Most websites created or maintained by people who are new to online business are missing one important piece of the marketing puzzle. Namely, follow-up through email marketing.

Of course there are other reasons websites don’t maintain mailing lists, but usually it is a result of an entrepreneur without any marketing experience. Other reasons exist though (and I’m a perpetrator in this regard), even though I’ve been selling, promoting and marketing online for the last 10 years – you’ll still find many of my websites lack a subscription box.

My reasons won’t be yours I assure you! Generally the sites I don’t actively market to via email are sites I’ve created for testing purposes – testing website traffic techniques which I report on, on even more websites. This is truly a case of ‘do what I say, not what I do’.

In the rest of this post we’ll talk about how and why to maintain a mailing list, and the variety of ways you can use an autoresponder account.

Here are a few reasons off the top of my head:

• increases your website’s value should you choose to sell it,
• assists you to make money on demand as you can continue to draw people back to your site with every email you write,
• allows you to ‘automate’ your marketing.

Just mentioning automation of marketing gets me excited about online business.

Why?

Well, once you have a fully automated system of a website in place that turns visitors into income, there’s little for an online business owner to do other than to keep the new traffic flowing or starting all over again in a different niche with a second website, a second income stream, a second business. (Sounds good right?)

Automation is the key to any successful online business – a business that doesn’t tie the entrepreneur to his/her computer. And there is no better way to automate than with an auto-responder enabled mailing list.

Granted some internet marketers have given automation a nasty connotation. The marketers who teach you to scrape other people’s website content and post spam messages to other people’s blogs.

No, not this kind of automation. This type of automated marketing I’m talking about is discontinuing any repetitive action that can be handled by a service or script. Any online business has areas that would benefit from a little automation. The key is to have the right software or service to manage the task.

When I first started my business online in 2000 I tried a number of products and signed up for a number of services that assisted in automation of a mailing list. One service shined through above all others.

Then, in 2005, I repeated the tests and trials – in a wide variety of price ranges. I had expected different results – after all, so much had changed online in five years – yet I stuck with the same service I’d chosen back in the year 2000.

There are reasons – which very few people talk about – why one service/software soars above all others tested. Affordability, versatility, deliverability, flexibility – customer support, continually upgrading servers and features, continuously working in the field to ensure best results for their customers – and on and on. Wait, another big reason – free customer support with a fast response time.

If you’re lost now and still wondering why you’d want to automate your mailing list…

Consider that you won’t have to stop at an automated mailing list. Let’s think of some creative uses for automated marketing through auto-responder services.

Your website visitor signs up. Your autoresponder files the email address in your account then:

a) displays a thank you page on your website that could show a special offer for new subscribers. (income)
b) sends out a message to your new subscriber with a special offer… (income)

Also used for:

c) an immediate customer support response. It may take you a day or two to reply personally to a customer, but they will instantly feel as though someone is working on their request for service.
d) frequently asked questions sent to the customer via email.
e) free reports with affiliate links inside.
f) product lists and descriptions, or price lists

Use your own creativity to uncover and implement similar uses and you’ll begin to see your sales increase.

Owning a mailing list is, without a doubt, the most vital and necessary tool for your business.

Dare to be different. Don’t just put a small text link or graphic on your site that reads “subscribe to my mailing list”. That will get you some subscribers, but not nearly as many as you could get with an autoresponder pop up script or exit script.

Be creative to find ways to get potential customers to sign up to your mailing list. Offer a free report, a discount on future offers – as long as it is something of definite value they will subscribe.

Here are some of the ‘enticers’ I’ve used on other websites:

• discount coupons,

• free email course,
• contest entry,
• “Members Only” access to a special area of my website.

Check out my recommended “tried, tested and true” automated marketing, autoresponder service free for 30 days. Get the script for your website and start making money with an email list right away.

Read more about effective mailing list management and email marketing techniques from Smartzville Marketing.

“My website is ready and I’ve spent thousands of dollars on it, but I’m not making any money! Why?”

I’ve heard it a hundred times or more in the last 11 years.

Learn How to Start Marketing Your Website – Ask Laura (July 2007)

After spending all that money for a custom designed site, or forking over cash for a turnkey website in a hot market, you realize that just because you’ve built it (or had it built), doesn’t mean they’ll come (the customers). You need to learn about website marketing.

This is taking the next step which is to learn about marketing and advertising your website or online business.

But let’s just back up here for a minute – so you don’t make the same mistake again – and cover some fundamentals.

A website or online business is not much different than a business you would start up in your home town. And before any business is launched a business plan should have been created, written, and all aspects (such as advertising and marketing) would have been written into such a plan.

So before you launch your first website, or your next website, consider your website marketing strategy, your advertising costs and your plan of attack for getting your offer in front of your potential customers.

Let’s talk about how to plan and write that website marketing strategy then.

It’s dull work if you’ve never thought of marketing before, but once you’ve created a strategy and you see it starting to work and the sales rolling in, you’ll fall in love with marketing strategies.

Begin by writing a list of daily, weekly, monthly and long range promotional action steps. Post it directly above your desk and act on it daily. Many business owners will tell you that you’re not in the “service” or “product” business – you’re in the marketing business when you own your own company. Every day must see some activity to promoting your brand, your website URL, or your offers.

If your website marketing, advertising or promotion strategy is netting any results or sales after a few months it’s perfectly acceptable to rework the plan and seek out different avenues for advertising or promotion.

Below you’ll find some of the techniques other webmasters have success with. Each technique should be investigated fully by reading the advice of top internet marketing trainers before proceeding. As an example of why you want to delve deeper into understanding any strategic move is because many ‘gurus’ will tell you to trade links with other webmasters to gain traffic. This is good advice, old advice, but if you don’t do it right it won’t be one-tenth as effective as it could be.

Let’s Cover Promotion Techniques In A Website Marketing Strategy

• Trade links only other webmasters. (Again, you need to learn how to do this correctly.)
• Offer something of value, for free, on your site. (Read more on viral marketing.)
• Employ an affiliate opportunity. (Amazing how this delivers sales and traffic, but again, learn how to do it inexpensively and correctly first.)
• Add useful content, not just product sales on your site.
• Add interaction to your site. (Learn about forums, comments, help desks – relevant to your offering and target market.)
• Give them a reason and a venue to return – or refer their friends. (Learn about bookmarking, email a friend, subscribers.)
• Run limited-time sales on your offers. (Learn about one time offers and back end selling.)

That’s all the website marketing information for today and is surely enough to get you started in your online marketing or advertising campaign. If not, feel free to read some more posts on MakeMoneyWithYourIdeas.com

Laura Childs

The ‘Ask Laura’ series is published solely to assist you with questions and resolutions to making your online business profitable. Names are never disclosed on this website unless approved or requested.

In your sales letters…

Show your website visitors a bargain. If your product can save them money, make them money, or if you’re currently running tests on price points be sure to tell your visitors that with a tangible and honest dollar figure. This is especially true if you are running a special – let them know if they order today they are receiving a discount and that you won’t be holding that price for ever. You want to consider showing them twice – by either a percentage or dollar figure. “Order now and save 30% of our regular price.”

Using bullets is a common practice in both [tag]online sales letters[/tag] and printed pitches. They work in our busy lives as most readers are skimmers. Use bullets (dashes, dots or circles preceeding short sentences) to highlight benefits, features or a list of bonus products of your main product. Benefits are the key to selling anything.

Compliment your reader in your ad copy and on your thank you page. We all love a compliment and this helps to earn your readers’ and/or customers’ trust. A fine example seen on another site: “You’ve made a smart business decision by landing here and taking time to investigate this…”

Apart from pricing techniques you may like to try increasing the perceived value of your product by making your offer scarce – in quantity sold or through bonus products. Although this adds stress to the reader it does help to let them know your offer may not be on the table for long…

Find your competitors’ products’ weakness and use it as your USP (unique selling proposition). Let your readers know that your product has been recommended, written about, or given more success to your customers for specific reasons that your competitions products are missing. As an example: your USP could be that your competition doesn’t offer exclusive rights, consultations, etc.

Use the ‘fear factor’ in your sales letter copy. By owning, knowing, or using your product or information your customers can avoid pain, wasted time, loss of sales, etc. Sad but true, this ‘fear factor’ motivates people to buy. As a general rule don’t over-emphasize this one; play the card out on the table and let your customers decide if avoiding pain is their motivator.

One issue that comes to mind when I first started out was the number of people who were promoting ebook formating software progams, ranging in price from $20-$200. I sat with my book written, formated and ready to go for 3 days while I surfed around for the best deal and reading every review on these programs…

Learn Why You Don’t Need An Ebook Software Program – Ask Laura (May 2007)

An email came in to one of my sites today asking about these formating programs which tells me that marketing trainers and affiliate promotions experts are still pushing these programs on unsuspecting newpreneurs.

“Enough!,” I say.

This is a blantant waste of money and a blatant mis-use of a newpreneur’s trust in a mentor. Formating your content into an ebook does not take any extra software – it can be done, for free, online.

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My reader writes:

(Laura)…thank you for being available!

I have written a book & I am trying to get it wrapped up so I can do an e-book & also a hard bound book. the snags I have are:

1. in the resizing of photos to intersperse in the pages,
2. finding a software program that will format the book both in e-book format & also ready for hardbound format
3. how to make the links for affiliates live at the end of the book (yours would be a good one to include)
4. formatting a cover
5. also to get an affiliate link do I have to have a website or can I get an affiliate link if I just have an e-book? and how would I go about getting the affiliate link to include?

I liked your e-book & wondered if you had a specific software that you used to format or if you did that yourself.

Also when you added the photos, did you do the resizing yourself to fit in the appropriate location or did you have a software program that did the resizing for you?

My problem has been that I go off on 20 different tangents & never end up completing one. So I have decided to complete the book first & then get the website up & running to accommodate the selling of the book as well as other products.

…those are a few of my immediate problems.

Thanks for listening!

Karen

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Dear Karen:

Thanks for your note. I’m a little pressed for time for the next week, but wanted to get a quick note out to you today….

My old ebook “Back Road Riches” was one of my first. I bought software to format it as a little piece of software containing the book’s content. I would not suggest following this route. People are wary of downloading software these days. Ebooks are acceptable in PDF format as it has less chance of containing viruses. Plus PDF format allows for easy printing for your end reader.

There’s lots of free software available to create PDF files from your Word document. Actually adobe.com (makers of the PDF format) allows 5 free conversions per email address.

So my modern day advice is write your [tag]ebook[/tag] in Word or WordPerfect, etc. which will also format your photos to fit, convert it to pdf and distribute it as such.

As for hardcover format, you’ll need to follow your publisher’s direction on that as each varies. Generally they would edit then typeset it to their own specs anyway.

If you’re not a graphical person I’d suggest paying someone over at elance.com $20-40 to create a cover for you. Books are certainly judged by their covers. Again, your publisher for hardcover will have their own version of a cover created in-house (generally without your say or control).

As for [tag]affiliate[/tag] links every network is different. You’ll have to check with network of products you want to promote (i.e. http://www.smartzville.com/clickbank.htm). To make them active in Word you just type the url in.

As for your last trouble – going off on tangents and never completing anything – I want you to know we all have this problem. The good thing is that you are aware of it! Now that you know how you ‘operate’ you can force yourself to stay on track and complete one task at a time. Believe me saying it is easier than actually doing it!

Have a great day, write anytime….

Laura Childs

The ‘Ask Laura’ series is published solely to assist you with questions and resolutions to making your online business profitable. Names are never disclosed on this website unless approved or requested. Proof of all email communication between Laura Childs and her contacts can be provided upon request.

This gentleman wrote me because he wanted to start a side [tag]business online[/tag] and return to a rural lifestyle away from the city. However, he couldn’t think of an idea for his online business!

Although this email is quite old (2004) and has focus on info-products and ebay selling (two areas which are harder to make money at now), the premise still stands. You must have a passion and an interest in your business to really make it online.

‘Making it online’ could be [tag]making money[/tag], making a name for yourself, or making a website that grows to huge proportion and has an exit strategy.

The conversation begins with defining yourself, your hobbies, your interests and ends with an idea for an online business.

Ideas for Online Business – Ask Laura (August 30, 2004)

Hello Laura:

I am 48 and my wife is 38. We have no kids living with us. My wife is from a town of about 15,000 in Indiana, and I grew up in a town about the same size in California. We have lived in *edited* for the last 12 years. The income here is good, and housing can be had for a reasonable percent of your wages.

Unfortunately, there is no time to enjoy much.

Work hours and commutes are long and any recreation you think of to do, there is already a crowd there with the same idea.

My wife is an administrative assistant and I have spent the last 30 some years working in the parts department at Chrysler dealerships. We both enjoy being creative and crafty. I also enjoy wood working and building something out of salvage or scrap pieces, and enjoy home improvement projects (I’m a HGTV junkie).

Anything where I can be creative would be interesting to me. My wife likes to crochet and also has recently gotten into candle making. Anyhow, we both crave a simpler, less harried lifestyle.

Thanks again for your consultation.

Blane

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Blane:

Some of the more obvious ways to [tag]make money online[/tag] is [tag]ebay[/tag] selling and info product creation.

Now I don’t know much about ebay selling (other than I first started this way as well). I used to buy junk chandeliers for $1-5, paint them, repair the wiring, etc. and sell them for $150-200 each. It was fun to do, satisfied my artistic side and made me some quick cash. But it wasn’t a lucrative use of my time (dollar/hour) – I had to find these vintage chandeliers, then do repair and decoration work, then post them on ebay, then package them for postal delivery, etc.

I am aware however that many people make huge dollars on ebay with less work. I can’t say for sure, but I believe they use drop-shippers to handle all the packaging and shipping. You choose the product line, promote it, send them the orders, and they handle the rest. As I said, I’m not sure if that’s how the ‘big’ money is being made on ebay, but I do know that many people are making a killing on ebay…

Now here is something that may interest you, to capitalize on the eBay brand, deliver value to people and make money online too. Lots of people make money simply by promoting the use of ebay! For every new person you can get to sign up to use eBay, eBay pays you a minimum of $12 USD! I make over $100 month on one of my sites just from people registering new accounts with eBay.

The other way to make money online is info products (which is one of my ‘things’). Talk about awesome! You put together a little book, set up a pay page, and away you go… this is probably what you’ve already read of mine.

With your crafty talents I’d suggest something like this…do you have a piece that you have made, or that you know is being made and is selling like hotcakes somewhere?

I’ll give you an example:

My husband makes these twig lights when he was laid off for the winter he made a pile of them, and sold them at my friend’s shop for $85 (she added her percentage in, which made them $170). People bought these like crazy.

Some people said “I can make these myself…” and went home and tried. Reporting back to the store they said they could make them, and they looked alright but it took a long time, and they didnt’ look as nice as Eric’s.

Now, had we been smart we could have also supplied the shop with an info product (make your own twig lamp). And, if we had the time or the interest we could probably sell an info product on making twig lamps for other crafters.

My point is, if you can take something you love to do, that has a following or interest online (for instance my goat book – who would have thought that an info book on goats would be a good seller?), you’ll be off and running.

And if it only manages to replace part of your current income, then make another info book, and another, until you have more than one stream of income. I have 4 info products, plus multiple other streams. They replace my old income of designing sites online and I do little through the work week to support or promote these items. Now (2004) I’m in a position where I can (a) help others, and (b) work towards replacing my husband’s income.

I’ve been rambling here…but I hope some of it helps to move you forward…think on all this, what your talents and interests are, etc. and feel free to write me back – collaboration is a wonderful thing!

Laura

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The 2007 Way to Make Money Partnering with EBAY

As I mentioned above, eBay pays website owners to send them traffic. New account setups will net you a minimum of $12 per person, but eBay also pays you for any sale you help them make. Their affiliate program is on a sliding scale, often with incentives and bonuses (which we can talk about another day). In the final months of 2006 I’ve been experimenting with a script that builds websites loaded with eBay products, all embedded with your referral link.

You can build custom websites with no html or php experience, that have serious potential to make you money online in less than an hour – start to finish. Instead of getting into how this works or how easy it is, I’m providing a [tag]free report[/tag] that explains how to do this for all my online website visitors. Click: learn how to set up a website that makes money from eBay sales without having to sell a product! It’s a quick 4 pages and has a link within to a demo site where you can see and try it out for yourself.

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Last names and email addresses are never disclosed on this website, but proof of all email communication can be provided upon request. These emails are published solely to help and assist others with similar questions, situations and problems with getting their online business started or making their website business more successful.

Learn to Market and Promote in 40 Pages or Less – Ask Laura (July 20/06)

“Ha!,” I say!

Internet marketing, website promotion, online business building is indeed very easy – to those that know the game or have already established a presence. But to the un-initiated, the un-taught, and sadly the opportunists who believe it can happen overnight – well, that’s a different story.

Just yesterday I received an email from a very smart and university educated friend of mine. He’s been relying, for the past two months, on someone else to create, maintain, and manage his new dream business for him and it’s not going as quickly as planned.

(Odd about that.)

But my friend has integrity and strengths and he’s wondering how he can learn what he needs to know so that he can step in and help out. The only trouble is, he thinks that one product, ebook, or training series is going to give him the [tag]online marketing[/tag] education required…

Here we go. Laura, again, bursting bubbles of belief.

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

Dear Laura:

Do you or anyone you can recommend sell any reports or ebooks on the A to Z of [tag]internet marketing[/tag] – particularly with a product and service (editor note: hardcover book and professional consultation service) such as what I have?

The reason I’m asking is that *edited* has been quite busy lately and, frankly, we thought it would be helpful for him if we had a better over all understanding of what he needs to do and how we should be assisting him from our end. The *url deleted* [tag]website[/tag] project we will be developing is large and we’d like to help him as much as possible. We have a general idea but would like to get more specifics on what needs to be done from day to day…

********

My recommendation is, and likely always would be, if you’re going to run a business online then run it.

Know what it takes, make the decisions, learn how to manage it, promote it, repair it, brand it, sell it. You can’t have a business – without any knowledge of the business – and just farm out all the tasks.

Let’s be clear: You can own a business and not work it personally, hiring others to do all the grunt work. But you must know first what is involved so that you can choose and hire the best, as well as provide direction to, staff or associates performing that grunt work.

Plus, learning the business isn’t going to happen in any A to Z – I know, I’ve read a pile of them. Internet business management, promotion and techniques are in nuggets and on bread crumb trails scattered all around the web. And, what works for one business may not work for another. Each online business needs a leader at the helm that has a marketing strategy in mind.

At any rate, here’s my reply…

**********

A little pressed for time but wanted to send you a quick note…

Any A-Z won’t help you, only confuse and slow you down in your efforts.

Online business is a series of steps.

Create the site, get the traffic, brand your business/self, monetize the traffic, grow a subscriber list so that you can lather/rinse/repeat the process.

You are in site creation stage. *Name edited* is a traffic master (among other things).

If you want to learn the things that will help him in his efforts to help you, then you need to learn about getting your own content (so that the site is created), and the ways to get traffic to your site (#1 way is to have content for the search engines).

Now, since *name edited* is at the helm, your questions are better posed to him and his recommendations followed. His methods and strategy for your site may differ from the methods and strategy I use. You don’t want to follow my recommendations in case it clashes with the current marketing method and strategy he has planned for your site.

At this stage, it’s all about focus, taking one step at a time, and a targeted approach. Too many cooks…

So drop *edited* a note. Ask him what you could and should be doing.

If it was my ‘place’ to offer a suggestion I’d tell you to save your money on marketing products and ebooks right now. Invest in a satellite hookup or high speed connection (ed. n.b.: my friend is currently surfing at 28.8) and make the effort to learn site creation as *edited* teaches it. You could easily spend $1,000 in marketing products or ebooks (the extensive ones anyway) or $1,000 on a satellite system which would serve you well to gain the knowledge required; as well as moving quicker online after the learning process.

Laura Childs

The ‘Ask Laura’ series is published solely to assist you with questions and resolutions to making your online business profitable. Names are never disclosed on this website unless approved or requested. Proof of all email communication between Laura Childs and her contacts can be provided upon request.

Sometimes the creators or developers send me pre-launch products to assess as well. (If you’re a developer or programmer you can contact me for this service via the contact form.)

This post in no way is meant to say these tools aren’t useful or helpful to your online business. Except when you are buying tools left and right, solutions and products in the hundreds of dollars monthly, and you haven’t made your first cent online yet.

Stop the Madness! – Ask Laura (July 18/06)

One of my mentoring clients – who is yet to get his business represented online and making any money, but who has spent plenty of money on marketing tools and resources sent me an email about a new, hot marketing software product that automates website content creation, gets top search engine ranks, helps you [tag]make money[/tag] with adsense, and so much more! :)

Yeah, right.

My reply is below. I hope it helps you make your own sound, educated decisions about where to spend money for your [tag]online business[/tag] success.

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

After assessing the software in the email link I can only say this:

“When you are [tag]making money online[/tag] and have the time and resources to play with tools like this, then and only then, is the time to buy stuff like this.

“Right now you are in learning mode. Learning how to provide useful content, learning how to create a business online, learning how to [tag]brand[/tag] yourself as the expert in your field. Anything and everything you spend money on right now should only be on learning what you need to know at this present time.

“Blowing money on tools and software, automated this and that, is a trap almost everyone falls into. The tools sound so exciting, the offer so enticing, but the fundamentals must be in place first.

“Please pardon my gruffness in this matter but I see so many people spending thousands of dollars on tools/software/techniques – the same people who can’t even get a page of text online and then they start yelling “[tag]internet marketing[/tag] doesn’t work!”

“Yes, you have to spend money to make money, but only for a presence (domain, hosting, learning). Next comes sweat equity. Then comes financial freedom and playing with tools.”

Laura Childs

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Names are never disclosed on this website unless approved or requested. Proof of all email communication between Laura Childs and her contacts can be provided upon request. The ‘Ask Laura’ series is published solely to assist you with similar questions and resolutions to making your online business profitable.

As you’ll see, there are many ways to build and promote a business online, even more ways to make money from your efforts.

Your First Website – Ask Laura (August 24, 2005)

Laura,

I have been researching all the guru’s on the net trying to decide how I should go about starting a web project I have in mind.

What bothers me is so many experts that give out different “solutions”. I guess in reality, there really are many different ways to skin a cat.

Well, I still don’t have a [tag]web site[/tag] or a [tag]product[/tag] even though I have lots of ideas for products, etc. I have decided that when I get a site I will use your materials as best I can.

You seem very sincere and I feel that I can trust you and not go down the wrong path. My whole purpose for doing this is to raise monies for Christian missionaries around the globe. But I can’t quite decide where to start; sometimes I think I should just start an affiliate site and develop my own stuff later.

Would [tag]RSS[/tag] and [tag]blogs[/tag] be good for that type of venture? Sooner or later I need to stop studying and pick a path and get on with it.

Thanks and God Bless,
Gene

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Hi Gene thanks for writing!

And thanks for your kind words. You came along just when I needed to hear it!

You need to do whatever it is going to take to get you moving forward. If it is easiest to set up an [tag]affiliate[/tag] site, then go down that road. If you want to start grabbing [tag]subscribers[/tag] to a newsletter (so you can tell them about your own product later) then start right away. If you’re nearly completed with a product offering then finish that and get selling!

I guess what I’m trying to say is the hardest part of this all is actually getting started!

Once you’ve got some momentum there isn’t much that can hold you back.

To become successful you will need all three – a mailing list, your own product, and other people’s products that you believe in.

You can start with either of the three, pick which one you are most comfortable with and begin.

It is easier for many to set up a [tag]mini-site[/tag], write a small product, sell it at [tag]clickbank[/tag] (that way other affiliates will send you traffic), and start collecting email addresses. Then you grow your business from there…

Let me know more about you and maybe I can provide you with something better than general information…

Laura

p.s. by the way I was in ‘study mode’ myself for quite a few years before I got busy and started implementing some of the stuff I had learned.

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Last names and email addresses are never disclosed on this website, but proof of all email communication can be provided upon request. These emails are published solely to help and assist others with similar questions, situations and problems with getting their online business started or making their [tag]website business[/tag] more successful.

Nasty Emails in Your Inbox – Ask Laura ( October 11/04)

Now there are a lot of people who have ‘issues’ with internet marketers. They think the all the gurus are scam artists and money grubbers. I’m not about to tell you that those types of gurus don’t exist (there are a number of them I keep at arm’s length), but I will promise you that Joe Vitale does not fit into that category.

In the last 4 years I have listened to, taken the advice of, worked on promotions, and co-written two books with Joe. I can completely vouch for his products, tools, methods of teaching, and writing. My current income and following is a testament to what I’ve learned from Joe and a handful of other marketers with integrity.

But, back to the web rage issue.

Repeatedly over the years I have received angry, frustrated, nasty, mean emails from complete strangers who aren’t even my [tag]customers[/tag]! Usually I try to respond to them on a personal level – help them sort out where their frustration with their [tag]online business[/tag] stems from and how to remedy the situation – as in the case below.

On other days I just can’t do it. I just can’t play the punching bag game and take the abuse. On those days I just delete the offending email, unsubscribe the person if they’re on my list – and yes, I’ve been known to send a nasty quip or two back – of course never quite as personal and cutting as the one I received.

Through the years in this business I’ve discovered one thing. Those nasty emails only come from the [tag]entrepreneur[/tag] crowd. The ones struggling to make a living online and not having much success. People who buy my country living ebooks and products never send me nasty emails – as a matter of fact one customer sent me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers! Others have sent thank you cards, paypal donations, and even a few amazon gift certificates.

So what’s going on with the entrepreneur sect?

It’s frustration. It’s jealousy. It’s mis-directed anger.

Mad at themselves for their own inadequacies, poor buying decisions, time wasted chasing foolish dreams or creating businesses on sand. If you ever get into the internet marketing business publicly you’re going to get messages like the one below, some a lot meaner…

Nasty Email #1

Nothing I have tried has worked. I’m tired of being ripped-off. These so-called Internet Gurus are the only one getting rich, and on my hard earned money. I don’t trust the internet or the people who market in this bad neighborhood!

Greg

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Greg:

Usually I don’t respond to this type of negativity, but something in your email (perhaps your frustration) cries out for help.

I am not an Internet Marketing guru so I feel I can respond to your message without you mistrusting me.

Just FYI, I have followed many of the gurus advice and most of it has worked. I find it odd that it hasn’t worked for you. I wonder what element of marketing you are missing and if there is something I can do to help.

True, there are a lot of scams out there (read email and make money!, etc.) but hard work and perseverance and an ethical business will earn you a sizeable income. If you’re looking for the easy way out, an unethical or immoral way to make money – you’re sunk.

Listen if I can make enough money to pay my bills selling an ebook on raising chickens, then anyone can make money online.

You’re just giving up too quickly. Don’t blame others, or bash marketers for it, that’s no way to success.

Life is a state of mind. Operate in a state of distrust, frustration, anxiety, anger and blame and that’s what you’ll get back. It’s not up to ‘them’ – it’s up to you.

Laura Childs

p.s. If you have a website and you want me to look at it and help you, I’ll do what I can to help you, but I ask that you first place yourself in a kinder mindset.

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Greg actually wrote back, which was very much appreciated:

Laura,

Thank you for writing back. I apologize to you for my rude comments. I won’t detail or justify my frustration and anger. I am very sorry.

Greg

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This email sequence is a mild version of some of the emails I’ve seen from complete strangers over the years. Please just remember that each one of us, whether we’re in the public eye or not, you or I, we all have feelings. And no one, absolutely no one deserves to be attacked by another. Besides, sugar goes much further than salt.

Promoting A One Page Website with An RSS Feed – Ask Laura (October 22, 2005)

Maam, is it possible to use rss feed to promote some freebies?

My site is …url removed…, and I’m not really sure about how to promote it using rss. Can you help me? :)

I planned to market it to my opt in list, after they subscribed to my main site.

So maybe what i have in mind is :

RSS publishing —> lead page —> products

Is that still a good plan to try? :)

Ps : i already made some xml files

Thank you very much.

Haris

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Dear Haris:

Yes sir it sure is possible!

Now Haris, stop calling me Maam and I’ll stop calling you sir…

:)

Do you have any other [tag]websites[/tag], and or any interest in creating more pages for your existing site?

Answer me those two questions and I’ll help you cook up a good [tag]strategy[/tag] for your feed….

My best, Laura

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Laura:

Okay, I’ll stop calling you maam.

I don’t have any other sites or pages. Just that one.

Haris

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Haris:

Just to ensure that we are speaking of the same thing…

a) use an [tag]RSS Feed[/tag] to get people to the main site page (home page)
b) get them to opt in to an email list once they arrive
c) give them free products once they’ve subscribed

Is that your plan?

The thing about RSS feeds is that you want to have regularly updated items in your feeds to keep the search engine spiders happy. And to do that you’ve got to have at least 8-10 pages on your site (or 8-10 sites) that you can keep talking about and linking to from within your RSS feed.

Does that make sense? An RSS Feed that seldom changes does very little to drive traffic (yes, it will drive some, but only in highly targeted niches with minimal competition).

I hope this helps. Email me back if you have more questions or just need clarification okay?

Laura Childs
www.stampedesecret.com

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Full names and site urls are removed to protect the integrity of the authors. If proof is required, full emails and headers are held in file, in private.

Can’t Get Listed on DMOZ – Ask Laura (December 2, 2004)

Dear Laura:

I don’t think this (has much to do with) you, but in case it does: I submitted my website …url removed… to DMOZ about 6 weeks ago. The section was Society: People: Women: Business. Last I checked it wasn’t up yet.

Donna

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Donna:

[tag]dmoz[/tag] (because it is run by people and not robots) can be slow.

Does your preferred section have an editor? If there is a link on the dmoz directory page requesting that an editor apply for that section then that section is without a human editor and who knows when you may be included! If that’s the case you might try looking for a different search directory of dmoz. (I will keep my eyes open for you…)

Depending on which dmoz pages you have landed on, top level directory listing or sub-directory listing, you may also find that the link to suggest a site or suggest a url is missing. Again, another indication that the category you are targeting is without an editor. Keep drilling down into the sub categories and directories until you find a suitable listing page with the suggest a site link in the top navigation bar (most often at the top of the page – the links at the bottom of the page don’t always work).

Laura Childs
www.stampedesecret.com

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Last names, urls and emails are withheld from public viewing on this site. Documented proof of all reader questions are available to the authories upon request.

A customer isn’t sure whether or not to use a blog or an rss feed for his marketing website. It takes some time to hash out the details on his target market, the website he wants to promote, his marketing objectives, and his available time.

Hello Laura:

I am looking for more enlightenment please! I have followed your advice and started an RSS feed. I followed it again and learned from Rick Butts on (using free) blogs (to gain rank and positioning).

But now I am not sure when to use RSS or Blog and how best to tie the two together. Perhaps others among your clients have the same query. I would very much like to see some guidance on this on your website. Or have I missed something and can you direct me elsewhere?

Regards
Stephen

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Hi Stephen!

Great to hear from you again!

You’re right I have had this conversation one-on-one with at least 2 of my other clients…posting something in the Member’s Area isn’t particularly helpful because everyone’s needs and best [tag]marketing strategy[/tag] will differ. That’s one of the reasons I offer personal assistance…

How you use either a feed, or a [tag]blog[/tag], or both is really quite a personal matter based on many factors:

a) how much time do you have?
b) what you are hoping to gain from using other media.
c) the type of relationships you build with your clients.
d) ‘where the money is’ for your particular service or products.

So I’ll just take a moment on each point here and you and I can collaborate further on the specifics if you like…

a) It is my personal opinion that blogs are time hogs when you already have an established html based [tag]website[/tag]. Adding an [tag]RSS feed[/tag], on the other hand, to an established website is as fast as writing email. For instance I manage and maintain 9 feeds right now. Takes me less than 10 minutes per day to add one item to each and ftp to each server. It would take me over 1/2 hour to complete one blog post. I’m playing around with this concept right now on my personal site. I’m in the midst of some testing (in public) on which media drives more traffic – blogs or rss feeds. Of course I’m using a blog to do this testing and as it stands I haven’t had time to update it for over 2 weeks – . At any rate if you want to follow the stream it starts here: http://www.smartzville.com/blog.htm (as a Stampede Secret customer you personally won’t learn anything new there).

b) The gain – What is your primary goal for the website you’re marketing? Traffic? Search enging positioning? Relationships? Branding? List building? (Again what you’ll get from either RSS or a blog, depends on the age and size of the site you’re promoting.)

c) Relationship building/branding. You’ve probably figured out by now that if you want to build a relationship with your clients or a ‘following’, a full blown blog would be your best option. If you want to build a list – then I personally would use an RSS Feed to drive traffic, and get your opt-in email form on every page (with an enticing offer to subscribe). And if you’re just looking for page rank based on [tag]keywords[/tag], Ricks information on using Blogger for this purpose alone is very good. (ed. note: Rick’s information is no longer available for sale.)

d) Where is your income? Is it in the ‘back end’? Or in the front lines? I guess this ties into (b), the goal, which really should have been the first question I asked…

Let’s keep talking…or just take it from here if you don’t want to collaborate – I know how busy you must be this time of year, but I’m here to help.

Laura Childs
www.stampedesecret.com

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Further notes in this stream passed by email are:

“I do see here in this conversation that increasing your [tag]search engine ranking[/tag] for your existing website is your number one priority. If spending time daily writing fresh content for your site is not a stretch for your time, then I would suggest creating a full blown blog, hosted on your own site, that allows you to edit the dynamically generated RSS Feed. Stay on topic in the blog and ensure that all posts are keyword rich. (The keywords that you want to be in the top 10 for in each paragraph, blog title, post titles, etc.)

So Stephen, as we continue on in this conversation, tell me what type of blog you’ve decided on…

1) cutting and pasting text from your pages into blogger with link backs or,

2) actually writing and managing full blown fresh content into a blog on a regular basis.”

Then, a few days later in response to another query regarding keywords and topics in [tag]blogs vs. rss feeds[/tag]:

“Use a seperate blog/feed for every topic. If two of the sites you are promoting are targetting the same keywords you can marry them into one feed or blog. Again, the big issue here is of time – for every feed you create you’ll want to submit it to the 40+ directories for maximum exposure.

Stephen if you have any time take the free keyword course – I’d worked online for 8-9 years and learned heaps from that free course regarding keywords. Even if you just pick up one tidbit of information from it, it is time well spent.”

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Parts of this letter have been edited to protect the integrity of ideas from the email author. I will never post full names or any contact information, although I keep copies of all my correspondence should I ever need to provide proof of authenticity.