Which email are you more likely to read: one
with your name on it or one without? Chances
are, you will choose the former. Well, you
are not alone. Statistics have shown that
people are more than twice as likely to open
and read an email personally addressed to
them. How can you benefit from this fact?

Personalize your emails!

Whenever you send emails to your prospects or
ezine subscribers, have their names appear on
the subject headings. This simple tip can
easily double your earnings.

But wait, how are you going to get them to
"willingly" tell you their names?

If you run an ezine (which is an absolute
*MUST* for your online success), your primary
goal is to get the email addresses of your
potential subscribers. Don't try to ask for
their first names, last names, gender, age,
or any other personal information.

With the increasing number of online scams,
it is not hard to see why people hate to
divulge their personal data, especially on
their first contact. Why should they? They
hardly know you. You should be happy if they
are willing to give you their email
addresses. Ask for anything more and they may
not even subscribe.

"What Alan? I thought you just said we should
personalize our emails? How can we do so
without asking for their names in the first
place?"

You can, and you should ask for their names.
But not on the first contact.

An example always makes things clearer. If
you were to visit my website at
<http://profitjump.com> , you'll see that I
only ask for the email address of those who
wish to subscribe. Once they enter their
email addresses and hit the "Subscribe"
button, the real action begins...

Notice that I say all new subscribers will
receive 3 free gifts? After I've received
their subscription requests, I send them a
"Thank You" note. This note also tells them
how to get their free gifts -- by simply
replying to my autoresponder. This time they
will be emailing me using their email
programs, which are usually configured to
include their names. The second "free gift"
request email that I receive from them will
now contain their names. Bingo!

Even if they don't reply to my autoresponder,
I still get their email addresses. :-)

Still can't figure out how this works? Then
see it in action! Just go to any page of my
website at <http://profitjump.com> and do a
subscription request. You'll get the picture
in a minute.

Now I'm not going to leave you hanging there.
You can implement what I've done right away.
Here are the resources:

1) To set up a form page (where subscribers
give you their email addresses):

<http://cgi.tj/scripts/alienform/>
- what I use

<http://cgi-resources.com>
- choose from a collection of CGI scripts

2) Autoresponder:

<http://www.autobots.net>
- I prefer this to others as it doesn't
carry any annoying advertisements

3) Software to organize and send your
personalized emails:

<http://profitjump.com/fweb/swa.html>
- This software also has many other features
that can be very useful in your online
marketing

When you ask for your subscribers' names
right from the start, they become defensive
and may even reconsider subscribing to your
ezine. Or they may just give you fake names
which really defeats the whole purpose. Don't
let them! Ask for their names only after they
have subscribed. It is usually easier that
way.

Remember: More Subscribers + Personalized
Emails = Double Your Sales!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Article by Alan Yap of profitJUMP! Alan
shares his Internet marketing tips and
web promotion strategies with thousands of
subscribers every week. Visit
<http://profitjump.com> now or subscribe
for FREE at subscribe@profitjump.com and
receive 3 Insider Reports, guaranteed!

Feel free to share this article with your
friends or post it on your website as long as
the full article and this notice are left
unchanged.