How Would You Reply to That?

Email newsletter publishers receive loads of questions,
especially from newcomers to the web. As publishers, our
ever growing subscriber lists result in an endless stream of
inquiries.

And we love it! After all, every question we receive is an
opportunity. It is a chance to help out fellow Internet
marketers and in the process, further develop our expertise
and reputation as an expert.

But each inquiry is something much more than that. It is
also an opportunity to sell a solution. These solutions can
be in the form of instruction, a software solution or maybe
even an opportunity.

And most of us ezine publishers have our replies down to a
science. Of all the ezine publishers I've asked, every
effective one processes each new inquiry in a similar
fashion. We field so many messages each week that we have to
have a reply system down pat, or we'd be buried in email!

Here's a quick flow chart most of us publishers use when
replying to inquiries...

First, we reply quickly and personally, then...

1. Offer any free help we have available on the subject
2. Suggest one of our proprietary solutions
3. Suggest a solution we've plugged into our site
4. Send them to a 3rd party website if necessary

Now, it's important to realize that we've been through
literally thousands of messages. This means we've developed
some great solutions to almost every inquiry.

For instance, lets look a three popular questions every
ezine publisher has faced at one time or another. Along with
each question you'll see the action the publisher took to
secure a new, long term income stream...

Inquiry #1: What software did you use to build your website?

This is one you'll come across quite often. And it turned
into a gold mine for one publisher I know. (She preferred to
remain nameless.) She's one of the best webmaster's I've
seen and her site is amazingly sharp, fast-loading and
professional. As inquiries began growing she would tell
folks how she built the site and the tools she used. But
smart marketer that she is, she decided to use this as an
opportunity to grow her income.

She emailed the companies who created the software she used
to build her site. She got them to look at her site by
telling them it was done with their software, and they too
loved it. Then she told them she was receiving a growing
number of inquiries from other webmasters and would be
interested in offering their design tools at her site. After
a little finagling, she was able to offer their software at
a discounted price.

Now, every email enquiry she receives about the design of
her site gets met with a pre-formatted email reply. It takes
her all of 10 seconds to reply by pasting the message in and
personalizing it, and nearly every webmaster tries the free
demo programs then goes on to order the software at her
special discount price.

Her next step was to set up small buttons at her site that
say "Do you like this site? Click here for a free demo of
the software I used." Her autoresponders now do the rest of
the email work. Pretty slick way to generate income from
simple email inquiries eh?

So how would you reply to that question if you were asked
today?

Inquiry #2: Which affiliate programs work best for you?

Here's one you'll undoubtedly see a lot. Wise marketers know
that in order to make money as an affiliate they need to
first join the right programs. Why not go right to the folks
who see it all? That's right, ezine publishers.

And this question can present a great opportunity for ANY
marketer. Why not set up a web page at your site that shares
the results you are achieving with the affiliate programs
you've joined. Not only is this a great way to help fellow
marketers, it can help you as well. If there is a 2nd tier
to any of the affiliate programs you're in, you can offer to
help these folks if they join under you.

Contrary to popular belief, signing up other resellers into
two-tier programs CAN be profitable. How do I know?

One program I promote has reached $1000 a month on the
second tier alone. And it's all because I've done exactly
what I described above. You just can't beat automatic income
like this. Once you've brought the 2nd tier affiliates in
and showed them how to work it, the money you earn is
effortless. And all they did was ask you what programs are
working for you.

But how would you reply to that question if you were asked
today?

Inquiry #3: Who do you use for web hosting?

This is another question you'll see quite often, and it's
the simplest one to answer. But rather than just tell them
who you use, why not sign up as a reseller for the web
hosting company first. Then you'll be able to send folks to
your reseller page and start growing a residual income.

If your web host does not offer a reseller program, work out
a deal with them. Most will be receptive to paying a
percentage to you as a referral fee. Just be sure to work
out a deal where you earn a monthly residual and NOT a
one-time referral commission like some hosts pay. There's
much more money in monthly commissions and every time you
refer a new customer your own income will grow.

For those of you who think this may not be worth the effort,
think again. I've managed to grow monthly residuals from one
major web hosting company to the tune of $4,000 a month. Now
that's not bad for simply answering that question each time
it comes along.

How would you reply to that question if you were asked
today?

In closing...

All online marketers can and should take a lesson from ezine
publishers. After all, if your website is set up
effectively, you'll be receiving an ever-growing number of
inquiries from your site too. And exactly how you handle
them can make or break the future of your business.

Take a look at the questions you've received so far. If
you're just getting started, consider what questions your
visitors MIGHT ask. Then think about how you will answer
them. If you can plug an income stream into your answer,
why no do it? After all, you'd be helping your visitors by
offering an answer AND a solution. And that's a great way to
grow long-term profits at ANY site.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Article by Jim Daniels of www.bizweb2000.com
Jim makes a comfortable living on the web, right from his home.
If you need website traffic or sales, just copy Jim's methods!
He shares them all at his site: http://www.bizweb2000.com
And get his free eGazette... mailto:freegazette@bizweb2000.com