How to Plan an Email Campaign In 6 Simple Steps

Planning an email campaign is not quite as tough as eating an elephant, but the process is very similar. So how exactly does one eat an elephant? (A huge ELEPHANT?!?) The answer will be, "Ya eat it one bite at a time!"

The way to complete any large task has essentially the same answer, "One step at a time." Taken all-at-once it may be overwhelming. Break it down into its elements, into small bite-sized pieces, and those really don't look formidable in any way. The individual steps can each be relatively simple, something that's no big problem, that you can do. And when you've completed all the steps, you suddenly realize that you've come all the way from the beginning to the end of completing the project! It is exactly the same with how to plan an email campaign.. Here then is the way you approach the elephantine task of planning an email campaign, in 6 simple steps.

Step 1.
Determine how long you want the email to be.

With this you need to decide if you want to include full articles in the email or just teaser paragraphs and links to your web site.. If shorter is better, then linking to your web site is the best way to go. Keep in mind what your readers prefer. Some may want to have the whole article in the email. This is something you may want to test.

Step 2.
Decide how often you want to send email.

This step will be important because if you send email too frequently, your subscribers may decide to opt out of your list. However, if you send email too infrequently you run the risk of subscribers forgetting they ever signed up. In general it is better to send too few email than send too many. The answer really lies with the quality of the content of the email. If the content is valued by the subscriber, then they will not complain about frequent email.

Step 3.
Determine the best time to send email.

This will depend upon your subscribers and will require some testing and time to determine. Generally, email for business seem to get the best open rates on Tuesday through Thursday, between 10 am and 2 pm. But, this can vary with different types of subscribers.

Step 4.
Generating an email list.

This involves setting up opt in forms on your web site and/or if you are a retail type establishment you can have customers sign up for your list at your place of business. To get the best results you need to offer an incentive in exchange for the customers email. This can take the form of free reports, white papers or coupons and discounts.

Step 5.
Avoid email being filtered.

A key point you will want to remember here will be there is no way to guarantee that all of your email can avoid being filtered. The best approach is to avoid using common spam words such as "free" and avoid using "ALL CAPS". Many of the email services offer email testing services were you can determine if your content has a problem. then you can make changes before sending out the email.

Step 6.
Writing quality content.

This is a very important step. You always want to be giving your readers something of quality. That is why they subscribed to your list. If readers do not find value with the content of your email they may not opt out, but they will stop opening it. Either way you are not communicating with your customers.

Email marketing is an art. You need to keep providing enough quality content to keep your subscribers opening your email. Then along the way you can put in a sales pitch and they will be more likely to respond.

3 Simple Steps To Find The Best Affiliate Online Program

One of the most difficult aspects of affiliate marketing for most people is how to find the best affiliate online program. The problem is that most people pick products or affiliate online programs to promote that are no good. It's just as important to pick the right products to promote as it is to drive traffic to those products.

The first step is to look at the market the product is in. Competition is important, but not as much as most people think. What is a market? A market is the people who are actually buying the products you wish to promote. You may pick a product like wedding dresses, for example, to promote. What you will find is that a very large portion of women looking for wedding dresses online are not buying these online. They are looking for information related to dresses, not the actual dresses. If your product is the dresses themselves, you will be terribly disappointed. If you are promoting a product that teaches women how to find the best wedding dress, you might make more sales and therefore make more money.

The second thing to look at when talking about the best affiliate online program is how hungry the market is for that type of product. A recipe book isn't going to make much money online. Why? Because there is way too much information related to recipes people can get online for free, so why would they pay for it? A product such as help with anxiety and panic attacks, on the other hand, is different. People will pay very well for a product like that, and they usually do. This is what is referred to as a desperate niche. So make sure you do your research and find what products people are buying, and buying big time. Don't waste your time promoting products with information that people can find for free, or simply won't pay for, online.

The third, and final important aspect of finding great programs is to look at the income potential for that kind of product. Can you build a business around it or is it just a fly by night kind of product? Internet marketing, for example, makes a huge amount of money online, however, today's hot products can very quickly become tomorrows old news. Find a product that will allow you to turn it into a long term income stream.

These are the basics for choosing the best affiliate online programs, but there is more to learn. Keep going with your education, and keep working. It does pay off eventually, if you do the work and invest the time to learn all you can about the affiliate marketing business model.

How To Make Use Of Videos To Maximize Your Online Profits

Using videos to promote an online business has become an integral part of Internet marketing over the last few years. But the way you present your videos to your website visitors will make a big difference as to how they respond to them, so it is important to get some of the simple things right.

There are three points that are worth bearing in mind when preparing a video for publication on your website. They are:

1. Make it pleasant to watch.

No, you don't have to spend a fortune on setting up a studio. All you need to do is to pay attention to the small variables that can make a big difference to the quality of the video.

For example, make sure that there is no background noise - or as little noise as possible. Shut your windows, turn off your television, shut the door of your room and turn off any noisy appliances while making the video.

Think about the lighting. If you are indoors, avoid glaring lights, and minimize shadows. Take some trial shots and check them out first. Then, adjust the lighting to suit your environment.

For outdoor shots, don't have the sun either shining straight in your face (unless you are playing a cool dude and wearing eye shades). Also, don't have the sun shining into the camera. A shady spot on a bright day makes good sense.

2. Provide your viewers with a script.

This is something most people neglect to do, but providing a script of the video has several advantages. Firstly, if you use a script it will help you to make a smoother presentation even if you don't stick to it word for word. No one wants to have to sit through a 5 minute video that consists mostly of humming and hawing.

A script will also prevent you from forgetting key details and having to do a retake.

You can also publish your script alongside your video, or offer it as part of an upgrade package.

3. Don't force people to watch your video.

You might be tempted by the auto-play feature when you upload your videos. Try to avoid this temptation because not everybody who visits your website will want to watch your video. If they click on your link and hear a video start to play automatically, they will probably disappear very fast and not come back!

Offer people the choice of watching the video or not. Add some text that introduces what the video is about. Again, if you have published a script, people will then be able to choose whether to watch or read in order to get the information you are providing. You might also want to think about offering an audio-only version of your recording for those people who prefer to listen without watching.

There are numerous ways that you can make online video much more effective (and profitable); but offering a comfortable viewing experience, with text and audio alternatives, without trying to force visitors to view your video will make the overall experience more attractive to your website visitors.