Does email marketing still work?

I've been reading through a few online marketing books and they all suggest marketing your product through email lists, ezines, etc.

Are these methods depricated? I know I rarely join a mailing-list and if I do my spam filter usually blocks it

Does anyone do this anymore? Is it effective?

 

You build your own list.
Never buy a list, rent a list, or steal a list.

For ezines, the best way is to find ezines targetted toward your market.

 

Effective or not, the risk of being tagged a spammer is not worth it in my opinion.

 

Just build your list with double opt it, do it ethically, and it will pay in the long run.

 

I have built my own list of subscibers as I update a cinema screening list every week on one of my web sites.

The subscribers are purely OPT IN.

Its taken me a few years to build up the list and it yields results.

Whenever I send an email out i include a competition link or ad for a sponsor.

I get pretty good results as they are always expecting the email and with my read traking and click tracking I can gauge the effectiveness.

You can still get away with Spam but its expensive and not worth the risk in my opinion especially, as ALOT of people out there will hate you, especially postmasters.

 

Opt In lists (real ones) are a gold mine in the right market.

It's all about building rapport by treating your members with respect, and surprising them with helpful tips, tools, etc.

I send out one promotion every 4 emails or so that sells something.

But I ONLY promote products I either use or review.

And yes, you can make a killing with an opt-in list, because you can:
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1) Make sales on demand

2) Initiate a large "word of mouth" campaign on demand

3) Drive traffic to any given location on demand

4) Easily find affiliates or JV partners just by asking your list

5) Easily find out what people are looking for just by asking

6) Activate a forum OVERNIGHT...

7) Build a business - truly...
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So is it worth it?

You bet your ass it is.

But DO NOT do it if you can't follow-through with building a solid relationship with them, and not just continuallly trying to sell them stuff.

(People generally only buy from people they like - or trust.)

Just my $0.02

Sincerely,

-Chris Rempel

 

Wow, I couldn't have asked for better responses.

Now for the part II of this thread, what software do you use to manage your lists?

I'm looking for something cheap that will allow users to opt-in and will allow me to send to them...

Any suggestions?

 

Ezines give wonderful results. But 'email leads' have failed to bring in any response, at least for me.

 

Chris,

Use Aweber.com

It is the best autoresponder, list-database manager and newsletter tool.

It gets the best delivery rate in the industry.

I've had my account with them for about 6 months, and I couldn't be happier.

Aweber is miles beyond my previous list manager... they don't even compare.

Read my official review on them at http://www.jv-web.com/jv_tools_autoresponder.html

-Chris Rempel

 

when i get 'advertising' email or ezines, i send them where they belong... in the TRASH

 

to my mind articles advertizing is much better.

 

It does work. I hate spam but when I plan to buy something I always check my spam folder for possible great deals on a product I want to buy

 

So long as you've got something people want to know about, email marketing will work.

I send my emails to my niche of opt in, which is why they work. I also stir away from the conventional email newsletter, the best example to give would be something like www.tshirthell.com - they send out monthly newsletters with a comedic spin on contemporary news affairs. I open these emails because I know that they will be funny, rather than that PR bullshit which I get fed normally.

 

if you market items to your list that they have opted in that they have interest in, then of course email marketing can still be very effective. Double opt-in would be the best list to market to. We have many email marketers as affiliates with opt in and double opt in list that are earning substantial amounts. So email marketing is still very effective I'd say.

 

It's not spam if someone has opted in to get information from you...they know up front that they are signing up to receive info from you.

Building an opt-in list is a great way to do business...you have the potential to keep making sales to the same person more than once...it's not a one chance thing.

Like has been mentioned...building a list means giving qood quality as well. That takes time and effort.

I'll also second that aweber is likely the best service out there.

Best to All!
Allen

 

i too agree with u..Ya i too started a group 6 months back with full dedication. When started it was just 132 members.AS of today it has grown to >6000 members and adding 100-200 members everyday..

 

i don't think so that email marketing is still effective. now-a-days people are receiving bulk of marketing emails everyday and most of them don't even bother to open them and they simply delete them all. Some people feel embarrassed for such kind of emails. 2nd when you are going to send an email to a large number of contacts, it would automatically be sent to their Spam or Junk folder which mostly people empty without reading.

 

Even i don't think Email works well. You can attract traffic by pasting your link on social networking web sites.

 

Having a good email delivery service is fundamental to success as a marketer. The people for whom this doesn't work are not doing it properly It is essential to reat your list with respect. Write to them as if they are are a friend or a co-worker and not as if you are making an announcement, which makes it terribly impersonal. Don't plug your emails with endless affiliate referrals. Offer them something for nothing such as "Have a look at this great article. You might fingd it useful". And have no financial connection with the the writer of that article. Of course you do make offers from time to time but you don't bombard your list with them every time.

As for the system provider I think AWeber is best

 

The Reason why it doesn't work is because most people try to sell to their list, which rarely works. you have to provide value before you can try to sell something or promote something to your list. after that, you will see good results.