08.06.06
OK. So No One Opened Your Email. Will That Be Cash or Charge?
I hate using scare tactics to get a point across, so I seldom do.
One of the mantras I live by, online and off is:
Ease up. None of this is life and death.
Using scare tactics makes me feel like I’m peddling mortuary services. Nothing against them, I’m just not one of them.
Besides, the thought of the retaliation that one of them could come up with is just a little unsettling.
In this case however, I’ll resort to using them, because if you’re just getting started with an online career, you need to hear this warning! Before you get tooled up.
If you’re already working the net, you’ve heard that this might happen, but you didn’t figure it would for a long time.
Well, you need to pull your head out of the sand and listen to this too, before it affects your bottom line.
For a while, there have been some rumors about email postage coming your way. That’s right. You’re looking at having to pay to get your email in front of your reader’s eyes.
You’ll still be responsible for making it interesting enough to get them to open it, but soon, you could be paying for delivery whether it gets opened or not.
You’ve also heard for some time about blogs, RSS (really simple syndication), and possibly video-blogging, or v-blogs. If you haven’t, you really have had your head in the sand, or you’re new to all of this.
I won’t provide a detailed tutorial on any one of those for a couple of reasons:
1. - You can do a search on Google for “blogging” and “RSS”, and come up with a load of info on both.
2. - I’m not a techno-geek.
3. - Though blogging and RSS aren’t going anywhere soon, video-blogging is growing by leaps and bounds, and that’s where I’m going with this.
A few of the reasons you may not have gotten into blogging or the RSS trend yet.
You may have put off dealing with learning about this technology for the same reasons that I did:
* You had enough to do learning about the proper care and feeding of your email lists and follow-up.
* Then there’s the ever-present compliancy issues that come with raising an email list.
* Maybe you just didn’t want to have to deal with another technology if you didn’t have to.
* Or you were too busy creating your own products.
Hey, it could be you just didn’t like the sound of the term “blog.” (It *is* sort of guttural sounding;)
Like it or not, you’re in denial if you think that email delivery rates haven’t taken a plunge, and their effectiveness hasn’t declined, and blogging and rss is an effective way to get your information in front of highly targeted audiences.
If you use email as your primary method of delivery, the cost will be going up.
The good news is, the blogging and rss technology is in place, and with it the ability to slip your information directly to your audience, by-passing those email providers who would (and will) charge you for delivery…
Whether they’re opened or not!
In addition, audio and video is creating a huge splash in the internet pond, and it’s getting easier all the time to add these components to your marketing mix. (Easier as long as you know what your doing;/)
Don’t know? Well it’s time to learn.
You can learn it while you still have options open to you, or you can learn it later when you’re scrambling to pick up the pieces of you business because email was (or is) one of your primary components.
Earlier, I touched on the effectiveness of email delivery, and for some even better news:
You’ll see a dramatic increase in the effectiveness of your presentation when you can talk to your readers without having to bold your text, or use asterisks to imply importance.
Your own voice inflections can do wonders in getting your important points across to your audience.
Your body language will speak volumes to those interested in your products, services, ideas, and you.
Video-blogging can have a tremendous effect on your offline business too.
Instead of a lot of expensive printed material or copied media of one type or another, you’ll be able to hand out your business card with instructions for viewing your blog, to prospects, or potential business partners.
If you’re a trainer of any type, this will make a measurable impact on the way you spend your time. (Think less work.)
I’m not planning on canceling any of my email or responder services any time soon, but I will be working more and more with the technology available that promises to get my information to the masses, uninterrupted and inexpensively.
Make it part of your “daily do” list to find out as much as you can on the subject of blogging, rss, and v-blogging.
Step into the present, before the future runs you over.
——————————————————————————————
For more on V-blogging, I’m offering a no-cost PDF to help bring you up to speed on the subject.You can get it at:
Video-Blogging Mistakes