By Alan Yap, of ProfitJump.com
[October 18th, 2000]

See Also   Email Marketing Primer   How to Increase Your Online Sales   Take Advantage of Google's AdWords   Using Foreign Search Engines to Boost Your Sales   Getting Sure Profits Through Google, Goto.com and DirectHit   Ten Places You Must Submit Your Site   Clever Profit Growth Software   The Power Of Personalized Email   How To Go Long With Your Web Marketing   How NOT to Promote Your E-business   Winning the Search Engine Wars   Latest Tips on Search Engine Marketing   Are You Wasting Your Money Online?   Should I Hire Another Salesperson or Invest in an Affiliate Program?   The Death of Positioning?   Links: Why You Need Them and How to Get Them   Your #1 Overlooked Business Asset

Which email are you more likely to read: one with your name on it or one without? Chances are, you will choose the former. Well, you are not alone. Statistics have shown that people are more than twice as likely to open and read an email that is personally addressed to them. But how can you benefit from this fact?

Personalize your emails!

Whenever you send emails to your prospects or ezine subscribers, have their names appear on the subject headings. This simple tip can easily double your earnings.

But wait, how are you going to get them to "willingly" tell you their names?

If you run an ezine (which is an absolute *MUST* for your online success), your primary goal is to get the email addresses of your potential subscribers. Don't try to ask for their first names, last names, gender, age, or any other personal information.

With the increasing number of online scams, it is not difficult to see why people hate to divulge their personal data, especially on their first contact. Why should they? They hardly know you. You should be happy if they are willing to give you their email addresses. Ask for anything more and they may not even subscribe!

"What Alan? I thought you just said we should personalize our emails? How can we do so without asking for their names in the first place?"

You can, and you should ask for their names. But not on the first contact.

An example always makes things clearer. Take a look at ProfitJump.com Web site. You see that I only ask for the email address of those who wish to subscribe. Once they enter their email addresses and hit the "Subscribe" button, the real action begins...

Notice that I say all new subscribers will receive 3 free gifts? After I've received their subscription requests, I send them a "Thank You" note. This note also tells them how to get their free gifts -- by simply replying to my autoresponder. This time they will be emailing me using their email programs, which are usually configured to include their names. The second "free gift" request email that I receive from them will now contain their names. Bingo!

Even if they don't reply to my autoresponder, I still get their email addresses. :-)

Still can't figure out how this works? Then see it in action! Just go to http://www.profitjump.com and do a subscription request. You'll get the picture in a minute.

Now I'm not going to leave you hanging there. You can implement what I've done right away. Here are the resources:

1. To set up a form page (where subscribers give you their email addresses):

   http://www.cgi.tj/scripts/alienform/
   - What I use.

   http://www.cgi-resources.com
   - Choose from a collection of CGI scripts.

2. Autoresponder:

   http://www.profitjump.com/response/
   - Powerful features, yet easy to set up.

3. Software to organize and send your personalized emails:

   http://www.group-mail.com
   - Will solve many of your email management problems.

When you ask for names right from the start, your potential subscribers become defensive and may even reconsider subscribing to your ezine. Or they may just give you fake names which really defeats the whole purpose. Don't let them! Ask for their names only after they have subscribed. It is usually easier that way.

Remember:

More Subscribers + Personalized Emails = Double Your Sales!

Article by Alan Yap founding editor of ProfitJump.com. Learn the "unconventional" tricks that he uses to grow his ezine to 4,000+ subscribers in just 2 months! Visit http://www.profitjump.com or subscribe at by sending an email to subscribe@profitjump.com and receive a Mystery Gift, guaranteed.