Donna's ebiz blog
Donna's ebiz blog

Food For Thought

Posted in Email tips

Food for Thought
by Dr. Kevin Nunley

Keep Your Offer Simple

When things get complicated, customers bolt.

Have you ever been to a website that makes an offer, then compounds it with stipulations, overwhelming you with complicated wording and conditions? If so, you probably didn't stay there long.

On the web, people are always a little more wary of the products and offers. They can't see or touch them, so they have to rely on the information you provide to judge whether or not they want what you have to offer.

But things like complicated wording, too many instructions, too many steps, etc. will all make potential customers suspicious. They'll wonder what you're trying to hide in all those unnecessary words and steps.

Or, those potential customers will simply tire of sorting through all the instructions and stipulations associated with your offer. After all, they can always find another site that won't require them to decipher a code to get what they want.

Use simple wording, short sentences, and brief paragraphs to keep the information you need to convey concise, easy-to-read, and simple to understand. And if you offer a bonus, don't require potential customers to jump through hoops to get it.

-----

"See Kevin's 10,000 free marketing tips at http://drnunley.com"

1:00 AM - Thursday, September 27, 2007


How To Avoid Having Filters Eat Your Emails

Posted in Email tips

Here is a great article by one of my favorite internet marketers, Willie Crawford. It is about email marketing and how to increase the chance that your email will reach its destination.

 

How To Avoid Having Filters Eat Your Emails
Copyright 2004 by Willie Crawford

You've probably read 1000 times that "the money's in the list."
If you're an Internet or email marketer, that's only partly true.
The truth is that the money is in properly written emails,
that get delivered to your list members. That last part is
what most online marketers are missing!

An article in the June 2004 issue of Time Magazine reported
that 40% to 70% of email sent to the four major ISPs is
deleted at the server. Those ISPs are MSN (including Hotmail),
Yahoo, Earthlink and AOL. That simply means that there's a
very good chance that your legitimate email is not getting
through to those subscribers using those ISPs.

The bottom line for you and I as email marketers is that
building huge opt-in lists, seeking JVs, or publishing an ezine
is largely futile, unless you correct the above problem first.

So how do you correct the problem? Many people who send
emails know that many ISPs score emails as they arrive at the
server. Email that scores above a certain score is identified as
probable spam, and is deleted. So, many of us go through
our email messages before sending them out and delete or
modify trigger words.

I'll let you in on a big secret. Most of the words that you see
cleverly disguised (often with extra spaces or characters) aren't
what causes most of the problem. It's combinations of words
that causes the problem. It's those combinations of words and
a few other major mistakes that gets your email killed.

To find out what those major mistakes are, you can get a free
report called "The 21 Deadliest Spam Filter Violations" here:
http://myQuickPayPro.com/qpp.cgi?adminid=3054&id=91007
The typical ezine that I see makes over half of these mistakes
every issue. Does yours?

There are two major things that you can do to avoid having
your emails "eaten" by the filters.

The first one is to have your list members "white list" you
or add you to their address book when they first subscribe.
Right on your confirmation page, instruct them to add your from
email address to their address book or to their approved list.
How they do this is different for each ISP. Generally adding
the from name and/or email address to their address book or
approved list will do the trick. Also tell them to periodically
look through their junk email folder to confirm that your email
is getting through. If they want what you're sending them,
they will do this. Often moving an email into the inbox will
cause the system to stop filtering your email too.

You can also tell new list members to do this in the confirmation
email, but that's a little late, since they may never get that
email.

The second thing you can do is run every email that you plan
on broadcasting (or even some personal emails) through a
system that scores the email. Email above some magic score
(around 5 at many ISPs) is guaranteed to be deleted.

There are a lot of tools for scoring your emails. The one that I
prefer is called E-filtrate. You can check it out at:
http://myQuickPayPro.com/qpp.cgi?adminid=3054&id=91007
which is where you can also get the report mentioned above.

What I like about E-filtrate is that it's a browser-based system
that allows you to score an email, suggests 3-7 substitutes for
each trigger word (that you can make right within the program),
and even allows you to do test sends to confirm that your email
will get through.

The system also allows you to check to see if your domain/IP
is blacklisted. If your domain is blacklisted, then all email
from that domain is blocked by certain ISPs. So you could
have a "perfect" email, and it could still not get through. The
solution there is to get the domain de-listed or to send from a
different domain.

Once you have a reliable system in place for "quality
controlling" your email communications, *then* you're ready
to put your list building on steroids. Then you're ready to set
up all kinds of joint ventures, and benefit from that huge,
responsive list.

Implement the simple steps outlined above today and you'll be
pleasantly surprised. Something this simple can multiply your
profits many times over. It can actually be the one thing that
turns a struggling business into a major success ;-)



Willie Crawford is a corporate president, published author,
seminar speaker and host, tele-seminar speaker and host,
retired military officer, karate black belt, network marketing
trainer, and lifetime student of marketing. He shows people
how to actually generate substantial income on-line using
very simple SYSTEMS. An example of such a system can
be studied and duplicated at: http://ProfitMagician.com

____________________________________________________________________________

http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ

 

10:37 PM - Wednesday, March 7, 2007


The New Rules of Email Marketing

Posted in Email tips
I enjoyed the tips in this article on email marketing. I wish more marketers would listen to this advice. My email inbox is full of annoying email subjects sent by spammers. However, some legitimate marketers don't know how to effectively write headlines in the subject area either. I hope this article gives you some ideas on email marketing effectively.


Please feel free to pass this issue on in its entirety to your
friends and business associates. Better yet, tell them to
subscribe - just send them to the home page at:
http://www.directmarketinginsider.com

        The New Rules of Email Marketing

                       by Bob Serling

According to the results of a study recently released by
the Direct Marketing Association, email substantially
outperformed all other marketing methods, including
other web marketing methods, catalogs, and traditional
direct mail. In some cases, it outperformed other
marketing methods by margins of 4 to 1.

But email marketing has changed substantially, even in
just the past year. So let's take a look at the New Rules
of Email Marketing - rules you can apply quickly and
easily to make sure you're capitalizing on every email
marketing opportunity.

====================================
New Rule #1: Your subject line is not a headline
====================================

One of the fastest ways to make sure your email does
NOT get read is to use a subject line written like a
conventional headline. Despite the fact that email
marketing has been going strong for well over a decade,
many people still bristle at the mere suggestion that
they're being marketed to in an email. And nothing
gets your email deleted faster than a hypey, screaming
headline.

Two excellent ways to write subject lines that get
your email read are to create curiosity or ask a question.
Both of these methods work on the same level - people
can't resist finding out about something that piques
their curiosity, or creates an "open circuit" like a
question that begs for an answer.

Both of these techniques work wonders for getting
a much higher open rate on your email.

====================================
New Rule #2: Tone counts
====================================

Building on the previous point, the vast majority of
people do not like to feel like they're being sold in
an email. To counter this, go easy on the hype, big
claims, and sales language in your email copy.

Instead, use an authoritative tone or a "friendly
expert" tone. And if you have a longer sales
proposition to make, use an email written in these
tones to direct people to a web page that has your
longer sales piece, or to a squeeze page to sign up
to get more information. That "more information"
is your sales piece. When presented on a web page
or in print, that same sales message is welcomed,
as opposed to getting swiftly deleted if its sent in
an email.

====================================
New Rule #3: Topic and length are the two most
                      important factors
====================================

Your topic and the length of your message have more
to do with your email getting read than any other factors.
And the two go hand in hand.

For example, with all the problems people are having
with the way Google is changing pay-per-click rules and
fees, a longer email on solving this problem would get a
high open rate and high readership.

But other topics, even if they are as valuable to your
readers in the long run, won't command nearly as much
attention if they don't have the same emotional charge.
For topics that aren't extremely hot, you're much
better off going with a shorter, curiosity stimulating
email that takes people to a web page with your full
sales piece or a squeeze page where they can sign
up to get all the details.

====================================
New Rule #4: Sp*am filters are getting more lenient
====================================

I've actually saved the best news for last. Believe it
or not, the sp*am filters are actually getting more
lenient and easy to work with. I'm just guessing, but
I think that massive complaints from large corporate
emailers, ISPs, and even people who were losing
personal emails from their friends and family, have
forced a redefinition of what will and will not get
your email flagged as sp*am.

It used to be that any reference to money, profits,
sales, or anything else even remotely related to
offering something for sale would immediately get
shot down. Not any more.

The best way to know for certain whether or not
your email will get delivered is to use Spam Assassin
or another similar filter check before you send your
email. You can get the details on Spam Assasin, at:

http://spamassassin.apache.org

These filter checkers review your email and tell you
whether or not it's likely to be delivered. For example,
Spam Assassin recommends that an email message
should have a rating between 0 and 5 to ensure
deliverability. I just ran this email through their
checker and it was rated at 0. That's the kind of
rating I love!

With free sp*am checkers like this available, it makes
no sense to send email without first making sure your
message will actually get delivered.

====================================
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ
_______________________________________________________________________

10:38 PM - Tuesday, November 28, 2006


How To Build Your Opt In List The Easy Way

Posted in Email tips

Enjoy this informative article on the very important topic of building your optin list. If you are trying to sell anything online you must build an optin list.

 

How to Build Your Optin List the Easy Way

Driving potential customers to your site should be ranked as high as the importance of the quality and the excellence of the product and the services you are providing. Yes, it’s that important!

 

In fact these two aspects of your business go hand-in-hand. Let’s face it. Without one the other is meaningless.

 

Customer service is extremely important and should form part of your overall business model to ensure your customers are provided with a very satisfying experience.

 

One of the ways you can combine marketing and customer service is through the use of optin marketing.

 

Opt-in marketing is a low cost, one time effective strategy of building your income. Bascially you get the consent of your visitors to allow you to send them additional information about your chosen niche topic so that you can build a relationship with them.

 

The updates you send to your readers should contain a combination of pure content and promotional items in a manner that will catch the interest and the eye of your subscribers to keep them wanting more. The best way to do this is to provide fun, entertaining and informational articles.

 

Many sites and successful marketers have captured the importance of well written articles that are full of useful content and they have quickly learned that this is imperative in building a highly responsive list.

 

Basically, when you write useful and informative content your readers will be intrigued as to what they can learn from you next and this will entice them to subscribe to your newsletter to get a glimpse of what you have to offer.

 

Articles that are enriched with well chosen keywords can also aid in search engine optimization. More and more people are now turning to the internet to instantly find information relating to their interest. So if you provide the content your readers are seeking, they will go to your site for information and research.

 

So serving the right information via articles on your site will increase the flow of traffic. And as you know, the more traffic you get - the more your sales will grow. And of course, more sales turn into more profits!

 

Well written articles can also boost your sites reputation. If your articles are filled with solid information you will be regarded as an expert on the subjects that you tackle. Once you have gained your readers trust, they will then come to you for their needs on that subject.

 

Most articles searched for are tips, guidelines or methods. So if you an provide solutions based on these ideas you will gain the trust of your readers and they will eagerly await your updates or go to your site for help and advice - as well as to purchase your products.

 

If you provide them with the answers that need, they will be happy to receive your newsletters as well as other promotional materials to keep them well informed. Others may even forward your newsletters to other people when they find a certain article interesting.

 

For this reason you should also provide links in your newsletter so that when other people are reading it, they can easily find your site. Then when they reach your site they may decide to sign up to your list so they can get regular content on their area of interest.

 

But above every thing else, make sure to keep your subscribers happy and interested by providing a good balance of pure content and promotional updates. Keep on posting and writing informative articles on your site and in your newsletter!

 

If you are not interested in writing them yourself or if you just don’t have the time, there are many experienced and knowledgeable writers available to help you out. This is an investment that will pay for itself in time.

Peter Iremo

http://www.my-homebiz.com

http://www.homebusiness-newsletter.com

——————————————————————–

Please feel free to publish this article. You may use it as a gift or publish it on your website or in your newsletter.
AS LONG AS YOU MAKE NO CHANGES AND DONT CHANGE THIS INFO!
This article is one of several published by Peter Iremo, Owner of several Home Based Online Business dedicated sites such as:

www.homebusiness-newsletter.com
- www.futurebuziness.com
www.my-homebiz.com
- www.e-buziness.com - Learn-Joomla.com
You can download this entire article in HTML ready to copy & Paste format
Here
As a .pdf file to read or give to your friends
Here
————————————————————

http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ

11:40 PM - Sunday, October 15, 2006


5 Ideas For Writing Effective Sales Letters

Posted in Email tips
This article points out that you can get your readers' attention by writing your sales letters in a direct and conversational tone. She lists 5 ideas for writing your sales letter and explains the reasoning behind each idea.

"5 Ideas for Writing Effective Sales Letters"
by Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen"

Sales letters, sent via e-mail or snail mail, are an effective and inexpensive way to get your message out. Even if your letter goes out to thousands of people, it can give the feel of a personal communication -- IF you write it in a direct and conversational tone.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are five tried and true formulas that can work for either e-mail or printed letters.

1. Tell a story -- from either your point of view or a customer's.

Example: '"When I started my own business, I was very nervous about keeping my books. I'm not a numbers person and wanted nothing to do with it! Then I purchased 'EZ-BOOKS' software. Instantly, all my accounting "dirty work" disappeared. I gained instant peace of mind, and now I can focus on my real job -- finding and keeping customers!"

Copy written in a story format has great appeal. By telling a short story that relates to the reader's situation, you create empathy with her. People are also familiar with stories and enjoy hearing them (they appear daily in newspapers, magazines, TV, etc.). If your letter happens to be a long one, you can draw out your story for added suspense, saving the outcome for the end. (People WILL read long copy... IF they are really interested in it.)

2. Ask questions.

Example: "Have you ever stared at yourself in the mirror and wanted to cry? If we told you we have a product guaranteed to help you drop pounds fast, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product sells for less than $30?"

Basic psychology dictates that when you ask a question, the reader feels compelled to answer it. You're involving them immediately in the issue at hand. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely answered with a "yes" from the reader.

3. Offer something for free.

My Own Example: "Would you like a complimentary copy of our FREE report, "The 3 Simple Secrets to Publishing an Ezine That Makes You Money?" Then just go to http://www.boostbizezine.com/ and you can download it instantly."

Think of three free things you could offer right now. A free e-mail or printed newsletter. A helpful article, report, brochure, or booklet. A complimentary consultation or a discount on a first visit.

4. Point out a fear or problem the reader may have.

Example: "You may feel safe in your own home, but did you know that burglaries are on the rise in your neighborhood? This may be the ideal time to install that home security system you've been thinking about."

This method may seem sly, but the advertising industry has been doing this to us for years. Remember how Listerine convinced all of us we have "halitosis"? (It's the clinical term for bad breath, but it sounds like the plague!) Direct marketers call this "pushing the ouch button". This method isn't appropriate for all topics, but you'd be surprised at how many situations you can use it in.

5. Mention someone the reader knows.

Example: "Your friend *Jenny Smith* told us you could use a little 'R&R.' That's why we're inviting you to the grand opening of our new '
Bath and Beauty' Web store, featuring home spa products to help you relax."

If you operate a referral program, this is an extremely effective way to reach out and touch your prospects. I wrote a letter using this format for a prominent day spa in
New York City, and it generated quite a bit of attention. Why? The reader immediately sees the name of someone she knows -- the letter makes an instant, personal connection.

(TIP: Ask your clients for the names of a few people who may be interested in your products/services, offering them an incentive if those people respond. These types of referral programs -- or "affiliate programs", as they're called online -- take some time to generate, but they're well worth it!)

One Final Note:

Remember that your number-one goal is to "hook" your reader right away! We're all bombarded with tons of e-mail and snail mail every day, so you have a limited amount of time to grab our attention.

Your best bet is to keep your e-mail sales letters within one or two computer screens, and your snail-mail letters to one or two pages.

© 2002-2005 Alexandria K. Brown

Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," publishes the award-winning 'Straight Shooter Marketing' weekly ezine with 20,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.EzineQueen.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ

9:35 PM - Saturday, September 23, 2006


Email Toll booths Coming Soon

Posted in Email tips
Here is an interesting article by Jim Edwards predicting that free email will soon be a way of the past. Let's hope he is wrong!

Email "Toll Booths" Coming Soon
by Jim Edwards

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> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
______________________________________________________________________
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ
______________________________________________________________________
How do you feel about having to pay for sending email? This would not be good for the internet marketers who rely on their emails to reach prospective customers and to communicate with existing customers.

7:52 PM - Monday, July 10, 2006


7 Common Sales Letter Mistakes That Kill Sales Every Time

Posted in Email tips
This article gives you some tips on what not to write when you are composing a sales letter.

By Grady Smith

It just takes one little mistake within your sales letter to instantly "turn off" prospects.

So, how many of these mistakes are you currently making in your sales letter that are stealing profits from you?

1) The Offer Isn't Clearly Defined Early In Your Letter

After reading the headline your prospect must have at least a general idea of what you're offering. And by your 3rd paragraph, they should completely understand what they're going to "get" if they keep reading. Missing the mark here ... not telling them your product or services main benefit, will cost you sale after sale.

2) Your Letter Doesn't Clearly Tell The Potential Customer What To Do Next

It's obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I've become interested in ordering a product only to have no idea how to do so. I've literally spent minutes hunting for the order link. And most prospects won't do this. Your ordering system has to be simple. Your link has to be clearly visible. And you have to spell out exactly what you want them to do to complete their order. Tell them which link to click, tell them what to do (enter you information), and tell them what they can expect after their order is complete.

3) Your Letter Doesn't Present The Benefits

Benefits make products irresistible. So, as a rule, I always find the top benefit of the product first, and present it. Then I find at least two other benefits, and I'll repeat these 3 benefits at least three times within the sales letter, each time stating them a little differently. Doing this reinforces the main benefits. And ... benefits are what turn drab, boring letters into exciting, money pumping sales letters that won't quit spitting out orders.

4) No Credibility Built In Your Product Or The Creator of The Product

Why should they believe what you're telling them? What makes you the expert? Building credibility in yourself as the creator of the product leaks on over and makes the product's benefits that much more believable. Even if you have the greatest product on earth, without the prospect believing your claims, they won't order. So build up on the reasons WHY they can believe ALL of the claims within your sales letter.

5) Your Letter Is Hard On The Eyes

Second only to your sales copy, the layout is the biggest reason people click away from websites. Small fonts, no margins, cluttered headlines and subheads, all send readers scurrying for the exit button. Clean your copy up. Hire a designer if you can't do it yourself - it's well worth the investment.

6) Too Much Risk Associated With Ordering Your Product

Risk? There should be none. All of the risk needs to be on the seller. And a guarantee that's written clearly and lines up the benefits they're guaranteed to receive after ordering or their money back is the way to go. And the longer you extend your guarantee (for instance, a one-year guarantee), the more risk you remove from your offer.

7) Your Letter Doesn't Explain Why Your Product Is Better

Why is your product the best choice. In most cases, your product has competition. So explain in your letter why the competition's product doesn't compete. How is your product better? What benefits does it have that can be found with no other product? Explain why with your product they're getting something they can't get anywhere else, and you'll win their business.

FREE: Copywriter Grady Smith will critique your sales letter, autoresponder or ad ($95 value) absolutely free and explain how you can increase response when you visit http://www.cheap-copy.com today.

______________________________________________________________________

http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ


_______________________________________________________________________

Was this article helpful? Comment below.

11:46 PM - Sunday, June 11, 2006


Email Security

Posted in Email tips
This is some interesting advice on email security from Microsoft. This applies to Outlook Express and Outlook 2003.
--- Begin Advice From Microsoft

To help increase your e-mail security, set your e-mail program
to read all messages you receive as plain text.

To read messages in plain text in Microsoft Outlook Express:

1. On the Outlook Express Tools menu, click Options.

2. In the Options dialog box, click the Read tab.

3. Select the checkbox to Read all messages in plain text.

4. Click OK.

To read messages in plain text in Microsoft Outlook 2003:

1. On the Outlook Tools menu, click Options.

2. On the Preferences tab in the Options dialog box, click the
E-Mail Options button.

3. In the E-Mail Options dialog box, select the checkbox to Read
all standard mail in plain text.

4. Click OK to close the E-Mail Options dialog box, and then
click OK to close the Options dialog box.

--- End Advice From Microsoft
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ
_______________________________________________________________________

2:12 AM - Tuesday, May 23, 2006


Dumb Email Marketing Messages

Posted in Email tips

Here are some annoying email marketing messages that I have received over the past year. Do they annoy you too?

  • So easy my child can do it
  • Too many words all in capital letters
  • Early bird special
  • This ends in 24 hours
  • Gurus are mad at me for sharing this information
  • My good friend so and so gave me permission to send this offer
  • I do all the work for you.
  • Work at home in your pajamas
  • I am so pumped I can hardly type
  • My wife is really mad because of this offer I am making
  • Just launched, get in on the ground floor
  • I take all the risk
  • Imagine yourself living the good life
  • Just click on this link to verify your account information (phishing scheme)
  • Just click on this link to dispute the charges to your account (more phishing)
  • Enlarge your *****
  • Unsubscribe by clicking on the link (the link leads to page not found)
  • You or someone pretending to be you gave me permission to send this email
  • Dear Ms.
  • Last chance
  • You'll only see this page once so buy now

Don't annoy your prospects or current customers by using these annoying or overly used statements in your emails. If they annoy me they probably annoy lots of other people too.

______________________________________________________________

You may reprint this article as long as you include this resource box.

http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ

______________________________________________________________

Please comment on your pet peeves about email marketing.

 

6:22 PM - Wednesday, May 17, 2006


Hackers and Hoaxes

Posted in Email tips
I belong to a great networking community called Adlandpro. Here is my link if you wish to check it out.
http://www.adlandpro.com/default.asp?rep=DonnaZ
Here is a good article on hackers and hoaxes that was posted in a forum at Adlandpro.


Hackers and Hoaxes
By Trina L.C. Schiller

Everyone who has an ISP, understands, or at least knows about how hackers use viruses, Trojans and other web nasties, to infect and mess up your computer. No headline news there. (Unfortunately, we still don't understand why they do it, or at least I don't.) But hackers don't have to write malicious code or hijack your browser to do some serious damage to your system. Oh no... A well written email with no attachments, can do the trick. They only have to start a rumor.
Hackers can easily manipulate you into trashing your own computer. All they have to do is begin a hoax.

What do I mean by that? Let me explain.

Have you ever gotten emails from people you know that say something like: Scan your hard drive for such and such a file! If you find it delete it immediately! Pass this on. Warn everyone you know!

These emails are originally generated by a hacker and spread throughout the Internet to get you to delete files you need, thus creating havoc for your system. They are hoaxes.

Hoaxes work incredibly well for getting average people to cause their own computers to malfunction. the hacker doesn't have to spend any time creating malicious code and a method of distribution, all they have to do is play on the human tendency for hysteria; send out a warning that something evil is spreading, and if you find it on your computer, get rid of it!

Recently I was tracking a thread on a forum, where the moderator warned everyone about a file that he found on his system that was a keylogger. (A keylogger is a malicious program designed to track your every move through monitoring your keystrokes.) He warned everyone to search for a file, ans2000.ini and, "delete the booger."

I scan my system every day, with several different virus/ spyware programs, and I never picked up this file with any of them, so I decided to do a Windows Explorer search for it. Sure enough, I found it on my hard drive. Oh My God!

Before hitting the delete key though, I looked it up on the web. I Googled the specific file and found quite a bit of information on it. The file ans2000.ini is used in the keylogger program known as ProBot SE. However, it is also used in many other legitimate programs as well. Ok, so now what do I do?

Well, I contacted my go-to guy, Jim Gray, owner of Quikonnex, and asked him what his thoughts were. He told me to open the ini file, in Notepad, and read it. Sure enough, this file did have an association to another program on my system. It is part of ActivEbook Compiler. It was right there in print, at the top of the file.

Now had I just freaked out when I found the file, and deleted the booger, I would've trashed my ebook compiler, making it useless to me. Two points for the hacker who started the hoax!

Hoaxes are just as dangerous as live viruses, because they inspire you to destroy your own programs. I am sure they are a particular kick for the one starting the hoax, as they are getting you to do bad things to your own system. Fear is a powerful motivator, and hoaxes, by design, are created to cause panic and fear in the less experienced Internet traveler.

So, before going and deleting files from your hard drive, go check them out. Do a search for them and read the information you find. Don't just go deleting things without learning about them first, or you just may end up cutting your own throat. And, NEVER forward these types of warning emails to others until you know for a fact that the information is correct, or you're likely to have your friends and family after you for misinforming them.

Resources for validating virus/ hoax information:
http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp http://www.vmyths.com/ http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/hoax/


Copyright © 2005
The Trii-Zine Ezine http://www.ezines1.com

Feel free to comment on this topic. Join Adlandpro through my link at the beginning of this article and you can participate in forums too.

2:39 AM - Tuesday, May 9, 2006


10 Email Marketing Pet Peeves..Listen Up Marketers!

Posted in Email tips
You may reprint this article as long as you include the author information at the bottom.

10 Email Marketing Pet Peeves..Listen Up Marketers!

1. "Dear First Name. Or Dear First Name Last Name".
OK I know this is an autoresponder message but this does not inspire confidence in the sender being a seasoned marketer. Check your autoresponder messages to make sure the first name and/or first name, last name are being properly inserted. Otherwise, use Dear Friend or something similar that can fit all of your customers.

2. "Earn $5000 a week"..or a similar overinflated figure.
These look so spammy or scammy that I delete them without reading them.

3. "Guru"..This term is used loosely and way too often for marketers who happen to be making a living on the internet. Guru my foot! Just call yourself a marketer!

4. "No hype, no BS, no fluff".
Then the marketer procedes to fill the page with hype, BS and fluff. Come on, give it a rest!

5. "This is the greatest product since...."
Overinflated testimonials that do not give the URL of the person so you cannot email them to ask if they really feel that way.

6. "You can unsubscribe, just click on the link".
Ha! Click on the link and get "page not found". No way to unsubscribe.

7. "Sign up for the free ebook!"
The name of the ebook is not given. You have to give your name and email address to access the book. Once you do this you find out that it is the same free ebook everybody and their uncle is giving away and you already have a copy.

8. Snippets of articles are in the email. You have to click on a link to the website to read the rest of the article...for each article. This means going back and forth from the email to the website to find the rest of each article. Way too time consuming. I just delete these.

9. "Sign up for free minicourse."
When you enter your information and click on the link you get a page stating the course is no longer offered.

10. "My good friend so and so gave me permission to give you this at a special price."
You get the exact same email from several marketers. That person certainly must have had a lot of "good friends" he is allowing to give his  "special deal."

Article by DonnaZ.
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ
http://www.software-nut.com
http://www.ebizparadise.com
http://www.adlandpro.com/default.asp?rep=DonnaZ

2:01 AM - Monday, April 3, 2006


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