Insider's Secret Part 2

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"INSIDER MARKETING STRATEGIES"

LESSON 2 - Email Aesthetics
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I hope you`ve had time to "digest" the ideas presented in Lesson 1. Today`s lesson is going to build on the basics.

In today`s lesson, you`re going to learn how the APPEARANCE of your email message affects the way your prospects feel about you and what you have to offer.

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EMAIL AESTHETICS
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It`s an old, old saying, but it`s true: you only have one chance to make a good first impression. And in email, the first impression is always visual -- a consumer LOOKS/SEES before he/she READS.

Imagine walking by a grotesquely garish storefront with all kinds of things hanging off the front porch, every floor painted a different color, and odd music playing through loudspeakers. Would you want to walk in the front door? No way! You`d assume that the owner is a kook, at best, or a deranged axe murderer, at worst.

Did you ever have an ugly looking email land in your mailbox?

You know what I`m talking about: an orange background and yellow borders, multi-colored text in all sizes from gigantic to microscopic, a message that looks like it was created by a crazed six-year-old? If you did, I bet you didn`t feel the urge to read it. You probably just wanted to delete it as quickly as possible.

=> PUT OUT THE WELCOME MAT
You want your email message to be friendly and inviting, not bizarre and scary. The suggestions below -- and they`re just suggestions, not hard and fast rules -- will go a long way towards making recipients` eyes say "come on in!" to your message.

=> DO`s and DON`Ts FOR ATTRACTIVE EMAILS

-DON`T use COLOR fonts in your message. (Leave that to junior high girls who want to write about Britney and Justin)

-DO use BLACK TEXT ON A WHITE BACKGROUND.(When you`re "speaking" in black-and-white, people will give their full attention to your message without being distracted by your color scheme.)

-DON`T use UNCOMMON FONTS. (If someone`s system doesn`t recognize the font you`ve selected, they could see gibberish instead of your brilliant message).

-DO use the email marketers` FAVORITE FONTS: Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New

And please.

-DON`T use flashing buttons or banners in your email! (Your prospects have undoubtedly gotten their fill of "bells and whistles" when they`ve surfed the Internet. They don`t need more from you.)

=> GET HYPER" WITH EMAIL HYPERLINKS

An "email hyperlink" is just techno-talk for a link in your email to a website, or email address. Sounds simple enough, and it is -- unless you try to contact a prospect on AOL who may not be able to receive "clickable" links.

Don`t worry. There`s a "fix" for this: simply type mailto: in front of your email address (no space in between, and include the : )

For a link to a web page, you need to write your link this way:



http://www.getresponse.com/t/1514938/

(And tell your recipient they can copy and paste this link into their browser if it`s not highlighted.)

=> ALWAYS USE SIGNATURE TAGS

Today, it`s common practice on the Internet to tell people about your product or service with a SIGNATURE TAG, which is 3-6 lines of text (usually) that is automatically added to every message you send.

If you`d like to add a tag to your messages, simply open your email program. Find the SIGNATURES TAB (located in the TOOLS/OPTIONS menu in Outlook Express). Follow the (simple)instructions for creating a sig file. Easy as pie...and the results will amaze you.

That`s it for now, but get your "net" ready. Next lesson we`re going to hunt down and CAPTURE EMAILS.


John C Vincent