers over direct mail in satisfying the "facts and nothing but the facts", crowd. Be sure to givethem a link directly to the order form.

Because of the difficulty with direct mail in satisfying the insatiable appetite for data the analytical types require, it's very rare in any type of target marketing environment to go right for the sale with this group of prospects. If your product or service currently targets these fine folks, typically in the sciences, engineering, medicine, electronics, etc. you know the challenges here.

With a web site you can set up an entire section dealing with nothing but the raw data, facts and figures, thus inviting the analytical types to feast until their appetite is satisfied.

Keep these personality types in mind, and you'll have a tremendous advantage over direct mail marketers in your field by satisfying all three of them with ease, and without the necessity of sending a direct mail package with the weight of an elephant's knee.

As always, don't forget a no risk guarantee, and be specific with the guarantee. For example, (if after using our product for just thirty days, you don't achieve, x, x, x, results, simply return it for a 100 percent refund, and we'll even pay your return shipping charges). See how this is different from a vague, lack of promise guarantee such as (100 percent, no questions asked, money back guarantee)? It just isn't specific enough.

Lastly, whatever you do, don't hide behind your URL. Too many web marketers are sabotaging their own sales success by not catering to the convenience of the prospect and appealing to the prospects need to trust the seller. In direct mail marketing the surest way to nullify an otherwise successful sales piece, is to list as your address a post office box, no phone, no physical address, no fax, just a post office box. Chances are you've been tempted to purchase from these people/companies, brought to the brink of inking the check by the compelling copy, but then changed your mind because the trust/comfort was not satisfied. The message should be loud and clear, let them know where you're at and give them as many ways to do business with you as you are set up to handle.

Your willingness to accommodate your customer and defer to their convenience, along with a very strong and specific guarantee, will reassure the "I want it yesterday buyer", offer and support the confidence & trust in you everyone is looking for, and will be the final nudge the analyticals need before saying YES, I'LL TAKE IT!

On a scale of 0 to 100, in 25 point increments, carefully rate the following four categories:

1. Uniqueness

Is your product or service idea new to the market? Are you the first to offer it, or have you taken an existing product or service concept and added value to it, thus giving your idea uniqueness of its own?

2. Mass Appeal

Is the love of your life something that everyone uses or would use?, such as telephone long distance, ie: very high mass appeal, very low uniqueness; or is your brain child concept a niche market candidate, such as ceramic pink flamingos to adorn your lawn? If so 0 is in fact an increment on the scale that could be applied here.

3. Exclusivity

This is a biggie. If you score high here you can concern yourself less with price competition, because if your passion is available only through you, and you do well on the mass appeal scale and moderate to well on the next scale, and have a reasonably sound grasp of Internet marketing, you'll be pushing your wheel barrow to the bank. Alternately, if what you offer is available everywhere else or nearly, such as discounted long distance as in the previously noted example, you'll need to out-fox, out-maneuver, and possibly even out-price the competition to have a fighting chance.

4. Perceived value

While I'm picking on the long distance business I may as well continue. If you could sell long distance service, along with six second increment billing, for only a penny a minute your score would be obviously a full 100 point. in this category. And, because long distance is in fact a price game, and if you were the only one offering it at a measly one cent, you'd also score very high with exclusivity, equally high on mass appeal, and even though your uniqueness rating would be a very low score, you'd have a deadlock winner on your hands.

The point is, if the buying public perceives your product or service as having significant value--is it worth everything they are paying for it and then some?, is it a buy?, is it a bargain?, or is the quality so good, so strong, that the price being paid in exchange entitles you to a high score on the perceived value rating?

OK! Add 'em up. Rate your product or service idea against these four critical scales. Generally speaking, if your total score for each of the above is 350 points or more you stand an excellent chance of being successful in your venture; 300350, a good chance; 250-300, a fair chance; below 250 you probably need to go back to the drawing board.

Now, even if you have scored low in one or two of the categories don't give up just yet for, as in the case of mass appeal, by targeting your market with off line advertising as well as targeted banner advertising, as well as targeted e-mail advertising, you could still build a successful web based business.

And of course the same could be said of uniqueness. It may be a product or service that is available generally on every street corner, but if you are the one who effectively and successfully puts it in front of the prospective purchaser, and you compete effectively with pricing-which of course Is easily doable in web based marketing strategies as a result of typically far lower cost per lead, cost per sale comparisons-you should again be able to make up for at least some of your otherwise lower score.

Finally the last piece of advice, Don't take your own word for it. Ask a few friends, or better yet a few strangers, to apply these four criteria and rate your product or service for you There is yet to be an inventor who has lived who has not loved, vehemently and blindly, their creation. And yet there are untold legions of them who have succumbed to the forces of the fickle yet predictable consuming public.

Chapter 10

Three Personalities That You Must Understand... to Sell Successfully on the Web

In any selling situation there are three kinds of prospects. They are:

1. Those who want the facts, nothing but the facts, and if they want to purchase -they want it yesterday. I call this exclusive group members of the Quaker Oatmeal, instant breakfast society. These are the folks of the baby-boomer generation who grew up on five minute rice, instant oatmeal, and 1-800 call it now phone numbers.
2. Those that want to know all about the product or service, how it works, what itsbenefits and features are, and most of all, they want to know who you are, how honest and reputable are you, and if you will deliver the product or service on time and as agreed. This group, is the largest of the three.
3. The analytical prospects are those who want everything the second groupwant, and much more. They want to see facts, figures, and technical specifications. They ask questions like, how much does it weigh, what has it sold for, how many have been sold, etc. This is a group that you just can't give enough facts and data to.

In direct mail marketing it is this third group that often requires additional support literature, phone calls, and faxes, to bring them to the close. With a web site properly designed and constructed, you have a tremendous advantage in being able to satisfy all three groups simultaneously.

Analyzing a properly crafted direct mail piece you'll discover and identify the following principal components.

Every piece must have a headline designed to very quickly garner the immediate attention of those prospects you are tapping. Next you'll find the body copy, explaining all about the "what is it?" The body copy should contain numerous sub-heads, or paragraph titles, which act as mini-headlines. If properly structured, the reading of the mini-headlines alone provide a quick overview as to the product or service and the benefits being offered for the, you guessed it, the"Quaker Oatmeal Society" member. They want the facts, they want them now, and when they buy they want it shipped yesterday. These are the people who will scan a direct mail piece looking for those sub-heads, looking for those bullets, thusly they are following the double readership path you created for them.

Correspondingly building a web site that is designed to sell, you not only want to include the sub-heads in your body copy, you'll also want to summarize the

A SAFE SUCCESS STORY.....

...Or how JPE Advertising went from a virtually unknown marketing company to a branded and respected name on the net.

THE STORY BEGINS...

Failure is an attitude of the mind coupled with a lack of knowledge and muddled thinking. Add in a poor business plan and you have a recipe for disaster.

Phil Basten and Jane Mark, Joint Venture partners of JPE Advertising, don't like to fail. It gives them the shivers and they avoid it like the plague.

Their business thrives today because they follow tested business principles.

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF BUSINESS IS: FIND A NEED AND FILL IT...

Here's an example of how JPE Advertising changed the face of, the function of and the purpose of safe lists on the net.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAFELISTS:

For those who may not know what a safe list is:

A SAFELIST IS:

A group of people who sign up to a list and agree to receive messages from other members in exchange for being able to mail their offers.

Safelists are often referred to as opt-in or double opt-in lists because all members have "opted" (agreed) to receive commercial email from the other members or from the list owner.

ONCE UPON A TIME...

Three years ago most of the safelists on the net were single script lists run by new owners who started their list by signing up free members. When the list grew large enough, the list owner was able to sell memberships to the list; at least that was the theory and the hope.

Many of these lists are now out of business.

Why? Because it took so long to grow a list large enough to attract paying members that many list owners closed up shop before realizing a profit.

ENTER PHIL BASTEN, PRESIDENT OF JPE ADVERTISING.

Phil Basten, President of JPE Advertising, had worked on the net, for seven years, developing some of the best known, single safe list scripts including those used by some of the net's heavy hitters like ProMoney Mail, The Mailblaster and Ultimate Mailer.

The Heavy hitters were succeeding with his scripts but the small guys were failing and going out of business day in and day out.

Phil took a hard look at the scripts he had developed, at that time, and said" Phooey"! Not good enough!

ENTER A NEED...

The NEED:

To help safe list owners stay in business long enough to grow their lists into money making operations.

THE TASK:

To create a new kind of script for safe list owners that would allow them to have access to lots of members fast.

THE GOAL:

in a reasonably short period of time, so that they could stay in business long enough to and create their own success in whatever area they chose.

THE SOLUTION:

Create an integrated safe list mailing script where individual owners could operate their own list and, at the same time, have access to other larger lists that would entice free members to become paying members and to provide additional avenues of instant revenue for new list owners so they could survive during the growth process.

THE PROCESS:

Draw a schematic of the envisioned script. Write a detailed set of specs that a programmer could follow, step by step, including web pages that show the interface and admin panels with instructions as to how each phase operates. Beta test your script until it works precisely s you envisioned it.

THE RESULT:

was born. http://damnsmartmail.com

DamnSmart Mail is an integrated safe list script that provides the ability for marketers to start their own list with zero members on it

20,000 members or more right from day one.

ads and has solo ad mailing features as well as ad tracking.

The big guys had members- lots of members. The small guys had none. DSM gives them the members and features they need to come out of the start gate all guns blazing.

Over the past three years, DSM has grown to 150 list owners with over 250,000 members many of whom have their own success stories to tell simply because they took advantage of the broad reach of the DSM integrated safe list script.

Reminder: The first Principal of business is to:

FIND A NEED AND FILL IT...

JPE Advertising recognized a need and filled it.

BUT THE STORY DOESN'T END THERE...

Once the DSM lists were completed, it became obvious to JPE Advertising that people needed a way to submit to these lists quickly and easily.

The Internet’s first fully automatic safe list submitter was born and, you guessed it, Phil Basten, conceived it, developed it and had it programmed. This idea was born out of Phil’s own frustration over the time it took to advertise to hundreds of safelists.

This "set it and forget" technology which allows safe list members to send out email to hundreds of lists at one time, was Phil's brainchild. He created the first safe list submitter on the net, known as ELP, and is currently at work on the latest and simplest version known as JPE Turbo Mailer the "no worries" submitter.

http://www.jpeturbomailer.com/

ALL THINGS SAFELISTS...

Safelists, safe list submitters- all things safelists, catapulted Phil Basten and JPE Advertising into well known authorities on safelists and safe list scripts.

After integrated safe list scripts and submitters, JPE advertising developed the first fully integrated classified advertising, safe list site known as Ad Pro:

http://www.jpesafelists.com/adpro/index.php?affnum=1735933392

Then came Auto Send Safelists like: AA Autoblaster.

http://aasafelists.com/autoblaster/aa.php?username=trends

Finally came the nets first Do it yourself solo ad script which allows people to send out their own ads to the DSM lists simply by clicking a button

http://www.damnsmartmail.com/diysa/

Do it Your Self Solo Ads works on the principal that, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

All of the scripts and tools, that JPE Advertising developed, were done after taking a serious look at what people needed to effectively market on the net.

If it existed, but wasn't good enough, Phil made it better. If it didn't exist, Phil invented it.

Recognizing a need and filling it is always the first step taken by any successful business.

BUT IT IS ONLY A FIRST STEP...

Remember, at the start of this story, we said that JPE Advertising based its success on tested principles of business.

Find a need and fill it is the first The second business principal is:

DEVELOP A BUSINESS PLAN OR STRATEGY

And the third is...

NEVER REST ON YOUR LAURELS...

While JPE advertising has followed all three principles, the second and third are success stories for another day and are documented in JPE Advertising's e-book: Joe? Yes, Mable? Are We Rich Yet?

http://jpeadvertising.com/jandm/

and the JPE Handbook: How to Succeed Anytime you want:

http://jpeadvertising.com/secret/

If you are just starting out:

Find a need and fill it.

Next read everything you can lay your hands on about developing a business plan or strategy and be prepared to keep the plan alive by constantly assessing the needs of the market around you.

Never rest on your laurels.

If you think you can develop a business, put it on auto pilot and just go fishing, think again.

A business, like children, needs constant attention or it will wither and die. The story of the safelists developed by JPE advertising is just he beginning of the success story. The DSM lists are the bread and butter for JPE Advertising but they are just the beginning.

Success is a state of mind and that is constantly developing and evolving. Jane Mark & Phil Basten

http://jpeadvertising.com http://webprotimes.com

Our Motto at JPE Advertising is:

"Help others succeed first and you guarantee your own success."

How to Make Over $10,000 per month with a Paid Membership Site within one month in a "nichey", " saturated" market

For those of you who don't know me my name is Brian Garvin. This success story will tell you what Bob Williams and I did to earn $10,466.13 USD in RECURRING income selling a membership based site in no longer than 3 weeks called Robot Reply, in a "saturated" market. Here's the URL:

http://robotreply.com

In fact, according to Alexa.com, the official website ranking source, within 3 weeks it's already receiving more traffic than CocaCola.com, SubWay.com, Quiznos.com and even McDonalds.com. What that tells me is that people searching for Business Opportunities are becoming the standard in todays society.

Many of you have already heard of autoresponders right? Well, they certainly aren't a new or brain child idea. So that being the case, how was I able to make a six figure income with them inside of three weeks. Actually, this is the second time I did this, I pulled in over 4,100 paying members in another similar service

last year which I walked away from because the other partners were thieves. I will attempt to teach you all the steps it took.

1. First I had to find a programmer. I needed to make sure they were qualified. You can find a programmer to build a membership site for you at:

http://elance.com

http://scriptlance.com

http://rentacoder.com

In many cases Indian or Russian programmers will build the entire site free if you partner them in on a percentage basis. Some might require a small deposit to do this. Anything can be negotiated.

Ours for Robot Reply is an equal partner, and in India money is worth 10x as much as out there, so you can imagine how much he will be making on this project, a lot more than us!!

All I did was draft a list of features to make sure that our Autoresponder Service was much better than the other ones out there. Any competent programmer can program ANYTHING you can dream up.

We also built Robot Reply so that we offer leads with our membership, and that is ONE of our main USP's.

http://www.robotreply.com/leadpackages.htm

You'll also find the LONG list of features Bob Williams and I requested at

http://robotreply.com/features.htm

When you hire a programmer from one of these sites, always check out their history and references and you'll be fine. These sites include number of projects they have done, the customer satisfaction level, etc..

2. Graphic Work

I hired Vaughan Davidson at

http://killercovers.com

He did the entire Interface Design including the viral features which include.

a.

Print This Page Button on each page

b.

Add this Page To Your Favorites Button

c.

Make this your Home Page Button

Keep in mind that I did all the front page website work myself. You will need to know basic HTML to do this and need an FTP program. I recommend..

WS_FTP Pro

http://ipswitch.com

To learn HTML..

http://hwg.org

http://ed2go.com

Or, do a search on Google for "free html tutorials".

3. Ad Copy. I have to say I did most of that myself. I am known by many as one of the top copywriters in the United States. I've spent the last four years writing ad copy. I always include the following in my copy.

a.

Headline

b.

Sub-Headline

c.

Features and Benefits

d.

Testimonials

e.

Guarantee

f.

USP (Unique Selling Proposition - why we're better)

g.

P.S. Statements

If you wanna learn to write good copy, subscribe to and stay on A+ Marketplace and you will by sending a blank email to subscribe@garvinweb.com.

4. Merchant Processing

We went with http://paysystems.com. They are the verified leader in merchant processing. They aren't perfect, but with the help of our programmer, we're able to work with them to make unlimited income. But after extensive research we do feel that they are the best processor we could find.

1. Bug Testing. After the features were coded in, we had to take the system for a"test drive". That meant extensive bug testing. This took a couple weeks. Once this was done, we were ready to start taking signups.
2. http://robotreply.com/signup.htm
1. Multiple Ordering Options - Ironically, almost 20% of our income is generatedfrom higher priced lead packages that we sell from the site. You'll also find this on our signup page.
2. Marketing the site. Once you get your site setup, you have to market itaggressively. I'm very lucky to be the owner of A+ Marketplace, an ezine with

over 50,000 loyal subscribers. So with just a few announcements to A+MP, I was able to generate over 300 paid signups in less than 3 weeks, and boost

it to the top 4,100 websites all by myself. Yes, as of the time of this writing we are STILL in prelaunch!

A+MP is one of the most responsive business opportunity ezines on the internet today, and subscribing is a MUST if you want to stay tuned with the latest updates in Internet Marketing Technology. Just send a blank email to

subscribe@garvinweb.com

and you'll automatically be added to the list.

Yes these are the very basics. All you have to do now is scrape your knees about 100 times and you will learn to do it great. Please remember, the most successful people in the world are the ones who implement ideas swiftly, and take their time to work out the bugs later.

The cool thing about the technique I showed you above is that it's like developing your own "residual oil well" on demand. If for some reason I wasn't 100% satisfied with my income after Robot Reply (which I seriously doubt), I could always find another membership site to launch simply following all the steps above.

Remember, Internet Marketing is an art. There's no formula or seminar that will give you instant success or gratification. It's about doing a little bit everyday to build your business until it reaches a level you are satsified with. People pay thousands of dollars to receive information just like this, and most don't do anything with it. I challenge you do do something with it. If you develop a membership site and want to take me on as a partner (NOT an affiliate, I mean a 50/50%), I will at least check out what you have, but due to time limitations, I could only do an A+ Marketplace announcement to give it the "jolt" it needs to succeed in todays competitive marketplace. I'm VERY limited in my partnerships, but if you have something solid I might just do something with it.

This article will definitely get some ideas brewing inside you until you find something solid you can run with.

Brian Garvin, http://briangarvin.com

Brian Garvin is one of the Top Internet Marketers in the world

today. As featured on National TV, Radio and as a guest speaker

at the Internet Marketing Super Conference in Las Vegas, developer

of cutting edge software, Brian has shown thousands how to market

online, and he can certainly show you how to do the same.

How To Publish A Successful Ezine

An Ezine or Newsletter is the vital part of any successful web presence. It's a Fact.

However, it is not acceptable and will not bring you any positive results if you publish just an Ezine. Quality wins all.

As with everything, there are many ways to get it right, and many ezines on the Net are really good. It is essential for your success that you get it right fast. If you want to succeed on the Net, you simply have to get every step the right way. Not just one or two items - everything. Only a good system works and will bring you the results you expect.

Publish an Ezine not only because someone has told you that you should but because you have something valuable to convey to your subscribers and only then it will really help you to create credibility and improve your web presence.

However, before you start, you should fully realize that to publish a quality Ezine supporting and helping your successful web presence is a long-term obligation and a time-consuming commitment.

Also, you must be willing to constantly learn, research, improve, avoid mistakes.

You now think that it is useless to say this because once on the Net, one has to learn all the time but as soon as you get in closer touch with people on the Net, you will find out that people are not willing to learn. Shocking? Yes, but it is the way it goes.

People are in a constant chase for something - newer items, secret formulas, secrets, charming, magic formulas, get-rich-quick schemes, information but they only collect. Only a few learn and even fewer learn constantly and even fewer apply what they have learnt.

And knowledge and work is the only charming secret they need. But they are not willing to hear and accept this because it means that they would have to stop and under the overall pressure for speed, they think it would be wrong, so implicitly they think to stop and learn and work would be wrong.

Someone has told them they should send out emails, so they send out emails, someone has told them that they should write articles, they write articles, someone has told them that they should publish an Ezine, so they publish an Ezine.

Everyone asks how but only a very few people really study the answers and learn how to do things. And, then they are surprised that they don't make any money, all disappointed by all the hype when they cannot see any results.

So, do not make the same mistakes.

We will go through the important good and bad features of an Ezine, and I will also tell you about my Ezine.

Basically, there are four essential items to talk about:

a) contents b) subscribers c) form d) subscription

ad a) If we start with the extremes, you can either publish all your original contents or all adopted. I am against both. I am all for a balanced mixture.

The only principle is to always publish a quality.

What you can see in most Ezines is that a 'guru' publishes an article and all these Ezines publish it too. Just realise that nearly each person on the Net subscribes to tens of Ezines, so he gets the same article in most of the Ezines he gets. It is useless to publish such an article. What happens as a result is that the subscribers do not read the Ezines. Your subscribers must know that you bring new unique fresh contents.

It need not necessarily be all yours. There are hundreds of millions of sites on the Net nowadays, new coming up constantly, and one person is not able to explore everything, and if you can follow the development and bring the top items, your subscribers can benefit from your Ezine in many ways:

-

they learn new items in one place

-

they can make use of hot opportunities before the majority jumps on them andthey cease to be attractive

-

they can reduce their surfing time, exploring and can devote their precious timeto something else, knowing that they do not miss anything, relieving them from unnecessary stress- they can even use some of your contents in their Ezines or in their marketing campaigns - eg if you bring them freeware they can personalize it and use it for their targeted audience.

The benefits are many, and I can go on but I think that you can see the point now as well.

I strongly advise you: whatever you want to publish, check it before you do, try for yourself. Never publish anything just because you heard. It happens so often that I read or get an email recommending to use or check this and this item, and when I get to the site, I find out that the site is out of operation for a pretty long time already or the information is rubbish.

Why is this? Simply because the people only monkey publishing a reference without checking it. Never do this.You pay the hardest currency for this - the loss of your credibility. Never underestimate proper homework. It takes a few minutes to check it and it pays.

As to the articles: The articles are a vital part of every Ezine. They should be of high quality. I myself publish two types of articles - one by quality marketers, established in the offline world as well and the other by my subscribers. Your subscribers should have the possibility to tell their fellow subscribers what they feel.

I rarely publish my own articles in my Ezine. The reasons are two. I mostly write critical articles aimed at unethical marketing methods and don't think my subscribers use them, and the other reason is very simple - I publish my new articles between the Issues, so my subscribers cannot get a fresh article of mine.

Now, you can say that I can publish my new articles in my Ezine, and then the subscribers can get fresh articles. I cannot because I use these two medias for two different purposes and if I merge these two, I will lose one of my marketing means.

A very important remark: keep your subscribers motivated and support their enthusiasm. This seems useless at first, however, realise that each person is alone on the Net, and not all goes your way and definitely not immediately. You are sure to come across spams, scams and hypes, and you will need quite a lot of optimism to overcome it and persevere, and so do your subscribers.

You will help the most if you feed your subscribers' optimism, enthusiasm, motivation, keep them cheerful, all keen on getting what they want. They need to feel that you are the one to help them to get where they want.

I subscribe to tens of Ezines and only a few are of value as to the contents but I follow as many as I can manage to see what is happening around.

I notice a very important occurrence: there is a big Digest of some 25,000 subscribers, a mere discussion board. You may be amazed by the huge number

of subscribers while really important and quality Ezines have some 5,000 subscribers.

The reason for the big number of subscribers is very sad, in fact: if you follow the discussions there, the mood of the people, you will notice that all of it is full of depression. The Digest gathers people who are not successful and love to hear about the same occurrences.

Every time I finish reading it, a black cloud of pessimism settles over me, and if I myself didn't make money online, after reading a single Issue of this, I would be a hundred per cent persuaded it is not possible.

Such an Ezine doesn't help its subscribers to make progress,it only persuades them that it's not possible and they're not the only ones who don't make money.

And the conclusion for you: Always flock with the winners. Read all but never believe pessimists. Everything is possible if you want it. All the forces unite to help you if you want something strongly enough.

So back to your Ezine: be a quality Ezine and really help your subscribers to succeed. Don't collect failures. Keep your subscribers cheerful, motivated, show them that it is possible to make money on the Net and that it's not so difficult once they know what they want, are willing to learn, work hard and know how to do things and why.

The content of each Issue should be varied, but of a constant structure and not too long - I prefer something like 20 kB but mostly get to even 35kB.

A little Tip here: Don't take your subscribers for granted. Take every Issue you publish as your only chance. Don't slip into a sloppy routine.

ad b) Subscribers

As I said above, people are in a constant chase after something, and with Ezines, the chase is definitely not about quality but the number of subscribers because they hear everywhere that the more subscribers you have, the more you sell. Rubbish - Full stop!

Again, it is the quality - the quality of the subscribers this time. You do not need thousands of subscribers not reading your Ezine, not even opening it. You need only subscribers, who read your Ezine, who believe what you say, who consider you a quality.

I check whether my subscribers read my Ezine, and since I render special quality services to my Subscribers, I want only good subscribers to have the advantage of getting it, so I even cancelled the subscriptions of several people.

In a moment I am going to tell you why.

People hear everywhere that advertising in Ezines is the most efficient, so they chase lists of Ezines allowing advertisement and subscribe mostly because of this. And since most of the Ezines allow only new subscribers to place their ad, I experienced subscribers - in fact only several - who subscribed, placed their ad, unsubscribed and before the next Issue subscribed again to place their ad and again and again.

It was very easy for me to tell they never read any Issue because I say in each of them that my subscribers can place repeated ads, and I even encourage them to do so because placing an ad just once is useless, so I cancelled their subscriptions.

Another example is with people constantly submitting ads to the wrong email address though I warn them that their ad will not be published. It is an expression of absolute ignorance of the basic rules.

You do not need subscribers like this.

You will find out that people who complain that they do not succeed and will tell you that all the Internet and its opportunities are rubbish and hype do nothing for their success. Simply do not believe them, do not follow their example by doing nothing, do not flock with failures, stop chasing whatever miracle you chase. Stop and work.

You are probably very interested in learning how to get the right subscribers and as many as possible.

I am sure I will disappoint you but to be quite open with you I must say that it takes time. To build the right subscribers' base and your credibility takes time and needs you yourself to be disciplined and tough.

Never do anything just for the sake of thousands of subscribers. There is no contest in getting the highest number of subscribers. And even if there was one, I would tell you not to take part in it.

On the contrary, set your rules wisely and stick to it.

i) restrict ads, set up Ad Codes - set a certain acceptable number of ads in each issue, publish only Ads stating the respective Ad Code for the respective Issue and stick to it. Let people wait for their ad. What happens if you allow yourself to publish all the ads people submit:

-the size of the issue will be huge, and no one will even open it

-

people who really wait for the contents will unsubscribe

-

people who just place their ad do not read your Ezine anyway

So, you will end up empty handed as to the results.

One more little note: check, test all the time whether you get what you expect. If you do not, you will waste all of your efforts, time, money, success.

And publishing an Ezine is a huge effort, obligation, commitment - should be and must be if it should be a success.

ii) size of issues - as with the loading time of pages and sites, each of your Ezine Issues too must be of an acceptable size and a balanced content. Try and keep it the individual Issues around 30 kb.

If an Issue is of 60-70 kb, there is not much chance someone will open it. Such issues regularly contain 40-50 ads, one stale article, and people know it. Even if it contains quality contents, it is too much. The batches of information should be smaller. You want your subscribers to have the most of your issues, and they cannot if there is too much to devour. However, it also depends on your subscribers.

In any case mind the size as well.

iii) accept comments, ideas, reservations and articles from subscribers - it helps you to improve your work, you learn the people, and they have a chance to tell others what they think others should know

iv) let them wait for publishing - it will not help if you suffocate the issue with one sort of item. Every issue should be well balanced.

v) insist on discipline in complying with the rules – you will find out that publishing an Ezine with all the ads, comments, articles, free items, special services takes a lot of time, requires a very good organization if you want to get it on a level and keep it there. So, it is vital for you to have your subscribers organized too, for your help and for them as well.

Set email addresses for certain items and stick to it, most people send their requirements without comments or they request and expect you to know. But you are not able if it comes to the wrong box, you will do something wrong with it, and the person is angry then, and it does not help your Ezine and your credibility either.

The only way is discipline. And only quality people will survive, and it is what you want. Reward them with special quality services, free gifts, customizable freeware working as a viral marketing means.

ad c) Form

As to the form: I would like to tell you that there are daring persons offering ezine templates for sale! Each person coming to the Net subscribes immediately to tens of Ezines and knows what such an Ezine should look like. It is not necessary to pay for something like that.

First, you should decide what kind of Ezine you want to publish - whether you want to devote all Ezine to one topic like search engine watches or the like or whether you want to bring a varied content.

If you are or want to be a successful netpreneur selling your unique product or resell someone else's products, I recommend you to publish an Ezine containing general business items. Unless you are a specialist in a line and all your web presence is concentrated on this unique line, do not publish a very specialized Ezine.

As I said already, publishing a quality Ezine is an obligation, it is very time-consuming and very demanding as to the quality contents long-term, and if you do not sincerely feel for yourself that you are able to bring high quality specialized contents, do not publish a specialized Ezine.

Second, I recommend to publish email and online versions (-however, do not send out your HTML version as your email version. Prepare two separate versions for this purpose), including online archives and the individual issues.

Differentiate the email and online readers. You should reward, give some advantages to your email subscribers, it is your fan club while online readers are anonymous visitors, and you are not able to contact them.

Third, frequency: when you start your web presence, you have so much to do all the time and publishing an Ezine every day or every week could be beyond your powers, so don't. Start publishing your Ezine once a month, it should not be longer and then, when you are more skillful, go to a fortnight or every other something - Wednesday, Tuesday whatever. Stick to it.

When publishing, always send out the email issue to your subscribers before you put it online. Your email subscribers should have all the advantages imaginable, even if it seems like trifles.

d) How and where to submit your Ezine to get many subscribers. There are hundreds of lists of Directories accepting new Ezines. Your chances to get many subscribers fast are much higher if you:

-

accept FREE ads

-

accept articles

-

publish email and online versions

-

publish online Archives

-

publish at least some of the ads online

-give FREE Bonuses or render a FREE special service to your Subscribers

-

publish contests, polls

-

publish your Ezine at least fortnightly, not longer

-

publish varied, fresh and unique contents

-use subscription pages - I consider subscription pagesa real gold mine. I myself get every FREE web space I can and publish my subscription pages there.

Each subscription page has its unique contents, ranging from inspirational reading through various articles or tips to marketing tips and freeware. You can use different designs, whatever you imagine.

I (and I found out even someone else) submit these pages of mine into search engines, directories, place ads, put them into club directories, the possibilities are endless.

These pages work as special doorway pages into my site as well because I link them to my main site but never from my site to the subscription pages.

If you make at least two a day, just think of the number within a year, and if each of them brought you just five subscribers a week ... ! It is definitely worth the efforts.

The same holds as about everything you do: you should love what you do, otherwise it will be difficult for you, and what is even more important, your subscribers will know.You should never publish an Ezine just because someone told you that you should because it is good for your sales.

There are many ways to get subscribers, like joint-ventures, ad swaps, page swaps. I would like to mention these because they hide quite a dangerous trap for your efforts. Be very careful about these exchanges.

I must say that I am very pessimistic about them. I try all of them to see whether they work, and up to now I have only two working fair. All of the others are very obscure bringing results only to the people launching them, in fact.

Do not place any ads anywhere within your site, not into your Ezine in the first place if you do not know for sure that this will work. In most cases these exchanges – if they bring any subscribers at all - bring only 'empty' subscribers, troublemakers, not reading your Ezine at all or misusers. Your honest efforts do not deserve anything like it.

I have to stress again that your subscriber base is pure gold but you must carefully pick up the individual members. Otherwise it is useless.

You give out your most precious information to these people and you must be sure it gets into the right hands.

Test carefully before you enter any co-operation, joint-venture or ad swap, not talking about a page swap.

You must profit the same as your partner. Sometimes you profit in a bit different way. You don't get subscribers but you should still enter the joint-venture or ad swap because your Ezine or site is listed in a place that gives your Ezine or site relevancy you need. In that case you have to be careful about the way you treat the obligations that flow from the agreement. You must comply but don't allow it to destroy or damage your web presence.

Where To Publish An Ezine – Opt-In List Providers

Basically, you have three possibilities how to publish your Ezine:

-

use a company hosting your Ezine FREE - bearing the company'sad in every issue

-

use a company hosting your Ezine for a fee - sometimes chargingan insane money

-publish, host and send your Ezine yourself

Generally, I have very bad experience with the first two. Now, I definitely decided to publish my Ezine myself with all it brings about. It is not only sending out the individual issues but handling subscribers, mailings as well.

I don't want to say that you should start publishing your Ezine on your own from the beginning. First, develop a system including templates, and once you feel comfortable, start to publish on your own.

Only then, you will find out how many subscribers you actually have: there is a difference between the number of subscribers you have on your list and the number that really get your Ezine each time and and the number that actually read your Ezine.

Test all you do and see.

As to the mail system and software: you should have your own mail server, your transfer speed should be high. Also, I divide my subscriber list into fifteen groups basically depending on the source that brought me the people and the mail server they use and broadcast the fifteen batches separately.

This is also useful for the occurrences when something goes wrong without your fault or even if you make a mistake (-be careful about this). Not all of your subscriber base is hit in such an unlucky event.

I use Incredimail for my regular correspondence, and Eudora for my Ezine publishing. More on the details below.

The below are list providers hosting and publishing your Ezine both FREE and for a fee. I was very dissatisfied with Topica but many people have their list there and you may have a different experience.

-Sparklist http://www.sparklist.com/

-List Catalogue http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html

-Topica http://www.topica.com/

Where To Submit

Again, as I already said: there are thousands of great places, I mention the below 13 to get you started only, not even mentioning any Ezines. (I really want to make you start this way. You cannot say you don't know where to start -:)

1. Ezine Links http://www.ezinelinks.com/
2. E-zinez http://www.e-zinez.com/
3. Eureka Java Gold http://www.eureka-java-gold.com/EZines/
4. Publishers' Corner http://www.newsletteraccess.com/pubcorner.html
5. Ezine Locater http://www.ezinelocater.com/
6. Freezine Web http://www.freezineweb.com/
7. Business Clique http://www.businessclique.com/
8. Marketing Seek http://www.marketing-seek.com/
9. Ezine Announcer http://www.ezineannouncer.com/
10. E-Newsletters http://e-newsletters.internet.com/
11. Ezine Search http://www.ezinesearch.com/search-it/ezine/
12. Published http://www.published.com/
13. Email Universe http://emailuniverse.com/

TIP #1: Treat your Subscribers like a treasure, a goldmine. Don't annoy them by sending out SOLOs every day or even several times a day. My advice is: DO NOT send any SOLOs at all. Be careful about advertising in your Ezine - limit the number of ads.

TIP #2: As I said above, be careful about ad swaps and joint-ventures but DO them. Pick up one at a time, a good one, stick to the agreed rules and check that the other party does the same.

Bonus Report: Are You Killing Your Ezine?

With all the spam filter craze around, I was also wondering how the spam filters handle my Ezine. I installed the spam software available, set it up the way I learned ISPs do and tested my Ezine.

It was fine, so I wasn't bothered BUT: Since I always do things to the maximum effect, I decided to test Ezines I receive. I subscribed to over 300 Ezines and sent them all through my filters.

You'd be surprised: only 5 passed! - out of over 300 Ezines. When I had so many ezines at my hands, I decided to look at their content, their offers, design etc. I analysed the results and suddenly I have so many data about various features that after summarizing it all, I am below presenting you with the main 7 features answering the recently popping up question why so many Ezines don't make money to their publishers.

Let's have a look at the 7 main points:

1) design 2) promises 3) advertising 4) content 5) personalization 6) software, scripts 7) form and reliability

ad 1) I sent the ezines to two different mail softwares and the results were awful. While most of the ezines look fine in IncrediMail, it was a disaster in Eudora. The more complicated the design, the worse - flashing banners, too big letters, two big spaces between lines, pop ups, complicated, multiple tables, heavy backgrounds, images...,less is more in most cases.

ad 2) I subscribed through several Ad Co-ops promising me a FREE Ad and a couple of freebie bonuses.

The results: Ads:

only 8 really accepted and published my FREE Ad. Another 5 changed it to a contest, so actually I didn't get any. Some 80 offered me various discounts on my Ad, but none FREE. And the rest didn't mention advertising at all.

Freebies:

- only 3 gave me freebies of some value - over 20 gave me a real crap; old books with links not working, obsolete information etc - over 100 pretended freebies to get me to click their link but the item was a paid low quality product

-the rest didn't mention freebies at all

ad 3) Most of the ezines are just ad boards, ad pricelists, blatant self-promotions, or publishing articles all the others publish. One of the ezines requested my confirmation, and before I manage to confirm my subscription, they sent me 13! SOLOs. Do you think I confirmed? Only a couple of them offer valuable content.

ad 4) With most of the ezines it's very difficult to find their orientation, their focus, only 6 clearly state their goals and their content complies.

ad 5) I am against personalization with business publications, shouting my name all over the issue including the subject line but there is one item even worse, and it is "Hi, [firstname]" or "oh, boy" and the like.

ad 6) I'd say that only 2 ezines test their issues before they send them out. I understand that it's difficult to find out the right software, to set it up properly if you are new but these ezines are not new, some of them publish for quite a long time. I remember some of them having 500, 3,500 or even over 5,000 subscribers when I started. I admired them wishing I could be there too. And they are still there. Guess why.

ad 7) Over 90 ezines start with "Unsubscribe at the bottom." or something to this effect. The urgency of the command nearly got me to do it.

-Many of the ezines repeat most of the text in every issue.

-Quite frequently I receive Fridays' issues on Mondays or not at all.

-Several promised to publish my ad and never did.

-Some promised to send a download link and never did.

-Over 100 come completely messed up, unreadable.

-More than 20 came only once or twice and stopped.

-Several subscribed all my email addresses they could find within my site, so I receive their ezine 6-7 times plus all the solos they send out.

-I tried to contact 12 to see whether and how they reply and the addresses they claim is for subscribers' feedback returned as 'user unknown'.

The results would easily make up a pretty thick book but the above is enough to show you the picture.

Summary: So, How NOT To Kill Your Ezine:

If you want an ezine that will help you to build a loyal Subscriber base, your business, your brand, credibility, bring you a reliable income, start to do your Ezine the professional way:

To publish an ezine is a commitment requiring hard work, efforts, time and devotion long-term. If you are not sure you are willing to take up an obligation like that, don't do it.

-Decide on what you want to deliver,

-Check what you are able to deliver,

-how and when, and stick to it.

-Be careful about what you promise. Remember your promises and keep them.People feel cheated if you don't.

-If you are not familiar with scripts or the software you use, either learn it, test itand make sure that everything is OK or don't do it.

-Offer only quality items, check the links within.

-Never publish anything just because you'd make a couple of dollars, at theexpense of your subscribers.

-Start the easy way, improve, grow. Don't complicate things for yourself. Don't publish three poor quality ezines, publish one of high quality. Don't publish every day, not even once a week if you can't get quality content.

-

-Don't be afraid to stick to simpler forms; using flash and pop ups in your emailezine doesn't show your expertise.

-On the other hand, accept the fact that not everything you publish will beperfect, you will make mistakes, but take every issue as the only one chance you have. Try to do your best because if many subscribers leave you, they're gone and you can't do much.

-Don't think that Internet users, not even the newbies, are stupid. People arevery advanced, and sooner or later they can see it through the hype. They compare and learn fast.

-Treat your Subscribers the way you want to be treated.

However, even if this sample batch of ezines seems to be big, it's not. There are thousands of ezines, and hundreds of them are high-quality. Before you start your Ezine, subscribe to as many ezines as you can read, study and analyze them, prepare a plan, a strategy, including dates, and start only after you are ready, technically and emotionally.

Hoping the above analysis helps you a bit, I wish you all the best.

Details about my own Ezine Pathway To Success: (Based on 2 recent Interviews with me)

Software I Use To Deliver & Manage My Newsletter and Why

I use a combination of several software items to make my list management fully automatic:

Basically: Eudora, Advanced Mailer, Email Finder, my own mail server plus additional little software gadgets to complete the system, keeping my list clean (no bounces, no duplicates...) and divided into several groups sorted by the mail domain the subscriber uses which makes the broadcasting faster, systematic and clearly showing who gets the issue and who doesn't.

To answer why: I tried and tested almost every existing possibility and this crystallized as absolutely the best solution for me in relation to optimal time management, list management and broadcasting, response evaluation and subscribers' privacy.

Why I Decided To Manage My Mailing List Myself

I broadcast myself and would not change. When I started to publish my Ezine, I used online broadcasting services, both free and paid and can say that it was one of my most valuable experiences and definitely the worst I ever had on the Net: whether free or paid, the services were a nightmare. I lost my list a couple of times, I didn't have the slightest idea of who really received the issue, the companies sent their advertisements to my people without my permission, were selling my subscribers etc (even if it was a paid service!). I didn't know this until my subscribers complained. Luckily, I quickly realized I had to manage my list and broadcast myself.

Since then, I don't even store my subscriber list with any third party and can 100% guarantee privacy to my subscribers.

Single Opt-in OR Double Opt-in & Why

I use a single Opt-in and my reason is simple: I myself would never join anything where I have to double confirm. It bothers me so much that I would never dare to handle this way people who want to receive my ezine.

I want Pathway To Success to be a true business publication comparable to offline magazines. I can't imagine that I subscribe to an offline magazine and they send me a letter asking whether I mean it...

How Often I Clean My List Of Bad Subscribers & Email Addresses & Why

I clean the list and backup before every Issue. To have a clean list is a necessity for many obvious reasons - to name at least two basic:

1) to be able to have a profitable business it is necessary to know your performance data as precisely as you can. And if you don't know how many people actually receive your ezine in the first place, you can't learn much about your ezine perfomance.

2) it is a waste of time and sources to broadcast to people=addresses that never receive your ezine or twice, three times... to part of the list.

Backup against loss of the list

I backup my list, the Issue Versions and updated archives regularly, before every new Issue is out. (Note: I archive all subscription requests incl IP addreses ie all record and submitted ads for ever.)

Technically, I have 1 original on my data hard disk plus 3 backups: 1 on my other hard disk, 1 on a floppy and 1 on a CD.

Spam Complaints From Subscribers Who Forgot They Opted in

I received only two and these were solved very quickly because I immediately sent the persons the copies of their subscription requests. Both apologized and it was settled.

I think the reason is that I advertise the fact that I archive all subscription requests including IPs.

My Biggest Mailing List Management Disaster To Date & How I Overcame This To Ensure It Doesn’t Happen Again?

I made a stupid mistake: Since my house is very far from my City and a bit too tough winters are there, I spend winters in the City. At about the time I started my Ezine, I wanted a bigger apartment, so I purchased one in a newly built area and didn't ask about the Internet connection possibilites there. I used to be on a satellite and it didn't occur to me there could be a problem. But it showed there was and a big one. There was only a 56k dialup, slow, dropping more than frequently and I had to work at night when the connection was more stable - the connection was absolutely unsuitable for broadcasting an ezine and horrendously expensive on top.

So, I had to use online broadcasting services, both free and paid and as I said above it was the absolutely worst experience I ever had on the Net: whether free or paid, the services were a nightmare. I lost my list a couple of times, I didn't have the slightest idea of who really received the issue, the companies sent their advertisements to my people without my permission, sold my subscribers without me knowing. I didn't know this until my subscribers complained. I quickly realized I had to broadcast myself as fast as possible. The first item I had to solve was the connection.

I had to sell the apartment because the local cable company started to dig and promised two years for a cable connection. I got another apartment with a very fast and reliable optic-fibre cable connection and my problems were all solved. This way I started to broadcast myself, still do and wouldn't change.

Additional Mailing List Management Tips

Just a little note to new ezine publishers: if you are an ezine subscriber and start to publish your own ezine, do not spam your publisher by sending them your ezine without their request. It spoils your image at the very start; do not think that publishers are messy people not remembering what they subscribe to and what not.

It is much better to send a letter to the publisher asking them whether they can check your ezine and subscribe. You are immediately in a different position as a professional and most publishers will help you promote your ezine on top.

How To Build A Subscriber Base Into The Thousands - At Minimum Cost & In Minimum Time…

Pathway To Success is over 15,000 subscribers at the moment, steadily growing by some 30-40 people a day ie 200-300 a week. When I launch a campaign I get even 300 or more a day.

Again, I must repeat that I tried and tested every possible tactic and solution, this grow is not the fastest but I am satisfied. It's steady, doesn't cost me a penny...

The quality of an ezine is not in numbers but in the list responsiveness. I consider much more important to devote my time to publishing a quality publication to a smaller readership impatiently waiting for every new Issue than chasing hundreds of thousands of 'subscribers' not bothering to open the thing.

The THREE Most Effective Techniques I've Used To Increase My Subscriber Base?

I try everything I learn about, test and carefully watch all the results and effects. Plus I add items of my own, test and watch the results the same strictly.

The most successful techniques:

a) special subscription pages on every big free hosting servers, rotators and exchanges: regularly I make new subscription pages of different design, different content optimized for different keyword phrases and place them on every possible large free hosting servers. These pages are linked to my site but not from my site to them. An example is below:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/

b) subscription boxes on the pages within my site: various subscription boxes, text links etc to make it easy for visitors to subscribe.

c) syndicated Pathway issues: very efficient - I started to use this quite recently and it shows to be the most efficient and fastest.

Other Techniques that I can recommend

d) free Bonuses and gifts like free ebooks, puzzles with prizes - especially the puzzles are very popular; all the time I receive requests for more. You can check one of the puzzles with prizes here:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/JoinWebLions.zip

e) search engine and ezine directory submissions e) some of the ad co-ops: it's necessary to pick up the right ones.

What Techniques I Recommend you should Avoid and Why

a) multiple ezine subscription exchanges, co-registration pages: stealing reading time

b) anything automatic like autosurfing exchanges, screensaver ads c) some of the ad co-ops

Using Co-Registration List Building Services

There is only one way to make them effective ie to bring quality subscribers: you must be the owner of the co-registration service. It's a robbery for everyone else and I know what I'm talking about.

How to Encourage Readers To Let Their Friends & Associates Know About Your Newsletter?

I simply ask them to. But I don't want to be ungrateful: many readers do that on their own.

Do You Have Any Additional List Building Tips You Care To Share…

If you have any other input you would like to add on the list building topic, then please do so here. The more you can give us, the better.

I don't recommend buying (or selling) subscribers.

How To Convert More Website Visitors & Prospects Into Readers

Basically, I offer my subscribers 3 different sorts of advantages I advertize so they know when they are making their decision whether to sign up or not:

a) free bonuses, special free services, gifts, free promotion for their businesses, special deals... b) all the possible ezine forms and formats for everyone to pick up the best for him/her c) absolute privacy

The Quality Of Subscribers generated by the above

As everything in our world also the above has its advantages and disadvantages: it definitely attracts freebie-seekers, and lots of them, but also since I provide special free services and guarantee 100% privacy for my subscribers, it makes the communication easier and also, it gives me the possibility to show them that I am here for real, I can and actually help them, for instance many try my free service and become my clients very fast.

The big disadvantage is that I can hardly manage all the correspondence, not talking about the services. So, lately I started to severely cut this and orientate more on the automatic performance.

Generally, my readers are very responsive and the longer I publish the more responsive they are and the easier it is. They know I always offer top items, ahead of any competition and they can rely on my recommendation.

But to build the responsiveness was one of the toughest tasks online. As most other ezines, the problem was the already mentioned tire-kickers and freebie-hunters. I had to clean the list several times which reduced the subscriber number quite a lot and I regularly implement techniques to eliminate these and increase the revenues.

Don't get me wrong, as I already said, I, of course, provide my subscribers with loads of valuable and unique free resources of all kinds but time is very precious and I can't - actually no one can afford to spend quite a lot of time on items not producing any income.

ONE Technique having the Biggest Impact On Increasing Your Conversion Ratio Of Visitors To Subscribers?

My free services: whatever I do, I am trying to do my best, even if it is a free service. And as I learn from the feedback, people appreciate the quality the most. Mostly they say that the free service they received from me was much better than a service they paid for somewhere else.

Many visitors to my site first ask me for advice or a service and after that they subscribe. The relationship is much better.

Lead Conversion Tactics I don't recommend

I know of one though I never tried this and never would: to start to sell right from the issue no 1, no matter what it is, not even advertisement.

Additional Lead Conversion Tips

With all the hype around, information and offer overload, it is very difficult for a newbie to differentiate between the good and bad, and appreciate the quality they receive. It takes time, efforts and discipline to regularly deliver quality, to regularly promote your publication to get into people minds as a reliable and lasting resource. It won't happen overnight.

Details About Newsletter Publishing, Content Creation, And Delivery…

I publish every other Sunday. Everything I do, I do for the comfort of my audience based on my own preferences. Let me explain: I represent a certain section of consumers and subscribers with their own preferences, needs, wishes etc; all of these I closely know, I know what I like and know what bothers me, what I can tolerate, what I can't, what I want and what I don't. And this is my starting base.

A little example: I am a very busy person, and I mean busy, I have to strictly organize my time to manage all I have to and want to. I don't have time to read my magazines, books and newspapers during the weekdays but I love to read them on Sunday mornings and allow me to enjoy the information I receive. And this was the idea behind my Sunday publishing.

The feedback proves that my readers have the same preference in this and also, most of them stay with me, I have an extremely low unsubscription rate, of course, not only because of this. This is just one item in the whole system.

What I think about sending out offers outside of the usual pubishing frequency

My answer is short: NEVER.

This is another of my preferences: I would never read any publication that bothers me with solos and various announcements between issues, several times a day on top. So, I would never dare to annoy my audience by this.

On the other hand, since I am committed to provide my subscribers with everything top quality and fresh the minute I learn, so they can profit, I have special solutions leaving up to my subscribers whether they want to get the information or not. I have several ways in which they learn everything from me the minute I publish it within their section (ie Subscriber) - eg News Express, Smartie, my Netscape Version, they can also subscribe to my site updates.

Formats I Publish My Newsletter In & Why

I publish all possible forms and formats and people can choose the one that suits their wishes best or swap any time they change their mind or use several/all of the sources:

a) full email Version, plain text b) shortened email Version, plain text c) full email Version, rich text/HTML d) email announcement e) autoresponder issue - full Version, containing special reading Bonus: mailto:ptsissue@informationbyemail.com f) printable zipped .pdf Version, containing special reading Bonus: http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Issue0325.zip g) Visitor and Subscriber online Versions: i) Visitor's:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Newsletter.html

ii) Subscriber's, enhanced Version:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Pathway/

g) Archives: i) Online visitor's:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Archives.html

ii) online subscriber's:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Archives/

h) syndication Version: you can check below what it looks like:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/PathwayIssue.html

i) RSS/XML Feed: you can check below what it looks like:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/RSSFeed.html

j) I also advertize on WAPs

k) Subscribers can also reach the new issue directly from my Netscape Version, Smartie - a desktop helper, my special motivational Calendar, or the direct Subscriber URL.

A couple of words to the basic organization: every subscriber using a general domain mail server gets a plain text (shortened) email version, every subscriber using a problematic ISP gets an email announcement only. After the first issue they can decide which of the Versions they want to receive and read. I even have a growing number of mobile telephone susbcribers.

As to HTML: I don't force anyone to receive it because I myself hate it and trash all HTML I receive automatically. I receive over 5,000 emails a day! and just imagine all of it was HTML. That's why I first send out the easiest Version to receive and it's up to personal preferences which Version the individual subscriber feels most comfortable to read.

Also, my subscribers' preferences clearly show that email HTML is the least popular of all the forms I publish.

What Type Of Content I publish Before I started to publish Pathway To Success, I designed it in a big detail including the content and its structure. I should say it proves right because the basic structure is the same, only larger. I again based it on my preferences and experience: I like publications giving me varied content and rich resources in the field of interest.

To give you facts: I promise my audience to constantly bring top quality resources, tips, tools and services incl advice and recommendations based on my rich, long-term entrepreneurial experience and vital for building and growing a profitable business the easiest, cheapest and fastest possible way and I am committed to complying.

I never wanted Pathway To Success to be an advertising publication. I do my best to be a professional online home business ezine. I publish content my readers require and need to make their online home business profitable or increase the income their online home business earns them:

a) business articles and educational sources of long-term usability,

b) subscribers' articles bringing their experience and tips, making my subscribers familiar with the situation/experience of our fellow netpreneurs, and giving the author exposure needed for their Internet presence (- I also publish the online Subscriber Corner and Article Library to give them an even greater exposure and more resources):

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/SubscriberCorner/ http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Guide/Articles.html

c) motivational reading that is much valued: building an online business is a great bit different from building an offline business mostly because an isolated non-entrepreneurial individual tries to build their online home business, not always supported by their family, fighting with many new items, new environment, obstacles, a strict discipline must be developed and permanent motivation is necessary.

d) tips: promotional, useful everyday advice, marketing, special opportunity

e) free, low cost or special deal books, software and tools

f) product and service reviews, recommendations, important Internet issues and items, announcements

g) specials to make the issue colorful As to the content to avoid:

I strongly recommend to avoid anything degrading subscribers, mentoring, directing them, shouting, whining, unconstructively complaining - simply anything unprofessional plus publishing stale, old and rubbish or hype content, or anything just to make a couple of dollars at the expense of your subscribers.

Everyone publishing an ezine or even starting an ezine should fully realize that subscribers are grown up people, educated and/or experienced in a field about which you don't know anything, so you definitely have a reason to respect your subscribers.

You also have a new resource to learn from, new fields for good business cooperations, even if not all of your subscribers are entrepreneurs they know something unique and even if they don't know how to manage their computers or businesses yet and you do doesn't mean you are superior, you would be surprised how much you can and should learn.

And except for that, all of us are in the same boat fighting the same spam, the same hackers, robbers and scammers, smaller and bigger problems, working for our goals, so why not co-operate in a cheerful and supportive atmosphere every publisher has an excellent and unique chance to create and maintain.

So, every publisher should respect, value and appreciate their subscribers and do their best to create every issue with the same or better care and responsibility than their first.

Every publisher should also follow the advancement in their branch=niche, learn and improve and watch their competition. After so many years in business and on the Net, I feel very nervous when I don't learn something new every day. Many new publishers stop learning and watching their environment the minute they start to publish their ezine.

Also, I consider very unethical to publish any private advice request, a site review or profit increasing help request without an express permission from the subscriber.

As to my unique articles, columns: I regularly write several sentences as the introductory editorial to every issue, sometimes articles (- quite rarely because I hate to repeat what all the other people repeat, and if I find the topic I want to publish in an excellent article written by someone else, I have no problem to use this person's article and give the person exposure they deserve. They appreciate it, I save time and my readers receive valuable information they need), quite regularly a 'Useful Tip' column and my recommnedations related to useful software, tools, books, sites, resources, services, special deals, marketing and promotional tips etc.

What Type Of Content My Readers Seem To Appreciate The Most & Why

I can't name just one item. In fact, I have never received a feedback saying that I should not publish something. I publish a fixed structure, tightly targeted, avoiding any foreign item. The truth is that the everyday recommendations are the most appreciated and re-published, then marketing and promotional tips.

Useful Tips For Finding 3rd Party Content AND/OR Making The Newsletter Content Compilation Process Easier?

I don't think publishers should try to spare time on this one. Everything technical can be and should be fully automated or even automatic but not the human part on the issue. Readers recognize this very fast and leave. I must always repeat we live in a highly competitive environment and only the best can survive and should survive.

Of course, you should make your work efficient: for instance I have a folder into which I collect resources for the individual issues within the fortnight and when I start to actually write the issue I have everything I need at my hands and can pick up the best items fitting the theme of the issue.

It's easier the longer you publish: when I compare my situation now with the situation when I started, it was much more difficult because people didn't know me and I had to look up every piece of information and content myself.

Nowadays I receive tens of requests for publishing articles a day together with various JV requests, advertising, ad swaps, tips... However, I still look up further resources myself for my own use which I test, evaluate and can then recommend to my subscribers. I also help starting entrepreneurs getting exposure for their businesses.

One more important issue related to the software I recommend to my subscribers: I guarantee it's clean. Even if I get it, find out that it is useful but not clean, I clean it and only then give to my subscribers. Many a time I receive a download recommendation from a publisher and the software is a sheer disaster for a computer.

The Internet is huge and an infinite source of top quality items for improving business, increasing profits, developing and improving products, services, marketing strategies etc. The only thing necessary is to commit yourself. Regular work and proper homework brings the best results.

As to the technique of finding resources: I use a method I call 'deep manual digging': I receive a reference, see a source on TV, come across a site, need information on something and come to a site offering a good information source, so I dig in the site which leads me into another and yet another opening new fields, new scopes, products, services, items... I then try and test the ones I pick up for possible use and recommendation.

Newsletter Formatting Tips Tricks & Techniques…

Technically I made templates for all the Versions I publish and every new issue is just the previous one edited. It's very fast, flexible and easy. A couple of good editors do the trick. I use ConText, EditPad, WordPerfect and PdfPrinter & Editor. You can download and check ConText below:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/ConTEXT.zip

With Thousands Of Online Newsletters Being Published These Days, How I Separate My Ezine From The Masses & Make My Ezine More Unique?

My basic principles are the same as I apply to my services: I am always ready to help and actually do everything to help people to achieve what they imagine. I know what my audience really needs and requires for a profitable business and render that and also know what they don't like about other services and products and try to avoid these. I always do my best to provide top quality on time.

Pathway To Success:

a) constantly brings top quality resources, tips, tools and services incl advice and recommendations based on my rich long-term entrepreneurial experience and vital for building and growing a profitable business the easiest, cheapest and fastest possible way

b) regularly provides exposure for my readers and their businesses - except for advertisement incl Ad Centre, I publish subscriber articles, tips and special section of my website 'Subscriber Corner'.

Also, every year I publish Insider Tips ebook containing all Subscribers' Articles published during the elapsed year accompanied by motivational reading. You can download this year's volume below:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/ePublishing/InsiderTips1.zip

c) is available easily - As I said above, I publish all the possible formats and forms so my readers can choose the one most convenient for them. You can check the online Visitor Version here:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Newsletter.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Archives.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Issues.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Issues2002.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Issues2003.html

To check the Subscribers' Version and Subscriber's Archives please visit:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Pathway/ http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Archives/

d) is reliable - I publish on fixed dates scheduled the whole year ahead in my special motivational Calendar - published also in two online Versions plus a zipped .pdf - you can check the online Versions below and download the full luxury Version:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/2003Calendar.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Pathway/2003Calendar.html http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/2003Calendar.zip

bringing exactly the content my audience requires and expects

e) provides absolute privacy for my subscribers:

-

I never share any information my subscribers tell me

-

I never share their data, do not even store my list on any third party server,exclusively on my computer and my storage means

e) never spam or annoy my readers: it's very easy to become a pest by sending out unwanted Solos for instance, publish too often, write about items readers are not interested in, eg your subscribers need business resources but they may not be interested in your personal events and problems. So, I never waste my readers' time by unrelated items.

f) never publish anything about which I am not hundred per cent sure it's valuable for my subscribers and their businesses, never recommend anything I myself don't use or tried, never participate in any JV just to make money at the expense of my subscribers.

g) brings special deals, Bonuses, gifts, free software, tools, ebooks, puzzles, courses etc. Eg Web Lions' Library, Free Biz Cards, site reviews, analysis and recommendations related to creating and/or increasing profits.

You can check Web Lions' Library below:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/Library/

Spam Filters ISPs Have Implemented?

I installed several spam filters myself and before I send an issue I always run it through the filters first and edit the issue as per the result. Also, I know the most obvious traps, so avoid these in the first place. And, then: there are several servers that regularly filter all ezines, so when the full issue returns as undelivered and the subscriber is valid, I send out announcements on Wednesday to inform these readers the issue is out.

Many readers know this themselves and collect the autoresponder issue without me telling them. Some of them even know that I put the new issue into the autoresponder on Saturday night and they collect it before the new issue is out the following Sunday morning.

Except for the direct tools I mentioned above, I also publish a teaser and reminder informing about the new content on my site, so the subscribers can collect the new issue even if the email fails.

Additional Newsletter Content, Creation & Delivery Tips

Only a little note again: I recommend people who are not fully prepared on publishing several Versions not to do it. It's better to publish fewer Versions of better quality than all of poor or unacceptable quality or content. The same applies to frequency: if I am not ready to publish twice a month, I won't. It's better to start small and grow, develop and improve than start big and fail. You can't expect you will ever be perfect, you will always make mistakes, stupid blunders but you should try, again and again... step by step, stage by stage...

How To Turn Dead Subscribers Into Highly Responsive Readers

The best strategy: top quality service, reliable and permanent.

To say more about the above: though there are millions of sources, trillions of gurus, hundreds of products, there is still little quality, most of it is hype and/or people just trying to get some money out of you. Very little changed in this compared to the situation in which I started. I was one of the first to provide my personal individual services, most of what was available were autoresponders or some rubbish stuff. In spite of the fact that more people now help personally there's still too little real help around. Too few people are actually making the money they imagine and they need. So, if you provide a reliable and credible publication people find useful, actually helpful, you must succeed.

And if you develop a working and efficient system to manage your list and broadcasting, it will not be a chore, it'll be fun and you will enjoy it.

On the other hand, if you publish your ezine with the sole goal to make money from it you never will. People are sophisticated, learn and grow fast, orientate themselves and recognize quality quickly.

How To Encourage Subscriber Feedback So You Can Work To Improve The Quality Of You Publication?

I ask my subscribers to provide me with tips, their wishes, their experience, comments, am always open to good JVs, co-operations but do not force people into anything. Sometimes, I receive over 200 messages, sometimes 10, sometimes I can use all the 12 pieces I receive, sometimes I cannot use a single one out of the hundred,.. that's the way it goes. I don't over-organize or over-market anything. It's my subscribers' publication and they must feel free using it, I am the one to ensure they are satisfied with it the way it is. If they are not, they can write to me and tell me or unsubscribe. In every Issue I do my best to provide the most attractive, useful and helpful content I can manage to encourage positive feedback.

Additional Relationship Building Tips

Just a note: I don't have any exceptional experience with contests - not as a publisher, not as a subscriber elsewhere.

How To Generate Revenue From Your Ezine

All of my entrepreneurial life I build my business relations on top quality, professional, reliable and credible services and products. And I apply exactly the same attitude in my Internet presence.

I always provide only services and products about which I am 100% sure that my clients/subscribers will benefit and profit from them. I would never recommend nor provide anything just to make a couple of dollars at the expense of my client/subscriber. I myself continuously learn and improve, watching and testing competition to be able to comply with the requirements and needs of my audience.

This is also my method I use in publishing Pathway To Success. I use personal recommendations, my own experience, negotiate special deals for my Subscribers, develop special items etc... I test, try and use every single item before I recommend it to my readers and of course, watch closely the results, looking for ways to improve. And it definitely pays me.

Brief description of Pathway To Success development and mission

Pathway To Success is not an advertising publication, it is a pure business newsletter, so I don't run mailing campaigns. I always provide content issues. Of course, some issues bring more revenue, some less. Now I receive pretty steady results but it took me quite a time before this happened.

If I look back now, I can see about three main stages:

i) I started, began developing a reliable, working system, building the subscriber base, developing content, promotions, building credibility, feedback - no revenue at this time

ii) credibility strengthened, feedback growing, subscribers flowing, promotion working - variable, but not yet steady revenues

iii) system developed, improving, feedback growing, automatic promotion, steady grow of subscribers, optimal relationships with subscribers, JVs - steady revenue

Mailing Campaign - disastrous, successful

Since I don't run mailing campaigns, I can't talk about this. Of course, some issues are more successful, some less, the response to some issues and feedback are huge, with some issues it's smaller. I always closely watch the results, all the time test various forms in detail, develop new items and always do my best to get better results with the new issue than I recieved the previous.

'Pathway' is my only manual and live promotional tool, all my other traffic and promotion tools are fully automatic, impersonal, and at the same time it's the easiest way for me to communicate with such a large community of targeted people willing to listen to me, trust me, buy from me.

I should also say that most of my long-term clients recruit from subscribers. It's not so much important whether they buy exactly the item I recommend today but that they hire me when they need a service, a help, a product... It's my permanent stream of targeted leads and that's exactly where the true treasure lies and why publishing 'Pathway' deserves my absolute efforts and why it is worth the time I devote to the creation of every Issue.

Paid Advertising In Your Publication And Why

I do include paid advertising in Pathway To Success. I have two main reasons:

a) to get additional revenue b) to enable people to promote their business without waiting for free advertising and get a prominent spot within the issue

Additional Revenue Producing Tips

Just another little note: I watch the mistake I want to mention in many new ezines. Publishers, mostly because they don't have any other income, start to publish an ezine and from the issue No 1 they send offers, solo ads, even several times a day.

For a long-term successful publication, I strongly recommend to carefully plan the purpose, form, strategies and promotion for the ezine, build publisher's credibility, image and reliability, collect a decent subscriber base and then start to sell advertising and send occasional offers (- I would stress occasional), though I would avoid these with a content publication. I would never subscribe to an offline magazine if they sent me offers between issues.

You must first build your offer and then you can sell. Not the other way around. Then, many publishers complain they failed. I must admit I would be very surprised if they didn't.

About the Publisher: Irena Whitfield

Irena Whitfield

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/

iwhitfield@thecassiopeia.com

Newsletter Title: Pathway To Success

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/Portal/Newsletter.html

Description: Published every other Sunday, our Ezine helps Subscribers to succeed in their online business, providing them with top webmaster resources, hot marketing tips, profitable business opportunities, FREE advertising, articles, motivational reading, FREE Web Lions' Library, special services FREE only for our Subscribers, Bonuses and more.

Number Subscribers: 15,000+ How Long Have You Been Publishing This Newsletter? Since 2000

Other Business

Irena Whitfield is an Internet Business Consultant helping people to succeed in their online home business providing them with webmaster resources, business, epublishing and webmaster services, books and tools vital for every successful small business. She says:

I have been in business for over 15 years and I use my rich experience to help people in three stages:

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people starting online: to help them identify their needs and possibilities, set up and build their system to make it profitable within an acceptable period of time even on a limited budget. An excellent tool is my bestselling ebook:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/ePublishing/7Stars.html

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people having online experience or even a presence of a kind but not satisfiedwith the income they make, either not yet making any or not enough: I help find the problem and its solution - the most popular service and my great strength

- online people experiencing various problems: this is a wide scope ranging from mastering one's own computer through discipline, entrepreneurial and motivational problems to setting up and running individual tasks like starting and improving an ezine, a shop, an agency...

All my services are based on the analysis of the individual situation - human and financial. You can find more about me, my services and products here:

http://www.thecassiopeia.com/ http://www.thecassiopeia.com/InternetBusinessConsultant.html http://www.irenawhitfield.com/

CIJAYE DEPRADINE CREATIVE SERVICES

Good morning Mr. Glaspie;

We have recently joined your BannersGoMLM network because your banners are very well designed and they are by no means intrusive; but most importantly we support the growth of business on the Internet. Your banner system is in place to assist businesses in the growth process. Your entire Internet Marketing network of businesses co-exists for the purpose of enhancing the functionality and visibility of ones website. Your tools can be utilized by novice web designers to web masters and they will fit the criteria (or standards) proposed by each type of web marketer.

My company is in the business of creative advertising and experiential marketing. We design and develop creative materials for print and interactive digital media; we also build effective strategies for integrated marketing, events, and experiential campaigns. Our specialty has been to design and execute Internet Marketing Strategies; this includes the proprietary creation of graphically designed websites, banners and the like, and it extends to the building of dynamic web environments that can range from contact management systems to e-commerce and multi-media platforms.

Like most business owners I started out developing and designing marketing materials for myself to cut down on costs; this included the design, publishing and optimization of my website. I spent many hours researching the many methods of increasing traffic and building search engine rankings only to find out that getting help in doing so is not such a bad idea. I began to invest money in crucial areas such as site design and development, search engine submission and even some directories. All of these areas are and always will be crucial to the overall success of our site, but there are still many more steps to go.

It took me approx 5 months of intensive research and testing to bring my site from being completely off the chart in search engine rankings to the now fully maintained TOP 1-10 positions in the majors. In business terms this was time well wasted, because I could have spent those months acquiring new clients and paid someone else to do the SEO for me. But in the end, I am now qualified to do an excellent job at SEO and I can monitor my own site and my clients’ sites on a monthly basis without forfeiting the fee to have someone else do it. Truth be told however, business is picking up now to the point where I would prefer to pay an expert to do the job anyhow; and this intelligence will also apply to all of our viral marketing methods, opt-in mailing, e-zine advertising and so on.

For any new business people who are entering the matrix of Internet (direct) marketing, research and knowledge ARE power. The Internet Marketing process includes so many significant areas that require attention on a daily basis that trusting in “experts” like yourself (Mr. Glaspie) and as I have in my team, is really and truly necessary. If you own your business you do need to know how everything operates and knowing how the Internet operates is only half the battle; making it operate for you is the real test of prosperity!

How To Add Hundreds Of Targeted Customers To Your Email List Using The Power Of Joint Ventures

EZINE ANTI-MARKETING

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N

"What If You Could Totally Saturate Your Entire Market By Syndicating Your Articles And Podcasting Audio And Video Content To Thousands Of Sites With The Professional

MOST IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE...

It’s disappointing to work so hard and not get the financial freedom and the peace of mind you deserve. Here’s an unfair, but true fact: The most important knowledge you need is NOT about your products or services. No. THE MOST CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE YOU MUST HAVE IS ABOUT MARKETING YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR INSTANT PROFITS!!

The harsh reality of life is that having the best business is worthless without a constant stream of customers and clients giving you money!

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Listen. You’re not alone. 99.7% of all business owners don’t know how to profitably advertise. We know you’ve tried it all: Yellow pages, direct mail, discounts and low price offers, ads in the paper, shaking hands at Chamber meetings, Val-Pak type coupons, TV and radio spots, sponsorships, classified ads, etc.

Hardly any of this brings in more money than it costs. Yet you part with the money for the wasteful advertising, because you don’t know what else to do!

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See, it’s not that advertising itself sucks…it’s what you’ve been taught and shown to say and offer in your advertising that sucks!

If you follow the so-called “knowledge” of brain-dead ad agencies and oblivious ad reps, vendors, etc…you’ve experienced that sinking feeling of spending money hoping to bring in customers…only to feel depressed when another marketing effort fails. Here’s a dirty secret they don’t want you to know: The advertising other businesses do doesn’t work either!

See, everyone copies the advertising ideas and strategies everyone else uses…incorrectly thinking they must work…or why would they continue to use them? A friend of ours and marketing genius calls this ill-advised copying of useless advertising that doesn’t work: marketing incest!

But here’s the Catch 22: traditional advertising doesn’t work…but everyone keeps doing it anyway because it looks and sounds like it should work…and every business uses it. Yet, you know first-hand, that it doesn’t

work.

It’s so confusing and maddening. Why do businesses keep doing blowing hard earned money on the same-old advertising that doesn’t make a profit that can be measured right away??

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