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I don't Care About My Internet Business< Is this your Message?

by la dominatrix
15 replies
Sorry I am giving you fair warning I am going to go off on one.

This is a major rant.

It may be that I will lose any potential readers before
paragraph 2.
Tough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I apologise to all the Internet marketers I have subscribed from -
this is an open letter to explain why, and to ask you why do you
bother carrying on as an Internet marketer.

I spent much of the backend of 2010 subscribing to emails
because I wanted to develop my list and I had no experience
with email campaigns.

I quickly found that most of the email letters I was receiving
were not worth opening. There were several reasons for this

1. Too many of them had the same headline.

If you are promoting a new product or an old one why would
you want to send out exactly the same message. Do you think
I am the only one that can read that ten different emails all
have the same headings. I am not likely to open any of them,
they merely get deleted.

My question

Are you too lazy to rewrite even the headline. Again I can't be
the only one that ignores them, if you only cared enough about
your business to rewrite the headline it may increase your open rates.

Did no one ever tell you that the money is NOT IN THE LIST,
The money is in your relationship with your list.

Are you devoid of any imagination to create another subject line,
or is is that you can't be bothered?

Are you so blasé that you think it does not matter.

2. You write a completely nonsensical subject line that
causes me to delete it immediately.
examples are

'"Your clickbank refund'"
"Click here to get your cheque"
"20 million people found"
"6,000 subscribers in an hour"

You get the point There are hundreds more equally facile
subject lines. Why would I want to open any of these?
when I can open an email that says

"How To Engineer QUANTUM Breakthroughs In Your Business Today"
"Do you understand how to Take Your Business to the Next Level "

My Question
Am I the only one that is now looking at who the email is
from rather than the subject line?

What criteria do other forum members use when deciding to
open an email.

The most import point here is the fact that I have spent
ten minutes a day during the last fortnight unsubscribing from
lists, that have not given me any value in the last three months.

Do you send out emails wiht ridiculous subject lines to just one
list, after all it does not matter.

Well here in my view is why it can very very much matter.
I have been to seminars and spoken to Internet marketers and
they have said well I have two lists my customers are on the
first list and they are really important. But well frankly my fifth
Seventh list does not matter, I just promote anything.

OK I even get that to a degree, but I am asking you to reflect on
this. During my frenzy of unsubscribing I have unsubscribed from
about a hundred and twenty people's lists. However, in real terms I
unsubscribed from nearer five hundred actual lists.

How come...................... Well on some autoresponders give me your
full list and I have been so hacked off I have not even looked at them
and just unsubscribed from the lot, without looking at them.

Also some autoresponders have a do not contact list available
and I have used that big style in the last fortnight. So not only have
you lost me for now, but you have lost me forever.

3. Irrelevant spammy content.

OK you have sent to me two relevant emails, so I am still on your list,
and then I open an email from you and it is sending me a completely
spammy email selling me something that you cloearly know nothing about.

My question, have none of you heard of the art of presell? Clearly many
of you have not. Perhaps like me you have had to be around the block
a few times with Internet Marketing - below is a link to a free ebook that
explains the art of preselling

Make Your Content PREsell!

Feel free to read it and increase your profits, its not rocket science just
a sequence of doing things that gets results.


So if I have unsubscribed from your lists recently it is because I am bored,
fed up, disgruntled and franklt can't believe a word you say. if you don't care
about your business how do you expect me to? Why is it that you clearly can't
be bothered to nurture and look after your list.

P.S A special thank you to the INTREPID small band of warriors, that have
developed their own style which may be sardonic, sarcastic, irrelevant, pig
headed, informative or anything else. The point is it is you, and you have
created a presence that can't be ignored. I hope I have learned from all
of you as my list hopefully grows and devlkops. At least I hope it will if
I give them value.

My apologies for the rant, but I would love to know am I standing alone -
engulfed in a sea of indifference.

If you feel that you have something to say and i cna learn from your experience
please feel free to ask me to join your list

Thanks for taking the time to get this far!


P.S. I understand as internet marketers that we all have to promote something
but am I the only one ot ovject at soem of the methods. If you have no credibility
wiht your potential customers you do not have a business you have a hobby horse.
#business< #care #email marketing #internet #internet ethics #internet marketing. #message
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
    Many people do not know any better than to do this. Some do, but choose to send canned emails becasue they think if the product creator is going to give them things to promote with, they should be used. And the canned emails might very well be better written thatn the ones the affiliate could produce on his/her own.

    And they do not know if the product creators have actually tested the emails or not.

    I suspect though, that many of them are just hoping to be the last one in your inbox so that their cookie is set and not somebody else's cookie.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      I suspect the good news is that these are all the "marketers" who may not still be around in a year's time, because "it didn't work out for them".

      But I suspect the bad news is that their places will have been taken by an equivalent new generation of the same, all "learning" from the same sources as they did, because it's often the people who haven't been very successful, themselves, at internet marketing, who eventually tap into the "internet marketing niche" itself, and give out this advice, it being far easier for them to make a profit that way. Alternatively, of course, I might just be a skepchick, and they all have flourishing businesses, and nobody ever unsubscribes from their lists in disgust and dismay at all ... :p
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  • Profile picture of the author rickfrazier1
    Thanks for the rant. It is refreshing to find people that have much the same concerns as I.

    I went through the process of signing up for a LOT of lists.

    Why?

    Because I had the misguided notion that I could learn the right things to do and could emulate their processes.

    What did it teach me?

    That the vast majority of the "big list guys" really don't seem to give a rip about their subscribers. At least not enough to build any sort of relationship, or to provide any real content... That if you have a large enough list, they don't really have to take the time to educate the next generation, or barring that, even entice their subscribers to purchase by providing any real information about the product they're pushing.

    Mostly, it taught me what NOT to do.

    What is the most irritating?

    It's quite a list, but I'll only provide a few here today.
    Like you, getting messages with identical subject lines from a half-dozen or more lists is at least a minor irritation.

    Second is misleading subject lines. You know the kind, the ones that don't have anything to do with the content... Am I likely to open a post titled "YO" or "You have a PayPal Payment" ?? Not unless I recognize the sender.

    Third is the "content". When the content is identical from one message to the next, it is more than apparent that the list owners aren't even reading the copy they are cut and pasting. Worse is the fact much of these are essentially blind, so you have know idea what they are really promoting unless you click through.

    Fouth, is the lack of real content. I think I've only encountered a few lists that provide anything except sales pitches. Everyone else just sends the same BUY ME messages.

    Sold lists: By this, I mean lists that sell my name, email or phone number. I know it's supposed to be essentially illegal with the CAN-SPAM act. You know, one signup should put you on a single list only, and you must provide a mechanism for opt-out.
    List swapping, if it is truly a "swap", where list data is provided to the other party, is prohibited. If they mail on behalf of 'their friend' that's different. What I'm talking about is receiving messages from totally different senders. I know they're different because the mail headers come from different IP addresses... This seemed to start with some of the "big boys" where it appeared they transferred my name to a secondary list after I didn't respond to their sales pitches. Yep, got the same pitch from both lists. Then, the email address appears coming from somewhere entirely different. How do I know this? Well, when I sign up, my name isn't just rick, I use rick-bobsbiglist instead, so I can tell where it is coming from. Doesn't work all the time because the second/third tier lists sometimes don't keep the name.
    I don't even want to go into phone number. I've had so many calls from boiler rooms following providing it to a couple of the "big boys" that my phone number is now 888-555-1212 whenever anyone requires it.

    What do I like?

    I like the lists that send relevant content. I enjoy the whackos that entertain, and am so much more likely to buy through them than any of the sell sell sell guys.
    I like getting information about the actual list topic I signed up for. I don't mind an occasional sell if it is in context. The people that send me the off-the-wall entertaining messages, and the in-context messages and decent content are the ones I consider purchasing from.
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    • Profile picture of the author jayman
      Just scan through my emails and see all these subject lines.
      These are all from internet marketers and most only contain a
      few lines and affiliate link. Some big gurus too but I won't put it
      here and have unsubscript from most

      Account Credited $ - Please Save This Email
      You've Got Cash !
      You've Got Cash
      Re : Your Downloads
      I have to read this twice ...
      Re : Done for you campaigns
      LIVE VIDEO $107 in 13 minutes
      RE : LIVE VIDEO $107 in 13 minutes
      Order Confirmation - Please Save This Email
      (private)
      You won't believe this !
      LIVE VIDEO $107 in 13 minutes
      High page rank ws added
      this has NEVER been done before (i promise )
      this has NEVER been done before (i promise )
      That's it
      exclusive invite (OPEN asap - final notice)
      IMPORTANT
      This is NUTS (video)
      You've earned a $10.00 bonus from ClickNBank
      This WORKS - but is it LEGAL
      Your video is up
      Urgent : About your Clickbank account
      Copy paste, make money
      About your account (important)
      About your account (important)
      Copy paste, make money
      WOW ...
      WOW ...
      smokin' deal
      (my confession)
      STEAL this
      ... I need a YES or NO - please
      ... I need your help - (Seriously)
      " ... I am GIVING you my internet business "
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    • Profile picture of the author la dominatrix
      Thank you everyone for your replies, and or thanks. Guess I am not alone!
      However, reflecting on my post I have learned something, how not to do it.
      Somehow my email campaigns have not seemed so frightening to write at all!


      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post


      But I suspect the bad news is that their places will have been taken by an equivalent new generation of the same, all "learning" from the same sources as they did, because it's often the people who haven't been very successful, themselves, at internet marketing, who eventually tap into the "internet marketing niche" itself, and give out this advice, it being far easier for them to make a profit that way.
      Alexa

      That idea is just too frightening
      As usual we agree on so many things, we should sit down and discuss a JV!

      Originally Posted by rickfrazier1 View Post


      What do I like?

      I like the lists that send relevant content. I enjoy the whackos that entertain, and am so much more likely to buy through them than any of the sell sell sell guys.
      I like getting information about the actual list topic I signed up for. I don't mind an occasional sell if it is in context. The people that send me the off-the-wall entertaining messages, and the in-context messages and decent content are the ones I consider purchasing from.
      I like getting info about the actual list topic I signed up for as well, but I will forgive the omission, if you make me laugh, and sometimes it takes little more than a real human being. Someone that occasioanally puts a brain cell into gear.

      Ta
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      • Profile picture of the author paulie888
        Originally Posted by la dominatrix View Post

        Thank you everyone for your replies, and or thanks. Guess I am not alone!
        However, reflecting on my post I have learned something, how not to do it.
        Somehow my email campaigns have not seemed so frightening to write at all!
        Catherine, as I've mentioned before, we can learn a lot just by observing what the gurus do, and in this case we're learning what not to do! There are a whole slew of bad examples for us to learn from, and perhaps we should start creating a swipe file of headlines and bad email practices that we should avoid...lol!
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        • Profile picture of the author la dominatrix
          Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

          perhaps we should start creating a swipe file of headlines and bad email practices that we should avoid...lol!
          Not sure that my hard drive is big enough! Though I have to say I am not looking at subject lines so much as looking at who the email is from. Again that is coming down to personal integrity of the author.
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          • Profile picture of the author paulie888
            Originally Posted by la dominatrix View Post

            Not sure that my hard drive is big enough! Though I have to say I am not looking at subject lines so much as looking at who the email is from. Again that is coming down to personal integrity of the author.
            Well, in that case you've probably ruled out all the big-name gurus based on the content of their AR emails, lol. I'm hard pressed to name any big Guru who hasn't broken any of the cardinal rules mentioned in this thread.
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            • Profile picture of the author la dominatrix
              Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

              Well, in that case you've probably ruled out all the big-name gurus based on the content of their AR emails, lol. I'm hard pressed to name any big Guru who hasn't broken any of the cardinal rules mentioned in this thread.
              The point being I have to open the email to realise that they have broken the rules, and what is going to make me open it the subject line
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  • Profile picture of the author feliciayapsl
    Great post. Know what you are talking about as I have experienced this myself. I have unscubscribed from a ton of marketers' list.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Great and very relevant rant, Catherine. It seems like the general quality of AR emails from marketers in the IM niche has gone down the drain recently. They show no imagination at all (very often just directly copying emails, especially when promoting affiliate programs), and possess very little substantive content.

    I don't remember it being this bad 18 months ago. This is a sad state of affairs, as it seems that over 90% of IM niche marketers are not putting any thought, creativity or value into their AR emails anymore.

    Many are just taking the "churn and burn" approach, and the big marketers are especially guilty of that (since they have access to resources and connections that the majority of us don't have, this allows them to rebuild their lists effortlessly).
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    I am impressed. This is very close to a productive rant. Which is to say, you pointed to positive alternatives. A bit more of that, and we'd all be better off.

    Now, just phrase it in a way that invites people to offer other positive alternatives, and we're good to go.

    All the griping is pointless. Offering alternatives is a whole other kettle of chips.


    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      I am impressed. This is very close to a productive rant. Which is to say, you pointed to positive alternatives. A bit more of that, and we'd all be better off.

      Now, just phrase it in a way that invites people to offer other positive alternatives, and we're good to go.

      All the griping is pointless. Offering alternatives is a whole other kettle of chips.


      Paul

      I wasn't even going to open this, until I saw you added commentary to it.

      LOL

      Great points one and all.
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    • Profile picture of the author la dominatrix
      Point taken Paul


      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      I am impressed. This is very close to a productive rant. Which is to say, you pointed to positive alternatives. A bit more of that, and we'd all be better off.

      Now, just phrase it in a way that invites people to offer other positive alternatives, and we're good to go.

      All the griping is pointless. Offering alternatives is a whole other kettle of chips.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    It amazes me the sheer volume of lists that people are on. I only get a junk email once and I am unsubscribed. I have a total of 3 lists that I read and they aren't junk.

    Here's the problem I have with lists. If I buy your product, I want to hear from you for product support/ugrades only. I don't want to be put on a "I'm going to sell you everything under the sun now" list just because I bought a product from you, and that often happens. I end up unsubscribing from lists that I "should" be on to receive product updates because the list owner doesn't segment his list to buyer's updates only.

    Generally, they start the affiliate marketing sequences, pounding out as many as 2 emails per day, shilling products that I am not interested in and would have never signed up for. As soon as it becomes annoying to me, I unsubscribe, which devalues the product that I bought because I won't be receiving any updates about it.

    I have a list associated with my niche blogs. People have to subscribe to it if they want to be notified when I have a new blog available. They are not automatically subscribed just because they purchase from me. The only time I have sent them an offer, other than the notification of a new blog available, is when someone is offering a free ebook that I think is a valuable read or some other free service that I use myself. I generally don't attempt to sell them anything except the blogs that they were interested in to start with.

    As a result, I have a high open rate, a low unsubscribe rate and a responsive list. The problem as I see it is too many marketers will build a list by giving something away, or selling something ... anything just to get people on the list and then slam them with all kinds of offers, none of which are even remotely related to the reason the person signed up for the list to start with.

    Maybe I have a low tolerance for this kind of crap and maybe this is a very profitable business model. I don't know, but I only put up with it for a couple of emails and then you're gone, and if I bought a product from you that resulted in me getting on such a list, and feel compelled to leave the list, I'm not likely to ever buy from you again.
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