Internet Marketing #10 Email

Whilst it is true you can start your own online business and be successful, it is not going to be easy, says Cary Ganz. You need to focus on the basics & be persistent in your approach to business in much the same way you would if you opened a brand new 'brick and mortar' business.

In this article I wanted to briefly touch on one of the most tried and true methods of obtaining traffic to your website - Email Marketing.

Now, this form of marketing has been around since the advent of email. For years it worked real well basically because it was new and intriguing. Those marketers that started at that time were pioneers and reaped the financial rewards of being the first with the most.

Today, things have changed quite a bit.

1. Email Marketing is no longer unique.

2. SPAM laws make it more difficult to use this form of marketing and added rules and regulations that you must follow in order to avoid stiff penalties.

3. Due to the huge amount of SPAM most emails either never reach the recipient or are never opened.

4. If opened, most email is still tossed because of the bad history most readers have had with past offers.

5. The sheer volume of email has caused a ripple effect so that the reader receives the same offer from a wide range of marketers creating further doubt in the authenticity of the products being offered.

6. SPAM filters and the like tend to keep large numbers of legitimate emails from ever reaching their audience.

And the list goes on and on....BUT

There is still a market to be made with email. However, in my opinion, it is just one small part of the marketing funnel you need to use in order to reach your target audience.

Now, that I've made you feel miserable about the prospects of email marketing, let me tell you some of the pluses:

1. Email marketing has become much more technologically savvy.

2. Email marketing is very inexpensive.

3. Email marketing is very easy to implement and following the rules in not a major problem.

4. There are numerous web based services (i.e. safe lists etc.) that you can use to simplify the process and reach large numbers of people.

5. Most importantly, you can build your own email list of double opted in leads (double opted in means that the lead has not only requested to be on your list but has also responded to a second email confirming their intentions).

This 'double opted in' list takes time to build but once created it is an open opportunity to communicate with targeted, interested potential customers in a very inexpensive manner.

In my next couple of articles I'll discuss the building of this type of list and the use of squeeze pages and 'autoresponders' so stay tuned..

Cary Ganz is the Developer of Newbie Rewards, A One Stop Shop for Newbies. Newbie Rewards was created to provide the new internet business owner with one place to find the information, tools, videos, courses etc. that they need to be competitive in the internet marketplace. Free memberships are still available. www.newbierewards.com