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According to the CAN-SPAM law of 2004, technically, you can send numerous emails to people you don’t know if you do the following:

1. You should use a legitimate mailing system. This means that you cannot use proxy mailers, hide your headers or otherwise pull tricks to hide your identity. You also can’t fake your headers and you can’t use a fake domain name either. Be sure that you don’t send your email via computer terminals that are infected with Trojans and/or spamming viruses.
2. You must include a working OPT OUT or REMOVE link in your emails. Another regulation brought about by the CAN-SPAM law is that, if you are marketing adult material, you must label your emails to signify adult content.

Play it safe:  Opt-in marketing as a form of traffic/lead filtering

While the current federal standard allows for opt out marketing, the safest and most profitable way to generate sales with your mailing list is through OPT-IN marketing. Always include in your websites a page that gives your existing traffic the opportunity to opt-in to your list. This is all part of the process of ‘filtering’ or ‘qualifying’ your sales lead. There are several filtering processes happening: the surfer found your website, they are interested in your product and request more information, you email them updated information, and they buy. By empowering the user to filter himself according to his interests, you conserve your marketing firepower to those that are the most likely buyers of your product.

EMAIL Marketing Tips

Emailing is a very powerful marketing tool if you use it properly. Like any other communication plan, this method also requires a strategy. You should be very keen on smoothly pushing as much of the eyeballs that see your subject lines in their inbox through all the filtering processes of your website to their final destination: your order form.

Here are some effective ways to make the most out of your emailing efforts.

Avoid SPAM Filters

• Do not use trigger words. Even if you are using an opt-in list, your mail would not get through the SPAM filters. Your mail must avoid the increasingly sophisticated SPAM filters of email providers. Trigger words are product names or ‘hype’ type words including ‘guaranteed’ or ‘free’. If you are to use these words, be sure to format them. Formatted text should look something like this, V_I+A_G*R_A. Also, don’t forget to format commonly used description words like free, guaranteed, enlargement, male enhancement, penis pill, and the like. These words trigger the SPAM guard, and they will get caught, and you won’t be able to reach your market.
• Do not use too many exclamation points. The SPAM filters are also sensitive with this punctuation mark.
• Do not label your pictures using the trigger words. If you have a picture of Viagra pills in your html email, don’t label the pictures.
• Use link and URL encoders.  There are many programs out there that allow you to encode your URLs.  This prevents snooping email recipients as well as competitors wishing to hotlink your promotional materials.
• Outsmart the SPAM filters’ text/HTML ratio detectors.  Be mindful of your html and text ratio – 60% of your newsletter should be in text, and the other 40% can be used for html. If you use purely html, then your email will be blocked. Remember, the more text you use, the better. Don’t use garbage text; use actual readable compositions like stories or news. If you’re worried that your email might now look abnormal because of too many texts, then you can format the text in white color in an html email. In doing this, your text will not appear in your newsletter, but you got your email through.

Make the recipient open your Email and make the sale

Your email went through the filters and is now in your market’s mailbox. Once the recipient opens your email, you’ve won half the battle. Now, the question is, how are you going to make them click open your email before it’s directed to the TRASH folder?

• Build loyalty with your traffic. Keep your email recipients updated with new products, and demonstrate to them that the information that you have is important. Don’t let them equate your mail with crap. Crap email gets sent to the trash.
• Pack content in your email. If you’re selling male enhancement products, add useful men’s health articles and place links where they can opt-in. These methods also make you gain credibility in selling your product. If you’re selling adult material, then send sample movies and pictures. Make sure that these are new content and not recycled material. If you’re selling Viagra or other male products, include scientific literature to be able to hold the readers’ attention.
• Do not make your readers lose faith in the quality you offer. Send important emails only. There should be substantial content, and also be mindful of the length of the material. Frequency also matters. You can shoot out mails up to three times a week only to keep them interested.
• Catch the attention of your reader, and keep them interested. How do you do this?
  • Keep it short. An effective heading should be like a title of a news report. It should be short, concise, yet interesting
  • Use open ended subject lines. For example, you can use lines like, When you thought it was over…or Who could forget….These kinds of phrases should tease the readers imagination. Just be sure that these lines are related to the product talked about in your email so that the readers will opt-in. The subject should be appealing and should have a tied relationship with the rest of your content.
  • Keep your email text short. Keep in mind that these people don’t have much time to read and they have very short attention spans – they don’t have the patience for long text. For you to be able to sell you should be able to make them read and they won’t read if it’s too short. A two-paragraph text should suffice, and insert pictures. It should be short, entertaining, and useful
  • Include related links to give more information to help you close the deal. Remember, you will lose them if you give too much information. Tell a story about your product and answer their common questions.  But be as CONCISE as possible.  Answer the basic question of what you are selling, why should it appeal to them, when can they get it, and how it works and how do they get it. Make links available to support the information that you have.
  • Your support pages should answer key questions that the customer might have. This area should be your “push” or your “Call to action.” You need to get your readers to go to the next and final level – the Order form.
  • Your Order Form should be short and simple to understand. The less fields, the better. This is your one-shot chance in making a sale so you’d better make it as fast and easy for your customer as possible.

The bottom line is that you should be able to make your sales process as smooth as you can. You should get into the inbox, make them open the mail, make them read the mail, click on the links to go to the support pages, and finally click on the order form. In each step, you risk losing people by the hundreds. That is why you should be very careful in following the advice stated above. You may start with millions of people but you’ll probably end up with a few determined customers that would last until the order form. The path towards the order form gets narrower and narrower in each step, you have to be very careful in implementing your strategy. There is no doubt that you’ll have more sales when you successfully follow the guide we have provided.

Article by UKWebmasters.net.

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