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How DO Spammers Get Your Email Address?
As much as I try to stem the seemingly endless flow of spam, the crap just keeps arriving my Inbox.
For example, this week I received "New affiliate programs from 2004-02-10 to 2004-02-14 :: Subscription from http://WeAreBlahBlahBlah.net". ...
How To Avoid Email Filters That Prevent Responsible Emails
Email is no doubt one of the most effective form of communication. Virtually anyone with Internet Access must have at least an email account. Email messages can be sent to anywhere in the world, to any email address, and cost almost...
How To Turn More Web Site Visitors Into Customers Who BUY
These days I receive a lot of email from web site owners who say "I get plenty of visitors to my site, but hardly anybody buys." Sometimes it is downright embarrassing. These folks are getting WAY more traffic to their site than I get to mine. I'm...
How To Use Viral Marketing To Grow Your Opt In Email List
If you have read my article called "What is Viral Marketing" you should already have a fairly good idea of it's potential. In this article I'm going to discuss how it can be used to grow your all essential, opt in mailing list. As you already...
Your Newsletters Are Pretty Lame If You Are Doing These 7 Things
I remember the good old days of the internet when it was a real treat to subscribe to someone’s newsletter and receive all their wonderful information through the convenience of your email.
It’s still like this today - for the publishers that...
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Schreiber, Johansson Build A 'Bridge' To A Classic
Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson are starring in a widely praised revival of Arthur Miller's <em>A View From The Bridge</em>. They tell reporter Jeff Lunden that as in all great tragedies, this one's clashes and catastrophes have something of the inevitable about them.
Stargazing At The Opera
The Hayden Planetarium in New York takes opera to the moon with a new production of <em>Il Mondo Della Luna.</em> Diane Paulus and Philip Bussmann talk about merging cosmos footage with music, how science can enhance the arts and the future of technology and theater.
Obama 'The Musical' Opens In Germany
A new theater production <em>Hope: The Obama Musical Story</em> opened this week in Frankfurt, Germany. It tells the story, in song and dance, of America's first black president. It is likely to be a big success in a country where President Obama is still immensely popular.
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Guideline to Hiring an Email Marketing Company
A common practice in today’s e-commerce environment is to use email marketing campaigns to launch advertising initiatives for products and services offered online. Since 2003, CAN-SPAM laws were enacted to protect consumers from abusive spammers and email marketing exploits have been harnessed. Once again, email campaigns are a viable marketing tool in the e-commerce world.
As with most things internet related, you need to be careful and use common sense when purchasing goods and services via the internet. Unlike traditional business transactions, you rarely meet face-to-face or even have a phone conversation with internet sellers. This makes it harder for buyers to gauge the validity of performance claims made at a seller’s website. So, if you are considering using email marketing to promote your product or service, practice the following four techniques for choosing a provider.
1. Make sure that the provider is CAN-SPAM compliant.
Even though you are using a third-party to distribute your email campaign, you are still legally liable if your provider violates the CAN-SPAM laws. Reputable providers will conspicuously advertise on their website if they are CAN-SPAM compliant. If they do not promote or state their compliance, you should steer clear of their services.
2. Ask for referrals.
Only deal with email marketers who are willing to give you referrals. I recommend at least 5 referrals with company names and contact information. Ideally, you will be able ask for and get a referral to a user who targeted the same or similar type of prospect you are targeting. Either way, require a diversity of companies and ask that the referrals are from organizations outside the email marketing industry.
Be sure to follow up and call the referrals. You can expect these referral sources to be some of their best customers who should able to provide you with accurate response results from their email marketing campaigns. You can also expect these results to be at the high end of your realistic results, so set your expectations accordingly. Also make sure to ask how helpful, flexible, and responsive the email marketing company is to special needs and complaints. This will help you to decide if they are a good fit for your company’s needs.
3. Find companies that offer email lists for your targeted market.
In some cases, emailing advertising to tens of millions of general prospects would make sense; however, many products and services are targeted at particular markets,
Facebook The Largest Internet IPO In History
Investors snapped up Facebook shares on a much hyped and tumultuous first day of trading. Mark Zuckerberg got it all started by ringing the opening bell for Nasdaq. Then a glitch delayed trading by half an hour. The IPO put Facebook's market value at over $100 billion — more than McDonald's or Amazon.
Whose Watching You?
Whose Watching You? By John Leigh Copyright © John Leigh 2003. All Rights Reserved We all love 'Freeware' right? After all it's human nature to want something 'free'. There are some very good freeware programs out there, Simple to download, ...
making it important that you use a provider that can supply accurately targeted email lists. Targeted lists cost a little more money but, as with most things, you get what you pay for. In my experience, I have gotten better return rates paying $500 for 100,000 highly targeted emails versus paying $199 for 3,000,000 emails sent to a broader audience.
There is no exact formula for calculating what to spend per email. Companies will spend 25 cents or more per email for highly targeted lists. Ultimately, you need to consider your total cost versus your expected sales conversion rate to determine if a particular targeted email campaign makes sense for your product or service. Start with a small, targeted list to test your email campaign for effectiveness. While the initial, smaller list will cost more per email address, it could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars if you find out your campaign message isn’t achieving the success rate you need to make your campaign profitable.
The most reputable email marketers spend a considerable amount of time and effort (and money) to ensure that their email lists contain high-quality prospects. Make sure to ask for expected “open” and “response” or “click-through” rates so you can calculate your projected return on investment. If they claim a response rate over 5% or give you a broad range like “100 to 1000 hits per 100,000”, be very skeptical. The only possible exception is for very specifically targeted campaigns.
4. Check the provider’s complaint history.
You can check to find if others have had any problems with a company by checking with the Better Business Bureau. Providers who are members of the BBB will advertise it on their website and are most often your best option. Even with BBB members, you still need to check their complaint history.
Above all, use good business sense. Avoid providers who make claims or offer prices that seem to good be true. Read their satisfaction guarantees in detail. A company may claim satisfaction guaranteed, however, it is your responsibility to ensure that this guarantee exists in writing and that it offers you a proper comfort level with their service. Following these practices will help you choose the best provider for your email marketing campaign.
About the Author
Marc Eskew is a widely recognized business development consultant specializing in start-up business plans that expect to use the internet as a primary marketing and sales portal. For more information, please visit www.fmxservices.com
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