8 Innovative Ways Personalization can Explode Your Profits
© 2000, by Harmony Major
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. But don't take my word for it, read a few unsolicited
subscribe testimonials from my own personalized ezine at
http://homebasedheaven.com/athome/
I've used Mail Master Pro, and Aureate Group Mail before my list
grew to 2,000 readers. Now, I use Sparklist <http://SparkList.com>
to completely automate mail bounces, subscriptions, etc. (Get
Aureate Group Mail at http://groupmail.cjb.net)
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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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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