8 Innovative Ways
Personalization Can Explode Your Profits
by Harmony Major
A Unique, 5-Minute Sales Tactic
for Instantly Increasing Your Marketing Results Up to 400%!
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 they're
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 subscriber's 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 you're talking directly to them, and will look forward
to your ezine.
I've used Mail Master Pro, and Aureate Group Mail before my list
grew to 2,000 readers. Now, I use my 1 Shopping Cart system
http://ExpertOnEbiz.com/get/mc.html to automate mail
bounces, (un)subscriptions, etc. It also can personalize your
mailings (and it offers a lot more than list hosting.)
3. Personalize your autoresponder follow up messages when
possible to ensure that your message gets noticed. Think it
doesn't 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? That's the Webmaster's 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, you'll catch (and hopefully hold) their attention
much longer, and they'll 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. Don't call someone by a nickname unless they first
give you permission to do so. If my name is Suzanne, I probably
don't want someone I just met calling me "Sue." If my name is
William, I don't necessarily want to be called "Billy-Bob"
unless I've 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 reader's
personal info throughout your message, if it's too long, it
simply won't get read. If it's an e-mail, try to stay under 3 -
4k. If it's 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
ISN'T 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! You're defeating the purpose of this strong,
money-making marketing tool when you address me, (Ms. Major), as
"Mr. Majors." Not only that, it's downright tacky. It shows
people that you couldn't care less about them OR their name, as
long as you're making your money!
So, sit up and pay attention. It only takes a few seconds to
check to make sure you're getting it right. If you don't have
that long, you should think about finding another profession.
One that DOESN'T require any person-to-person interaction.
BONUS: When using personalization, DON'T 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.
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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. Don't just settle for "getting listed." Use her
instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a
TOP Yahoo listing! Visit:
http://YahooSecrets.com
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