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***The Newbie Trail***

The Morels and Dilemma of Internet Marketing.
May Opt-ins be your targets!
by: Ed Bellamy.

You've probably heard it a hundred times before, but I'm
sorry, I've got to have my say on this subject.

Why is it that people complain so much about spamming?
Don't get me wrong, yes I know we shouldn't Spam - that
goes without saying.

And yet nobody complains (or at least there's no human
out cry on the same scale as email spamming), about
telephone spamming. Yes! you heard me right -
Tele Spamming.

How many telephone calls do you get every day?
Some days I get up to 10 calls, all saying to me -
"Don't worry sir, I'm not trying to sell you anything,
my company is just conducting a survey".

"We have consultants in your area who are looking to
create show houses". Or, "we are conducting a survey on
mortgages or power supply and cable suppliers" etc, etc.

"All we would like you to do is spare a few moments
answering a couple of simple questions. You will be
entered into a draw and if chosen, will win a holiday
in the Outer Tropics of Fictishoo Land, and will receive
500 chocolate coins towards your spending money".

1st question:

"In which earnings bracket can we categorise you? Don't
worry sir, you don't need to actually state how much
you earn, just knock the phone 3 times or cough if I
get real close".

OK!!! Maybe they don't use those exact words, but I'm
sure you get the picture.

And what about all the snail mail we get through the post
from all sorts of weird and wonderful companies, advising
us that we should apply for this low interest loan or that
credit card or these shampoos and tooth paste.

So what's the legislation operating that governs these
people from doing that? Yes! I know it's out there,
but who's pushing it?!!

When I get the phone calls I sometimes ask, from where
did they extract my name and telephone number and
what makes you think I'm interested in your product or
service? Two common answers come out: partner companies
or have you been on holiday recently?...

Ah! Bingo! Those dreaded plane questionnairs -
never again!

I must keep saying it, spamming is bad, opt-in is best.
In fact, the return on untargeted emailing is very low
compared with targeted emailing.

So, is there a better way to stop spammers than creating
laws that may harm marketers who openly email targeted
prospects, rather than those who flood the Internet with
advertisements and deliberately try to hide their email
addresses and make it impossible to unsubscribe.

Let me quote part of an article by 'Mel Smith', who has a
very simple but I'm sure effective way to deal with this:

The best way to handle spam is to just DELETE it and never
click on any links or try to reply to any of their offers.
If they don't make money with their message and you don't
try to remove yourself from their list, they will finally have
to quit sending out their messages.

Most of the time it is new people to the internet that get
involved with sending out these emails. They get spam that
sells lists so very cheap that the newbie thinks are legal,
not knowing that the lists are illegally extracted from ISP's
and other sources, and then sold for what the traffic can
bear.

These people that sell these lists should have proof where
they got their list, and if they are not opt-in they should
be fined and banned by the Gov. and their ISP. If you try
to reply, all you do is cause more lost time and more
bandwidth used.

And anyway, you can put the phone down, you can put
the letter in the trashcan, so why can't deleting the
unwanted email be sufficient.
(OK, I really do know one of the answers, "bandwidth").

I endorse wholeheartedly the policing of the Internet.
I believe anyone caught carrying out an immoral, illegal
act or transaction on the Internet should be severely
dealt with. But "morel content targeted bulk emailing"
per se, surely can't be perceived as an immoral or
criminal cyber act.

However, be warned, you could be getting yourself
into deep water if you stray from good netiquette.
May opt-ins be your targets... nanoo, nanoo :-)

==========================================
Copyright (c) 2003. Ed Bellamy is an Internet Marketer.
Visit his site and subscribe to his eZine/Newsletter. It's Fr*e!
Are you a dotBASiC beginner? Become a dotBASiC Pro at:
http://www.dotbasicworld.com/
You are most welcome to reprint this article. Please include
this Resource Box.
============================================

***Tipbit of The Week***

10 Ways To Keep Your Visitors Coming Back
by Ken Hill

1. Invite your visitors to add their articles, ebooks,
affiliate programs or resources and make your site into
a valuable directory.

2. Keep your site regularly updated with useful content
including your own articles.

3. Create a mailing list that tells your visitors when your
site has been updated with more resources, articles,
or ebooks.

4. Provide polls and surveys for your visitors to partake
in. Your visitors will come back to see the results.

5. Create a chat room where your visitors can discuss
different topics and network with each other.

6. Provide a guestbook where your visitors can ask and
answer questions.

7. Add a news or sports ticker to your site.

8. Add things to entertain your visitors such as quizzes
or games.

9. Provide your visitors with useful resources to use at
your site on a regular basis. This could be a search
engine submitter, a spell checker, a document formatter,
or something else that your visitors would find to be
valuable.

10. Publish a tutorial on your site. Link within your
tutorial to your products or to affiliate programs you've
joined that provide products related to what you talk
about.

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>>>>>>>> Featured Article <<<<<<<<
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Customers Buy When They Feel Good
by Bob Leduc

Prospective customers will not buy unless they feel good
about you, your company and your product or service.
Here are 4 simple ways you can stimulate their good
feelings and motivate them to buy.

1. Personalize Your Marketing

Prospects are more likely to buy from you when they feel
you are talking directly to them about their unique needs.
Look for ways to make your sales message more specific
to the needs of prospective customers.

For example, subdivide your targeted market into several
more narrowly defined niche markets. Then customize your
sales approach so it appeals to the specific interests of
prospects in each niche market.

Tip: You can narrow the appeal of your web site without
losing its effectiveness with your broader market. Just
create customized web pages for each niche market you
target. Then add a link to each of these specialized pages
on your home page.

2. Emphasize Good Feelings

Prospective customers usually base their buying decision
on how they feel about your product or service. Get them
excited about using it and they won't hesitate to buy.

One way to get them excited is to convert the benefits
provided by your product or service into a vivid word
picture. Put your prospect in the picture by dramatizing
what it feels like to be enjoying those benefits.

For example: If you sell financial products, describe what
it feels like to enjoy an affluent lifestyle without debt.

3. Confront Buyer Skepticism

A prospective customer will not buy if they have any
doubt that you will deliver exactly what you promise.
Here are 3 of the many ways you can confront and
overcome skepticism in your customer's mind.

* Use testimonials. They prove you've already delivered
satisfaction to other customers. To be effective, they
should describe a specific result your customer got by
using your product or service. For example, "In just
2 weeks I lost 9 pounds, felt years younger and still
continued to enjoy my favorite foods".

* Provide specifics. Convert general statements into
specific descriptions. Instead of "quick and easy",
explain exactly how quick and how easy. Also, reduce
round numbers like "15 pounds" into specific odd numbers
like "13.7 pounds". It sounds more authentic.

* Tone down your claims. A bold claim creates doubt in
your prospect's mind and jeopardizes the sale. Avoid
using any claim that sounds exaggerated - even if it is
true. Reduce any bold claim to a more believable
statement.

4. Eliminate The Need To Make Decisions

Try to structure your selling process so prospective
customers do not have to make decisions. Every
decision they have to make interrupts the buying
process. It diverts their attention away from the
action of completing the sale.

This can be especially hazardous when customers have
difficulty making a clear choice among several options.
Some will avoid the risk of making a wrong choice by
making NO choice ...and you lose a sale you already had.

That's why you should promote only one product or
service each time you advertise. You can use separate
promotions for each product or service. But limit your
prospect's decision to only "Yes, I will buy" or "No,
I will not buy". Don't risk losing them over a "Which One"
decision.

Tip: Sometimes you can successfully combine 2 or more
related products or services into a special combination
offer. But limit your customer's decision to "Yes" or "No".
Don't include an option to buy the items separately.

Prospective customers must feel good about you, your
company and your product or service before they will
buy. Start using these 4 simple tactics to stimulate their
good feelings and motivate them to buy.

------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find
new customers and increase sales. He just released a New
Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast
With Simple Postcards and several other publications to help
small businesses grow and prosper. For more information:
Email: BobLeduc@aol.com <mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com>
Subject: "Postcards" or call: 702-658-1707
After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
------------------------------------------------------------

DISCLAIMER: We disclaim any liability for the use of any
contributed information contained herein. We cannot
guarantee the serviceability or merchantability of any
products purchased or obtained by whatsoever means
through this web site or its associates. The information
relayed in this document is the opinion of the author.
And subscribers may feel they should seek independent
advice before entering into any agreement.