Success Requires the Use of Controlled Aggression
Safety belt commercials in the United States declare, "You
can learn a lot from a dummy!"
Of course, in the commercials they are talking about the
mannequins they use to simulate what happens to a person in
a car wreck. Their point is that seat belts save lives and
the "crash test dummies" prove it.
On the Internet, a similar situation exists where "You can
learn a lot from a dummy!"
But, when we relate the story to the Internet, we are not
talking about "crash test dummies". No, no. We are actually
talking about "spam pest dummies".
The reason a spammer is a spammer is because he either does
not understand the value of building long-term relationships
with his customers, or he is so consumed with the idea of
making a quick buck that he cannot see any other way. It
could be that the spammer just considers a real business to
be such a slave master that he would prefer to live his life
on the run.
Like I said, "You can learn a lot from a spam pest dummy!"
I bet you are asking yourself right now what a spam pest
dummy could teach you...
It may seem odd to suggest that something can be learned from
a spammer. However I am certain, once you have read this
article, you will say to yourself, "He was right! I can learn
a lot from a dummy."
Here are just a few of the things that you can learn:
1) Branding
2) How to annoy potential customers
3) How to and how not to construct your headline
4) How to and how not to format your ezine
5) Aggressive promotion tactics
1) Branding
This first one may seem the oddest one in my list, but if you
think about it a moment, you will see what I mean.
Branding is imprinting your company's name and message into
the minds of the consumer. Think about the spam that hits your
mailbox. In most cases you have received the message so many
times that you know exactly what the spammer is selling as
soon as you see the message.
The spammer is imprinting his message into your head by sheer
repetition. Pound, pound, pound. If you are ever in the market
for what the spammer is selling, you might actually think of
him first! That is until you remember he is a spammer and
suddenly start feeling sick to your stomach.
2) How to annoy potential customers
Think to yourself. Five emails in one week, twenty in one month,
and none of the emails address anything you are interested in.
That is how to annoy customers/subscribers. Make a nuisance of
yourself, and send them special messages full of things they
just don't care about. Go ahead and try it. Your subscribers
will be leaving faster than they are coming in.
3) How to and how not to construct your headline
You can learn the most by watching yourself. If you open a spam
email and look at the contents, why did you open it? Seriously,
why DID you open it?
By watching your own responses, you will learn exactly how to
best construct headlines, or in this case, the subject of your
email.
Some open their message with "Lose 5,000 pounds in two days!"
With these, you automatically know what the email is about.
If you do not need to lose the 5,000 pounds, you delete it
and move on.
You will notice that when you do open a spam email, the
subject/headline is usually constructed in such a way as
to tap your interest and curiosity without telling you any
details.
4) How to and how not to format your ezine
ThE very first line in most spam emails is the assurance,
"This is not spam."
Sure its not!
Readers who see this assertion in a legitimate ezine will
often assume it is spam. Often times they will delete the
ezine and then later realize they were deleting something
they requested.
Your opening line should refer to the name of your ezine.
Another point about spam. Spammers tend to ramble right out
of the gate. They want to sell you fast before you hit delete.
Take care that your subscribers do not get this impression
from your ezine, or they will hit delete too!
5) Aggressive promotion tactics
One thing you can give a spammer above all other things is that
he is aggressive with a capital "A". He does not dilly-dally
around trying to get you to buy his wares. He is up and in your
face consistently. He is not afraid to ask for the sale. He is
not afraid to spend money to get prospects to increase his
chances for sales.
Just because we endeavor to operate on the honorable side of
the system does not mean that we should be any less aggressive.
We should always maintain integrity in our business, but growth
does not come to those who wait for it.
We must be aggressive. We should never sit on the sidelines
and wait for success; we should go into the field to meet it.
If the success of your publication is part of your goal, you
should do whatever it takes --- short of unsolicited commercial
email (spam) --- to build your subscriber base.
See, you CAN learn a lot from a dummy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Max Shifrin, the owner of http://www.FunEzines.com specializes
in helping ezine owners build their subscriber base. Max uses
massive promotions to generate hundreds, even thousands of sub-
scribers every month for over 100 ezines! Want Max to grow your
Ezine? Visit: http://www.funezines.com/clients_signup.cgi Make
sure you subscribe to Max's Popular Marketing & Publishing Ezine
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