In the last post, we discussed the "I" in List PROFIT System (Initiate a response). This time, we define
T – THWART the filters.
You've done a lot of great things so far. You've got people to your site. You've convinced them to join. You've prepared a proposal. You've crafted a great subject line to get them to open up and read. You've got something inside the email that will get them to take action.
What happens if they never see your email at all?
There are three forces working against every single mailing you send out to your list:
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SPAM filters and their “false positives.” Here’s the big one. A recent study shows that as high as 46% of permission-based email messages are being BLOCKED by the Top 15 ISPs in the country. The problem is generally what is referred to as “false positives". You send a mailing. The ISPs SPAM filtration system recognizes a word in there (as simple as “free”) and determines your email must be SPAM and automatically deletes it. It doesn’t matter that the subscriber requested it. They never even see it.
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Subscribers and their “mass deletions". Of the increasingly small number of email messages that actually do make it into the inboxes of the recipients, another challenge awaits. It’s what I call “mass deletions". All of your subscribers have likely done it at one time or another. They check their email. There are fifty messages sitting there and most of them are SPAM. They quickly scan them, select a group of them and hit DELETE. And, in the process, your legitimate email that they requested is accidentally deleted with the SPAM messages. You made it to their inbox, but they never even see it.
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Competitors and their “constant mailings". If your email message is lucky enough to make it past the SPAM filters and past the accidental deletions, you’ve got yet another problem. This time it’s your competition. See, you aren’t the only one sending out mailings to John Q. Subscriber. Your competition (even if it’s not PRODUCT competition, it’s TIME competition!) is also trying to get their attention. And, here’s the thing: your subscriber only has so much time in his day. He is only going to read so many emails before he moves on to something else. Will it be your email, or your competition's email?
It is estimated with some lists less than 10% of your subscribers are actually reading your email messages!
You simply must get your messages delivered or no one benefits.
In lesson seven of our series, I'm going to share with you a tremendous method for getting your messages delivered properly. I'm going to show you how to beat the filters, beat the mass deletions and beat your competition. It's absolutely critical that you put that lesson into practice regardless of what you do with the other information I'm sharing. If your messages aren't delivered, you've wasted your time.
Now, I'll give you just a couple of quick pointers here in this overview lesson to get you started.
One thing you'll want to do for certain is check your SPAM rating to make certain it's in an acceptable range. Most of the better autoresponder services offer this feature for you. Aweber does.
If yours doesn't, you can use the free tool at http://spamcheck.sitesell.com
Just changing a few words here and there can make a HUGE difference in whether or not filtration systems perceive your messages as SPAM. It's the best 5 minutes of your email marketing you'll ever spend. Check your rating and make appropriate adjustments.
You can also do things like…
- Get your subscribers to "approve" mailings from you.
- Authenticate yourself as a legitimate mailer when you receive a "response challenge" from protection services such as Spam Arrest.
- Use alternative formats of your email messages such as "downloadable email messages" in PDF format. (Free report available at www.GetEmailResults.com)
We'll talk about all of this and much more in the coming lessons of our series.
I've just handed you the exact system I use for creating "six figures in six steps" from email marketing. I call it the List Profit System and in the next 6 lessons, I'll be explaining each of the steps in greater detail.
Step 1: Promote your list