Donna Knight's Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews

Category: Email marketing

  • Survey Results About What Internet Marketing Newbies Need the Most

    This post contains the information related to the 345 responses to a survey in which internet marketing newbies were asked, “What do you need most to bring your online business to the next level?”

    Upon reviewing the majority of the responses, the major barriers and obstacles to your success can be overcome with the proper training and a few tools.

    An excellent post in a forum said the difference between a successful person and a failure is the way they looked at problems they were facing:

    The failure says to themselves, “It can’t be done!”
    The successful person says, “How can we solve this problem?”

    In other words, if you don’t at least TRY to solve the problem you’re facing, you’re already defeated.

    Successful people will work on trying to find a solution to a problem until they have found one – or they have found a solution that they can live with, even if it’s not perfect.

    The barriers and obstacles mentioned by most people fit neatly into about 4 categories.

    Here they are in order of the most responses*:

    1. They need ‘basic’ technical skills. (41%).
    The majority of the responses fell into this category.

    Many internet marketers assume that if someone was interested in Internet marketing they would have learned the basics of HTML or FTP, etc. before getting involved.

    That does not seem to be the case. Many people would like to make money online but are clueless when it comes to basic technical skills. This is a huge barrier to their success.

    Examples people mentioned they needed help mastering:
    · How to upload a page to a hosting server by FTP.
    · How to change the html ‘code’ in a page template.
    · How to include links in their pages.
    · How to include a sign-up code link in their pages.
    · How to protect and mask ‘affiliate links’.

    So we are talking very basic stuff here that I think many Internet marketers assume their customers already know- but don’t.

    There are some really excellent tutorials online to help people learn these basic skills… and if you were one of the people that said you needed help in this area please, please look around for qualified training. Most of it is free, some is not.

    So the help you need is available. However, some people even lack the skills necessary to find the resources online that will help them master these skills!

    Maybe the first thing you need to focus on, and if you’re an experienced Internet marketer, develop this tool) is to find a good ’search tutorial’ to learn how to find information on the web!

    If you’re one of the people who need to master these basic “HTML” skills here’s the one resource you need:
    http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp

    This is an excellent but basic introduction to HTML. You need to know this stuff if you’re long on time and short on cash.

    If you have some money you don’t need to know this stuff just hire someone from one of the following sites to do it for you:
    http://www.elance.com
    http://www.rentacoder.com
    http://www.scriptlance.com

    I think it’s still a good idea to know some basic stuff because you don’t want to hire someone to do minor changes to your sites for you when they are so easy to do yourself. Plus you’ll be in a better position to evaluate the quality of someone else’s work.

    2. Information overload …(25%)

    Many people complained that they are bombarded with information, books, products, ads etc… each one claiming to be the info they need to make millions online. They are CONFUSED.

    No one’s product I have seen clears up confusion about what it takes to make it online better than mine.

    New Internet marketing products are coming out at an incredible rate and since everyone in the Internet marketing ‘industry’ knows how to get a product created quick and easy using Elance, Scriptlance.com, etc there are more new products being promoted every week.

    The Internet marketing niche is huge and there’s still lots of money to be made in it and I have not changed my mind. But the market is changing… newbies and those who have been buying Internet marketing ebooks, course and manuals want to know that what they are buying has lots and lots of value and the product is different than the other products being promoted and how it’s different.

    Educate your customer better, give them value and they will come back to you. You do not have to be an ‘guru’ to make money in this niche.

    But you do need to deliver a lot of value for the cost.

    3. How to get traffic cheap or free. (25%)

    If there was a source for perfectly targeted traffic that was also free or cheap… guess what?
    It wouldn’t be free or cheap anymore.

    If there are NO barriers to highly targeted traffic, everyone would be using it. The really targeted and best source of traffic on the net is not free or cheap.

    You’ve heard the saying, “You get what you pay for.” That was never more true when it comes to traffic.

    So what’s the best source of traffic for your website?

    Your own list is #1.

    Here’s a tip… when you go to Alexa.com and type in a website address watch for the ’spikes’ in the traffic graphic shown for the site. The ’spikes’ are when the owner of the site sent an email with a link to one of his pages on his site so that his subscribers would visit his page. These ‘visits’ are all counted in the Alexa ranking.

    These spikes also occur when JV partners send traffic to a site during a special promotion. Most of the traffic you see on a site comes from email marketing. Very little of it comes through SEO (search engine marketing) – except for those sites that get 1st page ranking in their chosen keywords, very little traffic comes from natural search engine ranking.

    Don’t have a list? Then you need to build one ASAP. Your job online is to build your list.

    Advertising online has one job: Getting people to opt-in to your LIST.

    Your best source of traffic comes from links you’ve put into your email messages to your list! The second best source of traffic is targeted advertising through PPC or offline ads or direct mail.

    4. No product or service… (6%)

    Finally, many people stated that they did not have a product to sell and needed help putting one together. Since it’s relatively simple to put a product together, I think the responses had more to do with creating the ‘right’ product, positioning and the actual product creation process than simply not knowing ‘how’ to do it.

    Even though product creation is ’simple’ it is not easy and it involves a lot of work. Any type of product that can make it easier to create your own info-products and software will have a ready acceptance in the marketplace.

    The barriers most people run into is when they try to ‘think’ of a product to sell which is the exact opposite thing they should be doing.

    If you are the one having this problem you should be monitoring discussion boards, newsletters and opinion sites to determine what problems exist in niche markets and then create a product that solves that problem.

    Let the market decides what it wants.

    That’s it. Those are the most often cited barriers to making money online. I hope this has been helpful.

  • How to Build Your Mailing List Fast

    Here’s a very valuable tool.

    If you doing any kind of offline marketing (direct mail, postcards, telemarketing, etc) and you want to put together a targted list – and you want to do it fast – you should look at this tool.

    According to the site:

    “ListGrabber is a data-entry tool that captures all contacts from any list or web site and enters them into Contact Managers like ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook…It intelligently extracts all contact fields including name, address, phone and email and builds a contact record in your Contact Manager. ListGrabber has been tested and tuned to work with all popular online web directories, yellow pages, membership directories, lead listings and hundreds of other prospect lists. It has been tuned over a 5-year period and offers the most accurate lead generation service that exists. The technology is so advanced, it has received an US patent!”

    Take a look here:

    http://www.egrabber.com/listgrabberstandard/index.html

  • Free Tool To Build Your Email List with Anti-spam Feature

    Here is a nice tool you can use to help build your web business. It’s free and has been tested and found to be reliable.

    it has limitations, but if you’re on a tight budget, this script from Mr. CgiGuy, might be just what you need:

    SimpLISTic Mailing List Manager – v2.0
    A simple to install and simple to use script that allows your visitors to add their email address automatically to your email list. You can then quickly send out emails to the entire list with one form. 2.0 has many new features including HTML emails, automatic signature, and address confirmation to avoid abuse.

    Details and Download Link:
    http://www.mrcgiguy.com/free_cgi_scripts.html

  • The One Secret To Success That You Don’t Take Seriously

    Let me get straight to the point. If you are trying to sell something but you are failing miserably, here’s why:

    You’re not succeeding because you are NOT following-up successfully with anyone interested in your products.

    This is a MAJOR cause of failure in both ONLINE and OFFLINE businesses.

    You work hard to get a prospect to see your site, to visit your store then what happens?

    You don’t get their CONTACT info… and if you do, you don’t FOLLOW-UP.

    I guarantee you, you can increase your business by 100%, 200%, 1,000% just by being:

    • CONSISTENT
    • HONEST
    • TELL-IT-LIKE-IT-IS
    • EMOTION BASED SELLING
    • STRESSING BENEFITS
    • SELLING! and ASKING FOR THE ORDER!

    …through…

    FOLLOWING UP… with prospects WHILE they are HOT.

    As long as your product is GOOD, and your prices FAIR you have as much right to your prospects business as anyone on this planet…

    SO GO GET IT!

    Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up.

    Bottom line:

    You have to be IN FRONT of them when they are ready to make that buying decision.

    And THAT is one of the best kept ’secrets’ to success in ANY business and it’s one of the secrets Jay Abraham used to generate $Millions of dollars for himself and his clients- just by following up with prospects and past customers and telling them about new products and services that were available.

    The majority of businesses both online and offline Never follow-up, do not contact their past customers often enough and do not ask for an order even when they do.

    So like I said, you can EASILY increase your business By 10%, 200%, even 1,000% just by following-up.

    Even if you stink at copywriting, can hardly put two sentences together, just by follow-ing up you’ll increase your business.

    If you do NOTHING else this year, just implement this ONE simple piece of marketing advice I’m giving you today and you will see your business skyrocket.

    P.S. Systematic, consistent follow-ups are easy to do online with email. The problem with email is it doesn’t always get delivered, and when it does you have to be careful not to look like a spammer. So, in addition to email try to get your prospects mailing address and phone number.

  • How To Write Safelist Subject Lines

    Many people debate the effectiveness of safelists, but I have actually gotten responses from the more popular ones.

    For one thing, you’ve got to mail your email ad at a time of day when people are home and relaxing on their computers. If you send it at 3 a.m. you really can’t expect much of a response.

    Here is a neat little FREE report that gives you a trick to make safelist subject lines stand out.

    Right-click the link below to download this PDF.

    How To Write Safelist Subject Lines

  • How To Choose The Best Email Autoresponder System

    By Donna Knight

    Ask any successful internet marketer how to convert visitors into sales and they’ll all give you the same answer: You must have a follow-up tactic strategy.

    While getting visitors to your site is very important, the fact is more than 90% won’t buy from you. Don’t despair. They might not want your product today but they might be interested later. But if you don’t have any way to follow up with those visitors, those potential sales are lost forever. That’s why you need a good autoresponder system.

    With an autoresponder, you can capture those leads and follow up with them later with more information or any offers you have. An autoresponder is an opt-in form that you put on your website inviting visitors to sign up for your newsletter, ezine, ecourse, freebies or any information that can be sent to subscribers in a series of emails. Once they sign up, they automatically get added to your mailing list, you can also send them occasional ads or offers since they have now given you their permission to send them email.

    If you only had a few subscribers, you could follow up with them manually using your email program such as Outlook, but for the success of your business you want to build a mailing list with 10,000 subscribers or more. Even a million subscribers is possible if your mailing list is very successful.

    Don’t underestimate the power of a good autoresponder since there are many successful internet marketers who credit their autoresponder systems with helping to make them rich.

    An autoresponder system allows you to prepare a series of messages in advance, program them into the system, and specify the intervals at whih the emails will be sent out. They can be sent out once a week, once every 3 days or even at irregular intervals. For example you could have 3 emails sent out in a series, one after 3 days, the next after 4 days and the final one after 7 days. You can even have multiple autoresponder series, one for each of your websites, one for all customers, one for prospects, and one for customers who have purchased high-priced items. This allows you to mail different offers to different groups.

    Another benefit of an autoresponder is that sending emails regularly to prospects helps them warm up to you and learn to trust you. If you make your emails personal, subscribers will feel like they know you personally and will less resistant to buying from you.

    You can also use autoresponders to cut down on customer service emails. If a client or prospective buyer asks you a question about a product, you can preset the autoresponder to reply with a general FAQ that will answer most questions. I’ve noticed on websites I manage, the vast majority of email questions I get are the same questions asked over and over again.

    With autoresponders, you have two choices. You can buy a service that runs everything or you can buy a website script that you or someone you hire installs on your website. A script is usually the cheapest option but may require technical ability.

    Not all autoresponders are equal though. Here are 10 questions to ask before you choose an autoresponder system

    :

    1. How much does it cost? Is it a one-time fee or a monthly fee? If it is a free service, what are the disadvantages?

    2. If it is an autoresponder script, does it come with instructions that anyone can follow to install it themselves or do you have to hire a professional script installer to install it?

    3. How many accounts can you create with their system? A different account may be required if you want it to display different information, such as a company name or website, in the FROM field of the autoresponder messages.

    4. How many mailing lists can you create?

    5. How many follow-up messages can you preset?

    6. What’s the maximum number of subscribers you can have on a mailing list?

    7. How much personalization can you add to your emails? Can you personalize emails with the name or purchase information? Personalization increases the effectiveness of autoresponder emails, especially when it comes to customer purchases.

    8. How does the system let subscribers sign up to the autoresponder? The simpler the process, the better.

    9. What formats can you send emails in? Does it allow HTML and text emails? Does it give the subscriber a choice about which format they can sign up for?

    10. Will you be able to track your subscribers for targeted marketing?

    11. Is the autoresponder system easy to use?

    Price is not necessarily an indicator of quality. There are expensive autoresponder services that have less features. If the autoresponder system you’re considering meets all these criteria at a good price, the sooner you buy, the sooner you’ll be on your way to continuous profits.

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    Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 200 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
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    Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact. For product reviews, you may substitute your affiliate referral link for the product URL.
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  • Why You Need an Opt-in List and How to Get One Fast

    By Donna Knight

    If you want to expose as many people as possible to your products or services, you need traffic. But sometimes traffic alone is not enough. A visitor may not choose to buy from you today. Once a visitor leaves your site, however, chances are they’ll be gone for good. End of story. But wait…what if you could get them to purchase your goods or hire your services tomorrow?

    That is exactly why you need an opt-in list. An opt-in list is a way to capture leads so that you can follow up with visitors who otherwise would never come back. If you follow up enough times, some of those who opt in will buy from you eventually.

    First, let’s discuss what an opt-in list is. It is the online equivalent of a mailing list. It is a database of names and email addresses of website visitors who have chosen or opted to subscribe to your list so that they may receive emails from you, the mailing list owner.

    To grow a sizeable opt-in list, you need to entice people to sign up by offering them something they want or need. Examples of what you can offer include:
    • A highly informative ezine or newsletter that you publish regularly, for example, weekly, biweekly or monthly.
    • A free downloadable digital product like an eBook, a special report, templates, or a software program.
    • A free service such as email accounts, web hosting or an email reminder service.

    Among these free offers, an ezine is by far the most popular among subscribers, and the most effective for the business owner. With an ezine, the business owner can continuously do follow-ups offering educational content mixed with sales messages. Your newsletter can have ads that you sell other advertisers, ads for your own products or affiliate links to products that you earn commissions for.

    Permission from the subscriber is essential for an opt-in list. This ensures that the subscriber won’t delete your emails immediately as spam.

    Here are some steps to help you build an opt-in list in the shortest amount of time:

    • Choose your target market and know what they want like the back of your hand. Opt-in lists are vehicles mostly for follow-ups. Following up won’t do you any good if you don’t know how to connect with your prospects so that you can address their problems in a way that’s most profitable for them and ultimately you. Remember, the ultimate goal is to sell them something. You can’t continuously sell prospects if you know nothing about them and what they want.

    • Send personalized emails. Referring to your subscribers by their name goes a long way in building their trust.

    • Build traffic to your website. You can’t get subscribers if you have no visitors. The traffic must be a sufficient volume since not every visitor will become a subscriber.

    Here are some ways to get more visitors which will lead to more subscribers:

    1. Using search engine optimization tactics like selecting keywords corresponding to what your prospects are searching for, incorporating these keywords into your website, frequently updating your website code, and, if necessary, using Pay Per Click (PPC) search engine campaigns.

    2. Article marketing, by writing some articles relevant to the subject of your business, submitting them to free articles directories on the web, and including a resource box that contains a link to your site.

    3. Link exchanges and ad exchanges

    4. Advertising methods often overlooked, including forum marketing, buying ads in other ezines, and even offline advertising.

    • Make your opt-in offer irresistible. It’s hard to be objective, but when crafting your offer, ask yourself, is this something I would sign up for as a consumer. Look at newsletters you’ve joined and figure what made you want to sign up.

    • Co-opt lists. There are services that let you exchange leads with other webmasters. The result is an increase in subscribers to all newsletters involved.

    • Build relationships. Though follow-ups are usually done through pre-set autoresponder email messages, you should send some individualized emails occasionally. This will make subscribers feel special because it gives them the impression that you’re sincere in your desire to cater to their needs.

    If you ask many successful online businesses what contributed the most to their success, most will tell you their opt-in list. Therefore, if you want your business to be sustainable online, you must have an opt-in list. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling your own product or services, or making money with resale rights or affiliate programs; an opt-in list will boost your business. Now that you’ve read this article, you know exactly what you need to do to get started.
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    Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 200 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
    =============================================
    Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact.