Go to any internet marketing forum and ask the following question: If you had to start your internet company all over again but were allowed to incorporate just one item from your previous business what would it be? Some marketers may say a certain traffic generating technique or advertising method which has made them a lot of money. Others may pick a specific product or service. But you can bet that the overwhelming majority will say if they had to decide on just one thing, it would be their opt in email in list.
According to Direct Marketing Association, revenue generated last year from email marketing was projected at 18.5 billion dollars and that was just in the United States alone. The advent of filters due to spam email makes it tougher to contact your target audience but having your own email marketing system remains essential to online success.
But you can take it to the bank, that anytime a good thing comes along, some people will do everything in their power to shortcut or game the system and ruin it for everyone else. They will then try to convince many people who are just starting out to do the same. If you want to build your email list the wrong way then.
1. Buy the List
There are many distributors online who will sell you an email list. This is a very ineffective way of marketing since these lists are usually to general in nature. You make a list mailing purchase of 10,000 names and addresses but the number of people who are going to be interested in your product or service will be minuscule. Another problem is that many people on the list never asked to be sent a solicitation, which brings up the question of how did the distributors compile the list? Unsolicited emails are a good way to get accused of spamming.
2. Email Harvesting
A few years back many a website offered software to gather emails from online profiles, forum postings, mailing lists and various other places. The software would look for anything that appeared to be an email address and then compile it into a list. While not as prominent as before, this software still exists. You maybe able to find a legitimate email distributor to buy a list from but email harvesting is spamming; pure and simple. This method will get you in a lot of trouble.
3. Selling, Selling Everywhere
You post to forums and message boards on a regular basis however no one is signing up. A big reason for this is you may not be contributing any useful dialogue to the discussion. Instead you bombard them with one sales pitch after another. It does not matter if your webpage has an opt in form at the bottom; all visitors see is a huge "by my product" sign. When you visit forums offer up quality information that adds to the topic. Let the other forum members get to know you before you start pitching your products. Even then a better strategy is to provide something of quality to them for free as long as they opt in to your list. Never underestimate the power of the freebie.
Opt in email marketing is arguably still the best way to generate a steady stream of customers and revenue. Yes it's been made tougher but that does not mean the system has been rendered useless. Just stay away from the shady practices or quick fixes and you will have no trouble building a responsive opt in email list of people who cannot wait to hear from you.
Related Articles
Email Marketing Basic Process
By: David Wells | 12/12/2007 | Advertising
Your list is your business. The reason for this is simple. When you advertise, you pay to attract people interested in your niche market. If you make your offer once and they leave you only have that one chance to sell to them. If you gather their name and email address you can send offers and information to them for free any time you like.
Email Marketing Is A Critical Internet Marketing Strategy That Successful Businesses Always Use
By: Brian Lam | 02/12/2006 | Email
You can use email marketing as your number one killer advertising method when it comes to effective low-cost Internet marketing strategy. And there's an ideal way of maximizing its effect.
Your Online Email Marketing Campaign is not Spam
By: Daryl Campbell | 22/09/2007 | Internet
Spam has affected everything from mobile phones to web search engines but nothing compares to the damage it has done to online email marketing. In fact spam has created such a stigma that many people view nearly any advertisement in their email box as spam.
For My Internet Marketing Email Solution, Which is Better, Text or HTML?
By: Sim Garner | 02/03/2008 | Email
There is absolutely no doubt that as an Internet marketing email solution HTML Newsletters are more attractive than plain text. Using HTML in your email marketing system provides a large variety ways for you to incorporate colors, fonts and images that you would love for your subscribers to see. They are also great for branding your Internet business.
Helpful Tips To Avoid Spam Messages
By: Rene Graeber | 14/09/2006 | Affiliate Programs
The email brought convenience to communication. Where else can you find sending a message faster than email? You can send a message almost in an instant to anywhere that has a receiving end. You do not need a pen and paper.
Getting Rid of Spam Emails
By: lazyurl | 25/06/2007 | Email
I hate pop-ups and spam emails. In fact, I actually blame my computer crashing on a piece of junk mail. Well, it was the last thing I looked at prior to the meltdown. Talk about likely suspects.
How To Avoid Problems With Email Spam Complaints
By: Deep Arora | 22/07/2008 | Email
We all know what it is like when we receive those annoying email marketing mass send outs landing as spam in our inboxes. There are plenty of people who do nothing more than simply delete these right away. So the question that remains is what can you do to limit the number of these spam emails?
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you also get a lot of spam trying to sell you ...
By: Stefania R. | 24-11-2007
do you also get a lot of spam trying to sell you Viagra? i'm really taken aback.. i reported it to epals, but nobody answered me... it's supposed to be a safe site!!!!
Q&A Powered by:
Internet 
