Emails Not Being Responded To? Shhhh! Why is this so?

The most important details in this text are the four cardinal sins that can lead to emails not being responded to. These sins include not giving the recipient a reasonable amount of time to respond to the first message, not using HTML mail, and using a bright blue hyperlink-colored font that is too small for the average eye to read in some e-mail programs. These sins can lead to an e-mail being sent to a coworker that is going "spam" and the recipient having to go out of their way to retrieve the message from the server. 

The most important details in this text are that sending ezine length e-mails to business people is impolite, and that individuals who mark ALL of their messages as High Priority are hurting their chances of quickly responding to urgent messages by abusing priority markers. Additionally, it is important to clean up your e-mail act if necessary, and watch as more of your e-mails are not only read, but also responded to.

Let's face it, no one enjoys being ignored. However, sending an e-mail to a coworker that commits even ONE of these four cardinal sins can mean the difference between a quick response... and that big e-mail receptacle bin in the sky.:-/

Here are four common reasons why YOUR email may be going "spam," and how to fix them so that your messages are answered – and answered *quickly*:

1 "Can you hear what I'm saying now? Durn! Can you hear what I'm saying now? Frick! Can you hear what I'm saying now? Cripes! Could you...?"

Follow-up e-mails are acceptable and even necessary in these days of overzealous spam filtering. But please, for the love of all that is good and holy... give your recipient a reasonable amount of time to respond to the FIRST message FIRST!

You haven't waited long enough if you haven't waited *at least* 24 hours, especially on a first contact. People do have to take care of their lives, spouses, hunger pangs, bathing, and... (well, maybe not the last two if we're in a REAL bind ;)).

2. God, please... HTML is not permitted!

It still amazes me how many people disregard this rule.

HTML mail is roughly *twice the size* of plain text mail with the same content. If your recipient has the option to skip downloading messages over a certain size, and that size is set too small, your e-mail will be cut off in the middle of the message.

This means the recipient will have to go out of their way to retrieve YOUR message from the server.

(Annoyance No. 1)

And people who send HTML mail always seem to use a bright blue(??!) hyperlink-colored font that is WAY too small for the average eye to read. Umm... \sWHY?!

Anything other than Courier New is GUARANTEED to be difficult to read in some e-mail programs – and it's usually a matter of chance that your recipient is one of those.

(Annoyance No. 2)

Don't even get me started on the peculiar "glow" that blue text has when placed against a white background... please?

3. "NO, MAMA! I don't even WANT to read an ezine!"

Sending ezine length e-mails to business people is impolite, period.

You almost guarantee that your email will not be fully read, or that you will receive a half-assed response, because the reader did not want to wade through your verbosity to get to the meat of the matter.

"Ezine length" is typically 9 kilobytes (9k) or greater. Before sending an e-mail, you can usually tell how large it is by looking at its size in your mail program's outbox. If not, for your convenience, 9k is approximately 650 words. (Yeesh!)

Unless the recipient *expects* a lengthy response from you, 3k (200 words) is a good place to stop for a first contact.

NOTE: This also applies to personal e-mails. Being "friends" with someone does not give you permission to consistently disrespect their time with massive e-mails unless they do the same to you on a consistent basis.

So, no repeating yourself 8 billion times, or using "flowery" language and "pretty" mental pictures to make your point.

Just say it, then say something else, and for the love of God... KEEP IT MOVING.

4. I mean, seriously... is it that important?

Ugh. Is it really necessary to explain this one? Individuals who mark ALL of their messages If you know what I mean, High Priority reminds me of the little dude who cried wolf.

When I see these from the same people on a regular basis, I start ignoring the priority and answering them LAST in a mail check just to spite them.

To be sure, not everyone is as insane as me and will do this. But, at the very least, you're hurting your chances of quickly responding to *seriously* urgent messages by abusing priority markers. -« I could go on and on. I won't.

(Yet.)

The rest will be saved for "Part 2." Until then, clean up your e-mail act if necessary, and watch as more of your e-mails are not only answered, but also answered faster and more productively.

Commit the heinous offenses listed above at your own risk!

In 30 days, you can double your eBay sales

The most important details in this text are that eBay users use the search bar to type in general terms, not the "Search Title and Description" checkbox. This means that most searches only check the title, not the words in the ad's description. To ensure that you are ahead of other eBay sellers, the priority list for selecting the best title keywords should be taken literally, but keep in mind that they will not apply to every ad. 

The most important details are to use obvious keywords that are relevant to the product you're selling, double-check that they're spelled correctly, and use general keywords such as "nr", "n/r", "no reserve", "free shipping", or "lot". If you have more than one item to sell and plan to list multiple copies of your ad, create unique titles for each one to increase traffic.

The first step, and as crucial to your success as anything else you learn here, is to clearly understand how eBay users find items to spend their money on.

They all use the same tool to find auction ads, no matter what type of buyer they are or where they come from; "They use the search bar to type in general terms...!"

Buyers rarely check the "Search Title and Description" checkbox and begin scrolling through the more specific results. Heck, the checkbox isn't even an option on eBay's front page; you have to do a "Advanced Search" to even see it. This only emphasizes the significance of your title keywords.

Some people prefer to browse categories rather than search, but we're primarily interested in general majorities, not exceptions to the rule.

In case you're not aware, this means that most searches ONLY CHECK YOUR TITLE, not the words in your ad's description!!!

Experience tells me that now that you know this, you are already way ahead of 70% of other eBay sellers; and that is a very conservative estimate...!

Now that you understand the significance of title keywords, here is a priority list for selecting the best ones for each of your ads:

Take these rules literally, but keep in mind that they will not apply to every ad you run. You have a maximum of 55 characters for your title, so do your best to fit as many as possible into this small space.

1. Use obvious keywords that are relevant to the product you're selling, and double-check that they're spelled correctly.

2. Misspellings of the obvious keywords from the previous rule. (According to Google, 33% of all searches are misspelled)... DID YOU SEE THAT? Thirty percent! Don't Forget This Section.

3. One or two general eBay keywords like "nr", "n/r", "no reserve", "free shipping", or "lot". These are keywords that many professional buyers look for.

4. Other general keywords such as "new", "free", "excellent", "pc", "usb", "dvd", "wholesale", or "supplies". You can only use those that are relevant to the product you're selling, but they're extremely effective.

Take these rules and write them down on a piece of paper every time you're about to list an ad. Typically, the list is far too long to fit in the title. Once you've completed your list, begin narrowing it down using the priority structure I just gave you until it fits within the 55 character limit.

If you have more than one item to sell and plan to list multiple copies of your ad, make sure to create unique titles for each one!!! If you don't, and simply use the same title for each copy, you're wasting your money. Multiple versions of the same ad, each with a different title, can significantly increase your traffic.

Not Found in Regional Yahoo? Don't give up!

A non-American company with a.com website recently dropped out of Yahoo's Australian rankings. The author is an advertising copywriter from Australia and has their website hosted by a major Australian host, but their domain is a.com, not a.au. They emailed Yahoo support, explaining the issue and sharing their thoughts on what was causing it, but nothing happened. Finally, after a few weeks, they received an email from a Yahoo support representative informing them that their keyword was not included in their page title or description, which was incorrect. The author responded, frustrated, but they had started paying more attention when they got back to them.

The story is about an Australian company with a.com URL that was rejected by Yahoo due to its URL. The support representative suggested changing the domain name to the.com.au, which was not an acceptable solution. The author wrote back expressing their displeasure and explained how Yahoo had made a mistake and that if Google could recognize their Australian company despite its.com addresses, it is technically possible. However, there was no response and the situation did not appear to be promising. A week or two later, the website was ranked first once more. The story's moral is to not be scared of Yahoo and to trust your instincts.

If you're a non-American company with a.com website and your regional Yahoo ranking is important to you, my story might be of interest to you.

My copywriting website recently dropped out of Yahoo's Australian rankings. It was number one for my primary keywords "advertising copywriter," "copywriter," and "website copywriter" for a long time. However, it abruptly vanished. I scrolled through about ten pages of results and couldn't find it. I then looked for my domain name, but Yahoo couldn't find it.

Something didn't smell right.

I'd done nothing 'naughty' to my site to warrant a ban, and I still had a ton of links pointing to it (actually, I had more than ever before).

I'm an advertising copywriter from Australia. I live just north of Sydney and have my website hosted by a major Australian host. But my domain is a.com, not a.au. I began to suspect that this was the source of the problem.

So I emailed Yahoo support, explaining the issue and sharing my thoughts on what was causing it.

Then, suddenly, nothing happened.

So I sat and waited. And then I waited. And then I waited. Finally, after a few weeks, I received an email from a Yahoo support representative informing me that my keyword was not included in my page title or description, which was incorrect. I should correct this oversight and resubmit my website to Yahoo.

I responded, frustrated. I reiterated the key points from the first email to ensure they'd paid attention. They hadn't done so. They hadn't even looked up my domain to see if Yahoo still recognized it.

They had started paying more attention when they got back to me this time. The support representative confirmed my suspicion that Yahoo had rejected my site due to its.com URL. Her very helpful solution was to change my domain name to.au! She included some ridiculously complicated instructions for doing so and sent me on my way.

As one would expect, I was dissatisfied. I wasn't even having a good time. I explained to her that this was not an acceptable solution because all internet links to my site point to the.com and my email address uses the.com.

She remained unmoved. She insisted that this was the only and best solution to the problem. Oh, and adding my primary keyword to the title and description might help.

My laughter was not amusing! I wrote back expressing my displeasure at this "solution". I painstakingly explained how Yahoo had made a mistake, and that if Google could recognize my Australian company despite its.com addresses, I believe it is technically possible. In the first couple of pages of Australian results, I also mentioned several other.coms.

There was no response.

The situation did not appear to be promising...

Don't be discouraged if this story sounds familiar to you. A week or two later, I searched Yahoo Australia for my primary keyword, and... My website was ranked first once more!

What is the story's moral? Don't be scared of Yahoo. Don't give up and trust your instincts. If you're an Australian company with a.com and you're not appearing in Australian searches, this could be the reason. In fact, I believe this story applies to all regional Yahoos. (Of course, before making any accusations, make sure your site is properly optimized and has a large number of inbound links.)

That's the end of my story. I hope it is useful to someone.

And they were all happy ever after. So far, at least...Yahoooooooo!

Building Affiliate 'Super Sites' to Stand Out from the Crowd

Building Affiliate 'Super Sites' to Stand Out from the Crowd. Building Affiliate 'Super Sites' to Stand Out from the Crowd

As the affiliate marketing industry continues to grow and evolve, it's becoming increasingly important for affiliate marketers to differentiate themselves from their competitors. One way to do this is by building a 'super site' - a comprehensive, high-quality website that stands out from the crowd and attracts a large number of potential customers.

Here are some tips and best practices for building a 'super site' that will help you achieve success as an affiliate marketer:

1. Choose a Niche That You're Passionate About

One of the key factors in building a successful affiliate marketing site is choosing a niche that you're passionate about. This will help you maintain your motivation and drive, even when things get tough. Plus, if you're passionate about your niche, you'll be more likely to produce high-quality content that your visitors will find interesting and valuable.

2. Invest in Quality Content

High-quality content is the foundation of a successful affiliate marketing site. You need to invest time and resources into producing articles, videos, and other forms of content that are engaging, informative, and relevant to your target audience. This will help you establish yourself as a credible authority in your niche and attract more visitors to your site.

3. Utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of building a successful affiliate marketing site. You need to ensure that your site is optimized for search engines so that it can rank well in search results and attract more organic traffic. This includes using keywords in your content, optimizing your site structure, and building high-quality backlinks from other websites.

4. Promote Your Site on Social Media

Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your affiliate marketing site and attracting more visitors. Choose the platforms that are most relevant to your target audience and use them to share your content, engage with your followers, and build your brand.

5. Offer Unique and Valuable Incentives to Your Visitors

Another way to differentiate yourself from other affiliate marketers is by offering unique and valuable incentives to your visitors. This could include exclusive discounts, early access to new products, or special bonuses for signing up for your email list. By offering these incentives, you'll be able to build a loyal following and encourage more people to visit your site and make a purchase.

6. Continuously Monitor and Improve Your Site

Finally, it's important to continuously monitor and improve your affiliate marketing site. This includes regularly analyzing your site's traffic and conversion rates, as well as testing different strategies to see what works best. By continuously improving your site, you'll be able to stay ahead of the competition and attract even more visitors and sales.

By following these tips and best practices, you'll be well on your way to building a successful 'super site' that will help you stand out from the crowd as an affiliate marketer. Whether you're just starting out or are an experienced affiliate marketer, these strategies will help you achieve the success you're looking for.

One common mistake that new affiliate marketers make is believing that their 'product' is the merchant's product. While this is a valid way to look at your business, it puts you in the mindset of 'pushing the link' rather than building relationships with potential customers.

Super successful affiliates understand that their job is to presell rather than sell, and that their true product is content. Let's look at this from the perspective of a customer to see why creating a content-focused and interactive site is so effective, and why this type of site can significantly increase your commissions.

1. Shopping and Networking

When the average shopper goes online, he or she probably already has a list of trusted sites in mind. This is especially true for certain categories of products in the tangible goods market.

However, there is a large pool of potential customers who are looking for information and conducting research before making a purchase. These may be first-time internet shoppers, or they may belong to a specific interest group and need to do a lot of comparison shopping before making a decision.

These are the customers you can attract to your website by providing high-quality content.

However, I would advise you to go one step further than simply linking to some articles or launching a newsletter. Create a site that fosters a sense of community instead.

In other words, create a space for people to connect with their interests and with one another. Why?

Simple: Any website that fosters a sense of community will build trust, generate word-of-mouth referrals, and attract repeat visitors. Your website becomes a "hub" or "authority" on a topic, making it an ideal "jumping off point" in the purchasing process.

It's like going shopping with your friends. There is security in numbers. There is also a lot more activity where ideas are freely shared. A customer-focused, interactive website also allows you to collect feedback and quickly adjust to the needs of your target market.

2. Community Planning

This type of site is no more difficult to set up than a static content site; it simply necessitates a little more advanced planning.

What you will require:

Newsletter with structured content Message board system Multiple related affiliate products

This affiliate site model is dependent on having a variety of products to promote within your niche. Assume you've decided on "The South Beach Diet" as your niche. Your profit model would include products such as a south beach diet e-book, a south beach diet recipes e-book, a recommended merchant for supplements or vitamins, and so on.

Your diet-related content should be organized into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Your newsletter content will also cover these topics, but with a greater emphasis on recommended'solutions,' i.e., your affiliate products. Of course, your affiliate links will appear throughout the online content.

Here's where a clever strategy comes into play. You create a message board for customers who bought your recommended products via your link. Their ability to create usernames and participate in the forum is contingent on them sending you their purchase receipt.

However, general sections of the forum remain accessible to all guest visitors. These sections should be focused discussions on the product's success with users (s).

Essentially, you've created a 'user's group' for a product that didn't previously have one.

This accomplishes a number of goals. It enables your loyal visitors to do extensive preselling for you as well as create additional content on the fly. It creates a trusting environment, but it also allows the visitor to be subject to "peer influence" in the selling process, taking the focus away from your site's sales behind the scenes.

Finally, the message board will provide you with access to mountains of data, including customer opinions and experiences, their feelings about the products, what they're really looking for, and much more. You can quickly adjust your offerings based on this feedback, as well as compile a fantastic list of ideas for creating your own product - a product that meets, if not exceeds, their expectations, because you now know what they liked and disliked about the competitor's products you just sold to them.

The type of site I just described is the same type used by the majority of successful super-affiliates.

Of course, you can still do quite well promoting a single product with a simple landing page and newsletter. However, if you want to focus on one niche and delve deep into it, this expanded model is the one I recommend.

So, create some landing pages, start collecting leads, and test the response for various niches.

When you find one that is hungry and hot, abandon the one-page-one product model and create an interactive, super-affiliate hub. You'll soon find yourself dominating your niche and profiting from a wide range of product offerings!