A New Way Of Thinking For Email Marketers

By Ken Leonard Jr.
Posted Thursday, September 2, 2004

Would you ever have imagined that the new spam laws around the world could actually be a good thing? Before you say that I'm crazy, think about the current situation for email marketers. Then let me tell you why this could be the best thing that's happened in a long time for your online home business.

Even considering the financial hit that some email publishers will take to rebuild their lists after these laws take effect, if you position yourself the right way, you can still come out on top. It's called survival of the fittest, and it's all about being willing to change the way you do business online.

You may be aware of the fact that it has been getting harder and harder for legitimate email marketers to do business. The ongoing fight with spam (and the anti-spam services) has been nothing but a headache for all involved. As an email publisher, one has to get their ezine or newsletter noticed in a sea of close to a million others. What was once the great new opportunity is now in need of major changes. So is the way you think about marketing your small business by email.

Are you ready for this? It's time to do something that you hate, it's time to get out of your comfort zone.

Many people have a hard time dealing with change. Any veteran of business and marketing knows that keeping up with change, and being able to stay one-step-ahead of it, is an important factor for any small business. You are soon going to see some online publishers abandon ship, after they can't get their readers to submit the proper signup infoor to signup again. This situation will affect publishers that have had ISP problems (due to false spam complaints) even more. It will cost a lot of time and money to get their lists back to where they were before all of this came about. Some people are just not prepared (or willing) to make drastic changes to how they run their online home-based business.

This is an opportunity for you. If you can change the way you think about email marketing, while operating within these new guidelines, you CAN find yourself at the top when the dust settles. That's right, YOU can be at the top, along with the handful of others that were also willing to do what it takes to keep their email marketing activities alive and growing.

A smart man explained to me recently how important it is to approach marketing from a proactive, not a reactive position. Dealing with obstacles in a proactive manner will help prepare your business for the future. This means planning for and anticipating future problems directly related to your current problem. Reacting to a situation will put you in with the rest of the crowd that all did the same thing. But dealing with it by turning the situation to your advantage will ensure that you will be around for a long time.

By the way, the smart man I mentioned is Paul Myers. It would be in your best interest to read more of what he has to say. Here's a list building case study he has just completed, after helping one of his online friends increase their subscriber conversion rate by an astonishing 1500%. It won't cost you a dime, either. One simple change can really make a big difference... (http://www.kljonline.com/dl/ListBuildingCaseStudy.pdf))

Soon you'll see that you will have less direct competition, and your way of dealing with all of this will leave you able to carry on your relationships with your email contacts with relative ease. All because you were willing to leave your comfort zone, and come up with your own ideas. Sure, notice what others are doing that are in your situation, then use that knowledge to come up with your own proactive, far-sighted solution to your problem. Where will this current problem lead to in the next year? How can I deal with this current situation, and come out on top in the long-term? Don't be afraid to be different. Thinking differently will enable you to do what others can't (or won't!).

A great way to get the creative ideas flowing is to ask yourself one question each day. "What if...?" This question has taken man to the moon, cured horrible diseases, and will surely give you the ideas to deal with any problem, while others may see it as hopeless. Use this question to come up with your own email marketing strategy, and leave your competition behind. They will be wondering what happened. You won't be wondering. You'll know exactly what happened. You were willing to change, and the others were not.

About the Author
Ken Leonard Jr. publishes New Marketer Ezine weekly. Get the advice and direction you want, so you can make a living working from home. If you are serious, see what others are saying about New Marketer here: (http://www.kenleonardjr.com/nme)