Have You Captured Me Today?

Written by Alexandria K. Brown


There are many Web sites I visit every day and will probably never return to again. It's not that I didn't likerepparttar site, or that I wasn't interested inrepparttar 135975 topic, services, or products offered. It's just that I wasn't ready to take action right now. So I clicked away and will probably forget about them.

The danger of this happening at YOUR site is that you just lost a great prospect. After all, I'm pre-qualified. I was already interested in what you had to offer. I likely found your site via a search engine, Web directory, advertisement, article, or another promotion. I clicked through to your site because I wanted to learn more.

But studies reveal that I'm most likely NOT going to take actionrepparttar 135976 first time I visit your site. Have you heardrepparttar 135977 statistic that it takes about *seven* contacts before prospects are ready to buy? (That's a lot of times!)

So how can you getrepparttar 135978 chance to contact me another *six* times? The answer is to CAPTURE me then and there — that is, get my e-mail address. To do this, you'll have to offer me something valuable in return. If you just tell me to "sign up for our mailing list," you're not going to get squat.

So what can YOU offer me? Here are some ideas that have been proven to work when done well. Of course,repparttar 135979 *content* for all of these should tie-in to your business focus:

1. A free mini-mail course.

These are becoming very popular right now. You simply create a few e-mails' worth of content to spread out over a certain amount of days. You'll need an e-mail autoresponder to do this, which allows me to sign up for your course automatically. Many sites seem to offer five- or seven-day courses, and many of them are awful. So here's a chance for YOU to stand out: Make sure yours offers really useful or interesting content that's more "how to" than salesy. Then inrepparttar 135980 last e-mail, tell me how your services/ products will further help me --- lead me on torepparttar 135981 next step.

2. A free e-zine (e-mail newsletter).

If you can produce new content on a regular basis, this is your BEST option, because you're receiving permission to contact me (and market to me) again and again! You'll always be on my mind. And if you're a solo professional who is marketing your own services, this gives you *multiple* chances to prove your worth and gain my trust over time. The only drawback to this option is that publishing an e-zine requires a good amount of time and effort on a regular basis, butrepparttar 135982 rewards will be worth it.

21 Questions to Ask Any List Service Before You Sign on With Them

Written by Alexandria K. Brown


If you publish an e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine," you'll need to sign on with a list service (or "listserve") to manage your subscriber list. There are many types of listserves out there, so here are some guidelines to help you choose one that's right for you.

1. Do they use MULTI-PART MIME technology?

You'll need this if you want to publish an HTML newsletter. Otherwise you’ll have to send out multiple versions for users who can read HTML, users who can't read HTML, and users on AOL.

2. Do they offer some type of ORIENTATION OR TUTORIAL?

If you're new torepparttar game and/or technologically challenged then you'll appreciate any type of help they offer for new clients.

3. What's their CUSTOMER SERVICE like?

Are they prompt to get back to you via e-mail? Can you call them if you have a problem? Are they available more than standard business hours? What about weekends? Contact them and see how long they take to get back to you —- if it's longer than 24 hours, definitely keep looking.

4. Do they NOTIFY list owners if there's a PROBLEM with their service?

If so, how, and how quickly?

5. Do they have CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS to share with you?

Or even better, client references? Contact some of these folks to see how their experiences have been.

6. Do other BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS use their service?

If most of their clients are large corporations, small businesses like yours may not getrepparttar 135974 attention they deserve.

7. Is their interface EASY TO USE?

Meaning is it easy for you to setup and launch each issue of your e-zine. They should offer a demo or let you accessrepparttar 135975 'mission control' area that you'll be using to test it out.

8. Can you MANUALLY ADD AND REMOVE people to and from your list if you want to?

Sometimes you’ll need to do this, so you'll wantrepparttar 135976 answer to be "yes" —- especially if you're moving over a list you've already collected.

9. Can you access SUBSCRIBER REPORTS?

How and how often? You'll want to know on a regular basis how many subscribes and unsubscribes you've had sincerepparttar 135977 last issue.

10. What appears inrepparttar 135978 "FROM" field when subscribers get your e-zine?

You want it to be YOUR name if possible. Some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to come from an individual person.

11. What appears inrepparttar 135979 "TO" field when a subscriber gets your e-zine?

You want it to berepparttar 135980 person’s name if possible. Alongrepparttar 135981 same lines, some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to be addressed torepparttar 135982 individual person.

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