Email marketing can be one of the most profitable introductions to a business.

Even bricks-and-mortar businesses can see an increase in profits from collecting emails and then emailing promotions from time-to-time.

What if I was to tell you that you could:

“Triple your open rates, quadruple your clicks and skyrocket your sales from all your email promotions – using pre-tested headline templates – ninja mental triggers and voodoo graphical tricks – and build your lists by 1000’s per week”

This may sound like a ridiculous claim but not when you know the guy behind it, you see, Ryan Deiss has been making a lot of money online and email marketing has been a big part of that.

What I like about Ryan is how methodically he is about testing. He tests, re-tests, and tests again, until he can conclusively say what works and what doesn’t.

Ryan has put together the results in what he calls his ‘13 Sneaky Little Email Tricks‘.

I have to give you a word of warning, if you leave here and purchase 13 Sneaky Little Email Tricks then please use what you learn in moderation, don’t go into overkill as you will dilute the affect of what you learn, it is powerful stuff!

Oh, did I mention that the tactics you will learn are totally ethical, nothing spammy or black hat here.

Here’s the link again Sneaky Email Tricks

To your success,

Karl Foxley

There are some things that annoy me about budding affiliate marketers! Before you shoot me down, I understand how difficult it can be to make money online, especially when you are buying into one system after another and each one promises to make you rich in record time, and in the process, emptied your pocket of some more of your hard earned money.

It can be hard, and knowing who to follow or what system teaches the best marketing methods that are both ethical and profitable can be a mined field. I understand that through desperation it can be tempting to take short cuts, but if you do any of the following, please stop!

Here they are and in no particular order.

1. DM (Direct Message) on Twitter

Okay, Twitter is a great communication tool but please do not send me a DM with a link to the latest affiliate product you are promoting. I really don’t need help to ‘explode my profits’ or ‘build a massive list’. You see, if you are promoting a product in such a way then the product isn’t working that well for you. Think about it, I got a DM telling me about a sneaky new program that will help me dominate Google. So why is this person sending me a message on Twitter instead of doing as the product promised, and flooding the search engines with his money making content?

2. Instant Message on Facebook

This is just as bad as the Twitter DM. I love to chat with people on Facebook and build worthwhile connections but please don’t pop up in the instant chat with a link to the ‘latest opportunity’ that I may be interested in. If this is your first contact with me then why not start out with a ‘hi, how are you doing?’ As for your product, I’m NOT interested, sorry! The MLM crowd are just as bad when they are ’seeking leaders’ to promote a ‘new and innovative’ product in England. I’m happy with what I’m doing right now and promoting ‘health products’ or ‘recruiting an army’ of marketers who will ‘promote the products under me and make me rich’ just doesn’t work for me… I’ll leave this one here.

3. Email Marketing

Okay, you’ve just bought the latest must-have product that is going to make you a lot of money but please, test the product before you try to sell it to me. I am on a lot of Internet marketers lists, some are personal friends, others are people I follow in the industry and then there are those that were a part of my ‘early Internet marketing days’ when every one had the magic key to success (or a great squeeze page ). I get lots of products for free, due to beta invites or joint venture deals and it takes hard work to be fortunate enough to get into this position; building relationships the correct way is one of the best ways to get the invites and the offers.

Another thing that is annoying me of late is the level rigidity that people follow a new ‘trick that will increase conversions’. Example, nearly every affiliate marketer is sending out emails with RE: or FW: in the subject line as this is meant to increase open rates. This makes sense, my close family and friends send me emails with RE: or FW: so why wouldn’t it work for affiliate marketers too. Well, here is where it doesn’t work, when every single email you now send out has RE: or FW: at the beginning. You are now diluting the effectiveness of this ‘proven and powerful’ technique that was guaranteed to boost your conversion rates. Bottom line, do not overdo it (this applies to any marketing method).

4. Pre-Written Marketing Materials.

I have been guilty of this one myself in the past but I wouldn’t dream of doing it today! Why? Cause now I know better. Some affiliate programs have pre-written emails already for you to copy-and-paste into your auto-responder but that doesn’t mean you should just grab the email and send it out to your list.

I get the same promotion from hundred of marketers each and every time a new product is launched. The marketing message that always stands out are those that are original. The guys and gals that have taken the time to compose their own original message for their subscribers; try to be one of these.

While I’m discussing this I may as well also say that just because a guy makes lots of money with PPC and then makes a product teaching you how to do the same, this doesn’t now make him someone who is an awesome copywriter. Sending out emails that are not written with your personal flare may even harm your relationship with your list as the tone will be different to your own.

5. Joint Venture Email Swaps

Joint ventures and email swaps can be a great way of growing a list and making money in the process but please do not ask me to promote a product to my list of subscribers that is not your own. I will NOT send an email with your affiliate link in promoting someone else’s product when I can simply sign-up for that affiliate program for myself. This just doesn’t make sense.

Now I’ve told you what not to do, I want share with you what you should be doing. You should be a member of Opportunity.com because then you will have access to a wealth of affiliate marketing training and resources that ‘can’t fail to make you more knowledgeable about making money online as an affiliate marketer, the correct way!

To your success,

Karl Foxley

photo credit: nromagna

I’m a subscriber of many marketers’ email lists so I can keep track of the latest developments across the web or because they send out some amazing content.

Here’s the thing, some marketers send out emails that have messages that look like this to try and get past the spam filters:

Grab your f.ree report…

Your f/ree report is ready…

Start making making m.oney…

They may even include a symbol instead of a word in an attempt to fool the spam filters (I doubt that it actually does and is probably more likely to get your message filtered). I’m sure that you’ve come across a similar emails by now, honestly, I bet they don’t leave you with a good impression no matter who it was from.

Here is my problem with this, firstly, the emails look extremely unprofessional, and secondly, ESP’s like AWeber have built in tools to test your spam score before you send your messages.

I understand how important it is to get your message in front of your customers but if you are sending a message with f.ree or m.oney in the subject line and email body text, then your message may just get past the spam filters but it is going to look like spam to your subscribers all the same.

It does not take that much time to think of alternative words to use in place of words that may trigger the spam filters, sending your message to the spam folder; try using ‘no cost’ instead of ‘free’; you get the picture.

Another trend I have seen is affiliate marketers grabbing the pre-written emails for an affiliate product and sending it our without making any alterations even when the message includes the use of misspellings.

If you are an affiliate marketer, take the time to customise the message and attach your own personal flair. If your subscribers are on the email lists of many marketers you’d be surprised how many of the same message they will get on the launch day of a big product, all with the exact same message.

Remember, every time you send out an email on behalf of your company or an affiliate promotion, it is your reputation and your credibility that you may be damaging by misspelling words or adding extra symbols to try to game the spam filters.

If you would like to test your emails for their spam scores before you send them then I recommend you grab an account with AWeber.

To your email promotion success,

Karl Foxley

P.s. If you want to learn of the art of writing emails that sell I recommend you take a copywriting course. One of the best courses on the Internet for these economically strapped times is Five Minute Copywriting by Robert Plank.

photo credit: Nancy Wombat

So, how do you use Gmail to get people onto your subscriber list?

Gmail has a very powerful feature that allows you to add a signature to all your out-going emails. The reason this feature is so great is because you can change it to suit your needs, making customisation super easy.

All you need to do is log-in to your Gmail account and click at the top where it says ’settings’.

Scroll down to the area that says ’signature’.

I’ve put in a sample signature for you to look at but I’m sure you can come up with something far more captivating. I recommend that you stick to a standard signature and not write a signature that is full of hype words or sales speak.

I recommend that your signature links out to a lead capture page where you can capture name and email address in your preferred email service provider (AWeber, Get Response, iContact, etc).

Why don’t you give it a try and see what you can come up with!

To your success,

Karl Foxley

I’m sure by now you’ve trialed various ESPs and you would have no doubt experienced the frustration of having to change your blog opt in web forms, resize text, format fonts, etc.

Let’s say you are using Get Response and you decide to change to AWeber, imaging being able to simply cut and paste your new web form code and that’s it, your blog opt-in form stays exactly the same, just with a different ESP collecting your registrants information.

Well, this has been made amazingly simple with a plugin called Max Blog Press Optin Form Adder.

Download the plugin, use your FTP client to upload it to your plugins folder, activate the plugin and start styling your optin form, just the way you want it!

Visit the Optin Form Adder page for more details and follow the step-by-step instructions of how to set up the form.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page you will see that I am using the Max Blog Press Optin Form Adder for my newsletter (why not sign-up while you are taking a look and get posts like this delivered to your inbox).

I’ve trialed the Optin Form Adder with Get Response and AWeber and both worked fine. I’m sure the form will work just as easily with the other major email service providers on the market.

To your success,

Karl Foxley

photo credit: Mzelle Biscotte

Have you purchased a website from a company who promised you that ‘your website will make you money while you sleep‘. Now while this is true in some cases, for others, this statement makes a cold chill run down their spine because, even after parting with hundreds (even thousands) of pounds on a new shiney website, they are still yet to generate one web based sale.

Before I discuss this further, I want you to bear with me for a minute or two as I invite you into my private world. I count myself to be very lucky as I run Foxley Marketing Solutions and my many other websites from my home office. This allows me to spend much more time with my family, and with a six-year old daughter, I want to be on hand and actively involved in her day-to-day life.

The summer holiday is coming to an end but in the last few week I’ve been able spend more time on with my family on the many day trips and fun days out while my automated systems work for me.

In the last week alone we went to the cinema to watch a new kid’s film, Shorts. We followed this with a day trip to Matlock Bath, The National Forest Maize Maze in Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire and, yesterday, we went to the Monkey Forest in Trentham, Staffordshire.

We had some great times and you can see some of our photos below. If you get the chance to visit the places mentioned then I recommend that you do!

Do you send out emails with the following?

donotreply @ yourcompany.com

If you do, then you may be missing out on the opportunity to have your customers ask you a direct question that could lead to additional sales. At the very least, you will be reducing the opprotunity for conversation and this is counter-productive to building customer relationships.

I am personally on the list of 100s of marketers and companies and I am surprised at the number of donotreply emails I do get in a day.

Let me explain exactly why I do not like this from a customers point of view.

A company sends an email to me (from a do-not-reply email address) about their latest product that I may be interested in.

I am interested but I have a question, but instead of hitting ‘reply’ and sending the question in the easiest and quickest way available to me (the customer), I have to visit their website and find the ‘contact us‘ link and submit the question in this way.

I may be interested in the product but if I am in the middle of things, we have to work right, so I put this on my ‘do later list’. As the day goes on this ‘email’ will get buried under newer emails as they arrive meaning I will probably forget about it as other companies catch my attention.

The company, by using a do-not-reply email address, has essentially shut off communication with the very people they are contacting and are possibly losing sales (as is often the case when it comes to me).

Flipping this on it’s head, lets say the company sent the same email but used a contact @ yourcompany.com or even yourname @ yourcompany.com email address then it makes them appear more open to communication.

You can take this one step further and add this simple bit of text towards the bottom of your emails:

If you have any questions then simply hit the reply button and well get back to you as soon as possible.

I’m sure you can come up with something even more inspiring than the example I gave, but as you can see, this simple bit of text will open up the ability to answer questions in the most convient way to your customer.

A customer may be one step away from purchasing your product but has ‘one quick question’ about a returns policy and by NOT using a ‘do-not-reply’ email address  you are allowing your customer to ask a question quickly, for you to respond quickly and to make a sale you may have, otherwise, lost.

If you use a dedicated email service provider such as AWeber you will have to include a reply @ address so that your customers can contact you easily, the way you should want it to be! Ty to use something like, contact or yourname instead of donotreply for greater customer interaction.

If you are still deciding whether email marketing is for you and your business then why not take AWeber for a Test Drive, you won’t fail to be impressed with their service.

Try AWeber Email Marketing Risk-Free

To your success,

Karl Foxley

photo credit: idogcow

You can see on the right of the blog pages that I have an AWeber form for the Website Promotion Success 7 Day Mini-Course. I am comfortable playing around with scripts and code so I used the text widget to embed the code for my web form. A lot of people just aren’t comfortable with this method and would like an even easier solution, and, here it is!

I was searching through the Wordpress Plugins Directory when I came across a plugin by Jame Collins and Glenn Nicholas (of OM4). The plugin is called ‘AWeber Integration‘ and is easy to install, just upload to your plugins directory and click on activate in your WP admin area. If you are unsure how to do this then give us a call as we are only happy to help with Wordpress and plugin installations at very reasonable rates.

The instructions are easy to follow and you’ll have a nice looking web-form ready to capture leads, name and email, within minutes. This is what the plugin authors say:

This plugin provides a simple way to add one or more AWeber form(s) to your sidebar and optionally enable AWeber email web analytics for your website.

It gives you access to a new “AWeber Mailing List” sidebar widget, that lets you enter the subscription form’s details. These details are used to automatically display your AWeber email subscription form.

The settings page lets you enter your AWeber account id. Once entered, the AWeber web email analytics tracking code will be automatically enabled on all pages in your website. No manual page or template editing is required.

Source: Wordpress AWeber Integration Plugin

What I really like about the look of this plugin is the fact that the authors haven’t tried to embed a link pointing back to their website as many other plugin owners do (you then have to pay for an upgraded version to have the link removed).

Be sure to get an AWeber account even if you don’t have a Wordpress blog and cannot use this plugin, the service really is invaluable and will help you grow your business through lead capture and email marketing.

To your success,

Karl Foxley

Here are the links again:

AWeber

AWeber Integration

If you are already a Get Response user then you may have enough of an incentive to stay on board! My question would be whether they have done enough to tempt people away from the ever-popular AWeber?

I must admit that the new site looks really good!

To find out more about the new features that Get Response have added then visit the website here!

To your success,

Karl Foxley

P.s. Video Messages can be sent to email using Get Response, this may be the tipping point for some to take up the new look email service provider.

Generally, when you send an email you can increase the responsiveness of the recipient by including their name. You can use AWeber to add the recipients name in the subject line and within the email body text. I’ve mentioned before that you should vary the use of personalisation in the subject line for the obvious reason that if a friend was to send you an email the subject line would probably look more like:

‘Hey, look at this’

‘I was thinking of you!’

‘How’s it going?’

This may increase the responsiveness of an email campaign, but like everything, be sure to test and measure.

Returning to the point of this post, below you will see a screen shot showing how to create a personalisation tag within an email using AWeber.

As you can see, you simply select the {!name} tag and insert it into your post for AWeber to automatically include each of your subscribers’ names into the email they receive.

But what if you have subscribers who have entered their names like this?

dave, kelly foxley, karl

This is easily corrected by using the tag {!name_fix}. The names will now look how they should when the recipient receives the email:

Dave, Kelly Foxley, Karl

You can see this in action by looking at the screenshot below:

1. The recipient’s name is included and fixed so that it reads as it should, in this case, Karl.

It doesn’t matter how many people you have on your email subscriber list, AWeber will personalise every email you send out saving you all the hassle of doing this manually or by performing a mail merge.

You can get started building a relationship with your prospects today by visiting AWeber and signing up for an account.

Are you on our newsletter subscriber list yet? You don’t know what you are missing!

To your success,

Karl Foxley

P.s. Other dedicated ESP’s offer this feature, to research the one that will work best for you and your company I recommend you take a look at what each one has to offer:

iContact

Get Response

Stream Send

Constant Contact