Turn emails into dollars - with one word!

By Hani Banna
Posted Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Want to knock the socks of your visitors and increase your response rate by 400%?

Science tells us there's no sweeter sound to our ears than that of our own name.

And you already know that personalizing your marketing email is critical to getting results.

But most online marketers do that.

We want to stand out from the rest!

So let's take personalization a step FURTHER...

What if you could address users by their first name even after they click on the link in your email?

I'm talking about personalizing your web site for every individual visitor!

Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it?

Well, it's not.

Let me show you how you can do this in 10 minutes and stun your visitors into action.

SIDE NOTE: I actually saw someone SELLING this technique for $49! So I went off and developed my own way of doing it. And here it is for you to use straight away.

Ready for a DEMO?

Let's try a normal web page:

(http://www.makingclicks.com/demo/demo_name.html)

Now let's supercharge that same page with the MAGIC ingredient: PERSONALIZATION!

Click here to see what this new page looks like: (http://www.makingclicks.com/demo/demo_name.html?David)

Now try putting your own name at the end of the link: (http://www.makingclicks.com/demo/demo_name.html?yourname).

It's neat, eh?!

Now if you were visiting my site, which one would you prefer to see? :)

Can you understand why I get triple (and sometimes quadruple) the response using the personalized version of the web page?

HOW TO DO IT:

This web page personalization is accomplished using only four lines of code. Simply copy and paste these into your web page where you'd like the name (or anything else for that matter) to appear:

You also need to personalize the URL in your email copy:

(http://www.yourwebsite.com/webpage.html?)

You're simply adding a "?" followed by the personalization field (in this case ) to the end of your URLs.

Can you see why I was so surprised that someone was selling this simple little script for $49!

Mind you, it's probably worth it given the impact it has on your visitors.

You can also use this technique to impress potential partners. Imagine how special they will feel when they find out you've created a web page just for them!

This is what Harvey Segal from SuperTips.com had to say about a proposal I recently sent him:

"I do receive lots of offers, JVs, proposals, etc. This was one of the best presented because of the personalization, first of the Url, then at the page
itself with my name."

These are two possible applications of this technique. Can you think of any others?

I'd love to have you email me your own twist on this powerful idea!

To get more free Online Marketing tools visit Hani's web site:
(http://www.makingclicks.com/)

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About the Author
Hani Banna
hanibanna@makingclicks.com
Award winning online marketing toolkit
(http://www.makingclicks.com/)