Is Including a Name Really That Important?

Jason Katzenback — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:25:06 +0000

If you have an opt in on your blog (which you really should), let me ask you three important questions…

What causes people to stay on a list?
What causes people to open an email?
What causes people to take action in an email?

Now, the reason I ask is because the less actions you request of your visitor the higher your conversions are going to be and because of that I recently tested having the opt in form with “name and email” versus “email only”.

The page I tested with only the one email field improved the opt in conversions by 7.8%

Now you you might think…

but then I can’t put ‘Hi firstname’ and that seems so unfriendly!

Well, lets take a moment and look at the answers to the above three questions.

Getting value: If they feel it is worthwhile to stay on your list, they will stay on your list.
A Killer Subject Line: No different then a sales page headline, your subject line needs to get their attention or they will delete/ignore your message.
Interest + Desire + Action: You then need to get them interested in what you have to say (such as started with a question), create a sense of desire for what they could have/achieve and then tell them exactly how to take action to quench that desire.

So now (because i hate theory and you need to prove this to yourself), do a split test… the next time you email your list, create one with their name and one with out, and look at the response rate difference.

If your tests go like mine, you will see that the increase in list growth out weights any negative drawback the name issue “might” cause… which means that it is more profitable to get more people on your list.

5 Tips All Newbie Internet Marketers Must Know

Jason Katzenback — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:19:08 +0000

When starting out in internet marketing you are pulled in so many different directions you don’t know whether your coming or going, you just wish somebody would sit you down and explain the Internet Marketing facts of life to you. Well I don’t have time for that in this article but I will give you 5 tips I wish somebody would have forced down my throat when starting out.

1. You don’t need to be on every Internet Marketers list!

This is one I have really only recently forced myself to learn I suppose we think by being on every internet marketers “ezine” list we are going to get the inside track or as most of us tell ourselves keep our eye on the competition but in reality you only end up spending half the day going through email after email of people selling to you. Now its good to expose yourself to the way other internet marketers do things and you can find out about some great resources and products but you must limit this otherwise you are wasting valuable time that you should be spending on YOUR business. To combat this I give the person who’s email list I have joined 5 emails if you try and sell me without giving me any content in every email I unsubscribe simple!

2. No product has the secret to make you rich overnight!

This one was a real problem for me, I suffered from get rich quick mentality so I was leaving myself wide open to any product that promised to make me rich in the shortest possible time. I am sure that is why many of us were attracted to internet marketing in the first place. There is NO product that will make you achieve success overnight or even in your lifetime. It all depends on whether you have enough will to succeed and persistence to keep trying.

3. The best way to learn is by doing it yourself!

It’s great learning from other people’s experience however until you get your hands dirty and work things out for yourself, what worked for someone else will not necessarily work for you only then will you truly understand how to replicate your success and make your own blueprint.

4. Don’t waste valuable time freebie hunting!

Many of us start out trying to find everything for free due to limited budgets, tight ass ways etc. You must realise nobody is going to share every tactic and tip with you especially not for free. Buying products will give you the shortest learning curve, the rest you will work out for yourself with experience and testing.

5. Work on one project and ONE project only!

When intenet marketing really starts to click in your head you start coming up with all sorts of ideas, this can be fatal because you will jump from one project to another without actually getting any live. For your first project make sure you concentrate on it 100% once you become an internet marketing whizzkid only then can you start getting your fingers in all sorts of pies.

I hope you enjoyed this article and have gained some knowledge that will help you on your journey to success.

Pete Moore

Pete Moore gives straight talking Internet Marketing advice on his Zero BS Marketing Blog, he also runs a Blog Building Service for non technical internet marketers.

John Cow dot Com » email marketing

Is Including a Name Really That Important?

5 Tips All Newbie Internet Marketers Must Know