MarkTse.com Internet Marketing Blog

Featured Article By Talbert Williams

A lot of conventional wisdom has come down the pipe about email marketing, and it seems almost everyone is an email expert.

We’ve come to agree that email principles are based on a collection of sound concepts from the disciplines of direct marketing and customer relationship management. But where do you draw the line between traditional and new media?

It’s time to challenge the numerous preconceived ideas that many marketers have taken as gospel.

Myth No. 1: Email marketing is the electronic version of direct mail.

Truth: Don’t let yourself be swayed by your direct mail agency. Email requires expertise.

Traditional agencies are pressed to claim that email, due to its theoretical similarities to offline media, is simply an extension of that media. Suddenly, to the novice eye, email marketing is just the electronic version of direct mail.

Not so fast! The reality is that email marketing offers unique advantages that in traditional print media are not cost justifiable or are simply impossible. Most agencies are incapable of creating content cost effectively or quickly enough to meet your daily or weekly deadlines. They are often unable to handle the quick response due to their lack of systems and procedures.

The large number of test variables and data elements available to them are often overwhelming. Therefore, the practical implications in terms of strategic planning, technology, reporting, analysis, and tactical execution are significant and should be managed by discipline experts.

Myth No. 2: Email is a powerful messaging vehicle.

Truth: Don’t turn email into a loud radio. It’s about encouraging and facilitating a dialogue.

How could anyone resist? Here is a new form of push marketing. It is far less expensive than traditional media, 10 times faster to implement, and known to generate a higher response than its alternatives. No wonder marketers aggressively leverage it to push their marketing message as frequently as humanly possible.

But the real challenge is to allow “true” communication to take place. No relationship can exist without two-way communication. To avoid declining response rates, marketers must learn new skills and deploy new technologies in creating a dialogue. They want to hear back from their customers and intentionally open the gates to questions, comments, and suggestions.

It requires technology, staffing, protocols, and detailed processes to manage the incoming flow of information. In the end, engaging customers in a dialogue is far more rewarding than broadcasting, and it is necessary for building long-lasting brand value.

Myth No. 3: Email is a successful standalone communication tool.

Truth: Email will be only as effective as its integration with other media.

Most email campaigns today are run as isolated marketing initiatives. Companies hire email marketing firms to run their email strategies because traditional agencies are unable to provide the quality of service and necessary technology that email pure-plays provide. The problem is an unbroken sequence of communications that do not capitalize on the sum of the parts. The outcome is a confused and possibly dissatisfied customer, victim of your unorganized and untimely messages. Sure the creative may look the same, but production schedules rarely match, and the integration of media is an afterthought.

Companies end up with separate information “islands” that offer a limited view of the customer interaction. They have difficulties connecting data sources, integrating campaign results, and analyzing consumer behavior across a multilayer of campaigns. It’s about time marketers secure coherent customer profiles and deliver compelling cross-media messages.

Myth No. 4: Low-cost email allows you to communicate relentlessly and maintain customer mind share.

Truth: One strike and you’re out. Empower customers, and talk to them wisely.

We know all too well that our best customers can fire us in a single click. Email is so cost effective that marketers are tempted to pull out programs killed during last year’s budget cuts. To avoid burning out customers and scoring single- or double-digit unsubscribe rates, consider customer preferences, and carefully plan the frequency with which you communicate to various customer segments.

Savvy marketers empower customers by asking them what content they want to receive, when they want to receive it, how often, and in what format. Then they define business rules, implement them corporation-wide, and prioritize communications (electronic, print, or telephone) accordingly. It’s a simple rule: Prioritize or your customers will. And you may not end up on their priority list.

Myth No. 5: Use standard metrics like click-through to measure campaign performance.

Truth: CFOs don’t care about click-through rates (CTRs). Stockholders don’t care about short-term profits. Use conversion and customer-satisfaction data to make the right decisions.

Click-through, like Web traffic, has never been a good indicator of performance. Chances are that your short-term revenue forecast and long-term profitability are made up of more tangible, quantifiable data. A more accurate measure of the success of a campaign is sales or leads conversion. Some people just want customers who click. You (and probably your CFO) want customers who buy.

But stay away from short-term objectives that may force you to overcommunicate at the expense of long-term customer value. Create a customer satisfaction index and regularly track results via focus groups or online surveys. Ignoring customer satisfaction is always a deadly mistake in business. And believe me, your competitors know it. So will you be the diner? Or the dinner?
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Click Here to Discover the Secret Email Marketing Methods and Uncover How to Make an Absolute Killing With Email Marketing in 2006:
http://www.marktse.com/source-code-gold-mine/email-marketing-in-2006/
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Talbert Williams offers debt consolidation, debt reduction, credit card debt referrals and advice. For more information, articles, news, tools and valuable resources on debt solutions, visit this site: http://www.1debtfreedom.com
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Featured Article By Brent Whinfield

There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing “gurus,” yet which has proven to be popular with the “masses” year after year, after year.

Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let’s get real here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?

Wrongo!

The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages, screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.

Don’t believe me?

I dare you to type in the word “screensaver” into Google, and take a look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them. Now write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular those little programs are. They’ll tell you that they’re one of the most downloaded items on the ‘net.

Need further proof?

Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and observe the phenomenon. The great thing about download.com is that at a glance you can determine what date the saver was first listed, how many downloads it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users
thing of it.

Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.

Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the second most downloaded software application on the Internet.

Yahoo reports the word “screensaver” has appeared in their “Top 100 Searches” list every week since 1995. The term “screensaver” is searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to statistics provided by WordTracker.

So, we’ve established that there is a genuine craze for these desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?

I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being offered at all the hundreds of download sites…are free.

Didn’t your mother tell you that there is no such thing as “free” in this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct. Well then, how can people make money who are giving away screensavers for free?

In order to answer your question, I’ll unfortunately have to use a dirty word. It’s a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh…

Spyware.

That’s right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading their software.

You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into your computer system.

Once there, they call home to the “mother ship” with explicit details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other personal details.

My advice…stay away from free screensavers. Now don’t get me wrong - of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.

Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in some way. In the software industry this is known as “crippled-ware.”

After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you’ll be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the “Pro” version which has lots more features.

Sharware as you know enables you to try out the screensaver for a specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-buy marketing.

In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers to specific markets…niche marketing, if you will.

Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.

In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a need, and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then sell to it.

Let’s use one of my screensaver projects as an example.

I happen to be a vegan. This means that I’m one of those growing number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face…or who ever had a mother So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.

Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and connect with other vegans on the ‘net, but try to find info which feeds (sorry about the pun) my passion.

How do you think I’ll react if someone offered me a screensaver of vegetarian recipes? Especially if those recipes feature beautiful color photos that show step-by-step how to prepare those recipes, or better yet, teach me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?

Don’t you think I’ll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver products.

See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate income.

In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.

I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based on the specific demands of that specific market.

Here?s a cool little flash presentation of this article.
http://www.marktse.com/recommend/screensaver-business/video.html

God loves you.
Brent Whinfield

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The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course “Ten Eye-Candy Videos That Propel You Into Cash…Within 36 Hours!
http://www.marktse.com/recommend/screensaver-business/

The Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course consists of ten videos which points you among other things, to a certain place on the ‘net where you’ll find hundreds of niche groups waiting for your products.

The course also shows you how to create savers in a matter of minutes, even if you’re a techno-klutz like me.
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Featured Article By Corry Mansfield

This guy is real piece or work. I stumbled across his site a few months ago while searching for related topic. After checking his website (and I’m sure he has many) anyone including myself has to conclude that his site’s title is defiantly not misleading…He is a real jerk, although I couldn’t dismiss him completely since he did manage to pull some rabbit out of his hat and get his site on the top 3 Google search engine. Shortly after, I saw some discussion about him at a couple of financial forums I’m a member of and finally the last straw was when I discovered his website program is the #1 in the Money and Employment category of Clickbank.

Reluctantly I coughed up $49 big ones and bought his ebook. He may be a jerk but he knows his stuff.

His ebook targets people looking for ideas to start a home business or improving already existing business. A wide variety of topics are presented: Making money on eBay, Google Adsense, Affiliate programs, hosting strategies, building web pages, search engine optimization techniques, etc.

The reader can pick up on one or more of these tips or use the information as a recipe (how to) book. He writes in a way were you don’t get inundated with information or bogged down in details, just the bare bones of the matter. However, be warned the book is written with a holier than thou air about it and makes no apology for it. When the first version of his book came out describing his journey and the steps he took from unemployment to 6 figure income the already existing home businesses jumped for joy after applying some of his methods. I admit I was one of them. However, the ones just starting out where not as thrilled. Apparently the book jumped right into the meat and potatoes with an assumption that you have some prior knowledge of the inner workings of the Internet. Consequently Version II came out with additional pages just for beginners.

In my case I already have a set path for my part time Internet business so upon reading his ebook I skipped through the stuff I wasn’t interested in and got to “my” section…how to get more traffic through my site. Some methods I didn’t know and some I should have but never occurred to me (big dummy). In 3 weeks I increased my site’s traffic by 37%. Not enough to quit my day job but enough to say that I didn’t waste 49 bucks.

Now I don’t know if he’s a real jerk in real life or just using it as a niche in a competitive market. I doubt he talks the way he writes unless he walks around with 12 body guards. Anyway, rough around the edges he may be but he’s got financial wisdom. In a thank you gesture for the increased traffic through my website I decided to put his banner at the Bottom of my web page since it’s too offensive to go anywhere else (a guy giving the reader the finger)…real nice…Jerk.

If you like to learn more go to:
http://www.marktse.com/recommend/rich-jerk/
get top notch financial wisdom and possibly get offended all at the same time.

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Corry Mansfield is a full time Charter Pilot and part time Internet business entrepreneur who’s website www.homebiscams.com deals with the challenge of distinguishing between Legitimate Home Businesses and Scams.
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