Are You Overlooking the Gold In Your Email Folders?
If you've been using the Internet for some time, most likely the
folders of your email program have become crammed with
copies of different types of email messages you've sent and
received in days gone by.
Perhaps to conserve hard drive space or to reduce clutter and
confusion, you've saved few copies of past messages. Or maybe
you've saved many in the past but have later been tempted to
delete them.
Let me suggest that those old email messages may contain more
value than you've ever imagined. I'm going to share some ideas
in this article that may help you look at them in a new light
and to gain more value from them.
1) FAQ Page Creation and Updating.
As you look through archived email messages, are there certain
questions that prospects have often asked about your products or
services? Remember that for every prospect who takes the time
to email you a question about one of your products or services,
there likely have been several more with similar questions who
haven't.
In order to save time for yourself and your prospects in the
future - and to close more sales - you may be wise to compile
answers to common questions into a FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) web page or autoresponder. At the very least, you
may at least be able to reuse your replies to previous questions
to answer future ones, instead of creating them from scratch
each time.
2) Ad Copy Improvements.
The same idea applies to your ad copy. The more questions,
concerns or sales objections you leave unanswered or
unaddressed, the more potential obstacles stand in the way of
a prospect's buying decision. Your email archives likely hold
valuable clues for ways to better address those issues by
updating and improving your ad copy.
3) Ideas for Additional Income Streams.
Past email correspondence with prospects and customers can
reveal additional related challenges, problems and goals of
those in your target market. Hidden within may lie the spark of
ideas for additional products and services that would appeal to
them.
4) Article Ideas and Research Material.
Looking for material for a new article? A quick scan through
some of your old email messages should turn up several topic
ideas and research material.
5) Info-Product Material.
The same idea also can be applied toward product creation. Some
of your previous original writings may be incorporated - along
with other original material you create - in a new information
product.
6) Testimonials.
What about those emails you've received from customers who've
raved about your product or service? If you haven't already,
drop them a line thanking them for their kind words and ask them
for permission to quote their testimonials in future marketing
efforts. Likely, more will grant permission than not.
7) Potential Joint Venture or Networking Partners.
Networking with and arranging joint venture partnerships with
other Internet entrepreneurs who market products or services
complementary to your own can be an effective marketing
strategy. Your email folders likely contain many good
candidates that you might approach on an individual basis.
Note: There are so many joint venture possibilities that you
likely won't have time to pursue them all. You'll have to be
selective when choosing JV partners.
8) Site Improvements.
One commonly overlooked fact is that the same web site can look
very different from one computer system to another. Sometimes
visitors may send an email to let you know of these or other
usability problems they've experienced on your site, which you
may be totally unaware of. Such feedback can reveal ways to
improve the sales effectiveness of your site by making it more
user-friendly.
In Closing...
Before you delete all those old messages archived in your email
program, it can be well worth the time it takes to scan through
them to see how you might apply some of the above suggestions.
You may uncover some very valuable "nuggets" whose value you
have previously overlooked!
About the Author
Marty Foley reveals uncommon e-commerce success strategies
and tactics in his highly-acclaimed, Internet Marketing
Goldmine: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v3/ He also consults
personally with serious Internet entrepreneurs to help build
and boost the profits of their online enterprises, through his
members-only Insiders site: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v5/