Today I reproduce an email sent to me by a Kikabink News subscriber (published with his permission).

WARNING: if you are easily offended, don’t read on.

If, on the other hand, you’re ready for a rather confronting article, go ahead. It’s controversial… I don’t necessarily agree… and it’s definitely food for thought (if you think deeply about the underlying ideas)…

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“Websites that Hypnotize Your Prospects… and COMMAND them to buy! Hypnotic Websites, Hypnotic Email Messages, Hypnotic PR… We’ll show you step-by-step how to create marketing that literally tricks your prospects into obeying your every command…

“Steal this”

“Murder your job”…

and the list goes on.

Can you show me any reason other than greed, as to why anyone would tell you they have a way to MAKE people buy your items? Can you tell me why we have to “steal” this or that to make it on the Internet?

What is wrong with the old fashioned way of selling?

Do a sales page and whatever else it takes to bring prospects to you, and if they want, they will buy. Hell, do a 33 page sales page as some do, but do it right and honestly. Would you want someone to sell you something you do not need just because they found a way to MAKE you like it or think you want it?

Here is an example for you and a crude one at that: would you want someone to put a drug in a drink and take advantage of you, against your wishes? Now you may ask, “what has that to do with Internet marketing?” The reason is that in both cases someone is taking advantage of you in a way you would not normally want.

In your right mind you would not want to go anywhere with someone who spiked your drink, just as in your right mind you would not buy something you really don’t need.

And what about the people who tell you to “steal this” from someone.

Why should I have to “steal” anything? I know it’s a gimmick, and the idea is not really to steal anything. But the use of “stealing” still leads people to believe they’re getting something for a cheaper price. And, if you think about it, such language is appealing to that part of people that is negative and greedy.

I don’t need to steal anything and I don’t need to cheat or dupe people into thinking they need to buy from me. This Internet marketing business should be honest, but it is getting worse every day. Why not call it the “IM419 Marketing”. If you don’t know what a “419er” is, go to Google and search on it. You will find out what I am talking about.

Why should anyone have to “trick” “steal, “kill”, “hypnotize”, “lie” and so one to sell a product? All of those words are negative and appeal to the base side of all of us. Do we need to be criminals to participate in the Internet marketing arena?

If a product is good and serves our purposes then we can buy it. We do not need to be browbeaten and lied to. Nor should we be told how to cheat others to sell. A good sales letter of a few pages to a few dozen should do the job. I don’t think anyone should advertise for a company that advocates what these people are saying.

Besides… what happens when someone wakes up and realizes they have been screwed? Refund time and a host of other problems they wouldn’t have experienced had they been honest. If your product is good, then sell it proudly and with honor. If it is bad, then redo it and try again. How much more simple can it be?

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What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

If you’re interested in buying a product - let’s say it’s an information product - do you read the sales letter from start to finish?

Or do you, as Kikabink News subscriber, John H. does, scroll down to the bottom to find the price and then skim the bullet points.

Or do you do something else entirely?

Well, it’s the very fact that different readers approach sales letters in different ways that they - the more effective ones, that is - are structured and written in a way to accommodate different kinds of reader.

There are readers who read every word… skimmers who catch the main points… and ‘pick and choosers’ who look for, and focus only on, the details that matter to them. And there are those who may do any of these depending on the kind of product they’re buying, whether it was preceded by a huge pre-launch campaign of videos, etc, and other factors.

For example, when I bought my first information product in the Internet marketing niche, I read every word of what was something like a 20+ page sales letter. Just recently, when I invested in another - much more expensive - program, I focused only on some of the main points.

The difference for me was that in the first case, I had no familiarity with the product, the company behind it, or what benefits it would bring. I felt that I needed to understand exactly what I was being sold. In the second case, however, I was familiar with - and trusted - the marketer, had experienced an extensive pre-launch campaign, and was really only looking for confirmation that what was on offer was right for me.

Yesterday, I mentioned my view that if you are aiming to sell a product online that would ideally be sold by a real-life salesperson, then a sales letter is probably ideal. Similarly, a sales letter - just like a top sales person - should accommodate as many buyers as possible. It should deliver both the detail… and the salient points… it should allow for people to understand all the features and benefits… as well as convey the overall benefit… it should appeal to the emotions… and also appeal to the rational mind with logic…

The end-result is often a long sales letter. Will this turn off some people who don’t like scrolling? Probably. But, if it’s good, it will capture more people than it loses.

And remember, although YOU may not like reading through reams of copy… it doesn’t mean many of your prospects won’t. Or that they won’t simply skim or pick and choose what they read. As always, your customers (or lack thereof) will tell you whether you need to change how you present your offer.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates that there will be over four billion mobile subscribers worldwide by the end of the year.

Mobile telephone subscriptions have grown by around 24 percent per year between 2000 and 2008. According to the ITU, in 2000 12 percent of the world’s population had mobile (or ‘cell’) phones. At the start of this year, mobile penetration exceeded 50 percent, and is now expected to reach 61 percent by the end of the year.

Of course, ’subscriber’ does not necessarily equal ‘person’ so the ITU’s claims of global penetration may be somewhat exaggerated. Still, it’s impressive growth.

Source: Enid Burns, “Mobile Subscribers Increase Worldwide”, The ClickZ Network, October 2, 2008

Email service providers (”ESPs”) are increasingly encouraging - if not forcing - their clients to build “double optin” subscriber lists.

“Double optin” - more accurately known as CONFIRMED OPTIN is where someone signs up to your list and, before you send out any real content, you send them a message asking for confirmation that they really did sign up to your list and want to receive your material.

This process is designed to weed out subscribers who give you a fake email address, someone else’s email address, or who are unsure about, or not all that interested in, your material.

By all accounts, the result is that those who do confirm their subscription are more motivated - and more qualified - leads.

The downside is that you don’t get any “lukewarm” leads - people who may be legitimate prospects, but aren’t sure enough of you or the quality of what you have to offer, to confirm their name and email address. Nor do you get people who, for whatever reason, accidentally ignore your confirmation message (it happens!)

While this is a shame, the fact is, if you use an ESP you may not have any choice but to use a confirmed optin process. I don’t know of any ESPs that make this compulsory yet, but I do know that if you select confirmed optin for a given list with some ESPs (e.g. GetResponse and Aweber) they won’t let you change your mind and switch to single optin later.

You see, ESPs allow numerous clients to send email from the same mail servers. If someone uses one of these mail servers to send unsolicited email (spam) and this causes one or more ISPs to block email from this mail server, EVERYONE - including the legitimate emailers - using this server will have their email blocked.

Understandably, ESPs are no longer putting up with this… which means that YOU may eventually have to switch to confirmed optin.

What’s the immediate impact of this? Get used to lower (legitimate) signups to your list.

While fans of confirmed optin will say that “it’s the quality, not the quantity” of your list that counts, single optin advocates point out that you will end up missing out on a lot of legitimate leads that, for one reason or another, just don’t confirm their sign-up.

Blame it on the spammers.

Nevertheless, if you use a confirmed optin approach, there are things you can do to maximize the number of people who confirm their subscription. I’ll send you some tips on this in a future issue of the newsletter…

I was pushed off my soapbox today. This time by a Kikabink News subscriber with a beef about marketers using – or should I say MISusing - the word “free”…

Gregg (last name withheld to protect his privacy) emailed the following to me. I have edited the message for readability and to protect the innocent/guilty (depending on how you look at it). I offer my views at the end:

“Now, how many times have you seen something offered as ‘free’ when in fact it is not. I am 61 now and I think I know the meaning of “free” versus “buy one get one free”.

A prime example of this is [Name of Marketer withheld] who usually has some free items but, for the most part, if you read the fine print, you have signed up for something at $30 a month and so on.

‘Free’ to me does not mean ‘pay shipping and handling’. That means it costs whatever the shipping and handling is. Shipping and handling (S & H) of $9 for a disc means, to me, that the thing costs $9 and is not free. If it were truly free, send it to me without any S & H costs.

‘Free’ does not mean if I buy one of someone else’s product I get their deal free. It means to me that if I buy one, I get one free.

‘Free’ for 30,60 or 90 days if you show a credit card and bam, they slam your card when you order… is not free.

There seems to be far too much bullshit in the ads going on. I have returned items that I wanted just out of spite over this crap.”

What are your thoughts? Is Gregg right… or is he being pedantic?

Well, in many countries - certainly in Australia and I believe in the U.S. and U.K. - the law is firmly on Gregg’s side: if you say something is ‘free’ without any qualification you are implying that someone needn’t pay any money to get whatever you are offering.

Obviously I can’t give legal advice within the confines of this newsletter. I can say, however, that (as an Australian qualified lawyer) I have reviewed numerous promotional offers and advised clients that unless they clearly state any applicable qualification - e.g. that there’s a shipping and handling fee, or that a customer must buy something else to get the free product or service, or that the offer only applies under other limited circumstances - they are engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct by presenting the product or service as being ‘free’.

Do some marketers get away with saying ‘free’ when they don’t mean it? Sure they do. Government regulators have limited resources and simply can’t prosecute everyone. But sometimes it only takes a few people complaining before a regulator sets their sights on a particular marketer.

And just as ‘free’ attracts the attention of consumers… it also tends to attract the attention of consumer regulators.

Gregg has subsequently contacted me about a couple of other practices he objects to. I’ll share them with you in an upcoming issue… I’m not sure I entirely agree with his objections, but I’ll let him have his say.

What about you? Want to get something off your chest? Send it to me or feel free to comment on this (or any other) article in the newsletter.

In a move that should worry every email marketer, Yahoo Mail has blacklisted Randy Cassingham’s “This Is True” email newsletter.

Randy - known as a “white hat” search engine optimization expert - has been publishing his newsletter since 1994 and requires his subscribers to: (1) opt-in to receive the newsletter, and (2) confirm they wish to receive the newsletter. As such, he has built up what is referred to as a “confirmed optin” or, less accurately, “double optin” email subscriber list.

Yet, that didn’t stop Yahoo from blacklisting Randy’s email address. Given that Yahoo email users constitute over 20,000 of Randy’s subscribers, and the vast majority - 70 percent - can no longer
receive Randy’s emails, this is devastating for both Randy and his loyal subscribers.

Evidently, the ban was caused by some subscribers clicking on the “This Is Spam” button in their Yahoo Mail control panel, rather than simply unsubscribing from the newsletter.

So while spammers keep on mass-distributing their rubbish… legitimate mailers get their emails banned. It ain’t right.

Sources: Shawn Collins, “Yahoo Mail Blacklists a Respected White Hat”, Affiliate Tip, August 2, 2008, Randy Cassingham’s This Is True blog

Okay, so you’ve got an enticing offer that will generate tons of subscribers to your email list.

But, it’s not just the OFFER that needs to be extremely persuasive… it’s also how you PRESENT the offer.

To use an extreme example, burying your subscriber optin form (i.e. the form where people enter their name and email address) at the bottom of your webpage, or even worse, within the depths of your website, is unlikely to attract many subscribers.

By contrast, having the optin form “above the fold” (visible when someone visits your site - so they don’t have to scroll down) and on EVERY page of your website will usually have a much greater response.

Other things you can do to increase your optin rate are to have an appealing headline and subhead, and include a reassurance that the subscriber’s details will be kept safe and secure.

We’ve found that including a “pop over” or “hover ad” - a layer that floats over the webpage and includes an optin form - can also substantially increase the optin rate.

Also some marketers say that including the optin box on the right hand side of the page is more effective than having it on the left, since studies show that (Westerners’) eyes tend to rest on the right side of the page.

And of course there’s the “name squeeze” page which is likely to generate the MOST subscribers (but not necessarily the most qualified subscribers. See: The Dirty Little Truth About Name Squeeze Pages).

These are definitely things to test!