Let’s Reverse It Again: Ask Me Tough Questions on Email Marketing
April 29th, 2008 | Author: Alice Seba
If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you know that Tuesday’s are reserved for a tough question that I ask you about running an online business.
Every once in a while, we turn it around into a Reverse Tough Question Tuesday, where you get to ask me the questions. It’s been a while since we’ve done that, so let’s do it today.
Ask me anything you want about email marketing. Whether it’s a question regarding autoresponders, building your list or improving your conversions.
But just a quick rule, so I can get you the best answers possible: Make your questions as specific as possible, so that I can give you detailed answers.
With that out of the way, let me have it! Post your questions below and I’ll be back very soon. IMPORTANT: Please stay on the subject of EMAIL MARKETING for today, okay? 
(Before You Go: Don’t forget to download your free Sell Confidently to Your List audio and transcripts)
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Given how difficult it is these days to get through spam filtering (and is likely to get more rather than less difficult), what do you think about suggestions that one of the best ways of getting your message through is to send it in the form of a very short email with a link to e.g. a PDF or just a webpage. Do you have a view on which way is more effective?
Thanks, Richard
Hi Alice,
I am just starting out with a health and wellness website. Health and wellness is my passion. Anyway, on to the question….what do you find to be the most effective to build a list (ie., blogging, paid advertising, article marketing, etc.)? I know it can be different for each niche and business, but I was just curious.
Thank you,
Michele
Hello Alice,
Thank you for your time.
Is it ok to name your blog and web-site the same as your e-book?
Thank you,
Jocelyn
Twitter: aliceseba
:
Richard: Whatever you do to increase your delivery, I think you need to balance it with the goal of effective response. For example, if you edit your email so much to get a lower spam score, you might end up reducing your response.
Some things you can do:
-> Keep your list clear of bouncing emails. Do a regular clear out of emails that aren’t getting through. If you are sending a lot of bouncing email to an ISP that can cause you to be blocked.
-> A double opt-in or confirmed opt-in procedure is recommended for better deliverability, but you may find your overall subscriber numbers go down as a result of this policy, so use your judgment.
-> Text messages are less likely to be flagged as spam than HTML. Avoid attachments.
-> Run your email through a spam check that will score your email for certain phrases. Avoiding phrases related to making money, pornography (ok?!) and other common spam topics. If you use the spam checker link there, it will give you an assessment on wording you might change in your email…but again, make sure you don’t dilute your whole message to get a few more emails through.
Personally, I focus on clearing my list of bounces, using text only and being somewhat careful with my language.
Michelle: Congrats on your new website!
The most effective is often paid advertising that sends traffic directly to an opt-in page (i.e. a page that is created solely to get the user to opt-in to the list). Make a free offer in the advertising and send them to the opt-in page to take the offer.
If you do article marketing, adding a link directly to your opt-in page in your byline can be effective as well. If you simply send them to the main page of a content site, blog, etc. the chances of them taking action and signing up is less likely than if you simply ask them to sign up.
I have also used affiliates to build lists through pay-per-lead programs and it can be effective. You just need to make sure that you’re receiving qualified leads in the process.
As far as blogging and other methods go, they can be effective as well. But if you’re relying on a sign up box in the top corner of your website, realize that your conversion are simply going to be lower. After all, they are focused on the content and aren’t as likely to see the sign up box. One way I get around this is by often inviting people to sign up for my targeted lists right in the body of a blog post.
For example, if I’m talking about copywriting in a blog entry, I’ll invite them to claim my free copywriting tips (which happens to be an opt-in autoresponder). That way, the invitation is right in the context of what they’re reading.
Twitter: aliceseba
:
Jocelyn: Sure, but think think long-term.
As far as making a static website for your book, I would absolutely do that. It is a place where you can send highly-targeted traffic that is interested in your book.
For the blog, I would probably focus more on you as an author, rather than one book. Building and maintaining a readership for a blog is challenge (but very doable) and if you tie your blog into one book, you run into a challenge when it comes to getting a blog readership on your next book.
Hope that makes sense.
I have written articles on skin care and I would like to submit them to websites. How do I get a list of places to submit the articles?
Mike Sinclair
www.epilution.com
Hi Alice, i am a non English speaker dreaming to score success in IM.
I have been struggling working on my niche site which use rewriten PLR article as content.
At first i have a high expectation by using PLR article. So i joined a PLR membership site.
The man who run the PLR site told his member that we just need to rewrite 30% of those articles before we post it on our site, in order to pass google’s dupe check.
Because it was my first time making niche site, i went beyond 50% rewrite to play save.
What surprised me was, when i check my website through copyscape, i saw 10 websites that had a certain percentage of the same content as my niche site had.
To make it short, i went rewrote the articles to make it significantly difference around 80%-90%.
Which later i realize, i did so many errors with the grammar, etc.
I was so exhausted rewriting those articles, it took me almost an hour just to rewrite one
I stopped expanding the site after i got 10 article posted. I don’t even bother to post any article in ezines site, which was recommended for niche site owner to promote their site.
My question is.
H-ow much rewrite do you recommend to be done?
-Do you really think we should always rewrite an article that able to pass the copyscape check?
-The PLR membership i joined claimed to have only 200 member they share their package with. I think i can trust them, since they are one of the big name in PLR business.
-What number do you think i have to look for before join these kind of PLR membership?
-I was interested in AllPrivateLabelContent.com and did ask a question when you have it promoted in Dealdotcom. Unfortunately nobody answer, than i canceled my intention to join.
The question was “how many people do you limit your membership to?”
Thanks for answer and thanks for your time Alice, hope i don’t scare you away with so many questions as a starter:)
Thanks,
Hendra
Hi Alice,
I just listened to your interview with Lynette. It was a lot of good information – thank you.
My question: I am becoming convinced to change from an ezine format to a shorter, more often format.
Do I need to let people on my list know about the change that is coming?
Thanks!
Alice,
I’m looking at abandonment… The email or click advertisement gets an individual to reach the sales page, and the copy on the sales page has convinced them to hit the “click to buy” button, and all they have to do is complete the sales page and pay, but they bail out.
I’m currently only accepting paypal, and I’d like to know how much of a barrier that is, or if there’s something else I should look at.
I have to ask for an address so that I can collect and properly apportion NY Sales tax, and think that may be another factor, but again, I just don’t know…
This is driving me batty – help!-)
Thanks,
steve
I have a new web site for my kid’s toys, gifts, and books. I’ve had very little traffic and sales although I’m using good key words and content. I’m going to try the blogging route, but wonder if that will diminish the “professional” vibe I’m after and make it appear more like a hobby.
I’m a VA helping a client wanting to get started with affiliate marketing and this is new to both of us. How do you start from scratch to find affiliates, sign up to become an affiliate, what’s the tracking process…? I hope this isn’t too vague. Thanks!
Linda
Firstly don’t worry at all about a Blog doing anything negative to your busines site. However, that depends, of course, on how you create the Blog and what you post on it.
I’d also be concerned exactly why your Hub site isn’t pulling traffic you want. IF you have an optimized site and it also contains content searchers want .. it WILL get traffic.
Do you know where you appear in the Search Engines for, say, your 3 top search terms / keywords? Do you know what those above you are doing that you are not? This sort of research will provide answers for you.
I mention this because, there’s no point pinning any hopes on a Blog with the same keywords IF there is a problem with those keywords, the niche or you are not using them and content in an efficient way.
It could just be that your site is TOO broad. You say you cover “toys, gifts and books” …. hmmmmh. I’d say you should have perhaps 9 Blogs, three for specific items (perhaps associated with movies, current fads etc) within each of those three. Pick some areas that ‘buzz’ … and piggy back on the traffic your Blogs attract from these items.
All for now ….
John Gordon
The Infotainer
Website Coming Soon
PS Is this OK Alice?
Michael: I highly recommend contacting relevant publishers directly, instead of just blindly submitting to directories (although directories can be part of your strategy). If they are a really big publisher, offer them first rights or even exclusive rights to publish your original article. You’ll get so much more out of that one article on a big site or in a big newsletter than submitting the same article all over the place.
Just to clarify, “first rights” means that you give them a certain period of time to be the first and only publication to use your article. After a certain amount of time, you are free to publish it elsewhere.
You can also find a list of article directories here.
I know I have more questions…I’ll be back shortly.
Hendra Thanks for posting your question. I will take your question and answer it next Wednesday, May 7 for “Wednesday Words from You” on the bog, okay? I am looking for questions about email marketing. PLR takes us a bit off topic.
I did answer Michael’s question on articles because I assume that he is wanting to distribute articles to build his list.
But you pose some good questions that I’ll talk about next week, okay?
Laurie: Sure you can and be sure to tell them how it will benefit your readers. You can say something like you know they’re busy and you want to make sure that you deliver good, quality information in a more easy-to-digest format. Instead of packing the emails with a ton of resources your readers may or may not read, you’re going to concentrate your efforts on providing going more in-depth on certain topics.
Something like that should work.
Steve: That’s an important question, but takes a tad off-topic. But I agree, the issue of cart abandonment is important and something I need to study a bit more myself. I would start by testing out small changes in the cart process to see what can be helpful. What you can do, will be dependent on the cart system you use and if you’re not tech savvy, you might enlist the help of a programmer for some customization.
I’ll look at this issue more and if I feel more confident in my knowledge, I’ll be sure to post about it at a later date.
But for now, let’s get directly back to email marketing.
Twitter: aliceseba
:
Hey, you guys are tricking me into answering other questions.
Today’s Tough Question Tuesday is on the topic of Email Marketing. I’ll be answering questions on that topic for today, okay?
Linda and Jen (and the others I haven’t answered), if you want to resubmit a question on email marketing, I’ll be happy to answer.
That way, this post will read as a good Q&A for others on the topic.
(Please note, I might delete off-topic comments thus far, just to keep everything flowing nicely. There is nothing personal if I decide to delete, I guess I just wasn’t too clear in my instructions)
But from here on in, let’s stay on topic, k?
I am trying to set up Aweber email lists for 3 friends who are splitting the cost but ALL the opt-in sign ups are going into people’s spam filters. I had my web diva set up a domain name email address that wasn’t a free provider, but that didn’t seem to work. The only people who have signed up are those who check their spam filters and pull out the opt-in message. I asked Aweber what to do and they suggested running it through their “spam checker” software. That’s ridiculous because I’m using their suggested templates for people to sign up.
I already have a couple of 80 to 140 person email lists I have sent email announcements to manually over the years, and I thought I could solve the problem by importing those lists and then signing up any new people manually with a note that “If you don’t get an email right away email me directly and I’ll sign you up that way). BUT Aweber says that if I import any addresses, the people will have to sign up AGAIN (and probably have to dig the email out of their spam filter!)
So far this is NOT sounding like an improvement on the regular email lists. Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks!
Lynne
Hi Alice–thanks for this opportunity! I have e-mail marketing questions!
1.) We exhibit our products at 2 diversity shows a year and collect e-mail addresses 2 ways: we have a clipboard with a sign-up sheet that says specifically they are signing up for our newsletter; and we also do a drawing for a free T-shirt where they complete a drawing form (we ask for complete address & e-mail) and we say on the form they are signing up for our ezine. Now my hubby had a student worker put all this info on a CD…is it OK to download this into our account at 1shoppingcart? (I just recently signed up through your link for the trial.)
2.) I haven’t had a lot of time to explore 1shoppingcart/autowebbusiness yet, but I was wondering–are Constant Contact and 1shoppingcart the same type of business (so competitors) or is the difference autowebbiz is a mailing list managment system and Constant contact is strictly for sending out e-mail marketing campaigns and ezines? Do we need both or just one? I like the nice templates for ezines that Contstant Contact has.
3.) I haven’t built much of a list yet on our website (the sign up box is there, but only a couple of people have signed up). Just recently, we added a squeeze page as the landing page with a offer to download a free report. So far, we have collected 64 names–evenly split between 32 who confirmed via the confirmation e-mail and 32 who didn’t. I still have the list of 32 e-mail addresses who didn’t confirm but were able to download the free report. Is it OK to send them one more e-mail to remind them to confirm or to offer them something else or do I have to delete them?
Thanks much!
Juls
Hi Alice,
Thank you so much for taking my questions. I greatl appreciate your time and knowledge.
Ok- let me get to my question. I have begun researching email marketing and really would like to add it to my site for my clients. I have been looking into using icontact, constant contact and aweber. I want something simple and easy to use. But I’m just not sure of what to look for with any of these companies. Who would you recommend and why?
Thank you Alice!
Natalie
Lynne: I have heard of this issue with Aweber (and probably other services), in particular with getting the confirmation emails to go Yahoo inboxes.
You’re right, Aweber and a large number of 3rd party services will not let you just import your subscribers, so unless you decide to switch to your own script on your own server, there are very limited choices. If you do go the script route, realize that you’re going to have to deal with trying to stay on whitelists, maintaining the script, etc. which can be tough to take on.
I know that doesn’t help much and I understand the issue you’re highlighting, but there is no miracle answer. You could test out other services to see if the issue is duplicated and if you find something better, possibly move there…but if you’ve already started moving your lists into Aweber, that might be a pain in the rear.
Juls: For your questions:
1. 1ShoppingCart doesn’t allow a straight import and haven’t for some time. What you can do is import the names and emails and then your subscribers will have to confirm their subscription. It is like a confirmed opt-in process where the initial request to sign up was on paper and then they confirm after you import them. If you do this, I would put a note about this on your sign up sheet and then import the subscribers daily, so they’ll know what the email is for and be ready for it.
2. Constant Contact is just an autoresponder as far as I know. You don’t need it if you’re using 1SC. You can easily have HTML templates (if you decide to do HTML) for 1SC as you can send HTML email very easily.
3. I’m afraid I don’t know. You should be careful with an spam laws plus the service you’re using (I assume 1SC) if they allow you to do that. If they allow it, go ahead and do it. I don’t use a confirmed opt-in at this time, so I’m not sure on the ins and outs of that.
Natalie: I haven’t used any of those, but the best feedback I hear comes from Aweber. They have really good features and boast a good delivery rate (but there are issues as you can see in the comments above). I use 1ShoppingCart (which is a full ecommerce system) and use some server-side scripts, so can’t specifically comment on the 3 you mention.
Thanks to everyone for getting me back on topic. I really appreciate it and keep the questions coming!
Lol, sorry Alice, it’s stupid that i didn’t notice what this all about
Thanks for your time, i’ll be waiting for next Wednesday then.
Thanks a lot!
No problem at all…I do think my wording wasn’t 100% clear since you weren’t the only one.
Hello Alice,
This may be closed since its my first opportunity to respond. But if not I’m trying to learn how to tweak this auto-responder. I learned that I only get one shot at asking people to opt-in and want to learn what I’m missing before I waste this opt-in campaign altogether. What can I do to improve upon this before my launch next week? Any thoughts?
Hello ________,
I have just entered into a collaboration with 2 children’s gymnastics facilities to support parents in reversing the U.S. epidemic of preschool expulsion and negative labeling in preschool. You’ll find a link below. I am writing you because we’ve interacted in the past through personal acquaintance, media requests or another professional association, and now I’m inviting you to opt-in and join me and my colleagues in putting an end to this dangerous epidemic of preschool expulsion, before we raise another generation of Columbine killers. Take a look at the link where I talk about “My Story†and view footage on the controversy on PBS. As my way of saying thanks I want to give you my video for your review along with the first audio in my 7-week series as a gift for supporting me. Just click on the link below and these gifts are yours. Thanks so much for helping me speak for our most vulnerable, and for telling your friends and colleagues to do the same.
There’s a fearless parent in all of us.
Seen yours lately?
Adelaide Zindler, FP (Fearless Parent)
Twitter: aliceseba
:
Hi Adelaide,
Good luck on your campaign.
Just glancing at the email, I’d say it needs some reformatting. Break things up into small paragraphs, emphasize important words by capitalizing (if you’re using text only and capitalize sparingly) and maybe adding subheadings. Overall, make it EASY to read. It is an overwhelming jumble of sentences right now, IMHO.
The email seems very focused on you and what you are working on. I’d turn it around and start by getting their attention on what’s in it for the recipient.
If these are people you know only a little, I don’t know if they’ll respond well to you asking for a FAVOR…but if you really illustrate the benefits to them instead, you’ll probably get a better response.