Which email are you more likely to read: one with
your name on it or one without? Chances are, you
will choose the former. Well, you are not alone.
Statistics have shown that people are more than
twice as likely to open and read an email that is
personally addressed to them. But how can you
benefit from this fact?
Personalize your emails!
Whenever you send emails to your prospects or
ezine subscribers, have their names appear on the
subject headings. This simple tip can easily
double your earnings.
But wait, how are you going to get them to
"willingly" tell you their names?
If you run an ezine (which is an absolute MUST
for your online success), your primary goal is to
get the email addresses of your potential
subscribers. Don't try to ask for their first
names, last names, gender, age, or any other
personal information.
With the increasing number of online scams, it is
not difficult to see why people hate to divulge
their personal data, especially on their first
contact. Why should they? They hardly know you.
You should be happy if they are willing to give
you their email addresses. Ask for anything more
and they may not even subscribe.
"What Alan? I thought you just said we should
personalize our emails? How can we do so without
asking for their names in the first place?"
You can, and you should ask for their names. But
not on the first contact.
An example always makes things clearer. Take a
look at http://www.profitjump.com. You see that I
only ask for the email address of those who wish
to subscribe. Once they enter their email
addresses and hit the "Subscribe" button, the real
action begins...
Notice that I say all new subscribers will receive
3 free gifts? After I've received their
subscription requests, I send them a "Thank You"
note. This note also tells them how to get their
free gifts by simply replying to my
autoresponder. This time they will be emailing me
using their email programs, which are usually
configured to include their names. The second
"free gift" request email that I receive from them
will now contain their names. Bingo!
Even if they don't reply to my autoresponder, I
still get their email addresses. :-)
Still can't figure out how this works? Then see it
in action! Just go to http://www.profitjump.com
and do a subscription request. You'll get the
picture in a minute.
Now I'm not going to leave you hanging there. You
can implement what I've done right away. Here are
the resources:
1) To set up a form page (where subscribers give
you their email addresses):
http://cgi.tj/scripts/alienform
- what I use
http://cgi-resources.com
- choose from a collection of CGI scripts
2) Autoresponder:
http://www.autobots.net
- I prefer this to others as it does not carry
any annoying advertisements
3) Software to organize and send your personalized
emails:
http://www.group-mail.com
- This award winning software will solve many of
your email management problems.
When you ask for your subscribers' names right
from the start, they become defensive and may even
reconsider subscribing to your ezine. Or they may
just give you fake names which really defeats the
whole purpose. Don't let them! Ask for their names
only after they have subscribed. It is usually
easier that way.
Remember: More Subscribers + Personalized Emails
Double Your Sales!
About the Author
Alan Yap, founding editor of
ProfitJump. Learn the "unconventional" tricks that
he uses to grow his ezine to 4,000+ subscribers in
just 2 months! Visit http://www.profitjump.com or
subscribe at mailto:subscribe@profitjump.com
and receive 3 Bonus Reports.