With the advent of the internet, email and auto responders and regrettable exploitation of same has caused people to lose confidence in this media. Their skepticism level is at an all time high. With that in mind, the genuine business owners marketing strategies are being adversely affected.
It's unfortunate that this outstanding technology along with, how would you say, the less than honorable business practices are allowing people to secrete their identities thus enabling them to deceive unsuspecting people and abscond their monies promising them riches beyond their wildest dreams. Sure you might do a fast hit and run for your so called earnings but what is the damage being caused along the way? Those who fall into this unscrupulous category really don't care about you as long as they get theirs.
Recently as an exhibitor at a business expo in Southern California I had the opportunity to discuss just this issue with many of the attendees. It was determined as a result of this survey that people could no longer trust the internet and these so called business opportunities. Also addressed was the amount of email people received daily and the average was just over 100 which 85% was considered junk or unsolicited communications. In discussions with these people many stated they have on occasion inadvertently deleted email they should not have causing embarrassment, loss of real business and flat out anger. For those who fall into the unscrupulous category again really don't care.
Another inquiry was made during these discussions with regard to the actions taken and results of same. Many did not know what to do and wanted suggestions. Several have established "Email Trapper" systems that require the user to go into the queue and review each received email to determine if it is a valid email and white list it or black list the sender if it is not valid. This is a productive way to control this type email however it's not time value added. This spawned the question, "What can we do to control this?"
There are a few options and many were advised to set up a junk email address and use that to do their internet inquiries. When that inquiry is satisfied you can go back to your valid email for your normal business operations as that junk email address you set up will be flooded with auto responders and other unsolicited email. This option was well received and there are many free email hosts out there. Caution must be taken here also some of these email hosts set up a filtering system that will not allow many emails into your account. Also use your junk email address in your Meta tags on your website as there are many programs that can search your site to find an email address and extract it back to the person making the search. This is the process used to establish a huge email list and where a lot of spam is generated.
There is another option for which I have incorporated into DSE Realty which is bearing fruit and I would like my readers to put on there "think outside the box" hat. Email and auto responders have become so impersonal, as mentioned in other writings, you can place a specific code in the body of your writing and it will automatically place the recipients name in the document. Now this process works great where you are using this form of media to manage a group of clients with a broadcast message or general correspondence that you want all your clients to receive but for a follow-up process this is a bad practice. Recently I came across a follow-up process that is time value added, cost effective and puts the personal touch into your professional relationship building process. This process allows you to create tangible customized postcards, bi-fold and tri-fold cards to be sent to your prospects, current clients and previous clients. These are high quality cards customizable to your specific business and also allow you to control the whole process via the internet. There are also some 20,000 premade cards you have access to. The company takes care of the printing addressing and mailing of your cards. Turn around time is fast. What is so great about this process it is something your clients receive in their mailbox that is personalized to them and only addresses them. It's tangible and allows you to hone in on your target market.
So lets recap, as you are well aware, email and the internet marketing has a 2% return rate and from that, a 2% sales rate. Email and auto responders have become impersonal and the savvy person and business person is well aware of abuse of this process. Advertising and marketing is the highest recurring cost in your business and unfortunately the personal touch between the business person and client is almost non existent. A national study has shown that 68% of business loss is due to little or no follow-up. This process takes today's technology and brings back the personal touch in business.
For details on this process go to http://www.socreview.com/teamprovision or contact me directly.
Dale A. Simmons, President/CEO
DSE Consulting Inc.
(888) 515-6143
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