My 2¢ Worth

uesday was our first full day of Spring here in the upper Midwest. Despite what the calendar says, it doesn't feel very Spring-like to me.

 suppose I shouldn't complain, our temperatures have been right around average for this time of year at a balmy 37 degrees. That's the high. Lows have been anywhere from 5 to 15.

here may be some relief in sight, as they're forecasting possible 40 degree highs for early next week.

akes me wonder just why I choose to live in this frozen tundra.

Feature Article

Email "Toll Booths" Coming Soon

by: Jim Edwards Jim Edwards' "I Gotta Tell You" Blog

The end of the free ride for email marketing looms on the horizon.

The days of building up or buying a big email list and freely using it to market and sell online are numbered like the dinosaurs heading for an ice age cold snap.

The technical and time costs of dealing with email traffic (primarily driven by rampant illegal spam) will soon break the back of both Internet service providers (ISPs) and online email services.

Major online players like AOL and MSN are currently wrestling with two solutions to the problem, but I personally think the almighty dollar will win out in the end.

The two solutions proposed to stem the tide of commercial spam once and for all revolve around either "white listing" email senders or charging a "toll" (typically .25-1 cent per email message) to allow email through.

Currently, ISPs and email providers can either maintain their own white lists, as in the case of AOL, or they can share one.

In the "old" days, companies could (and still do) subscribe to "black lists" (like SpamHaus.org) which exclude email senders based on reports of spamming and other factors.

Though the "black list" method rates the least accurate, it's currently the most popular simply because it requires the least effort by companies trying to block spam.

However, as spammers get smarter, black listing has proven an ineffective spam deterrent and ISPs must get proactive if they hope to survive.

However, an inherent weakness in the "white list" system makes charging for commercial email inevitable.

Since white listing requires effort on the part of the ISP or email provider (they must ultimately pay real people to manage the list), this means additional cost.

Unlike a relatively inexpensive subscription to a "black list service" which gets implemented automatically by software filters, white listing requires people to do work which carries a real world cost.

Bottom line: most ISPs and email services will not be able to create, maintain or implement a white list for very long without charging.

Yet, consumers tired of the avalanche of spam are demanding effective protection by those they pay for Internet and email access.

Thus, any service hoping to survive long-term must adopt a hybrid of both the white list and "toll booth" approaches.

This means not only evaluating the legitimacy of every commercial email sender's methods, but also charging them for the email they send through a particular service or network. It's inevitable.

Now, the cry that immediately goes up at this point sounds like this, "What about the "little guys" who can't afford to pay the fee or the family newsletters that aren't commercial? What about them?"

In a perfect world, their email would go through.

In the real world, their email will get lost even more frequently in the future than it does now in the existing tangle of email filters and inconsistent white and black listing.

The hope of survival and prosperity for the "little guy" lies squarely in the hands of blogging and RSS feeds.

Since blogging and rss feeds enable consumers to subscribe directly to information using an RSS "reader," they completely bypass the need to send email.

This eliminates the "middle man" of an email provider and puts control over what content gets received squarely in the hands of the consumer.

Though this technology has existed for several years now, awareness by mainstream consumers of what RSS feeds are and how to subscribe to them has been relatively slow.

The biggest contributor to the slow adoption in the mainstream has been the absence of a universally distributed RSS "reader" on every computer (similar to how Outlook or Outlook Express on every Windows PC helped make email universally understood).

But that should also change shortly as more RSS readers get included in Web browsers and email programs in the near future.

So while the "big guys" will push their messages to consumers by paying what will surely amount to an ever- increasing "toll" to get their emails through, the "little guys" will "pull" consumers to them with subscriptions to blogs and RSS feeds.

Whether it happens this year, next year, or the year after - make no mistake - the email "toll booth" is coming for commercial emailers and newsletter publishers.

So, if you depend on sending email for your company's profits, either get ready, plan, and budget for the new tolls, or start making arrangements to distribute your content via blogs and RSS feeds, because the market will shortly force you to make a choice.

**************

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and co-author of an amazing program that teaches you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here www.turnwordsintotraffic.com/

Auto copy from a form

You can have visitors automatically copy text from a form just by clicking a button. This is handy for affiliate codes, banners links and such.

Try it.

If this is highlighted, then it has been copied.

The first step is to add the following JavaScript code to the <head> of your document

<script language="JavaScript"> <!-- Begin function copyit(theField) { var tempval=eval("document."+theField) tempval.focus() tempval.select() therange=tempval.createTextRange() therange.execCommand("Copy") } // End --> </script>

Now copy the form below into the <body> of your document where you wish the form to appear. You may customize the fields in red for your button text, the size of your form and the text you wish to have copied.

<form name="it"> <div align="center"> <input onclick="copyit('it.select1')" type="button" value="Press to Copy the Text" name="copy"> <p> <textarea name="select1" rows="3" cols="25"> If this is highlighted, then it has been copied. </textarea> </div> </form>

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

Marketing Techniques That Cut Through Clutter

by: Michael Fleischner Marketing Scoop

With the proliferation of websites, blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, and other communication tools, consumers are bombarded with marketing messages, new products, unbeatable offers, and other opportunities on a daily basis. Marketing professionals are challenged with finding new ways to reach consumers despite ever increasing promotional noise and clutter.

So many of today’s marketing executives and product development professionals still believe that building a good product, is all you need - consumers will seek them out on their own. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In today’s marketplace, having a good product or service is simply the cost of entry. And unfortunately, because of clutter, may never get noticed even if a prospect is looking for it.

Marketing made simple.

Although one could argue that the traditional pillars of marketing (product, place, price, and promotion) are still required for the effective marketing and selling of products or services, they alone are not enough to cut through clutter. The only true weapon against clutter is relevancy. When a product or service is seen as being relevant to the specific needs of a prospect, then you've successfully overcome the clutter that prevents consumers from taking notice of your product or service.

How to make your marketing relevant.

To be relevant, you must first have a firm understanding of your audience. Ask yourself, "Who is my prospect? What does he or she need? Want? How does he or she like to be communicated to?" It’s only after you have a deep understanding of your audience that you can begin to shape promotional marketing messages that can consistently differentiate your offering and be seen as unique in a sea of noise and sameness.

Once you've gotten a grasp on your audience, you need to apply an ongoing approach of refining your marketing message, offer(s), and campaign timing. If you apply just a little discipline towards testing and measuring the effectiveness of these marketing components, you can quickly determine the best formula for reaching your prospective audience regardless of competing noise.

After you become relevant, deliver an experience.

Now let’s assume that you've been paying attention and you have accomplished the need to be relevant, what then? In order to take a prospect that final few inches, to where they try or purchase your product, you must be capable of describing or delivering the experience you can provide. In an increasingly commoditized world, prospects differentiate the products or services they chose by the experiences they can or do create.

Keep in mind that giving a consumer a positive experience goes beyond the obvious. Be sure to take a customer centric approach and work towards an incredibly positive user experience. This will set you apart from your competition and help you build your brand.

**************

Michael Fleischner is the founder and President of MarketingScoop.com, the Internet's largest source of FREE marketing tools, information, and Internet marketing help. Mr. Fleischner has appeared on major media including the TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and more. With more than 12 years of marketing experience, Michael has developed major brands as well as a variety of businesses in need of leading marketing programs. Visit www.marketingscoop.com/ for further details, FREE Marketing resources, or more FREE reprint articles.

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