If you have been online for a while, one of the most well know ways of selling online is to build an optin email list or ezine. So now there are thousands of email ezines on just about every possible topic.
Hey- it is a proven tool, so you should use it however some ezine owners have a mental break down when they get some subscribers, its like AHA! Now I have your email address, I am going to sell you every affiliate program I can find.
Don’t get me wrong ezines take a lot of time and effort to put together and its natural for the owner to make a few bucks for his effort. At the same time they should not try to rape your pocket at every chance.
This defeats the main purpose of the email list : to build trust. Lets put it this way, if every week I said "X" tool was the best, and every week a new tool or special, then it would not take look for the subscribers to work out- this guy is suggesting every tool that makes a buck- lose of creabilty in minutes is the result.
So let’s set some rules for the list owner:
You own it - before you recommend something you should already own it, otherwise its like trying to tell somebody about a movie by looking at the posters out side.
Write a review - What did you like about the product/tool or service, but also what could be improved. What progress did you make from it? At the same time if you are still testing, say that too.
Be honest – No product is perfect, is there something that could be added. In some cases maybe you created a spreadsheet or some kind of form to help the product work better- offer this as a special bonus, if someone orders- just get them to forward the receipt of purchase to you and you will send the helpful form.
Be focused- Joining 100 affiliate programs will not help- focus on a few good ones and then repeat them at different times in your ezine- let your subscribers know that they are good tools, and they will thank you for it
Take a stand – I have to give credit to the publisher, Jim Edwards for this one- If you have tried something and it didn’t work let your subscriber know, together with why you think it didn’t work- try to keep it very factual with numbers.
Stay in for the long haul – Take time out to work out that things take time, and marketing online is no different. It can be very low cost compared to a business online but it takes time and effort to work.
Ask and accept feedback- Using email is very efficient for this, but at the same time you need to offer reason, a gift of some sort in exchange for feedback-everybody is short of time. Let your subscribers tell you what they need.
Balance - If you always offer freebies, and then decide to sell something, your subscribers may not be very responsive.
I guess the short end of it is mutual respect between the subscribers and the ezine owner. The subscriber has trusted you with his email information, you as the list owner needs to respect this information.
