If you’re on a few Internet marketing lists you’ve probably received various promotions for ‘The Arbitrage Conspiracy’ over the last week or so. By all accounts, it’s been a huge launch. Sales have been spectacular… and so has the backlash.

So what is The Arbitrage Conspiracy… and why has it stirred up so much controversy on the popular Internet marketing discussion board, the Warrior Forum? And why, despite the naysayers, has the launch already made (according to my sources) several million dollars in sales… and given a number of affiliates a nice 5 figure payday?

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The other day a valued client asked me what I thought of safelists. Funnily enough, the question came at a time when I’d just come to the uneasy conclusion that I must be on someone’s safelist.

Why else would I be constantly be bombarded with promotions from Internet marketers I don’t recognize… and certainly haven’t opted in with or bought from. (Actually there are other explanations, but let’s go with the safelist…)

Now, to some extent, being on a safelist is my problem as an email recipient. But it’s also a problem for the Internet marketers sending out all these emails. Put it this way, if someone has added me to a safelist… and I don’t read any of the emails being sent to me… how many other subscribers are in the same situation? How many other people have been added to a safelist without any interest whatsoever in receiving the various promotional emails being sent to them?

And how many marketers are sending emails to these lists - perhaps having paid for the privilege expecting a decent response, and getting negligible results?

I think we all know the answer.

Perhaps safelists are cost-effective for some marketers. If you’ve had good results from them, please click on the ‘Click here to comment’ link below and let us know why and how they’ve work for you.

Otherwise, I recommend you think carefully before using a safelist. Don’t forget – you’re also risking being added to blacklists by people who have no clue they’re on a safelist. To them, you’re a spammer.

And if do want to try out a safelists… expect little or nothing by way of results.

Just three years ago, U.S. web hosting company Hostway conducted a national survey of web users to determine their biggest “pet peeves” about commercial websites.

Not only did the respondents make it clear what they didn’t like, but over 70 percent said that they were unlikely to buy from, or return to, a website that aggravated them. Only 25 percent said they would complain to the company concerned.

Unfortunately, after reviewing the list of “offences” I’ve concluded that many commercial websites continue to make these mistakes three years on… and, as a result, may not only be driving their potential customers crazy, but may be driving a good portion of them away.

With one major exception, which I’ll reveal below…

So what mistakes are such websites making (and are you doing any of these things?) Well, according to the Hostway study, consumers’ biggest peeves were popup ads, having to install software to view a website, and having to log-in to view site content:

• 93 percent of consumers said pop-up ads were annoying or extremely annoying;

• 89 percent were annoyed at the need to install extra software; and

• 83 percent disliked having to register on log-on pages in order to access website content.

Not only did most respondents list these mistakes as annoying, but they regarded these three as the most aggravating irritants:

• 35 percent listed pop-ups as their top peeve;

• 17 percent said it was having to register and log-on to access site content; and

• 16 percent said that having to install extra software was their biggest frustration.

Moreover, as a result of encountering their biggest annoyances:

• 74 percent of consumers said they were extremely or somewhat likely to unsubscribe from the company’s promotions or messages;

• 71 percent were extremely or somewhat likely to view the company in a negative way; and

• 55 percent were extremely or somewhat likely to complain about the Web site to friends/associates.

What else do consumers hate… that you might be inadvertently doing? The study also found that:

• 86 percent of consumers found dead links to be annoying or extremely annoying;

• 84 percent said that confusing navigation was annoying or extremely annoying;

• 83 percent said that that slow-loading pages are annoying or extremely annoying; and

• A little over 80 percent said that ineffective site-search tools were annoying or extremely annoying.

A majority of consumers (albeit a smaller majority) also regarded moving text to be annoying or extremely annoying (59 percent) and poor appearance regarding color, fonts and format as annoying or extremely annoying (55 percent).

The message from this 3 year old study is this: if you want to keep as many visitors as possible, avoid – or at least limit – any use of:

• Popup ads

• Requiring customers to login every time they want to access your content

• Requiring visitors to install special software

• Dead links

• Confusing navigation

• Slow-loading pages

• Ineffective site-search tools

• Moving text

• Poor appearance

Now for the MAJOR qualification: it’s NOT what web users SAY they like or dislike that matters… it’s what they DO that matters. Those “annoying” popups? Fact is, in some markets, they CONTINUE TO WORK. Same goes for registering for content (e.g. via a “squeeze” page).

It IS conceivable that the other complaints are genuine turn-offs for web visitors. I don’t know many people who’d argue that slow-loading pages “work”. Then again, other offences - such as having moving text and requiring visitors to download software to access content - don’t seem so prevalent nowadays. Thanks, I expect, to a better understanding of usability and more advanced browsers with built-in plugins, respectively.

So although studies of what web users like or don’t like are useful guides… nothing is more definitive than what YOUR visitors and customers actually DO.

Source: Press Release, “Survey Says Internet Pet Peeves: What Drives Consumers Away From Your E-Business”, Hostway

Welcome to our new look, new name email newsletter. Now before we go any further I’d like to suggest you don’t read any further… unless you’re genuinely passionate about Internet marketing!

That’s because our aim is to publish THE Internet marketing newsletter for Internet marketers. You know, where we actually tell you about breaking news… give you our take on topical issues… and provide you with helpful research findings, tips and more for improving the effectiveness of your Internet marketing efforts.

This ain’t gonna be your regular thinly veiled promotion for some self-styled Internet marketing guru’s latest home study course on how to get rich from the Internet! Boy, that was a mouthful.

So what’s our motivation? (Like, what’s our plan to extract money from you?) It’s simple really. The business model underlying Kikabink News is to generate revenue from advertising sales, affiliate promotions, and promotions for our own products and services.

But what may distinguish Kikabink News from some other so-called Internet marketing newsletters is that (a) we’ll actually publish news (as opposed to just tips on how to do this or that) and (b) there will be a clear distinction between news articles and advertisements or promotions. Hey, it works for The New York Times doesn’t it? Imagine that… providing a clear distinction between news and promotions.

Hopefully, you’ll like the new look Kikabink News, and if you have any suggestions for improvement or other feedback, drop me a line.