Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
What Is Missing From This Picture?How many E-mails do you get promising great riches or fantastic
buys and you have absolutely no clue who sent it? Many of the
return E-mail addresses are forged, and you have no possible way
to respond to their offer. Despite the Federal Anti-Spam Bill,
which became effective January 1, 2004, and set requirements for
commercial e-mail, including opt-out provisions and valid postal
addresses, many spammers are disregarding the law. They may give
you a toll free number to call, where you will probably get a
highly hyped recording, or you may get a Post Office Box to
submit your application and payment.What is missing from this picture?
They are!
The majority of people are pretty cautious. If someone jumped out
of a dark alley and offered to sell you a "Rolex" for twenty
bucks, you would probably just continue walking. What makes
people think the Internet is a like a magic carpet, where all you
have to do is make some type of outlandish offer, and people will
flock to you with their wallet wide open?It doesn't work that way folks!
If you expect people to deal with you, they must be able to
identify with you and/or your company. If your company is not
well known, they must be able to identify with you.Remember the old saying - "Sell yourself first". When people are
comfortable with you, the rest is easy. But how do I do this
"you might ask".There are a number of ways and the web actually makes it easy.
Put a picture of yourself on your web site with a short bio and
contact information. If a person knows how to get in touch with
you in case of a problem, it makes their purchasing decision a
lot easier.Just this week, being in the market for some flat screen
monitors, I found a seller on eBay who was selling them at a
highly discounted price. He didn’t accept credit cards or PayPal,
and wanted a certified check prior to shipment. He also didn’t
have any history of selling on eBay and had a free email
account – yeah sure.Tell people how you help your customers and the successes they
have had. Let them know how they need the benefits of your
product or service. This is the kind of information that will
build confidence in your customers and prospects.A lot of people are reticent to give contact information on the
web. They're afraid they'll get crank calls, or people will find
out where they live. A real concern? I don't think so. There
are ways around these types of problems.I have a second telephone line that forwards the call to voice
mail during non-business hours. I also keep the "ringer" on low.
While I can hear it in my office, I'm not bothered if it rings
at night.Many places in the country don't have home delivery of their mail
available, and a P.O. Box is their actual address. A P.O. Box is
not ideal, but will be acceptable if a telephone number is
provided.Before you try to sell anything on or off the web, remember to
sell yourself first, and you won’t be "missing from this
picture."-----
Bob has been publishing online since 1996. All the “tricks of the trade” are contained in his latest E-book. Learn how to avoid being shut down by your ISP for Spamming, and where to find “E-mail friendly ISP's. Learn which software packages are available to easily manage and distribute your email. For more information - http://www.adv-marketing.com/business/handbook.htm
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Have Zero Tolerance for Spam