As you get started in internet marketing all of you might have come across gurus proclaiming their wisdom that the money is in the list . Like all newbies to marketing you start focusing on building your list . You try every software ,every promotion method in an attempt to build your list of subscribers.
Now that you have your list of faithful subscribers, you are told (by the same gurus) to provide valuable information to the list to build a relationship and trust with your subscribers. The theory is, the more your list of subscribers see you as an expert and their well wisher(!), they will just quickly make a beeline to the site you are promoting and with every mail you send, you will rake in pots of gold with the commissions on purchases made by your subscribers.
Now let us shift to what the experienced marketers themselves are doing. To be fair to them, they also do the same thing they advice you to do. But then, they also do it mindlessly.
I got a mail from a respected marketer recently, preselling one of the Late Corey Rudls products. The products of Corey, as we all know, are quite the things you need in your internet marketing, and the way Corey has mentored many a internet millionaire, one can be sure that his products still remain as top resources for anyone getting started in internet business.
But I digress the marketers mail goes on to tell me that last week Corey has given him special permission to offer the product at a special discount to the marketers subscribers, and in a recent update, Corey had said that 80 sales has happened in one week alone!
Cmon, even a newbie like me has mourned the sad demise of Corey Rudl, and felt a loss and void at having him with us no longer. The man, a legend in his lifetime and a mentor to many like me, would turn in his grave if he sees the way the marketers market nowadays. Mindlessly they promote stuff by copying and pasting some promotional mail, without even trying to see what the subscribers need. Email marketing taught to us by Corey has much more to it that just flooding your subscribers with special offers, promotions and the like. Whatever happened to preselling, need analysis, and closing the sale with leaving the buyer feeling he got what he wanted
Unlike other marketers who submit their articles to ezines for ultimately making readers to click to their site and buy something, I wrote this article just out of a frustration, and a pain that marketing is not done the right way. In fact, you may notice that my bio at the bottom shows a site called www.homeremediesandcures.com, and is not in any way related to internet marketing. (I make my money out of adsense ads and clickbank products on home remedies am doing quite well, thank you).
Swaminathan is a newbie marketer having several sites earning income through sale of products and adsense. His latest site is a simple site on home remedies and cures, at .
This diary entry is based on real life events.
Dear Email Marketing diary,
About six months ago, I went for my yearly visit to Dr. E. Newsletter. He poked and prodded and checked to make sureeverything was working as it should, then he sat down on his little stool, looked me straight in the eyes and asked:
How is the plumbing
I blushed, made note of the nearest exit, squirmed on my seat and said, I thought you were a marketing doctor. Since when do you ask questions about, er, uh, the pipes
Im talking about your emails dummy, he said. Any blockage,inconsistency, irregularity or even -- constipation
Still too shocked to comment on his analogy, I stuttered whileanswering. Uh, we send out e-newsletters. Probably about fifteen in the last year.
What prompts you to send your messages he asked.
When we have things to announce, like a few months ago one of our authors published a new book so we told all our email subscribers about it. Then a few days later we got her book signing tour dates and locations so we emailed again to let the subscribers know where they could meet her. She appeared on CNN, so of course we had to tell everyone about that, and then yesterday we announced her e-course, so we emailed everyone again.
Sounds like you have been active. What were you doing before the book came out Dr. E. Newsletter asked.
Oh, not much, everything was same old, same old, not really much to say. The author had not written anything new for a few years so we didnt really have much to communicate. I explained. We really dont want to bore people when we have nothing new to say. We had not sent any emails for about a year before the book came out, we had to retrain on the software, our skills were rusty. We had even forgotten the password to the admin panel! I playfully giggled.
Feeling pretty proud of myself I sat back, looked around theexamination room, crossed my arms and noticed my shirt wasdrenched. I was sweating like a pig! Was I sick Had I picked upsomething in this office
Dr. E. Newsletter noticed my physical condition and became verysilent. He got out his prescription pad and started to scribblesomething.
I panicked and started talking very quickly, We are not sick, you just said we are active. What are you giving me I dont want any marketing drugs.
Your emails over the past few months sounds like you were blocked and constipated for a year and then digested a book and got a case of Montezumas Email Revenge. You said you had sent about fifteen emails in the last year. How many of those were sent after the book came out Dr. E. Newsletter grunted.
14... I said, turning my head away in shame.
Take the prescription, your email marketing campaign sounds like you need it, Dr. E. Newsletter said as he shoved the pad towards me.
I left the doctors office that day a little shaken up. Dr. E.Newsletter had compared my email marketing campaign to a commonbowel condition. Was my campaign really in trouble Did it really stink
It was two days before I even remembered to look at theprescription Dr. E. Newsletter had given me. What kind of a drugwould I have to take to fix this
Turns out, his prescription was pretty easy to follow. We only had to take one dose and we were regular again.
From the desk of Dr. E Newsletter: Take one does of Pepto-Bismail and
1) Send your email marketing newsletters on a pre-determinedregular schedule.
2) Keep to the schedule, or stop sending e-newsletters.
Dr. E. Newsletter was right. We rarely got much of a response from our email newsletter campaigns. It probably had to do with our customers rarely hearing from us and then getting bombarded with messages when we wanted them to do something.
One customer even sent us a well written, but scolding, email that said she felt dirty when she would get our messages. It was clear we were only sending her email messages when we wanted something.
I booked a six-month check-up with Dr. E Newsletter. I go nextFriday. I am actually looking forward to the visit. Weve beensending e-newsletters once a week for about five months now. Ohsure, in the beginning we pulled our hair out a little, but after awhile we got in a groove and now the weekly email message gets sent every Wednesday at noon. Even in the summer when most of the group is on holidays we band together and get that e-newsletter out.
After my last visit to Dr. E Newsletter I vowed to never have myemail marketing campaign referred to as constipated, irregular and (I am even ashamed to think it..) Montezumas Email Revenge. How embarrassing!
Dr. E. Newsletter mentioned to me that Email Irregularity was the most common condition in email marketing. He said he prescribes gallons of Pepto-Bismail every week.
Readers: Email irregularity is a condition that is extremely dangerous. The customer in the story who said she felt dirty when she would get intermittent emails is a real person. Maybe your customers feel like she does.
This story was inspired by 4 different companies who suffer fromEmail Irregularity:
*A semi-famous author / coaching company who had not sent an email message in over two years, wrote a new book and then sent a flurry of messages hocking the book.
*A very famous author / business guru who had not sent an emailmessage for months, made a new website, changed some businessmethods and sent a number of emails in a very short period of time hocking the new business approach.
*A baby products company that sends emails on a very inconsistent basis, and then sent two in one week, both hocking new products.
*A movie distribution company that usually sends an email message about once a month, and then decided to sent three messages in two days.
How would you have felt on the receiving end of these EmailMarketing messages
Having a regular scheduled email marketing campaign encourages:
*Your customers to expect to hear from you. Who knows, they might even look forward to your messages if you are providing real value.
*Repeat customer sales. The more times a customer hears from you, the more likely they are to partake of your services again. (The key is for them to hear from you frequently on a regular basis).
*A perception that you are still in business, you are consistentand you are always ready, willing and able to provide more goodsand services.
Just in case you arent clear on the symptoms of EmailIrregularity here is a quick summary. If you experience thesesymptoms follow Dr. E. Newsletters prescription right away:
*No consistency in the frequency of your Email campaigns - Things are rather irregular.
*A flurry of email messages when something happens in your company Usual sending triggers are a new business approach, a new website, a new product or service - Montezumas Email Revenge.
*Long periods of time when you dont send any email messages -Total Blockage. Your customers will think you are really sick oreven are dead.
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Copyright Joan Pasay - 2005