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Using Online Courses for Internet Marketing

By Gary Knox on August 26, 2010

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Online courses, or email courses are becoming an increasingly popular way for savvy Internet marketers to promote their products and services. Online courses or email courses essentially include short online presentations or emails which include insightful information on a particular niche subject. These courses are usually offered in multiple, short segments to keep the students interested in the topic. This type of advertising serves a useful purpose and many of the participants do not even realize they are being subjected to a marketing campaign.

The creation of an online course should begin with a solid idea for a series of educational articles which pertain to your business and will be of interest to your potential customers. Educational email courses can sometimes be sold for profit themselves but if you are interested in using the courses as marketing tools you will most likely be offering these courses free of charge in an effort to entice potential customers to purchase your products or services.

Determining the topic of your courses is very important because it can dictate the success of your marketing effort. Consider an online retailer of running shoes. This business owner may want to develop a series of email courses on subjects such as training for a marathon, preventing injuries, increasing speed and running for fun. Each of these courses may contain a few segments which offer different perspectives on the subject. These courses are ideal for this business because they are subjects which are likely to be of interest to the customers of the business. Likewise a real estate agent may opt to offer email courses on subjects such as understanding mortgage options, finding a lender or house hunting. Again these are all subjects which are likely to be of interest to the real estate agents clients.

The distribution list for your online or email courses should mostly include members of your target audience. This can be achieved by either offering the course as a download online where only interested Internet users will partake in the course or only emailing the course to recipients who have specifically expressed an interest in receiving more information about your products and services and have submitted their email address for this purpose.

Once you decide on a subject for your online or email course, seek out a qualified writer to create the content for your online or email course. This will help to give your copy a more professional appearance. The writer can assist you by creating copy which is informative and useful to your readers but is also well written, clear, concise and easy to understand. If your niche topic is highly specialized you might have to provide the writer with product information as well as research materials to ensure the content is informative and accurate. Additionally, you should review the content once it is completed to verify the accuracy.

When distributing your email course or launching your online course, it is helpful to request feedback from the users as the conclusion of the course. This is completely voluntary but when users respond they can provide you with useful feedback which will be extremely helpful if you intend to launch a similar marketing campaign in the future.

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Increasing Your Sales With Autoresponders

By Gary Knox on August 25, 2010

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The autoresponder is without a doubt one of the best marketing tools you can get.  It is a widely used application that will automatically respond to any email that it receives.  They are considered to be magical indeed, triggered by a blank email that they receive to their address.  Once they receive this email, they automatically start working for your business.

Whenever someone sends the autoresponder a message, the individual who sent the message will receive a preset email message with the information they were seeking.  Depending on the servers and speed of the Internet, the email response will happen very fast.  Autoresponders have always been known for their quick speed and fast responses to any type of email message they receive.

One of the best things about autoresponders is the fact that they are always available.  They are always there 24/7, providing your clients and customers with the information they seek.  They will make your business life easier, by boosting your sales.   They require little work from you, yet they are easy to operate.  They can also make managing your customers and clients easier than ever, as they will help you keep track of your responses and keep up with email addresses you receive.

Even if you’ve never used an autoresponder before, you can easily use it to your advantage with your online business.  You can preset it to say a variety of messages, even inform your clients about future offers and products.  This is a great way to get your message out there, especially if you are currently holding a sale or other deal that you know people won’t want to miss out on.  Autoresponders will work for you day or night, making your company information available to anyone whenever they want it.

Contrary to popular belief, not all buyers are impulse buyers.  Research has shown that less than 15% of those who visit websites are impulse buyers.  Although most websites focus themselves on getting visitors to buy their products immediately, most buyers need time to think about a product or offer they will purchase it.  Most buyers don’t like to buy something immediately, simply because they may not be familiar with the product or know what it can do for them.  Therefore, most buyers will learn all they can about something before they decide to go ahead and purchase it.

You can also use an autoresponder to distribute courses, articles or reports to your clients and subscribers.  They are also great for providing free information to interested individuals, or immediately sending out information about your products and opportunities.  You can also choose to send out price lists as well, or welcome new clients to your organization.  If customers have purchased from you before, you can use an autoresponder to send out confirmations, thank you notes, and even offer discounts to those who buy your products.

In the world of Internet marketing, autoresponders are simply beneficial to have.  They are worth more than the price you pay for them, simply because they will provide you with so much for so little.

All in all, an autoresponder will help you operate your business easier than ever before.  Unlike other programs you can get for your online business, autoresponders will keep you in a constant state of readiness.  You can feel free to go out and do what you want – and rest assured that your autoresponder will be there to supply information to those who need it.

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Using Words Effectively in Email Marketing Campaigns

By Gary Knox on August 24, 2010

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Just as you would like to attract attention with the web copy on your web site, there is also the need to structure promotional emails so that they will catch the attention of consumers, and help to generate interest in the goods or services that you have for sale. There are a couple of key factors to keep in mind when you put together a promotional email.

First, the subject line for your targeted email needs to include elements that will grab the attention of the reader. There are several schools of thought on how to best accomplish this.

One approach is to employ a question in the subject line. The idea behind the question is that people have a tendency to not overlook a question, while a statement may not make much of an impression.

Because the question will result in more people at least stopping to consider the email, the chances that the promotion will be opened and read increases. This at least gets the promotional email past the first obstacle, which is being junked by a consumer without being read.

Another approach is to build on the relationship that you already have with the consumer. Assuming that the email campaign is directed at persons who have done business with you in the past, you may want to include an identifying mark in the subject line, such as the name of your company, or the name of the product that was previously purchased.

Using a familiar term helps to create instant recognition. If the consumer had a favorable experience with your company in the past, there is an excellent chance that he or she will open the email and take a few moments to read through your epistle.

Of course, once you have gotten through the minefield associated with getting the consumer to open the email, it is imperative to entice the prospect to keep reading after the first couple of sentences. Most people today are not interested in long winded emails that seem to have no end in sight. This means you want to do several things with the text to keep them reading.

First, use short paragraphs. When the email is opened, the eye will quickly note how many solid lines of text occur before there is a break of some sort. The brain immediately sends out a signal that reading this email is going to be a tiring process, and there is a good chance the email will be scanned at best, then abandoned. This impression can be avoided by using shorter paragraphs that focus on one aspect of the subject.

Breaks in the text make it easier to digest the whole email in manageable pieces. The end result is that you have the chance to build your sales pitch point by point as the reader moves through the text of the email.

Using bullets in the body of an email can also be effective. However, it is important to keep the bullets focused and short. Using a bunch of words to create what amounts to a bulleted paragraph will quickly cause the reader to lose interest.

A bullet should contain no more than seven to ten words, and focus on one complete thought that the consumer can easily relate to and digest. Remember, the purpose of the bullet is to present an idea, not expound on it. You can always do that on your web copy. Don’t try to accomplish that with any email, and certainly not in a bullet contained in the body of the email.

Another good thing to keep in mind about the wording in an email is to not get complicated. Employing the old business adage of KISS is ideal for crafting email text. The need to keep the wording simple and easy to read is essential.

You may have only a few seconds to attract the attention of the reader, and that is most certainly accomplished by using words that do not cause the consumer to pause and have to think about what the word may mean. Technical wording should be kept at a minimum, thus keeping the talking points accessible to just about everyone who might read the email.

The main factor to keep in mind with the use of words in promotional emails is that the text needs to be easily read, does not seem to be overwhelming, and is focused enough to increase interest in going to the web site for more details.

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