8 Innovative Ways Personalization can Explode Your Profits
| Category: Marketing | Date: 2003-10-20 |
With so many people beginning to realize the worth of this ever priceless marketing tool, personalization is slowly but surely becoming one of the most effective marketing methods on the Internet today. Are YOU using personalization yet? If not, your profits are sure to start suffering soon. Here are 8 priceless ways to easily double your sales and profits through the use of personalization:
1. Personalize the end of your ezine with your subscribers e-mail addresses. If you list the address theyre subscribed as near the remove instructions, it will minimize the number of heated e-mails you receive from frustrated subscribers trying to remove themselves from your list.
Mail Master Pro automatically inserts your subscribers e-mail address and custom unsubscribe link at the bottom of your mailing at the click of a button. Get this new CGI script at http://www.cgitoolbox.com/cgi/mmp/
2. Using the NAMES of your subscribers will make your ezine more appealing, and more likely to be read FIRST. Readers feel like youre talking directly to them, and will look forward to your ezine. But dont take my word for it, read a few unsolicited subscribe testimonials from my own personalized ezine at http://homebasedheaven.com/athome/
Ive used Mail Master Pro, and Aureate Group Mail before my list grew to 2,000 readers. Now, I use Sparklist <http://SparkList.com> to completely automate mail bounces, subscriptions, etc. (Get Aureate Group Mail at http://groupmail.cjb.net)
3. Personalize your autoresponder follow up messages when possible to ensure that your message gets noticed. Think it doesnt matter? Picture two separate e-mail messages. One has "Dear Internet marketer" as the opening line. The other has "Dear John." Which of those do you think will get TRASHED? And which do you think will be read?
You guessed right! One autoresponder service that supports personalization is GetResponse at http://getresponse.com
4. Use Javascript to enhance your e-commerce website with personalization capabilities. Have you seen the pop-up name boxes used on some websites? Thats the Webmasters clever plan to hold your attention longer -- by peppering your name throughout their website sales message.
Check out The Javascript Source for other ideas and free scripts, at http://javascript.internet.com Just remember to hide the script from older browsers to ensure visitor retention with browser compatibility.
5. Personalize e-mail messages to Webmasters, potential link partners, prospects, and anyone else you communicate with by e-mail. By using their name in the greeting AND throughout the message, youll catch (and hopefully hold) their attention much longer, and theyll know that your message was truly intended for THEM. It also shows that you pay attention to what they have to say, and that you recognize them as an important person.
6. Dont call someone by a nickname unless they first give you permission to do so. If my name is Suzanne, I probably dont want someone I just met calling me "Sue." If my name is William, I dont necessarily want to be called "Billy-Bob" unless Ive already accepted you as my friend. All in all, stay safe and call people by their full names unless they ask otherwise.
7. No matter how many times you sprinkle your readers personal info throughout your message, if its too long, it simply wont get read. If its an e-mail, try to stay under 3 - 4k. If its an ezine, 20 - 25K is a good stopping point.
I cringe when I see other entrepreneurs consistently writing e-mails and replies that are 10k and over! An occasional 5-6k message might be okay if you have a lot of information to get across on the same topic, but a continuous "ezine length" e-mail ISNT very likely to get read!
8. When using names, email addresses, street addresses, or whatever kind of personalization you decide on ... be sure to SPELL IT RIGHT! Youre defeating the purpose of this strong, money-making marketing tool when you address me, (Ms. Major), as "Mr. Majors." Not only that, its downright tacky. It shows people that you couldnt care less about them OR their name, as long as youre making your money!
So, sit up and pay attention. It only takes a few seconds to check to make sure youre getting it right. If you dont have that long, you should think about finding another profession. One that DOESNT require any person-to-person interaction.
BONUS: When using personalization, DONT OVERDO IT. If a reader finds their name throughout your ezine in every other sentence, it becomes unnatural -- and annoying. Use personalization sparingly, and just enough to be effective. Overuse is worse than NOT using it at all.
In closing ...
Remember -- successful entrepreneurs are very busy people with itchy click fingers! Follow the eight profit-generating personalization tips above, to avoid having your e-mail fall victim to the "skim/delete" bug.
About the Author
Harmony Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting a #1 listing on Yahoo. Dont just settle for "getting listed." Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing!
Harmony Major
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
URL
http://YahooSecrets.com
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
http://YahooSecrets.com
1. Personalize the end of your ezine with your subscribers e-mail addresses. If you list the address theyre subscribed as near the remove instructions, it will minimize the number of heated e-mails you receive from frustrated subscribers trying to remove themselves from your list.
Mail Master Pro automatically inserts your subscribers e-mail address and custom unsubscribe link at the bottom of your mailing at the click of a button. Get this new CGI script at http://www.cgitoolbox.com/cgi/mmp/
2. Using the NAMES of your subscribers will make your ezine more appealing, and more likely to be read FIRST. Readers feel like youre talking directly to them, and will look forward to your ezine. But dont take my word for it, read a few unsolicited subscribe testimonials from my own personalized ezine at http://homebasedheaven.com/athome/
Ive used Mail Master Pro, and Aureate Group Mail before my list grew to 2,000 readers. Now, I use Sparklist <http://SparkList.com> to completely automate mail bounces, subscriptions, etc. (Get Aureate Group Mail at http://groupmail.cjb.net)
3. Personalize your autoresponder follow up messages when possible to ensure that your message gets noticed. Think it doesnt matter? Picture two separate e-mail messages. One has "Dear Internet marketer" as the opening line. The other has "Dear John." Which of those do you think will get TRASHED? And which do you think will be read?
You guessed right! One autoresponder service that supports personalization is GetResponse at http://getresponse.com
4. Use Javascript to enhance your e-commerce website with personalization capabilities. Have you seen the pop-up name boxes used on some websites? Thats the Webmasters clever plan to hold your attention longer -- by peppering your name throughout their website sales message.
Check out The Javascript Source for other ideas and free scripts, at http://javascript.internet.com Just remember to hide the script from older browsers to ensure visitor retention with browser compatibility.
5. Personalize e-mail messages to Webmasters, potential link partners, prospects, and anyone else you communicate with by e-mail. By using their name in the greeting AND throughout the message, youll catch (and hopefully hold) their attention much longer, and theyll know that your message was truly intended for THEM. It also shows that you pay attention to what they have to say, and that you recognize them as an important person.
6. Dont call someone by a nickname unless they first give you permission to do so. If my name is Suzanne, I probably dont want someone I just met calling me "Sue." If my name is William, I dont necessarily want to be called "Billy-Bob" unless Ive already accepted you as my friend. All in all, stay safe and call people by their full names unless they ask otherwise.
7. No matter how many times you sprinkle your readers personal info throughout your message, if its too long, it simply wont get read. If its an e-mail, try to stay under 3 - 4k. If its an ezine, 20 - 25K is a good stopping point.
I cringe when I see other entrepreneurs consistently writing e-mails and replies that are 10k and over! An occasional 5-6k message might be okay if you have a lot of information to get across on the same topic, but a continuous "ezine length" e-mail ISNT very likely to get read!
8. When using names, email addresses, street addresses, or whatever kind of personalization you decide on ... be sure to SPELL IT RIGHT! Youre defeating the purpose of this strong, money-making marketing tool when you address me, (Ms. Major), as "Mr. Majors." Not only that, its downright tacky. It shows people that you couldnt care less about them OR their name, as long as youre making your money!
So, sit up and pay attention. It only takes a few seconds to check to make sure youre getting it right. If you dont have that long, you should think about finding another profession. One that DOESNT require any person-to-person interaction.
BONUS: When using personalization, DONT OVERDO IT. If a reader finds their name throughout your ezine in every other sentence, it becomes unnatural -- and annoying. Use personalization sparingly, and just enough to be effective. Overuse is worse than NOT using it at all.
In closing ...
Remember -- successful entrepreneurs are very busy people with itchy click fingers! Follow the eight profit-generating personalization tips above, to avoid having your e-mail fall victim to the "skim/delete" bug.
About the Author
Harmony Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting a #1 listing on Yahoo. Dont just settle for "getting listed." Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing!
Harmony Major
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
URL
http://YahooSecrets.com
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
http://YahooSecrets.com
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