subject: E-Mail Is Still The "Killer App" of Internet Marketing by:Neil Asher [print this page] Over the years, I've gotten kind of famous for doing e-mail marketing. One reason is because I was among the first to really use a landing page widely to help build a list. I created a proprietary opt-in database, expressly for the purpose of e-mail communication.
Creating a public site that you couldn't get into unless you entered your name and e-mail address was a breakthrough 15 years ago. It allowed me to discover models for building different types of newsletters, and those worked really well.
I have to thank my friend, the Internet marketing expert Dean Jackson for helping me with all this. A lot of it was his original architecture, and the concepts that I executed were based on his original thinking and designs.
Even today, 15 years later, you can hear me saying, "E-mail is still the 'Killer App' of the Internet." When you look at all the people who make money online, most of their money is made through Internet marketing that relies on e-mail. E-mail carries information through the Internet the way blood carries oxygen through out bodies.
Look at all the big product launches that are going on right now. The announcements you see are still carried through e-mail. And as far as I can tell, there isn't any sign that e-mail won't be the dominant force in information marketing for the coming few years. At least, that's my perspective.
So it's very important when you start an online business to master e-mail. And I don't mean just the basics. I know when a lot of people think about e-mail, they think it's primarily a sales tool. They'll say, "I'll write a promotional email. I'll write an auto-responder, and I'll tell people to go buy my information products."
Well, that's not the way I think of e-mail. It's really not all that great as a sales tool, because people have been spammed into numbness with product offers. But I do think of e-mail as being sensational as a relationship builder.
What I do, when I'm setting up my e-mail program, is to sit down and ask myself, "What would I do if I could go over to this person's house in person? What would I say if I knew I would be going there every day for the next week, or for a month or a year or however long my series is going to be?"
That's right. I treat my e-mail as if I could sit down with that person and have a conversation. If this wasn't Internet marketing, what would I do or say to build a relationship? How would that go?
Maybe the very first time I went over to their house, I'd knock on the door and they wouldn't know who I was. So I'd want to tell them, "Hey, let me tell you who I am." I would give them a little background. I'd probably bring them some stuff for free, too. I'd show them some things to build credibility and some trust.
Then what would I do the next time I visited? Maybe I would go over, two or three days later, and I'd say, "Hey you know what? I've got this great thing that I use in this area that we're both interested in. It's one of the best things that I've ever put together. I just want to give it to you as a gift. Try it out and let me know how it works!"
Then I'd come back again, two or three days later. I'd sit down and say, "Hey! How did that work for you? Let me tell you a couple of stories about how other people are using that thing."
All the while, at the end of each visit, I would say, "Thanks a lot. It's been great getting to know you. I've got these products over here. If you ever want to just take the fast route, you can get a shortcut to the knowledge you're looking for. We'll just skip all the preliminaries andBAM!you'll get all the knowledge."
Over time, I'd keep building that relationship. I'd just keep going deeper and deeper. I would keep talking to them and building trust and credibility. Eventually, they'll come around to buying one of my information products, because by then they will know and trust me and rely on my advice.
So that's why I think e-mail is still the Internet marketing's once-and-ever "Killer App." You just have to know how to use it effectively.
About the author
Neil Asher (http://www.neilasher.com/freestuff.htm) has built five multi-million dollar companies from zero, including one he took to $8 million in sales in under two years. He has created and sold successful franchises in England, Italy, Ireland, Australia and South Africa. Visit his web site for access to 17 FREE videos, 6 FREE books and two hours of audio training, revealing "How To Make BIG Money Selling Information Products On The InternetEven If You Don't Have A Website And You've Never Sold Anything On The Internet Before."
