Forum Moderators: phranque
theres not very many - maybe a couple of hundred, but its growing all the time...whats the best (most profitable) way of using these - selling them to a company - or creating adverts yourself (whcih i dont really want to do)
any advice - or previous experience?
Thanks
Harley
Your best bet would be to use them to provide your users with more information about your site and try to sell your products or service by encouraging customer loyalty and raising awareness of your brand.
JOAT
<added> plus your users didnt sign up to get junk mail off of other companies - selling their info on would just p!ss them off</added>
whats the best (most profitable) way of using these
The single biggest issue is what they were told when they signed up. Sending anything else is stepping into a grey area that can result in an enormous number of unsubscribes and spam accusations.
What you should send is completely dependent upon your site's focus and business model.
Is it a commercial site that has products / services for sale, or is it an informational site that depends on third party advertising and affiliate programs for revenue?
If you're willing to post a few more specifics, I'll be happy to share some insights based on my experience in this arena.
selling them to a company
Selling them to a company is a recipe for disaster. It will be seen by most subscribers as a violation of privacy, even if your privacy policy states that you intend to do so.
One very significant point is making sure that you keep in touch with your subscribers at least semi-regularly. Otherwise many users will forget that they opted in to your list which can once again result in numerous spam complaints.
All of that being said, an opt-in list can be a site's most valuable asset... provided it's managed well.
when they signed up they agreed to sign up to website updates, and then also "Choose to recieve ads?" which they also checked...
i dont want to spam them at all - so would an affiliate product sold via an email - of a related product be effective?
Its all down to what market you are in and who is on your mailing list.
Was the recieve ads opt in or opt out? ie was the "yes" option set as default, or did they actually check the box or whatever?
It makes a big difference.
If they elected to recieve mail, then go ahead, just make sure its relevant (youll get a better conversion rate this way).
Otherwise, you may want to consider a trail run on a small portion of the DB.
JOAT
would an affiliate product sold via an email - of a related product be effective?
Absolutely. Also, you'll get a lot less unsubscribes if you mix the commercial recommendations in with helpful on topic content that is relevant to whatever your site is devoted to.
You don't necessarily have to write epic length articles, something as simple as a tip of the week followed by a recommended product/service of the week can generally work quite nicely.
Note that I used the word "recommendation", as opposed to advertisement. You'll see a higher conversion ratio with editorial style reviews and recommendations than you will with straight ad copy.
Don't be afraid to get personal in your writing style. Using a unique and personable "voice" is one of the key elements to success in email marketing.
whats the best (most profitable) way of using these?
The single most powerful way of finding out what affiliate products and services will perform best... is to ask your list.
Announce that you will be sending out tips on a regular basis, and want to know what their most pressing issues are so that you can address them. Offer some multiple choice questions, and one or two open questions.
If you want to dramatically increase your responses to the survey, offer an incentive to all those that submit it by a certain date.
Lastly, if you're hard pressed for content, invite your subscribers to submit questions which you can then use to create a Q&A style format for your mailings.
Nothing's better than having your own market define what you send them.
Just be sure to "massage" your list by being in touch often enough to build and maintain a relationship... while not mailing so often that you become invasive.
Provided that you offer something of outstanding value with each mailing, your list will look forward to your arriving in their inbox.
(I've actually had list members ask why I've been out of touch when it's been a long time between mailings) :)
I think the bottom line is to treat each of these subscribers like you would want your own email information to be treated. Now, I know that sounds corny, but it should work. I have opted into a few email subscription services and find that about 40% of them actually have something worth reading.
..helpful on topic content that is relevant to whatever your site is devoted to.
Perfect.
Offer something to these people that make them feel like it's worth their while opting in, and staying in. News and reviews not offered on your website, coupons or special offers, available exclusively through the mailings. The Q&A idea is good too.
Good Luck,
- Chad
the list was opt out - which i know isnt as good - but as you say some to the point, related, nicly written recommendations, of say book titles - will i think do well...
i agree very much with the "community" thing - the site is is support group - so that is something that will be good to promote...
Its threads like this that make webmaster world the best forum to be a member of...
i agree very much with the "community" thing - the site is is support group - so that is something that will be good to promote...
With that in mind, one of the easiest things to do for content is email an occasional list of noteworthy discussion topics to encourage return visitors to your site.
Like others have mentioned it would probably be worthwile to write some articles that are relevant to your site. You could include a couple paragraphs in the email and give them a link to the entire article on your site. Along with that you can also recommend some products that are relevant to what your site is about. Since the people have signed up on your site they are probably very targeted and if you have the right products and sales pitch you could probably get a good conversion rate.
Compared to regular mass mailing, e-mail is a Godsend. It's free, it's easy to send out, you don't need postage, you don't even have to plan. You can be working late at night, have a brainstorm, compose it and send it right then.
