Lesson #10 - The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists

How do you protect yourself and your money from ineffective email lists?

By using safe-and-sound distribution techniques that will ensure that your message is always welcomed into a recipients inbox, not his/her Trash Bin.

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The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists Part 2: What's Safe
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Safe Email Marketing

Safe email marketing in the direct marketing/Internet marketing world is called
OPT-IN EMAIL MARKETING.
This is an important term and one you need to commit to memory as a fundamental building block in successful marketing.

You've probably seen ads in trade magazines offering "Opt-in Email Lists." This is your best bet when conducting a direct email campaign.

Opt-in lists help you identify people that are "pre-sold" when it comes to receiving offers in the mail. By opting-in to a list, they let you know that they're eager to read about something new and beneficial.

Safe Email Marketing breaks down into these 2 categories:
Paid Safe Lists
Opt-In List Rentals

PAID SAFE LISTS
This is a twist on opt-in email marketing where you pay for the privilege of being able to send email to a list of other marketers who have done the same. A paid safe list can range in price from $2 and up.
The advantages: you don’t have to send the emails using your ISP and

you won’t have to worry about spam complaints and disclaimers.

OPT-IN LIST RENTAL
This type of list is similar to a standard "specialty" direct mail list. It’s targeted and aimed at people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Companies that offer list rentals usually collect millions of email addresses by advertising well-branded, popular products and services. Also they may offer no-cost newsletters and/or contests as a way to capture addresses.

Opt-in list rental companies ask interested people to fill out a form on their website. The forms gather as much info as possible, which allows the company to better categorize their email lists according to preferences by industry: gardening, bodybuilding, Internet marketing, etc.

Of course you’re going to pay more to rent this type of list, but you won’t find a better-targeted audience for your offer. These companies do the mailing for you, so you won't have access to the names.

Now, with that being said along with the other 9 lessons, you should have a full arsenal on how to promote your home based business and drive traffic to your site through email campaigns.


Next up…….Pay per Click!

Lesson #9 - The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists

Part I - What's Unsafe

What you're about to learn will save you time, money, and frustration.
So read carefully. The time you spend today will pay off for years to come and it will put you ahead of most marketers out there.
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The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists- What's Unsafe
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Unsafe Email Marketing
Unsafe email marketing is a method many people foolishly try, thinking it will yield big money fast. When you send an UNSOLICITED EMAIL to someone --when you invite yourself into someone's email box without invitation or permission -- that's called SPAM.

If the people receiving your messages have no interest in your offer, or they simply don't know you and don't want to know you, chances are they're tossing your message into the trash bin and you're tossing your marketing dollars down the toilet.

Sending spam -- and that's exactly how your unsolicited message will be reviewed, regardless of the value of your offer -- gives your business a black eye and damages your reputation...and the "kicker" is: it doesn't improve business!

EMAIL ON STEROIDS - BULKING UP IS BAD
Conducting a marketing campaign using BULK EMAIL will manifest the same results as spam. You may have seen ads that say, "1000000 email addresses for only $29.95."

Don't fall for that.

You're only going to get spam complaints and your ISP connection may be shut down! The reason for this is that most all of the bulk mail lists you see being advertised online are nothing but a list of email addresses that have been harvested from websites all over the Internet. These addresses are then sold again and again as "targeted" bulk email.

• WARNING: The only "target" here is your money! You MUST stay away from these bulk lists. They're a waste. Remember that a list that's advertised as "Targeted" is probably not accurate, reliable or safe. If you were marketing a revolutionary new gardening tool, would you send 10000 direct mail pieces to names randomly snatched from the phonebook? Or ...Would it be wiser to send your offer a mailing list of people who have recently purchased gardening tools and products through mail order?

BULLSEYE NOT BULL
No legitimate business person would ever send thousands of emails to random people culled from the Internet. Bulk mailing is unprofessional and makes you look bad. Bulk mailing can make your bottom line look bad, too.

You want to do more than hit your target, you want to hit a bullseye on that target. Bulk lists aren't the answer. When you do a direct email or direct mail campaign to a RESPECTABLE rental list, if the people on the list have never heard of you before (called a COLD LIST), statistically, you're likely to get a .005% response or less.

Does this mean that email campaigns are doomed before they start? No at all. As long as you use emails that are safe, you won't be sorry.

LESSON #8 - Triggers That May Cause Email

Even though you may have the perfect marketing plan, along with the perfect email sales letter, you still have to overcome the obstacle of the dreaded spam filters.
Spam filters are automatic and unrelenting, and what they do is irreversible. When your message is snatched up before it reaches your prospect's inbox, it's gone for good.

What an unfortunate fate for of all that beautiful sales copy! To keep from having your messages go down the drain, you need to know the words, phrases, and characters that will cause your email to be treated like it has The Plague -- isolated and left to die alone.

In today's lesson you're going to learn certain words and numeric characters that activate spam filters. If your email or subject line contains these "hot button" words, it's good-bye consumer and hello trash bin.
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Trigger Words & Characters That May CauseEmail Filters To Delete Your Email
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Foolish, short-sighted marketers have created a"crisis" in email in much the same way unscrupulous telemarketers gave THAT business a bad name.
By sending millions upon millions of unsolicited messages, "bulk marketers" have turned consumers into enemies and their email boxes into barricaded fortresses with fortified perimeters.
Utter the wrong word -- one of the "dreaded" TRIGGER WORDS that email filters know and hate -- and you're wasting your time. Your message will be deleted instantly and your carefully crafted offer -- with all those brilliant headlines and benefits, the terrific bonuses, the zero-risk guarantee, and the irresistible post-script...none of it will ever be read!

The U.S. Congress has even gotten in on the act of trying to cut down on the garbage truckloads of unsolicited email that's flying through cyberspace. In 2003, the CAN SPAM Act became official, with laws that supercede state spam laws and fairly clearly spell out what is and is not acceptable and required when it comes to sending email.

So how can you ensure that your emails make "safe harbor" in a cold, cruel, and unwelcoming cyber-world? Good question. The best way to help your message reach the eyes that you want to see them is to familiarize yourself with the TRIGGER WORDS AND CHARACTERS that activate filters and get your message a one-way ticketto the trash. Get to know them and then never use them.
Here's the trick: JUNK AND ADULT CONTENT FILTERS work by looking for specific KEYWORDS, key phrases, and key characters (like the dollar symbol, for example). Filters check the To and From addresses for these keywords. Then they go hunting for those words in the subject line and the body of the message, or in a combination of the two to see what's being used and over-used.

USE WITH CARE "Over-used" is an important part of the trigger word equation. A single use of the word "free" (as an example), probably won't "raise an eyebrow" on a common filter. But use the word a dozen times and it's "Goodbye Charlie." To serve you better, I have compiled an up-to-the-minute list of common "trigger" words and combinations that when used - or overused - activate spam filters. Use this information to wrap your messages in a protective "force field" that even the most powerful filters will pass right over.
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Triggers That May Cause Email Filters ToDelete Your Email
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First 8 characters of the From address are digits
Subject contains "advertisement" or "adv"
Body contains "money back"
Body contains "cards accepted"
Body contains "spam removal instructions"
Body contains "extra income"
Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "$"
Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "free"
Body contains ",000" AND Body contains "!!" AND Body contains "$"
Body contains "Dear friend"- Body contains "for free?"
Body contains "for free!"
Body contains "Guarantee" AND Body contains "satisfaction" OR "absolute"
Body contains "more info" AND Body contains "visit "AND Body contains "$"
Body contains "SPECIAL PROMOTION"
Body contains "one-time mail"
Subject contains "$$"
Body contains "$$$"
Body contains "order today"
Body contains "order now!"
Body contains "money-back guarantee"
Body contains "100% satisfied"
To address contains "friend@"
To address contains "public@"
To address contains "success@"
From address contains "sales@"
From address contains "success
From address contains "mail@"
From address contains "@public"
From address contains "@savvy"
From address contains "profits@"
From address contains "hello@"
Body address contains " mlm"
Body address contains "@mlm"
Body address contains "///////////////"
Body contains "check or money order"
Body contains "click here" or "click below"(try using "visit here" instead)

THINKING CAP TIME
It's going to take a little more creativity on your part to write emails that won't be deleted by filters. You'll need to replace trigger words with equally effective non-trigger words. But don't worry -- that's why the Thesaurus was born!

Today, you've learned how to protect your messages from being deleted by spam filters. Next time, we're going to talk about how to make sure your messages are hitting the right target audience to ensure a "bullseye" for selling.