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And most of us ezine publishers have
our replies down to a science. Of all the ezine publishers I've
asked, every effective one processes each new inquiry in a similar
fashion. We field so many messages each week that we have to have
a reply system down pat, or we'd be buried in email! Here's a quick
flow chart most of us publishers use when replying to inquiries...
First, we reply quickly and personally,
then...
1. Offer any free help we have available
on the subject
2. Suggest one of our proprietary solutions
3. Suggest a solution we've plugged into our site
4. Send them to a 3rd party website if necessary
Now, it's important to realize that
we've been through literally thousands of messages. This means we've
developed some great solutions to almost every inquiry. For instance,
lets look a three popular questions every ezine publisher has faced
at one time or another. Along with each question you'll see the
action the publisher took to secure a new, long term income stream...
Inquiry #1: What software did you use
to build your website?
This is one you'll come across quite
often. And it turned into a gold mine for one publisher I know.
(She preferred to remain nameless.) She's one of the best webmaster's
I've seen and her site is amazingly sharp, fast-loading and professional.
As inquiries began growing she would tell folks how she built the
site and the tools she used. But smart marketer that she is, she
decided to use this as an opportunity to grow her income.
She emailed the companies who created
the software she used to build her site. She got them to look at
her site by telling them it was done with their software, and they
too loved it. Then she told them she was receiving a growing number
of inquiries from other webmasters and would be interested in offering
their design tools at her site. After a little finagling, she was
able to offer their software at a discounted price.
Now, every email enquiry she receives
about the design of her site gets met with a pre-formatted email
reply. It takes her all of 10 seconds to reply by pasting the message
in and personalizing it, and nearly every webmaster tries the free
demo programs then goes on to order the software at her special
discount price.
Her next step was to set up small buttons
at her site that say "Do you like this site? Click here for a free
demo of the software I used." Her autoresponders now do the rest
of the email work. Pretty slick way to generate income from simple
email inquiries eh?
So how would you reply to that question
if you were asked today?
Inquiry #2: Which affiliate programs
work best for you?
Here's one you'll undoubtedly see a
lot. Wise marketers know that in order to make money as an affiliate
they need to first join the right programs. Why not go right to
the folks who see it all? That's right, ezine publishers.
And this question can present a great
opportunity for ANY marketer. Why not set up a web page at your
site that shares the results you are achieving with the affiliate
programs you've joined. Not only is this a great way to help fellow
marketers, it can help you as well. If there is a 2nd tier to any
of the affiliate programs you're in, you can offer to help these
folks if they join under you.
Contrary to popular belief, signing
up other resellers into two-tier programs CAN be profitable. How
do I know?
One program I promote has reached $1000
a month on the second tier alone. And it's all because I've done
exactly what I described above. You just can't beat automatic income
like this. Once you've brought the 2nd tier affiliates in and showed
them how to work it, the money you earn is effortless. And all they
did was ask you what programs are working for you.
But how would you reply to that question
if you were asked today?
Inquiry #3: Who do you use for web
hosting?
This is another question you'll see
quite often, and it's the simplest one to answer. But rather than
just tell them who you use, why not sign up as a reseller for the
web hosting company first. Then you'll be able to send folks to
your reseller page and start growing a residual income.
If your web host does not offer a reseller
program, work out a deal with them. Most will be receptive to paying
a percentage to you as a referral fee. Just be sure to work out
a deal where you earn a monthly residual and NOT a one-time referral
commission like some hosts pay. There's much more money in monthly
commissions and every time you refer a new customer your own income
will grow.
For those of you who think this may
not be worth the effort, think again. I've managed to grow monthly
residuals from one major web hosting company to the tune of $4,000
a month. Now that's not bad for simply answering that question each
time it comes along.
How would you reply to that question
if you were asked today?
In closing...
All online marketers can and should take a lesson from ezine publishers.
After all, if your website is set up effectively, you'll be receiving
an ever-growing number of inquiries from your site too. And exactly
how you handle them can make or break the future of your business.
Take a look at the questions you've received so far. If you're just
getting started, consider what questions your visitors MIGHT ask.
Then think about how you will answer them. If you can plug an income
stream into your answer, why no do it? After all, you'd be helping
your visitors by offering an answer AND a solution. And that's a
great way to grow long-term profits at ANY site.
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