People love to have access to things that other people can’t get. It makes them feel special, and it is a marketing tactic that really works. Granting access to secret pages works well on the Internet. It works best when it is limited.

For instance, you can grant access to only a lucky few, or you can have a time limit for accessing the pages. You can grant access to secret pages on your website with an autoresponder.

The way this works is quite simple. You create a directory on your website that is password protected, with one login and password that everybody can use. You then create some valuable content for that directory.

You can call this your secret vault or your private stash or anything else you want to call it – as long as it sounds like something that your visitors may really want to get their hands on. For instance “the secret tools that helped me earn thousands each month” would probably entice many people who want to learn how to make money.

Once you get the directory and the pages set up, put the URL of the pages and the login name and password in an autoresponder. Write a sales page and distribute it to your opt-in list, or have other list owners distribute it to theirs. Make sure you “limit” the offer. Don’t let people assume that you are going to share this secret information with the rest of the world – they want to be the only ones with this special access!

Keep access to the secret pages free. The goal is to get people to those pages, so that they can purchase your products or services. However, remember that you’ve advertised secret tools or secret information. Therefore, when they get to those pages, there must be something of value there for them to collect – for free in most cases.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you will be losing money by giving something away for free – you won’t. In fact, you’ve already gained by collecting the names and addresses of the people who were interested in your secret information!

Again, this is a marketing tactic that really works, and it is a great way to use an autoresponder. Once people have requested the information for your private pages, you can email them periodically, using your autoresponder, to let them know about updates to the secret site. While you are updating them, you can also tell them about other specials or new products in your line.

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

Possibly the greatest aspect of online marketing is that audience that exists online. Millions of people, world wide, use the internet to look for products, services and information.

While there are a multitude of marketing methods to reach the staggering numbers of online shoppers, one of the best ways is ezine advertising. You not only get to reach those large numbers, but you are able to target your niche market.

But like most forms of marketing, ezine advertising requires a financial investment. In order to maximize your return on investment and make money with ezines, read and apply the following advice.

1. Do not use the company ad

Most affiliate programs provide their affiliates with prewritten classified and ezine ads. And while you may view this as a bonus, the truth is unless you’re among the first people using the marketing creatives the ad is no longer hugely effective.

Chances are the ad and graphics have been seen before and users look right past it thinking, “I’ve seen this, I am still not interested.” It is best to be creative and write your own ad.

2. Use a catchy headline.

This seems obvious since your goal is get the readers attention. However, in addition to your word choice you may also want to consider applying attention grabbing characters and other formatting styles.

Here is what I mean:

Ex1. Make $500 a week! Easy to do! No selling! Risk free! Limited offer.

Ex2. *** Make $500 a week! Easy to do! No selling! Risk free! Limited offer.

Ex3. *** Make $500 a week! Easy to do! No selling! Risk FREE! Limited offer.

Which of the above gets your attention fastest? I’m going to assume it’s the third one. Why? Because it uses characters such as dollar signs, asterisks, or questions marks to get draw eye in. It also displays an all caps word as well as bold font.

Having one or the other will increase the number of people who glance at your ad but I find that using all the elements sparingly greatly increases my return on investment.

3. Avoid selling the product in your ad

Though the purpose of advertising is to create sales or awareness, the purpose of your ad is to sell the click not the product.

Your website or follow up email should follow through with your advertising purpose. They only job your ad has is to get people interested enough to visit your site.

4. Ask for “premium real estate”

Premium real estate or tops spots are places where your ad will stand apart from the many others advertising in the ezine.

In order to make money with ezines when advertising in a big ezine, be prepared to have a fair bit of company. Your ad can get lost or scrolled over as people get tired of reading. To get your ad to stand out ask for the top spot.

There’s no guarantee the publisher will it to you but ask nicely and know that you may have pay a little extra.

Can’t get the top spot? Ask for another premium real estate spot such as the middle of the article. Anyway you can stand out is worth looking into.

5. Be easy to do business with

You should have an understanding of the publisher’s rules about formatting and line length before you send the ad.

Also check your ad for working links and correct spelling. This is not the publisher’s job, it’s yours and it is worth doing if you want to maximize your return on investment.

6. Use an auto responder for your response device

Most classified ads send the reader to a website and this works if you have a one shot sales letter and no follow up system yet or if you have a time sensitive offer.

But here’s another way to maximize your return on investment.

Instead of using a URL, use autoresponder address in your ad. You can mention something about sending them a private link or this is an exclusive offer.

Create follow up messages to send to them every week until you make a sale.

Use the above tips to run effective ads in large ezines, so you can reach the countless people out there seeking your product. Making money with ezines is very possible if your using these tips and techniques effectively.

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

With video, audio and blog marketing becoming so popular some net marketers are beginning to question if ezines are still worth their time and can you earn money with ezines.

Why bother drafting an article to send directly to your subscribers when you could just as easily throw together a video to place on video syndication sites, thus driving customers to your site that way.

Below are some reasons why you should continue to produce ezines and if you haven’t already started you’ll be inspired to do so and begin to earn money with ezines.

Reason 1: Email is the internet

A large percentage of first time web browsers come onto the internet first and foremost to connect with friends and families. Thus far, there is no other online communication method that is simpler, faster and more effective than email.

Established net marketers know this. They know that most online users can not understand html or RSS feeds but virtually everyone can grasp and use email. Knowing this, net marketers choose ezines as one of their channels to deliver their messages swiftly and worry free.

Ezines work because they are a convenient way for web browsers to get the information they want. The ezine arrives directly in the subscriber’s inbox without hassle.

A publisher can send his ezine to thousands of people without worrying about postage or paper bulk. Every other known method of delivering your information still requires the user to take action. This may involve logging onto the website to view a video or hear an audio or typing in a URL to participate in a forum discussion.

Ezines are convenient for readers and publishers alike. Once the email is sent the user can choose when they want to read it while the publisher has the potential to reach thousands of users he would not otherwise be able to connect with which increases his profit margin without doing anymore work than he already is.

Nearly every internet marketer will agree that while they may get bored and sell their domain name they will never part with their subscriber list.

For many marketers having a website is not nearly as important as having a group of people that are responsive to their ezines and thanks to emails, marketers can deliver their message more effectively with no effort on the reader’s part.

What’s more the reader knows that the information he or she is getting is something they requested.

Reason 2: Ezines are designed for a specific group

People opt-in to receive more information on topics related to your site. The information is catered to them. Someone who is interested in green tea will opt for a newsletter if it provides valuable information pertaining to that subject. If they did not want more information they would not bother to subscribe.

Ezines give people the power of choice. They subscribe because they want the information, in order for a web browser to get the information you publish they have to make the decision to subscribe. And if they decide they no longer want it they can opt-out or put you on their black list.

But to avoid this scenario web marketers make the effort to ensure that the information they provide is on topic and helpful. Or at least they should. The number of people flocking to the web may increase on a daily basis but they are also more wary than they were five years ago thus ezines must be valuable to reader if they are to be effective.

Reason 3: Ezines are helpful

A truly valuable ezine helps everyone involved (both the reader and publisher). These types of ezine work on building trust by providing the reader with the information they seek first before they even begin to “sell.” A well produced ezine sells itself by taking customer service to the next step.

Ezines can be in the form of providing information on a niche topic or they may even offer further information on a product that was already bought from the site. The key is to keep readers happy by give them what they want.

They in turn will provide you with traffic, sales or more subscribers. And in case you’re wondering if subscribers are really giving back to the publisher here’s a quick case to prove my point.

A solo ad went one time to an ezine with about 18,000 subscribers. The ad generated 1218 unique clicks, 957 sales, 69 gross profits per sale: $29.97, Total gross profit: $2067.93

Inspired yet?

The bottom line is people find ezines to be helpful and they repay the publisher by purchasing products or signing up for services offered in the ezine to earn money with ezines. If you’re not producing an ezine you’re missing out on a high income potential and you can guarantee that you’re giving your sales to your competition.

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.

So you want to build a list?

Are you looking for practical guidance; for an easy-to-follow list building course?

Listen, I will assume that you are already aware that growing your own list of subscribers is absolutely necessary when it comes to building a successful online business.

Many Internet marketing experts go as far as saying that it is nearly impossible to make a consistent amount of money online if you fail to build your list.

And yes, I am one of those experts who feel that list building should be the #1 priority of every online business.

So without further ado, here are four (4) quick tips that can help you build a cash-producing opt-in list:

Create a Lead Capture Page: You will not be able to capture a single person’s name and email address if you do not have a lead capture page. In case you don’t know, a lead capture page is a simple one-page website that is designed to give your visitors two (2) simple choices, which are: Join your list or leave your website.

Size Doesn’t Matter: That’s right, contrary to popular believe, size doesn’t really matter when it comes to building a list of subscribers. It is in you best interest to focus on quality, not quantity.

Think about it; would you rather have a list of (A) 1,000,000 subscribers who can careless about reading your emails, or a list of (B) just 1,000 people who actually look forward to hearing from you?

Well, I hope you went with option because that is what would definitely make you the most money.

Avoid Buying Subscribers: You see, there are many companies on the internet that sell subscribers. Yes, you can actually purchase millions of names and email addresses and get yourself an “instant” opt-in list. Beware! You will only throw away your money, as this so called “opt-in lists” are filled with untargeted prospects; therefore, you’ll be lucky to make $1 from them.

Respect Your Subscribers: Your subscribers will buy from you only if you treat them right. Do not abuse their trust by selling them junk or recommending affiliate products that you haven’t actually reviewed. Breaking the simple “respect” rule will result in a huge number of people unsubscribing from your list and not to mention the fact that you’ll taint your reputation.

Well there you have it… four quick but killer list building tips. Now get out there, build a list and make some money!

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new list building course, ‘Critical List Building’

Download it free here: List Building Course

Gabriel Aguinaga is a professional Internet marketer who has helped hundreds of people build successful online businesses from scratch.

Email marketing is a flexible and powerful method of marketing products and services. This electronic form of direct marketing has already started replacing paper based direct mail. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), about 4.3bn marketing emails were sent in the UK, compared to 5bn direct mail in the year 2005. For the first time in 2007, email marketing has overtaken direct mail in terms of volume, according to the latest National Email Benchmarking report produced by the Direct Marketing Association‘s Email Marketing Council. No wonder, email is creative, timely, measurable and cost effective.

What you should consider when planning you email marketing campaign

Personalisation – This is the best way to increase the response of your email marketing efforts. Greet and address recipients individually with their name, this will help you speak directly to your targeted customers/audience. Use first names for your existing customers to make the email message personal and use surnames in formal email messages. Personalising email marketing messages brings one-to-one marketing communications a step closer.

Email Versions – You must design your email message to read and display properly in preview pans, blocked images and the text base readers. As best practise, email shouldn’t be more than 600 pixels in width and must be compelling form the first line. Don’t rely on images; always include text and an online version of each email. Give users choice to receive text or HTML version. In HTML emails avoid using external CSS, if you have to use CSS style then always use inline styles and don’t forget to use short and descriptive ALT attributes for images.

Email Goals – Add a clear call to action point(s) in your email messages. Call to actions should be very clear and your message should tell the user what to do in response to the message in easy steps. Too many links and offers could distract users. Call to actions should be simple as “Click here – special offers for cardholders only”. If required, create specific landing pages according the requirements of the email marketing campaign. Using the brand name in the subject line will increase the user comfort, trust and will maximise the open rate.

Clean List – It is very important to keep your email list clean. A clean list will help to built good relationships with ISPs (internet service providers) and will also improve the qualified response of your campaigns. CAN-SPAM dictates a clear and working unsubscribe link therefore clearly describe the un-subscription method in the email and explain the un-subscription process. Check the inbox regularly for bounce back email addresses. Remove un-subscribers and bounced emails periodically for an improved and clean list.

Avoiding Spam – You have to be very careful while sending your marketing messages through emails. Spam filters are getting smarter every day. Your email could be trapped in spam filters if you use keywords like cheap, $, guaranteed etc. Full image base emails also could raise flags for spam filters. Adding text within the HTML body will help to pass the spam filters; more text means more chances to pass the spam filters. Test your email before you broadcast it. You can get accounts with different email service providers such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and Google Mail and send test email messages. You have the technically correct emails if your message lands directly in the inbox. One way to ensure that your subscriber will receive your future emails is by sending them a plain text email and asking them to add your email address in personal white list/safe contact list.

Metrics – Track individual email messages technically; such as open rate, bounce rate, un-subscribers, click through rate and delivery rate. Once you track emails, then you need to track the marketing output metrics to measure the success of email broadcast campaigns such as revenue generation, revenue per email, ROI (return on investment) per email, total orders/registrations and total leads.

Mailing Frequency – It is not easy to find out the right frequency that keeps your subscribers engaged without annoying them with too many emails. One way to find out is by review your broadcast data and to look at trends in you open, unsubscribe and complaint rates, if you see a decrease in open and an increase in unsubscribe and complaint rates then you should review your mailing frequency and improve the email content.

Headland Multimedia is a full service digital marketing agency providing a wide range of solutions from strategic thinking to the deployment of advanced ecommerce solutions. We are specialists in email marketing and providing email marketing solutions throughout the UK.