Feature Article

Three Keys To Effective Email Marketing

by: Brian Rooney TrafficWave.net LLC

Email marketing is becoming a popular tool for many small and home based businesses around the world.

Email marketing allows businesses to eliminate expenses for things like paper, ink/toner, envelopes, postage, etc... and this savings make it a very attractive method of promotion.

Done properly, email marketing can be very effective. Unfortunately, too many businesses let the excitement of a low-cost marketing campaign overshadow their business sense.

Done improperly, your email marketing campaign becomes nothing more than a mess of sending the wrong message to the wrong market.

There are just a few key elements to launching and managing a successful email marketing campaign. They are:

1) The List (your database)
2) The offer.
3) The follow up.

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Start With The Right List

The temptation is to rush out and purchase a list from brokers or leads suppliers. The harsh reality is that most of these lists are simply harvested email addresses from search engines. The so-called "savings" of purchasing a list of email addresses can be effetively wiped out when email addresses begin bouncing and recipients begin complaining to your Email Service Provider for sending Unsolicited Commercial Email (or "spam").

The best (and only truly safe) way to build your database is to market effectively. This can be done both online and offline. Traditional methods such as collecting business cards in a drawing and offering free information in exchange for contact information still work very well.

Additionally Search Engine Optimization strategies can be very effective. The key is to get prospects to visit a "capture page" that is designed to entice them to give their contact information in exchange for something you are offering such as a free report or free download.

As your list begins to grow, if you have targeted your market effectively, you will find yourself with a considerable database of motivated and targeted prospects.

The Offer

Email marketing is about getting your offer out in front of your database. Yes, they have joined your list voluntarily but keep in mind that you are competing with hundreds of other email messages they may be receiving that day.

Your job is to make sure your email marketing message is opened and read by your prospects.

The key is to create a compelling subject line. Where possible, use the prospect's name in the subject line. Most recipients are much more likely to open an email addressed to them by name.

Once your message is opened, the copy must create a compelling interest so that the reader will want to learn more.

The key here is to think like your prospects. They all have the same question on their mind when they open their email:

What's In It For Me?"

Answer that question in your copy and your email marketing campaign could be a huge success. Focus on telling prospects about the benefits of your offer. What will it do for them? What can they expect if they order from you? How will it help them save time, increase revenues, lose weight, feel more attractive, etc...?

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The Followup

The next step is to follow up with your prospects. Studies have proven that prospects need to see your message over and over again before they make a decision to purchase. Using an AutoResponder to follow up with prospects can dramatically increase the response rate of any email marketing campaign.

The ability to follow up with prospects over time is critical to your success.

Your followup letters should essentially repeat your original message. Maybe each follow up message can stress a particular feature and continue to reinforce the benefits to your prospects.

The idea behind an effective email marketing campaign is to ...

... Tell them
... Tell them again
... Tell them what you just told them

Attention spans are short. Competition is high.

Keep your messages to the point and focus on benefits, benefits, benefits.

Make your prospects WANT to buy from you by consistently keeping your email marketing message in front of them.

The reward for a job well done will be increased revenues and customer loyalty.

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Brian Rooney is the Founder of TrafficWave.net LLC. TrafficWave provides powerful AutoResponder and AdTracking technology to the SOHO and small business markets. Brian Rooney can be reached at www.trafficwave.net/

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Second Article

Electronic Payment Processing

by: Jimmy Sturo i-PaymentProcessing.com

Electronic payments only came into existence about a decade ago when the Internet became widespread. It provided an option for different banks and financial institution to be linked together that allowed consumers like you to shop online with the use of credit cards. Now you can simply make purchases online by giving our credit card information, click the send button on the page and wait for the item to be shipped right in front of you doorstep.

But electronic payment processing is not as simple as that. For one, many people are hesitant to conduct electronic payments due to lack of security. Internet scams that jip you out of your hard-earned money also abound. Fortunately, with the advent of more advance software, steps are being taken to change this. New security measures are being taken by most reputable sites to ensure that your credit card information would not be splattered all over the Web. There are also secure online payment systems that you might want to check out.

So, how does electronic payment processing take place? First, you make the intent to make a purchase with your credit card online. The E-store generates an invoice for the purchase and selects the credit card that is going to be utilized. The store then submits a payment request to your credit card company.

The information sent is then verified. If authorization is given, a request is then sent to the credit card company for payment to the E-store’s bank. The credit card company sends an approval or denial of the payment request. If the transaction is approved, the E-store then generates a purchase order.

With the PO, the people from the site would then manually process your purchase. A payment would later be sent by the credit card company to the E-store’s bank to close all transactions.

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Payment Processing provides detailed information on Payment Processing, Internet Credit Card Payment Processing, Electronic Payment Processing, Credit Card Payment Processing and more. Payment Processing is affiliated with EFT Software

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