Affiliate marketing is getting harder and harder, due to the low level of entry (anyone can become your new competitor overnight). So it’s important to convert as many of your precious visitors into paying customers.

While you may be tempted to link all of your ads and articles to an affiliate offer (if you’re lucky and this gets overlooked), the truth is that almost all of us affiliates need to send our hard earned traffic to a webpage that pre-sells that visitor on a particular product.

The traditional way to do this was to create a page that sung the praises of a certain affiliated product, which kind of worked but not amazingly. Why? Because it soon became obvious to the wise consumers that your gamelan was to straight up and sell them something.

Now, nobody likes being sold to. But people love to make up their own mind about their buying decisions. So were introduced methods of “totally unbiased” pre-selling, one of the most powerful being the review page.

The reason a review page works so well is because it doesn’t just hard sell you on a specific product but instead gives you a choice, based on actual reasons why or why not a product is worth the money/time/effort and whether or not it is any good.

So if you’re thinking of making more money as an affiliate marketer online, then I suggest you not only incorporate review pages into your sales process, but make sure you do it right using the following blueprint:

Step 1. The Headline

The headline will draw people in and create excitement and desire to continue reading. The headline must include a clear benefit and address the reader as personally as possible. Always state what they will be gaining from reading on, based on the specific problem that they are experiencing.

Step 2. The Body

The entire body is elaborating on the headline and getting the reader involved. This might include telling a short story (only needs to be a paragraph here), in order to connect with the reader, and give a clear reason why you’ve bothered to do a review of these particular products.

Step 3. The products

Many people still do a review on one product and leave nothing to compare it against. I think this is a big mistake, because a comparison of similar products will help prevent the reader from leaving your page to compare the product you’ve reviewed with similar products elsewhere. In other words, why not get them to do their entire research on your page instead?

Step 4. Believability

If you make out as if the winning product is perfect in every sense, then you’ll lose sales. Why? Because people will believe a balanced review over a blatant sales pitch any day of the week. Pick out a few minor bad points and contrast them with the good points so as not to kill the sale.

Step 5. Call to action

Once you’ve written your reviews of each product, make the winning product the most prominent on the page, at the top before the fold. This will prevent visitors clicking away and will be able to clearly see which product is worth looking into. Make all of your links stand out, even on the losing products and be sure to use phrases that ask the visitor to take action, such as “click here to get rid of x..”.

If you apply these techniques to your review pages, you can expect to increase your conversions significantly. What you really need to consider is that more people are doing review type pre-selling every day, so in order for you to stand out; I would highly recommend you do a proper review and not just a “fake” review where you are talking out of your behind! So, you would do well to actually buy the products you are reviewing and make balanced points good AND bad and simply let the visitor make the decision, not you.

If you follow this advice, I can assure you that you’ll always be ahead of the competition by giving your visitors valuable help in buying through affiliate links. Trust me, your visitors will actually appreciate this more than you’d think, and you’re still going to be picking up the affiliate pay checks at the end of the month too.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

For someone who is fairly new to web hosting, choosing the platform you are going to use for your server can be a difficult and even mind-boggling decision. Although there are several obscure choices still available, the most widely used Operating Systems (OSs) are the enterprise, or server, versions of Linux and Windows.

There seems to be a limitless source of information regarding hosting, but it seems that the waters have been muddied by many authors’ self-important personal opinions. This has resulted in some of the issues becoming rather unclear to intermediate users. Some technology bloggers have put quite a few hours, even years, into research on the subject, only to conclude that it really does not matter what server you decide to use. They claim that you should just make sure to choose a really good web host, instead of worrying about the type of server software they are running.

Are they right? Does it matter what kind of server hosts your site? Why? What is the difference between the two OSs, anyway?

Cost considerations

Microsoft manufactures and owns the rights to the entire Windows OS, from the recently retired XP to various flavors of Vista. Linux, on the other hand, is “open source” software and is usually free. What that means is that it can be more costly to install and run a Windows server, but this really would not affect you unless you are setting up the server personally - and if your eyes are glued to this article then it’s a safe assumption that you are not doing so.

What this article will do for you is give you the rundown on how to make the right decision about the web-hosting server you choose. The costs inherent in running a server do not always affect the price of the hosting package as you might suspect. The fact that a single Windows server would be more costly to set up and run doesn’t apply to a web-hosting firm that has installed several dozen or more. Getting the Window hosting package is usually a bit more expensive than the Linux hosting package, but not so much that you should disqualify it on price alone.

Make no assumptions

Individuals often assume that just because their PC operates on Windows, they should purchase a Windows hosting package. Not necessarily. Gaining access to your web account will usually be done through FTP or a control panel, and all servers support these methods. The most important difference in administrative site access is that some FTP commands are a bit different in Linux than in Windows and, of course, the FTP programs will usually be created for only one or the other.

Think about how you intend to put the server to use. Make your decision based on those facts. The web features that will run just fine on both platforms include PHP and the e-mail protocols, IMAP and POP. On the other hand, using ASP, Frontpage, the .Net environment, Access, Windows Streaming Media or other Microsoft technologies will likely require a Windows host. Linux offers only limited support, or none at all, when it comes to these technologies, meaning your “workaround cost” will be quite high and may lack the features you need.

Stability and growth

Different server platforms’ reliability and stability records have been raised in many discussions, some rather contentious. The focus of many anti-MS rants has been that Windows is not a secure environment and is only popular because it is the OS for the majority of home-based PCs. As the most commonly used system, Windows has flaws and people tend to spend a lot of time looking for them, as well as exploiting them for harm.

However, Linux may just be the most common server type out there and, surprisingly, the success rate for hackers has been higher than expected, although not as high as for Windows. After all is said and done, the platforms and their security boil down to systems administration and server company management. If security is the main focus for you, then be sure to take the time to investigate the company that is hosting your site. Make sure that they have a reputation that is corroborated by other companies, not just their own marketing materials. This way you will have fewer worries about the server you are using.

Too close to call?

When it comes to the performance of the two servers, there is not a huge difference. Linux has been known to perform faster than Windows on some “cookie cutter” hosts that install Windows in its default, “all in one” package. Linux distributors, using an open-source application with more flexibility, can implement “extensible” packages with greater customizability. In normal situations, the performance of the two is comparable, but if system functionality is most important to you, this may have an impact on your final decision. Which direction that will send you depends on what you wish to compare, as the OSs do have some different strengths and weaknesses.

It is arguably a better use of your time to look for a good host rather than a good server model or OS. Linux and Windows developers are always working on ways to improve both systems. At this point they seem to be roughly equivalent when it comes to the security, features and reliability expected by the average home and small business user. This is not likely to change for some time. You must base your decision on the factors most important to you and your business, and in this neck-and-neck horse race, a clear winner is impossible to call. Eventually you will just have to saddle up with one or the other, and hit the track.

About The Author

Amy Armitage is the head of Business Development for Lunarpages. Lunarpages provides quality web hosting from their US-based hosting facility. They offer a wide-range of services from Linux Virtual Private Servers and managed solutions to shared and reseller hosting plans.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

As you work steadily towards getting your top home-based business on track, one aspect to be considered very carefully is how to persuade visitors to your site to stay a little longer - rather than glance, click and move on!

The first essential point to clarify is who your visitor is and what he/she is looking for. Remember that the internet is all about INFORMATION. Your visitor is looking for information about home business, and has been taken to your site by the search-engine as a result of the key-words that you have carefully selected and placed in your landing page.

There are numerous articles available which discuss key-word strategies, but having done the right thing, you need to persuade your visitor to look a little more closely at the information you provide and which will hopefully give him the answers he is looking for.

Understand that you’ve been careful enough to get him to your landing page, but how do you encourage him to read on a little further? The next item to consider as part of your strategy is that of the first impression created as your visitor clicks to open your site. You have achieved something very special by getting him this far, so don’t waste the opportunity.

Try to have a good look at your landing page - through someone else’s eyes. Is it visually appealing and does it look like a professional business site? Whatever happens don’t overload the page with gimmicks and a heavy sales pitch. Your visitor hasn’t arrived to buy anything! He’s looking for information, remember. Ensure that the key information about the business opportunity you offer is clearly and concisely presented.

Long and involved stories from individuals who claim to have moved from poverty to riches in a flash, will not impress. You do need (genuine) testimonials, preferably verifiable, from those who have succeeded, but don’t overdo this aspect.

The chances are that your visitor is someone just like you or me, and who is in the same sort of predicament that prompted you to start off on the long road to one of the top home-based businesses available on the ‘net. Describe what you did to reach your decision. How did you decide on the particular business opportunity you selected from your search? Give an idea of your search criteria and discuss the steps you took to get where you are, right now.

Some visitors may be impressed by claims of instant riches, but they will be in the minority. Of greater value will be your personal story, even telling about some of your mistakes along the way. A human touch will show your reader that you are a real person, rather than the operator of a slick website aimed at separating your visitor from his cash as quickly as possible, only to leave him high and dry thereafter.

If we have convinced you to re-examine your site, from your visitor’s perspective, then this article will have met its purpose. If you are proud of your site, and ready to promote it and stand by it, you’re already halfway to success. Good luck!

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

Whether you’re aware of what squeeze pages are in internet marketing or not, it’s time to make them a serious part of your online success. Why? Because squeeze pages are designed to build a list of prospective buyers that you can email over and over again and seriously ramp up your online profits for years to come.

Before we get down to mechanics, let me explain why you really cannot afford to leave squeeze pages out of your marketing mix:

Most of the people who visit your web pages will not buy. It’s a well known fact and cannot be avoided. Why don’t they buy? Many reasons, including trust, not having the money available and also being distracted by their surroundings (such as screaming kids or a blaring TV). However, this can be easily worked around by capturing a name and email address via the squeeze page and staying touch with that person in order to close the sale over time. Another reason to build a list via a squeeze page is because you have the opportunity to sell more related products to that list of people over time. Not only can you close down on one sale for the initial item, but you can also consider promoting complimentary products that your list subscribers will appreciate.

All of this builds trust and long term security for your online business, but building a list is hard when your unable to get people to sign up in the first place. That’s why a squeeze page is so effective, because it literally forces a person to opt in to your list in exchange for valuable, free information or rewards.

There’s no distraction, just action!

So here are the 6 steps to transform (or create) your killer squeeze page:

1. Use professional graphics and a nice, clean layout. This will inspire trust and help towards removing any doubts about what your intent is
2. Sell your free information just as you would the actual product. Remember that people are busy and untrusting, so you really need to bullet the main benefits of handing over their name and email address.
3. Remove all distraction. A squeeze page is designed with one thing in mind, nothing else…to capture a name and email address. It is surprising how many pages I see with other ads, tons of links and too much text going on. Just give the visitor enough clear cut reasons to opt in, no more and no less.
4. Use call to action phrases. It’s a proven fact that people respond better when actually asked (or told) to do something specific. It makes sense when you think about it, and a simple “fill out your name and email address to the left/right” is all it takes. This should be obvious to more experienced marketers, but you’d be amazed at how many people miss this.
5. Tell them what’s coming. Make sure you let the reader know what will happen next and exactly when it will happen. This will improve the opt-in rate and reduce distraction on the other side of the opt in after taking action.
6. Use a serious disclaimer. Show the visitor that you’re not interested in spamming and where possible, try to re-enforce this by referring to your auto responder policies which will do everything they can to stop spamming occurring within their network of customers.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

If you are like most people that spend time on the Internet you have discovered the Web 2.0 Revolution. The real attraction to these sites is the fact that it provides the members a sense of community. It seems that new social networking sites are popping up daily. My Space and Facebook have taken the Internet by storm.

Amazingly these communities are free to join, but each does have its own set of terms and conditions. Many casual Internet users enjoy places like Facebook as a way to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Business owners have found that social networking offers an opportunity to share and learn from others.

Facebook has an enormous community and it is said to double in size about every six months. As of February 2008 Facebook claimed a membership of over 75 million users. A nice feature of this community is that there are networks and groups within the membership.

This allows a member to be in contact with other people that have similar interests. Although the majority of users of Facebook fall in the eighteen to thirty-five year age range, you will find members there of all ages. But an important note is that the 18 - 35 year olds are the perfect audience to market to.

So now we can talk about the advantages Facebook provides to business owners. As mentioned earlier, this is a great way to get to know others with like interests, thus providing a place to share and learn from each other. But Facebook has provided much more than that to business owners.

Strangely few people know how to use the many features available to them to the maximum potential. It really is possible to substantially increase your income while having fun on Facebook. But you have to learn about the features and set your profile and settings up appropriately to enjoy these benefits.

Details of how to do this is beyond the scope of this article but a suggestion is thinking carefully and having a plan before you begin setting up your profile. You really need to know what you want to accomplish with your membership.

Your profile allows others to read and see what you are all about. So if you simply tell the viewers that you are a wife and mother you will not necessarily be seen as a business person. And if you say that you are into horseback riding and that you have a range you are likely to be seen as a horse-lover and be contacted by people with similar interests.

But if your goal is to make money with Facebook you will want to include information that will assist in the endeavor. Facebook provides many features that can be useful to business owners and others. Joining networks and groups will enable you to find other people with similar interests. You can also learn about particular demographics of a group or network. Obviously Facebook can be used to advance the growth of a business and to actually generate money. But there are particular methods that a member should use if he is to receive maximum advantages from this social networking community.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

It was not so long ago when I was watching my nephews eagerly upload their MySpace pictures and create their profiles. All the rave with teenagers and music bands, MySpace has become so much more!

It is now the mecca of small business owners and networkers the world over!

MySpace, like Ryze.com and others,allows you to create a profile, share some pictures and add a bit about your interests. You can even post to your own blog and upload music for “your sound” when people click on your home page.

Now I know some of you are already shaking your head “no” because you’ve heard some of the negative publicity surrounding MySpace, or you think it’s just for fun.

I would counter with the simple, yet sad, truth that you can meet unsavory characters anywhere and, with a few precautions, the benefits far outweigh the risks!

Here’s just a few of the ways you can use MySpace for your business:

1. Networking

Once you set up a home page and profile (it took me THREE minutes!), you can start meeting “friends” and inviting them to join your network. You will soon notice that others will also invite you to join their networks as well.

MySpace will put a notice on your private page letting you know that someone wants to be your friend — YOU then have the power to accept or deny them based on their profile. The more friends you have, the larger your network. You can also choose to keep your network small and focused only on those people who fit in your target audience.

2. Share a little more

While you want to remain professional and not share things you wouldn’t share in a face-to-face networking environment, your MySpace page gives you the ability to share a little more about yourself than you would on your standard website home page.

I, for example, put up some photos of our “children” (dogs and cats) as well as pictures from recent trips — not things you will see on my usual site.

3. Cross-pollination for increased traffic

You can increase your website traffic by referring readers of your MySpace to your website and vice versa. You can also post your standard blog posts onto your MySpace blog — it takes about 30 seconds and will further help to drive traffic.

4. Sell your stuff

Do you have an e-book, regular book or other item to sell? If so, you can include them on your MySpace home page and capture some sales that you otherwise may have missed. 5. Send an announcement.

MySpace lets you send announcements to your friends — the announcements appear in their private inboxes.

Are you offering a new teleclass? Selling a new product? Hosting a workshop? Send an announcement and let your friends know!

It’s quick and painless to set up an account. You don’t need anything fancy and can add to it anytime you wish. This is a great task for your virtual assistant! Don’t have one? Don’t despair — any kid on the block will be happy to do it for you!

While you may not have a thousand friends or make a million dollars overnight, MySpace is yet another great (and free!) way you can market yourself AND your business.

Are you ready to take the next step in no cost marketing?

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

Ever wondered how to get more from your on page SEO factors? Well then here is a quick tip. Off page SEO such as external links and their respected reputation (their age, authority and flow) can only get you so far, ultimately, what you do with your on page factors are where the ranking battles are won.

In my personal opinion, on page SEO and content account for well over 60% of the equation when considering competitive rankings. Low hanging fruit, such as keywords with less than 300,000 competing pages can all be acquired with bully techniques such as links and off page factors, but once you target more aggressive keywords, you will need to use finesse and refinement to hit the top 10 results.

Here is one tactic you can employ to take the pages you have and get more from each. Going back to edit / refine on page link distribution can shed extra pounds to make a site lean, focused and buoyant in the SERPs.

Proximity matters: Proximity of keywords to key modifiers, proximity to other links, and the higher up in the code your main ingredients are the better. For example, if you have a page that has 25 outbound links all being followed with no restrictions (such as using a rel=”nofollow”) or using javascript to house links that you want to exist outside of the realm of search engines.

The reason being, each link with anchor text or an image with a location is sending a portion of link weight to the target page from the page hosting the link. The more followed inbound links a page has, the more equity it has to redistribute for ranking factors.

The concept is, to fortify each page with aligned inbound anchor text from within the site and from outside of the site. The synergy they create is like a dynamo that reciprocates onto itself to propel the site forward in the search engine result pages.

Now, here is the tip:

Just like real estate, location matters with each link on each page. If they are wide open or diffused, then you are sending a mixed signal to search engines. Search engine spiders read from left to right, when they encounter a link, they crawl it based on continuity and prevalence. They key factor here is, you can tell them which ones are more important than other when page sculpting to achieve optimal performance for each link.

How, you may ask?

Just take a peek at how search engines view your pages without the css attributes intact.

1) Type of paste a URL in Google and hit return I used this page as an example.

2) Then click the link called cached.

3) from there select text only version and look at the page without formatting to determine how spiders see the page without cascading style sheets.

4) The first link has the most prominence and link flow for this page, but in this case it is not optimized and says “skip to main content”, which is not exactly optimized anchor text (almost as bad as click here).

5) The concept / solution is to nofollow links that would do more harm than good, realign the anchor text for the first 5 links on the page to work for your long-term ranking goals than against them.

By refining the link distribution of your on page factors, you can create viable shifts in pages that plateau in the SERPs.

Just remember the buddy system (using pages together to chip away at a ranking) and making each page have a specific focus, focused titles, focused anchor text (minimal links leaving the page) and strong, quality external links coming in to that page to produce the right blueprint for solid future tense search engine rankings.

The stronger you on page factors are, the less links you need from external sources to rank higher. A penny saved is a penny earned and in this case, you need all the help you can get to overcome your competition, so tactics like this add up.

Jeffrey Smith is an active internet marketing optimization strategist, consultant and the founder of Seo Design Solutions Seo Company http://www.seodesignsolutions.com. He has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and fresh marketing strategies to individuals involved in online business.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

It’s no secret that the people who cut the biggest cheques in this world are the people who are willing to write smaller ones to get there.

If you’re reading this, you already know that affiliate marketing is a tough game for anyone involved, but particularly for the type of person that wants to dip in and out of new markets and spread their assets across many different niches (always a good idea).

So unless you’ve already got a well trafficked website and/or a huge list that is highly focused and relevant to the products you’re aiming to promote, you’ve got a choice:

1. Start working hard at building sites, hunting backlinks, writing a serious amount of articles, content and blogs…

…eventually your efforts will pay off. But don’t expect money (or indeed traffic) to come knocking for the best part of the next 12 months…not consistently or in large volumes at least.

2. PPC traffic. Bam.

Remember the cutting small cheques to win bigger ones philosophy? Well, PPC is the broker and boy has it got some big affiliate cheques waiting with your name on it.

In a world full of potential markets to dip into and make money, the first option is simple not viable for the hungry netreprenuer. There’s too much work and time required, unless you outsource all of the work (which can often be a huge energy hog and often ends up in tears anyway).

However, people may argue that PPC is also a huge time and energy hog, and PPC can also leave you ended up in tears, particularly after the major PPC search engines such as Google are becoming so competitive and particularly about the campaigns you set up and run.

But in order to get instant traffic and make money from literally every corner of the internet, PPC is still the ultimate way to tap into hungry buyers overnight (plus you don’t have to worry about your traffic levels suddenly dropping like you do with free traffic).

So the real key is to beat the system, and make PPC easy to operate, without losing money and spending lots of time in the process.

In order to do so, you’ll need to address the following key aspects to making your PPC campaign a success…

1. Testing is key

If you don’t test which keywords are bringing you money, and you don’t test which way of presenting your offers (via your webpage/landing page etc) then you’ll always be throwing money away. Once you know what is working, you can dump the duds and literally save yourself thousands in wasted clicks.

Then, reinvest that saved money into more clicks, or even use it to outsource some of your “nitty-gritty” work that you don’t want to do yourself anymore.

2. Target desperate keywords

It’s far easier to target people who are in a desperate mental state than it is to target “tire kickers” who are just snooping around, with no credit card in hand.

3. Watch your budget, but don’t limit it

Of course, the safest way to save yourself wasted PPC cash is to keep a close eye on your campaigns. However, the common mistake here is to cap your daily PPC budget.

By doing this, you’re essentially telling Google not to show your ads too often. This will save you money, but will also limit your exposure and will take you longer to find out of your campaign is going in the right direction. It’s far better to stop the campaign manually when things start getting expensive (providing you’re not in profit that is!)

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

You may be surprised to know that postcards produce better results today than they did before the development of the Internet. There are 7 major reasons why this is happening.

1. Postcards Use A Modern Communication Style

A postcard delivers information the way people want to get it today. It arrives open and ready to read. The message it contains is always brief because there’s not a lot of space for it. Therefore, a postcard is quick to read and easy to comprehend.

2. Postcards Have High Impact

It’s hard to ignore a postcard - even if the reader is sorting their mail over a trashcan and discarding everything that looks like advertising.

An attractive postcard with an eye-catching benefit statement will be read by almost 100 percent of the people who get it …and anyone else who happens to see it.

3. Marketing With Postcards Saves Money

Postcards are small. Therefore, it doesn’t cost much for printing. You can even do the printing yourself with your own computer to reduce the cost to about a penny each.

More importantly, you can send postcards by First Class Mail in the US for 1/3 less than other types of First Class mail. Currently, the First Class postage for postcards is 27 cents …if you make their size between 3 1/2 by 5 inches and 4 1/4 by 6 inches.

4. Marketing With Postcards Saves Time

Because postcards are small, it doesn’t take much time to develop a sales message for them, complete the printing and get them out in the mail. It’s not unusual to see results from postcards within a week of deciding to use them.

5. Postcard Marketing Is Easy

You don’t need any special knowledge or skill to develop a successful postcard marketing campaign - even if you decide to do everything yourself and print them with your own computer to save money.

Tip: Don’t try to put a complete sales presentation on a postcard. There’s not enough space for that. Instead, just list 1 or 2 major benefits to arouse the reader’s interest. Then direct them to do something to get more information. For example, go to your website where they can get more details …and where you can close the sale.

6. Postcards Are Versatile

Postcards are easily adaptable to any business. They work equally as well for selling either products or services.

They’re also adaptable to any kind of marketing activity. You can use them to generate website traffic, develop sales leads, generate visits to a store, promote repeat sales or additional sales to current or previous customers, or …well, you get the idea.

7. Postcards Are Personal

People are used to getting postcards from friends and relatives. It’s something they enjoy. Take advantage of this. Don’t design your postcard to look like a magazine ad. Instead, design it to look at first glance like a message from a friend.

You’re not doing this to deceive the reader. They will immediately recognize your postcard as advertising. But they will give it the same psychological reception they give to a personal message - and that will produce significantly more replies for you.

You’re missing out on a major competitive advantage if you don’t include postcards in your current marketing activity. Fortunately, it is a disadvantage you can quickly overcome.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You’ll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

ONE OF EMAIL’S STRENGTHS IS how well it continues to adapt to all the shifts and changes that constantly reshape the marketing landscape. However, those adaptations have implications that affect the way you use email to market today and in the near future.

While as many as a dozen trends might affect email marketing today, I find myself discussing the following six key trends most often in my travels and speeches:

1. Customer/subscriber control continues to grow.

Top-performing email marketers put more control into their subscribers’ hands. This empowers subscribers, who are more likely to embrace messages from an email program they help to create.

Today, email subscribers expect to decide these things for themselves:

• Whether to opt in to your program in the first place.
• When, where, how and even whether they will read your email messages.
• If and when they want to change preferences for content, format and frequency.
• Whether to report your email as spam.
• Whether to continue receiving your messages in email or find another channel that serves them better.
• When to end the relationship and opt out.

While this can be scary to many, if you embrace this customer power and realize how it leads to increased engagement, you will have a more successful program.

2. Demographics and emerging channels are creating shifts.

Marketers have a broad spectrum of communication channels in which to deliver messages. While younger people generally prefer texting to email, that doesn’t mean email is doomed. After all, when did you last ride your childhood skateboard to work?

Instead, email is shifting from one-to-many message broadcasts to a personalized, event-triggered system of targeted messages. Preference centers will help power this shift, allowing recipients to opt to receive messages in several channels.

For example, airline customers might prefer promotional messages via email, flight delay notifications via voice and their mileage updates via text messages.

3. Most of your prospects are long-term: the “unconverted majority.”

In the B-to-B world, 70% of your leads are long-term opportunities. If you deploy PPC programs such as Google AdWords, you are getting a 2% conversion rate on your ads. In both the B-to-B and PPC examples, email is still the best vehicle to increase your program’s ROI.

Email lead-nurturing programs can help turn many cold and warm leads into those that are sales-ready. A well-designed and promoted email program will capture a good proportion of the 98% who don’t convert to your primary conversion goal — many of whom will then become customers because of your email messages.

4. Your email list is shrinking and going inactive.

Bad news first: On average, about a third of your list (or more) turns over every year due to bounces (2% to 3% each month), unsubscribes and spam complaints. On top of this outright loss, about 25% to 50% of the typical email list is actually inactive, meaning they haven’t opened or clicked on your messages in some defined timeframe, such as 12 or 18 months.

Now, the good news: You can reduce this list churn, and minimize and reengage inactives by making various improvements to your email program. These include enabling preferences and updates, managing expectations at the start, creating welcome programs, deploying trigger and behavior-based programs and implementing win-back campaigns.

5. Your subscribers are reading your emails in many different environments.

Desktop email reading is flatlining today, while mobile email is taking off. The downside: Many smartphones also turn your beautiful HTML messages into an unreadable hodgepodge of URLs and code.

Plus, some consumers are also viewing your emails several times on different devices. For example, they might scan your message during the day on their Blackberry or iPhone and then again in the evening in Outlook or in their Gmail or Yahoo account.

Designing emails to render well across multiple environments has become a must.

6. If your messages have value, your subscribers will share them with their social networks.

Email has always been a social network, thanks to the “forward” button and the “forward to a friend” link. Each one helps your readers share your messages, but both are limited in their utility because they don’t connect directly to the reader’s social networks, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Digg.

To encourage readers to share messages, group all links for viral activities together within the email body - mainly link-sharing and forward to a friend - and tell them how these features work. Track metrics to learn who your most avid sharers are and whether they contribute a greater share of views or sales; then tailor your content to encourage reposting.

What other trends and shifts are you seeing in the marketing landscape that are affecting your email program? Please post them in the comments box below.

Loren McDonald is vice president of industry relations for Silverpop, an email service provider that delivers an array of on-demand solutions supporting both high volume/low involvement BtoC marketing initiatives and, through its Vtrenz solution, low volume/high involvement BtoB sales processes.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com