Podcasting

How I Get Subscribers To Read My Emails

2008-02-10T04:45:00.000-08:00

"How I Get Subscribers To Read My Emails"
by Jimmy D Brown
Subject Line Secrets

How I Get Subscribers To Read My Emails by Jimmy D. Brown

Did you notice the title of this article? It's going to be important in just a minute, so glance back at it one more time…

"How I Get Subscribers To Read My Emails".

Any list publisher in the world knows in order to get subscribers responding to their email messages, those subscribers must first READ those email messages.

The question is - how to pull it off?

Let's face it, just blasting out a message to your list won't make the grade these days. It's hard enough getting the darn thing delivered properly. Getting subscribers to actually read your mailing takes a bit of work.

And yet there IS a very systematic, very scientific formula for getting list members to take a look at your emails and read what you've got waiting for them.

It's called - PRAYER!

Well, maybe that's not the formula but it certainly couldn't hurt. LOL

Getting back to the point, it's all about crafting powerful "subject lines".

The reason you're here reading this is because the title in this article got your attention long enough to get you to take action.

So, it obviously worked.

Which prompts two important questions:

1. Why did my title work well enough to get you to read it and respond?

2. How can you apply the same technique I used to see results with your emails?

Let's break down the subject line I used, "How I get subscribers to read my emails", into three important keys as we answer those two questions...

Key 1 : Focus On The End Result.

One of the things that undoubtedly caught your attention when you originally read my title was the fact that it spoke of some enticing results that I was achieving, that YOU would like to achieve as well...

"get subscribers to read my emails"

That's an end result that every email marketer wants to achieve, getting their subscribers to actually open up and read their emails.

So, from the beginning there is this indication, this hint, that I am about to share something that has already been proven to produce desirable results.

That's all ad copy is, folks, whether it's a salesletter or a classified ad or an email subject line. The primary objective is to get the reader thinking about the END RESULT.

Start with the end in mind.

What potential results can you promise to your subscribers if they open your email and take a look inside?

I assure you, when a man or woman on the other end of the line gets your email, that's what they want to know - "What's in it for me?"

You should never click the "send" button until you have made dead certain that something in your subject line appeals to the wants and desires of the individuals who are on your list.

Specifically, focusing on a desirable result (or lack of results, if you are using the "fear of loss" approach) that is so interesting to your subscribers that they stop in their tracks to read what you've got inside.

Start with the end results in mind: "get subscribers to read my emails".

Whatever results YOUR specific list wants to achieve - as it relates to the mailing you are about to send -

* Speed read 150 pages an hour
* Get free airline tickets
* Raise a child model
* Take an extra day off each week
* Stop headaches for good
* Lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks
* Cut wedding costs in half
* Save your marriage
* Quit smoking in 30 days

After you've decided what "end result" you want to focus on, there is a second key to consider...

Key 2: Give Them An Example To Follow.

Learn this and learn this well: nothing - absolutely nothing - speaks louder than personal results.

How many times have you asked a man or woman who has lost a lot of weight...

"How did you do it?"

Just the other day the youth pastor at my church invited me to speak to the youth during a Wednesday night service. I accepted and for forty-five minutes those teenagers sat quietly, hanging on my every word.

After the service was over, the youth pastor came to me and said those magical words, "How did you do it?"

He went on to explain that they are rarely quiet with him and he has a hard time getting them to pay attention. He was so interested in learning how I did it that he dropped by my home the next day to ask me more questions.

Nothing - absolutely nothing - speaks louder than personal results.

* How did you lose that weight?
* How did you get those youth to listen to you?
* How did you get your lawn so green?
* How did you raise two great kids?
* How did you get that promotion?
* How did you teach your toddler to swim?

You get the attention of your subscriber by hinting at results, but you reel them in by giving them details on how you personally achieved those desirable results.

If we have a pattern to follow, we can do it ourselves.

And that's what we really want.

Notice my subject line: "How I get subscribers to read my emails".

* How I speed read 150 pages an hour
* How I get free airline tickets
* How I raised a child model
* How I take an extra day off each week
* How I stopped headaches for good
* How I lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks
* How I cut wedding costs in half
* How I saved my marriage
* How I quit smoking in 30 days

Every single one of us that desires a result, wants to know how to achieve it. And we'd rather not go to the pains of trying to figure it out ourselves.

We'd much rather have someone who has achieved what we want to achieve show us how to do it.

That's why you are reading this article. Does my system work? You tell me. :-)

You wouldn't be here unless it did.

But, there's a third key as well...

Key 3 : Use A Proven Template To Save Time And Increase Results.

Now, to be completely honest with you, this technique won't work if you continue using it every single time you do a mailing to your list.

While you do want to hint at results and even mention personal results, you cannot simply plug in the same subject line over and over again...

* How I make money as an affiliate
* How I make money with joint ventures
* How I make money with my ezine
* How I make money with pay-per-clicks
* How I make money with banners
* How I make money with autoresponders

I mean, that's gonna get old after a while. It's gonna lose its luster. It's not going to be nearly as effective after folks continue seeing it over and over again.

That's why you need to keep a set of proven effective subject line templates on hand, so you can "copy and paste" them every time you need a "grabber" subject line for your mailings. Watch what your favorite ezine authors do and you'll come up with some good ones, or you can purchase a set of hot subject lines that you can use any time.

So, that's how I get subscribers to read emails. I encourage you to do those three things with your own opt-in list...

Focus On The End Result.
Give Them An Example To Follow.
Use A Proven Template To Save Time And Increase Results.

.........................
Ready to learn more from Jimmy D. Brown about getting your subscribers to open, read and act upon the messages you send them? Then grab your copy of Subject Line Secrets today at Not only will you find out which words trigger your readers to click on your emails, you will also get 20 proven templates you can start using right away.
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Official Google Blog: With a little help from your friends

2007-11-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Official Google Blog: With a little help from your friends

Podcasting Audio Tips

2007-09-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

If you want to know about a key ingredient for your podcast, download this MP3.

A Key Ingredient For Your Podcast

Five Reasons Podcasting Might Be Right For Your Home-based Business

2007-04-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

Podcasting has been called the wave of the future. The truth, however, is that podcasting is the here-and-now and is rapidly gaining momentum across the world. There are podcasts available for just about any topic you can think of from cooking to video games to religion. As of February 2006, a Google search for the term “podcast” returns over 205,000,000 results. The amazing reality of this is that it is still, in effect, an untapped market that will continue its growth in the years to come.

Podcasting can have many uses for the home-based business owner. It can be useful not only advertise, but to also communicate your business message. Below are 5 tips on how to use podcasts to benefit your business:

1. Reach your niche market – Depending on your product, podcasting can be the perfect way to reach new groups of people in your market. Believe it or not, there are people out there looking for the product you provide and this enables them to easily find them.

Podcasts are quickly becoming a new advertising venue as well. A podcast that is listed in podcasting directories such as iTunes can reach thousands, even millions of listeners. This can be a very inexpensive method for advertisers on a budget.

The popularity of podcasts is a steadily growing trend. Many people who are just beginning to learn about podcasts will search for topics of there interest. This is a great way to reach customers that you would not have been able to reach before the advent of podcasting.

2. Share your passion – Podcasting is a great way to share what you love. If you are excited about a topic or product, chances are that others out there are, too. A podcast on the topic you are passionate about is a great way to connect with others who also share that same passion.

People can hear your excitement over the “airwaves.” I always enjoy listening to a program when the speaker is obviously energized about whatever it is he’s speaking on. So, when recording your podcast, keep a smile on your face and allow your excitement to show.

3. Share information – Many home-based businesses have begun because they are filling a need. A podcast can help this information reach the people that it will benefit. For example, CWAHM.com was created to help women be at home with their children while still contributing to their families financially. Many of the sites’ visitors are buys moms who may not have the time to scour the hundreds of pages the site contains. Our podcast, Christian Work at Home Moment, airs once a week and is 24 minutes long. It’s an easy way for moms to learn more about working from home without spending hours on their computer.

Make it a point to research your topic and find all of the interesting and little known facets of passion. Keep your listeners interested and they will want to hear more!

4. Become an “Expert” in your field – Creating a podcast can help to establish you as an “expert” in the area your broadcast covers. You must be willing to take the time, do the research and share information that is valuable and useful to your listeners.

Just as authors become experts by researching and writing on specific topics, podcasters become experts by sharing the information they find with their listening audience. There is a big market for podcasts in a multitude of areas – the next expert could be YOU!

5. It’s easy - A podcast can be started with virtually no cost or investment. In most cases, there is no need to be “tech savvy” to be a podcast creator. It can be as simple as using a phone to record your podcast through a service like Odeo.com. There are, of course, more complicated set-ups, but to begin you truly just need a topic, a phone and a quiet spot to record.

Podcasting is easy for listeners as well. A podcast can be listened to directly from a website or downloaded from iTunes and put directly on an MP3 device.

There are many reasons that a podcast can benefit small and home-based businesses. This growing market is an entirely new way to communicate information to the world. When it comes to podcasting, the sky’s the limit. So take your business to new levels and start podcasting today.

Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com Jill and her husband, Allen of CWAHD.com reside in Nebraska with their two children. Listen to Jill’s radio show, Christian Work at Home Moment, at http://www.cwahm.com/loudblog!

Blogs, Podcasting, and RSS

2007-04-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

You probably have heard all these terms an awful lot lately. You wonder about what these technologies do? What value to they provide? If you aren't up to speed on these new applications and how they are impacting retail online interaction then read this brief further.

Will these technologies impact you? To be honest, it's too early to tell - but awareness drives innovation and maybe your team will develop an idea/application that truly changes a portion of your eCommerce business.
Here's the rundown:

Blogs
What it is:
Probably the most well known of the three, blogs allow everyday people to quickly develop a website and distribute any type of content that they desire. Many web entrepreneurs use this functionality to develop online stores within niche markets, while using search popularity to beat out larger retailers on the specific terms within the market.

Where Blogs make make sense is within targeted online communities. Certain blog authors develop a large base of specific visitors, hence the site becomes a target market for viral marketing. By integrating your brand image within the site experience at that SPECIFIC blog, you as an online marketer are able to truly segment your marketing PRIOR to converting someone as a customer.
Should you care:

If you have a very unique value proposition, or sell to a very specific or high-value customer segment, blogs can be a great way to increase overall brand awareness. You can better connect with your customers and provide detail into the current sales/promotions that you are providing.

Podcasting
What it is:
Pocasting should be just called mobile video broadcasting - Apple's marketing/development team did a great job with branding their device to a type of emerging media! Similar to traditional radio and television, mobile video broadcasting delivers branded content in either a paid/free environment, on someone's mobile MP3 player (Apple only does video currently, but that will change shortly). Retailers can use this communication channel to further connect to their customers with promotional events, while transmitting specialty programming to meet an interest need.

Should you care:
Not really. Until video podcasting penetration increases, it's still a limited channel for advertising. The best application available right now would be an online content segment that is digitally delivered to an opt-in list. As technology advances, you can potentially do this from your current opt-in page from your website and not from Apple's iTunes platform.

RSS
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and is a method for electronic content distribution. RSS is transmitted via the internet, but what makes it unique is that no downloading efforts are needed by the end receiver of the content. It streams instateneously. Consumers can have news readers on their computers, either integrated into an emal client, or an aggregated web application such as News Gator, and are able to get information relating to their interests.

Already gaining steam in the travel industry and within comparison shopping engines, RSS seems to be a valuable way to push news, offers, and infomrmation to customers. Travel companies are able to provide a streaming supply of last minute airfare offers to their customer segments, without that customer having to open an email or visit a webpage.

Should you care:
Depends on the nature of your business. Do you consistently offer new prices? Do you get new pieces to your assortment consistently? Do you have a customer base that is extremely loyal that you want to reach out to with messaging? If so, RSS may another channel to help build your brand.

Craig Smith
Trinity Insight LLC
http://www.trinityinsight.com

About The Author

Craig Smith
Trinity Insight is a leading consultancy for the online retail sector.
http://www.trinityinsight.com
csmith@trinityinsight.com

Video Podcasting

2006-12-22T10:45:00.001-08:00

Video podcasts allow individuals to get information out all over the internet in no time with a very easy set up that costs nothing, or very little if you decide to have a site assistant help with getting your podcast set up. It allows a video and audio of information to be seen by others.

Podcasts are popping up all over the internet with information on research, movies, and other even political information. They most common types of podcasts are of short programs, music, books; most anything you want to have seen.

The site, www.youtube.com, is a compilation of podcasts individuals have posted. Some are of practical jokes, some of are drag racing, the possibilities are endless. Basically anything you can video tape, you can turn into a podcast.

Video podcasts are very simple to make. They involve recording your video, recording your audio, and transferring the entire segment into a MP3 file .That’s it. Such podcasts are replacing the standard profiles on online dating sites with a fun podcast of who that person is. It really gives the user an insight to that person that they wouldn’t get just reading written text.

One concern with video podcasts, are the content of some of them. Surprised parents have discovered their teens posting podcasts of them naked, masturbating, and in some cases having sex. This is another important reason that parents need to monitor what their children are doing, as well as considering placing the computer in an area where it is easily accessible, but where everyone can see what activities are taking place.

Video podcasts have added a new dimension to computer technology, both for work and pleasure. While the idea has only been around for a few years, it has caught on quickly. That is because it is easy to set up as well as easy to access video podcasts.

Radio Podcasting

2006-12-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Radio podcasting involves creating a show, clip, anything that you want viewed over the internet. Podcasts are in great demand today. The site youtube.com is often overloaded because too many people are trying to view podcasts at the same time. Viewers can see the content and listen to the audio at the same time.

An advantage of podcasting is individuals can view it immediately after you have posted it. There is no waiting period. I know people who use it to work on school projects. For example, they have an idea to show but you can’t come by. They shoot a podcast, visually showing you the idea and telling you about it! Very simple and very fast.

If you are having problems setting up your podcasts, you can get help at www.podhoster.com. For only $4.95 per month, they can provide you with all the assistance you need. They can also offer you advertising and promoting assistance if your podcast is for that purpose.

Some podcast radio shows are featured on a regular basis, with cliffhangers to keep the audience coming back for more, similar to a weekly TV show. With so many people on the go and on their computers, it is reasonable that such shows would eventually emerge.

The market for podcast radio has skyrocketed. Only time will tell if it is a flash fad or a long term advance of technology that we will be using for a long time. That is, until something better comes along!

Transfering Video and Audio to Laptop

2006-12-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

Podcasting downloads assist you with transferring video and audio to your laptop, home computer, or iPod with ease. There are numerous types of podcasts downloads. Some are available online at no charge. Most of these require you to select and download each podcast yourself. There are sites that charge you for the use of the service, but they automatically download each audio and video for you, saving you time. This is a great choice for those of you who download tons of podcasts. You can surf the internet to find out more information on these sites, and the one that offers the services that best fit your needs. You are better off going with a service that offers unlimited downloads than one that sets a limit or charges you more if you exceed the limit.

National Radio now offers 38 programs to download on a regular basis. This allows you to listen to the show when you want, where ever you want! No more watching the time, desperately trying to get home in time to watch it. And with VCR’s becoming extinct, many of us don’t have one to set to record when we know we won’t make it home in time. You can choose to manual download only the programs you want. You can also choose to subscribe and have them automatically downloaded for you.

Podcasting downloads offers us a whole new world of entertainment at our fingertips. For those of us on the go, this may be one of the few ways we will be able to actually take the time to see such entertainment. I think it will be just a matter of time before we are able to download full length movies to our computers! I hope it will be soon!

What is Podcasting?

2006-12-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

Podcasting is audio content, such as a MP3 Player, sent over a RSS feed. It is a file that is downloadable for use over the internet. The name is misleading though, as it infers that you must have an iPod to use it. You only need a computer or laptop to access podcasts. This process is fairly new, becoming popular in 2000. Technology allowed it to be used by multiple components as early as 2001. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that podcasting became very popular on everyday websites.

The process of podcasting is very simple. Computer files in multimedia format are downloaded to a server. The customer can then download them in a matter of seconds from the server onto their own system. It allows the user to see the audio and have sound at the same time. Downloading can be frustrating for users who don’t have the proper bandwidth to view them. This can be easier fixed by downloading software online or having a computer installer do it for you at a reasonable cost. Basically, the faster your connection, the better you will be able to view podcasts.

The intention of podcasts was to allow individuals to display their own radio shows. However, they are being well used in other areas. School lessons are a popular use for podcasts. Audio tours of museums, business conference meetings, and public safety messages are all turning to podcasts to get their information out there in a form people can relate to.

In just a few short years, podcasting has become one of the most popular tools on the internet in regards to viewing information in audio form. One of the newest uses for podcasting is the online dating sites. Rather than just having an online profile with a picture and a few lines about the person, they can now show a podcast of themselves, giving potential dates a more interesting look at who they are.

What Shopping Do I Need to Do to Create a Podcast?

2006-12-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Whenever I download a podcast on my laptop or iPod, I wonder if I will ever be able to create a podcast like that. When I did a bit of research on creating podcasts, I found that the process was a fairly simple one.

You might have downloaded a podcast on your desktop PC, laptop or iPod. You might have watched podcasts for entertainment, collecting information, or for work purposes.

The very first thing I did in creating a podcast was to do some research on the topic.

First, the internet is a wonderful source for researching how to create a podcast. Many sites allow you to create one through their site for free, or for a minimal cost. If you want to do it completely on your own, make sure your system is set up for MP3 files. Creating a podcast is a great way to get you some exposure all over the internet. This makes it popular for musicians wanting to get their music out there, authors enticing readers with an interesting segment of a book, or people just sharing things for fun and entertainment.

Regardless of your reason, creating a podcast is easy and fast. The great thing about the set up is your can do it with any type of platform or application. Save your completed audio to ensure the quality will remain the same when it is connected with the audio portion. Then convert it to MP3 format. It is important to use MP3 or your podcast will be distorted or users just won’t be able to open it.

Next, decide where on your site you want to post the podcast. It is recommended that you add a podcast directory to make them easy for users to find. Then create your podcast feed. This is the RSS files that connect your podcast and allow the information to be transmitted. If you are using a blogging tool, remember to create an item for each MP3 item that you publish. If you are not using a blogging tool, simply add the enclosure tag to the end of the file name.

So what are the things I need? I need to record an audio file and convert it into an MP3 file. I need a good microphone connected to a computer. I need a software to convert my audio files to MP3 format. I need a software to upload my podcast on my website. And I am done.