Many entrepreneurs start email marketing campaigns because they provide an easy, inexpensive way to stay in touch with prospects and clients. But beware! If you’re not following these few simple rules, your “free” marketing could land you with thousands of dollars in fines.

Keeping these best practices in mind before you hit the Send button will ensure that your email is CAN-SPAM compliant:

Ensure subscriber privacy. Never, ever, ever share your readers’ email addresses or other personal information. And likewise, don’t ever use email addresses that were shared with you. Make sure your subscribers have specifically asked to be added to your mailing list.

This seems simple enough, but if you’re new to email marketing and you’re trying to do it all yourself from your own PC (as I’ve seen many new entrepreneurs do) you need to pay special attention to this point. If you create a distribution list in Outlook and use that list in your “To:” field, you’ve just shared every email address with every reader! If you absolutely must maintain your own list, enter your own email address in the “To:” field and your distribution list in the “Bcc:” field.

If you want to be really, really safe, use a double opt-in process. This simply means, when someone subscribes to your publication, he must confirm his subscription before he is actually added to your mailing list. If you don’t use a double opt-in, you’re not violating any CAN-SPAM laws, but double opt-in is definitely a best practice.

Allow your readers to easily get off your list. Each and every email must should include an easy-to-use unsubscribe link. Once a reader asks to be unsubscribed, you only have 10 days to remove them from your list. Fortunately, most email marketing software packages and online services will handle the unsubscribe process for you automatically. If you’re keeping your own list, make sure you maintain it in a very timely manner.

Be sure to include your contact information in each and every email. CAN-SPAM laws require that you include your name, phone number and a physical address. This can be a sticky situation for the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs who works from home. Technically speaking, PO Boxes are “not allowed”, but as of this writing, I have not heard of anyone being fined for using a PO Box instead of a physical address. Personally, I don’t feel comfortable including my home address in mailings to thousands of anonymous readers. So, for now, I’m taking my chances and using a PO Box.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE Can-Spam checklist and FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at http://www.modernimage.com/freereports/canspam.htm .

Here’s a GREAT way for you to save time, save money, and increase your sales leads. Let me tell you a quick little story…

I have a client for whom I run a lead generation direct mail campaign. I’ve been trying to persuade him to move some of the campaign online in order to cut down costs and increase conversions. He’s been a pretty hard sell, but I’ve finally managed to convince him.

So, what was it that got him to step out of the Stone Age and into the 21st Century? It was simply a matter of running the numbers. Let’s take a look at some of the hidden costs of his direct mail campaign that he hasn’t been considering:

Additional Hidden Postage Fees
With the recent postage hikes, the additional cost of mailing is an obvious factor. But my client didn’t consider how his campaign was fully impacted by the rate increases. Now that shaped-based postage is in effect, his overall campaign cost is more expensive because he’s using the less expensive padded envelope. His campaign is already in need of an overhaul to maximize the savings that are available to him. So now is a great time to make the changes I suggested.

Man Hours
My client never realized how much time his employees are spending on packing and printing and shipping. He considers payroll as a human resources expense and never allocated a payroll line item in figuring out his direct mail ROI. When we actually sat down and looked at it, he was amazed at how many payroll dollars this direct mail project is eating up.

Storage Space
My client has tons of space dedicated to housing his cases of padded envelopes (which, by the way, take up a lot of room), video tapes (I told you he was in the Stone Age), audio CDs and the rest of the items for his campaign. Yet, when he hired a new administrative assistant, he couldn’t find anywhere to put her desk. (And, just between you and me, he did get in trouble once with the fire marshall for having boxes stacked too high near the ceiling.)

Opportunity Costs
A lot of time and money goes into his direct mail campaign – time and money that could be spent elsewhere.

So he agreed to move the campaign on line. I suggested we start small and test it out for a few months. Here are the steps I followed that you can easily recreate with your own campaigns:

1. Redesigned the ad that had been running in a specialized magazine. Instead of telling prospects to call a phone number to request a direct mail package, I sent them to a special landing page.

2. Created a landing page to be used only for this ad. The page mimicked the look and feel of the magazine ad and focused strictly on the lead generation device. Check out my free report on maximizing lead generation for more details on how this works.

3. Broke the direct mail package into several smaller steps. The original physical product contains a welcome letter, a brochure, an audio CD, a videotape, a checklist and several miscellaneous printed pieces. All that material can be overwhelming to a brand new prospect. I decided to deliver each piece individually, over time.

4. Digitized each piece. The printed materials were turned into PDF files, the audio was turned into an MP3 file and the video was turned into a flash movie.

5. Opened an autoresponder account. My client decided to use the same autoresponder service that I use in my own business because it’s easy to use and extremely cost effective.

6. Created the autoresponder messages. Individual email messages were created to automatically deliver the pieces over time. This was much less overwhelming than having a huge package loaded with tons of materials land with a thud on the doorstep. And, because the email messages are very warm and personal, the prospect feels like he is really getting to know the company.

So, how did it all work out? Well, we’re still midway through our six-month testing period, but my client is already foaming at the mouth to move the rest of the campaign online. He’s noticed a huge increase in the conversion rate of the online prospects versus the direct mail prospects. His current direct mail process involves mailing out the lead generation package, then following up with the prospect by phone a few days later. Usually, that phone conversation goes something like this:

Company Rep: Hi, this is Jane Doe from XYZ Corporation. I’m calling to see if you received our super duper lead generation package.

Prospect: Yeah, I got it the other day, but I haven’t had time to look through it all yet.

Company Rep: Well, I’m sure that after you’ve reviewed it all, you’ll agree that we offer the best widgets on the market. So please give us a call as soon as you’re ready to make a purchase.

Prospect: OK, sure. Goodbye.

Not very productive, is it? With the new online system, I was able to totally revamp that process. Now, a company representative contacts the prospect personally only after all the individual messages and pieces have been delivered. By this time, the prospect has been receiving several personalized email messages and he’s already warmed up to the company. Plus, because the pieces were gradually delivered over time, the prospect has had time to review them all. The follow up phone calls are warm and friendly and the conversion rate has increased dramatically.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE report on maximizing lead generation at your website. Download your copies at http://www.ModernImage.com.

The race for supremacy in the internet based businesses has been really heating up and many sites have been put up to help others to get ahead for a small fee. But there are also ways in which you don’t have to pay so much to make yourself a good list of loyal followers. Having a satisfied web traffic and visitors allows you to put up a foundation wherein you can build an opt-in list and make it grow from there.

An opt-in list allows you to provide newsletters to your subscribers with their consent. When people sign up, they know that they will be receiving updates and news from your site and the industry your represent via an e-mail. But that doesn’t mean that all of those who subscribe read them at all. Many lists have been built due to an attachment with free software or for a promotional discount and such. Some are not really interested in receiving e-mails from companies and just treat them as waste of cyberspace and delete or trash them without so mush as opening the e-mail and scanning them.

You can change all that. While forwarding an email message is relatively after producing your newsletter. Getting people to open them is not as easy. You don’t want to waste all the time and effort used in making the newsletters, you want people to read them and have their interests piqued. Interested enough to go to your website and look around and most especially purchased and acquire your products or services.

One of the numerous ways you can tempt or persuade your subscriber is by providing a well thought out and well written subject. The subject of an email is what is often referred to when a person or a recipient of an email decides whether he or she wants to open or read an e-mail. The subject could easily be regarded as one of the most important aspect of your promotional e-mail.

Your subject must be short and concise. They should provide a summary for the content of the e-mail so that the recipient will have basic knowledge of the content. This is really vital in grabbing the attention of your readers and subscribers. You want your subject to instantly grab the attention of your subscriber and get them to be intrigued to open up your mail. Remember, it is not necessarily true that a subscriber opens up subscribed mails.

A good subject must always be tickling the curiosity of your recipient. It must literally force the recipient to open the mail. A certain emotion must be ignited and get them to open the mail. It is essential to use specific words to get the reaction you need. Keep in mind that the recipient or subscribers spends only a few seconds looking over each subject of the e-mails he receives. You must grab your reader’s attention right away.

There are many forms you can use for your subject. You can provide a subject that says your e-mail contains content that teaches them tips and methods on certain topics. An example of this is using keywords and keyword phrases such as, “How to” , “tips”, “Guides to”, Methods in and others like that.

You can also put your subject in a question form. These may include questions like, “Are you sick and tired of your job?” Or “Is your boss always on your case?” Try to stay on the topic that pertains to your site so that you’ll know that your subscribers have signed up because they are interested in that topic. This form of subject is very effective because they reach out to your recipients emotions. When they have read the question on your subject, their mind starts answering the question already.

You can also use a subject that commands your reader. Statements such as “Act now and get this once in a lifetime opportunity”, or “Double, triple and even quadruple what you are earning in one year”. This type of subject deals with the benefits your company provides with your product and services.

You may also use breaking news as your subject to intrigue your subscriber. For example, if you deal with car engine parts you can write in your subject, “Announcing the new engine that uses no gasoline, It runs on water”. This creates curiosity with the reader and will lead them to open the mail and read on.

Remember, creativity is the key. Above all else, don’t be like anyone else. Bring out yourself in your emails and you may truly attract positive attention towards your home business opportunity or online business in general.

Don Alexander is owner of leading-online-business.com
and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more
about this topic Don recommends you visit http://www.leading-online-business.com

When choosing a topic to publish your ezine on, you must consider some important success factors that can determine the flow and goal of your ezine.

You are encouraged to write non-time sensitive contents such as short tips, mini stories and interviews. Doing so enables you to create content in advance so that you can conveniently dispense to your subscribers at a later schedule.

Topic-wise, you will do well to cater to a starving market that will always be on demand for the kind of content you offer. And by this, I mean that you should zero in onto a demand that has been, is and will always be there.

Relationships and dating are niches that have been on Earth long before the World Wide Web came up, for example. The food niche will always be there as long as there are chefs cooking for anyone with a stomach to fill.

Having said that, you also want to have a steady stream of products or services of your own or an affiliate for you can endorse to your mailing list and make even more money.

This is also the reason why the internet marketing niche will remain one of the hottest niches there is, as products and services are created almost around the clock. As long as there Internet Businesses cropping out, there will always be needs to be fulfilled.
eZine publishers today use any one or more of the 3 most commonly used eZine formats which I am about to describe to you in this article.

Ultimately, you can decide which format is the best choice for you, though each winning format has its pros and cons.

The text eZine is the most commonly published. The advantage of this format is that other than writing, you do not require any special skill to use a Word or Notepad program.

While the HTML eZine format requires a certain degree of HTML skills on your part, you can add more sophisticated features to your eZine issues, making them more appealing to your subscriber thus increases your readership value, something that text eZines do not have.

You can decorate your eZine format, change your fonts, include pictures, and more. However, the drawback often faced by HTML eZines is that they often get trapped into spam filters before they reach their subscribers’ inboxes.

The third and least used among the 3 formats is the PDF eZine. Publishing your eZine in PDF format can consume a lot of time and effort on your part but often make up in quality readership

Due to the commitment, PDF eZines are usually published on a monthly basis. The great part, though, is that you can put in your affiliate links in your PDF eZine issue and allow your subscribers to pass the eZine issue around.

Given the choices, however, you do not have to necessarily choose strictly one eZine format, as some eZine publishers today do publish in more than one format.

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code.
He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses
at: http://www.InternetMillionaireBlueprints.com

I’ve met a number of businesses that advertise both online and offline and most of the time I ask a simple question, “What return of investment do you receive as a result of your investment?”

In most cases I get an answer equivalent to that of a blank stare often it is a blank stare.

I have to shake my head, though usually I want to shake them and scream “Why aren’t you testing!” How much money are you burning by investing on an ad and not even knowing what the returns are? There are many ways to lower your advertising costs, you must put into good practice on how to do it effectively.

After watching client after client throw away hard earned money out the window, I figured it was high time I wrote this article to teach you how to test your ads. Because you will literally be saving thousands while increasing your sales once you do. Lowering your advertising costs will keep you in business alot longer.

Testing your ads successfully involves four essential principals

1. What to test?

All successful ads contain an attention grabbing headline, a compelling body and a call to action. You will need to test each aspect of your ad to know what is and isn’t working. But the web makes it easy to test each at the same time by coding all your ads with a reference code to identify the source of the inquiry.

Here’s how you do this.

You write a series of ads and choose the ones you feel will create the greatest response. I like to test two at a time but I’ve known others to split test three ads. Run your ads for a week and tally the results to see which ad generated the greatest response.

At this point you have one ad that is effective. But you want to create the best ad you possibly can. So begin refining your ad by changing one element per test. If you change the headline you run and test the ad, if you change the font run and test it again.

2. Where to test

Your ads need to be seen by as many people as possible. AOL, Yahoo and free classified ad spaces are great places to test your ads. They won’t generate a lot of sales but they will help to run a successful test for free.

3. When to test

While many people may argue that certain days of the week are better for placing your classified ads, the truth is you need to test for a full seven days. This way you can test not only your ad copy and where you placed the ad, but see when the ad pulled the best. How will you know what day to run your ad, if you’re only testing for a two or three days?

4. Tracking your results

Testing is useless, unless you track your results. This is where a unique code comes in. You can add a “? and number” to your URL and you can track ads for free by using your server logs. For example, if you changed your URL from

sales.com
to
sale.com/?123

you will go to the same page, but your server logs will show how many hits went to the ?123 site separately from the main page.

Another tip that many people rarely use is to ask prospects how they found you. All it takes is a simple “Where did hear about us?” This is especially important if you partake in offline advertising.

Enter the results into your computer using spreadsheet. You can also write it down by creating an ad chart. On top of the chart, give each ad a number, list the location and duration of the ad and allow room for daily results. Remember, it’s best to use a separate email address or URL for each ad.

Now that you have your data you can figure out the costs per click. To do this simply divide the amount you spent by the number of clicks. For example, let’s say you advertise in an ezine that charges $45 for an ad. If you get 1000 clicks from that ad, your cost per click is:

$45 divided by 1000 = 4.5 cents per click.

Whether the cost per click is good or bad depends on your product, how well your sales material works and your profit margins.

Knowledge is power

So unless you want to be like John Wannamaker, the ‘father of the modern department store’ who once said “I know that half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half it is” then grab the bull by the horns and start measuring the results of every ad you run from this moment on to lower your advertising costs.

Jeff Casmer is an internet marketing consultant and work at home business owner. For more information on earning money with ezines please visit his “Top Ranked” Earn Money with Ezines Directory which gives you all the information you need to Work From Home in the 21st century.