The Game Is Changing, Are You?

It's happening. Again.

The Internet marketing 'game' is rapidly changing... again.

Email marketing is under attack like never before...

Pending legislation. Spam filters. Email overload.

Internet users' inboxes are full. They are loaded with junkand they are tired of the hassle. Opt-in rates are on thedecline -- and they will continue to fall.

So the cries are coming from many Internet marketingcircles...

"Email marketing is dying -- it's only a matter of time."

That's right. Many people see Email marketing dyingcompletely. Many marketers are already positioningthemselves to do business without it.

Why are they preparing to do without it? Because it's justgoing to be too much of a hassle to get people to opt-in.And if that's not enough, it's going to be such a hassleto get around spam laws, filters, and other nuisances.

Well...

Do you want to know what *I'm* planning on doing?

I'M PREPARING TO MAKE MORE MONEY THANEVER FROM EMAIL MARKETING.

That's right. I'm planning to make more money thanI already do with Email marketing.

(And I have some single lists that are generating 6-figuresa year in profit -- automatically. And that's just theiraffiliate income; it has nothing do with my product sales.)

As more and more marketers RUN AND HIDE fromEmail marketing, I am positioning myself to CASH INlike never before...

And I'm suggesting you do the same.

But first, where are many marketers running "TO"?

As an alternative to Email marketing, many of them arerunning to start BLOGS.

If you haven't heard of it yet, "blogging" is basically likekeeping an interactive diary on a web site. It's another wayto publish information on the Internet.

Blogs ARE a good marketing vehicle. In fact, there are manypeople that are profiting quite nicely by running a blog.

My friend, Jason Cain, is one of these people. Jason is a diehard"blogger" and he has a fantastic marketing-related blog at:

http://www.goldblogger.com

You should check it out. He writes a lot of great stuff and it'sfun to read the "comments" that some of the readers poston the blog's site.

Jason also has a great course that teaches people how toprofit from running a blog, and you can check that out at:

http://www.goldblogging.com

But let's get something straight! Blogs are *NOT* going toreplace Email marketing. It's not gonna happen.

I do think blogs ARE a great publishing tool for increasedexposure and can improve someone's marketing, butEmail marketing still has many major advantages.

Without going into a long tirade about why Email marketingis the ultimate marketing tool, I'll just put it like this...

If your marketing message can be delivered to the sameplace that a personal note from Grandma is, it's moreeffective than any alternative. I'll just leave it at that.

So again, blogs aren't going to replace Email marketing, butthey are a great *additional* marketing tool to use. Heck,I'll probably end up with a little blog for MarketingSecrets.comsometime soon. Anything that brings you more exposure(i.e. more prospects) is a "good" thing.

But back to Email marketing...

As it becomes harder and harder to use Email marketingit represents a fantastic opportunity for marketers willingto put in the extra WORK.

Gee, what a novel approach. The more WORK you do,the more money you make.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the people making the bigbucks online are some of the hardest working folks around.

That "work" usually translates into DIFFERENTIATION. Beingdifferent from other marketers and competitors to separatethemselves from all the "noise" online.

But most people aren't willing to do the extra work, and sothose that are end up making more money as a result.

Email marketing is going to be the exact same way.

Aside from having to comply with legislation (i.e. most likelyusing double opt-in methods and keeping detailed recordsof all subscriptions) and getting around spam filters, thebiggest challenge will be getting the opt-in.

Opt-in rates have been on a steady decline and it's no surpriseas to why. People are just overloaded with email. In orderto get someone to opt-in to YOUR list, it's going to comedown to the OFFER -- the backbone of selling.

The Opt-in itself has evolved a lot in the past 14 years thatI've been marketing online. You used to be able to put upa simple form that just said, "Get my newsletter" with noother description and people would opt-in by the truckload.

It's not that easy anymore -- and it's only going to get worse.

So how do you adapt? It's easy...

SELL THE OPT-IN.

Now I don't mean "sell" as in charge money for it. I mean"sell" in relation to salesmanship and marketing. You needto make your opt-in a compelling OFFER.

It's going to become so hard to get people to freely opt-into your list or autoresponder course that you will really haveto WORK to get them to do it.

But before I go any further, I will say this. THE WORK WILLREALLY PAY OFF. Mark my words. Marketers that AREable to successfully continue using Email marketing willCLEAN UP in the near future and beyond.

(Because most marketers will stop using Email marketingbecause of all the work involved.)

So What's The Best Way To Get An Opt-In?

It's simple. It's called a SALES LETTER.

And, YES, I'm being serious.

Now, this sales letter doesn't have to be very long, but allthe powerful elements of a typical sales letter need to be there:

1. A compelling benefit-driven headline.2. Some descriptive text.3. Intriguing bullets.4. Testimonials.5. An implied value.6. A "bribe" or gift for taking the call to action. (Opting in.)

Now all of this seems like a lot of work. And it is, initially.But once you create this page it will work by itself.

Again and again and again.

This page only has to be a couple scrollable pages in length.You can create a very short version of this that will be veryeffective.

So you will have a benefit-drive headline that is related toWHAT THE HECK THEY WILL GET OUT OF joining yourlist.

Then you will briefly describe why they should get itand also use several bullets to illustrate this.

You should use a few testimonials from other happy subscribers.

You need to give it an implied value. You can do this bysaying, "This course is a $97 value."

Then the most important part of all -- A BRIBE. Offer a freebonus gift if they opt-in right now.

You might be reading this thinking I'm off my rocker. I can assureyou, I'm not. In fact, I've been using this exact opt-in modelwith several of my projects (non-marketing related) for nearlytwo years now. This *IS* the future of the opt-in. Mark my words.

And here's some else...

You'll also find, like I have, that the more 'effort' it takes yourprospect to opt-in (such as reading a little sales letter) themore RESPONSIVE they will be to offers from you. It's a FACTand I have several years of data to back it up. But the reasonfor this is simple -- they are more qualified by the time theyjoin your list.

Here's How You Should Be Positioning Your Marketing...

Right now you are probably using pop-up or pop-over boxesto capture opt-ins -- whether on entry or on exit. You mightalso be using a little opt-in form mixed in with content onsome of your web pages. CONTINUE to use them to collectopt-ins. Keep using them until the opt-in rate drops so badlythat it isn't worth wasting that precious online real estateon your site.

But while you continue using these methods, and looking intothe future, you NEED to also setup a SEPARATE PAGE foreach opt-in list you're building using the "mini sales letter"model I have described above.

On all your opt-in boxes that you are currently using you canhave links such as "Click here to learn more..." or "Click hereto learn how to get a $197 gift today..." etc. etc. And thoselinks will go to this new sales letter opt-in page -- because thatpage WILL "close" (i.e.get them to opt-in) some people thatwould not have joined from the small opt-in form you are currentlyusing.

Here's another tip. Register a domain name specifically foryour list. When you send messages to your list, your "From"address, unsub URLs, and everything else mentioned in thoseemails will promote this domain name. If a subscriber everwonders what list they are on or why, they can always goto that domain name. And what will they find when they getthere? The mini sales letter that sold them the opt-in. Thiswill reinforce their decision to KEEP their subscription.

So don't run and hide from all the Email marketing challengesthat are appearing. EMBRACE THEM AND PROFIT.

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John Reese is an Internet Marketing pioneer that hasbeen actively marketing online since 1990. John hassold millions of dollars worth of products and servicesonline and his network of Web Sites have received over1.4 BILLION Web Site visitors since their inception. Youcan learn more about John, his home study courses,and subscribe to his free ezine by visiting:

http://www.marketingsecrets.com

(c)2003 MarketingSecrets.com. All rights reserved.