So far, we’ve discussed the difference between joint ventures and affiliates as well as the first two all-too-common mistakes entrepreneurs make when building these types of relationships–forgetting the “what’s in it for me?” and failing to set yourself up for success. Now we have…
Mistake #3 — Giving Them the Wrong Promotional Tools
Just as you [...]

Last weekend’s Warrior Forum event has me thinking a lot about joint ventures and affiliate marketing these days.
While the words “joint venture” and “affiliate” are often used interchangeably, technically, there IS a difference.
Of course, WHAT that difference is depends on who you ask. I know one marketer who draws the line in the sand based [...]

I’m sure you’ve seen one–a landing page touting a FREE CD then when you click through to sign up it asks for your credit card because… surprise!… there’s a charge for shipping and handling.
Now I don’t have a problem with the concept–it’s actually a good one that I may try soon myself. And I don’t [...]

I was reviewing my recent marketing promotion for the phantom teleseminar on 9 Secrets to Ebook Success and thought it might be interesting to share what I tracked and what I learned.
(Phantom teleseminar=you just sign up for the audio, there’s no actual call time.)
Overall, there was a great response with nearly 90 people signing up for the [...]

One of the revelations from the most recent Marketing Sherpa report on email marketing is how the preview pane has become a dominant force in the way people read their emails.
In fact, after people look at the “from” line and the subject line, their next stop before they decide whether to open the email is [...]

So what are the most successful ways to get prospects to opt-in to your email list?
The table below, based on Marketing Sherpa’s new Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook, ranks opt-in methods based on the number and quality of opt-ins received for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets.

Top 5 for B2B Market

Top 5 for B2C Market

1. [...]

Remember when business was simpler and you only had one list to worry about?! (Or two, if you count contacts that aren’t on your ezine list.) But Web 2.0 has changed all that.
Because blogs, Facebook and Twitter are essentially creating other lists of contacts and prospects within your sphere of influence. But the quality of [...]

How to Avoid Ticking Off Your Internet Host (& the Law)
In this series on list-buying, we’ve covered mailing list basics, who to buy a list from, questions to ask before buying a mailing list, and why you need to approach email list services with caution. For the final episode, we’re talking about how to get [...]

Email Lists–Proceed With Caution
So now we’ve covered mailing list basics, who to buy a list from, and questions to ask before buying a mailing list…and it’s time to move on to email lists.
While you should be cautious when buying any type of mailing list, your inner Nancy Drew or Hardy boy needs to go into [...]

by Tracy Needham

So what works when it comes to building your email list?
According to Marketing Sherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008, that depends on who your target subscribers are. They surveyed more than 1,200 businesses as to what techniques generated the highest volume and best quality subscribers (i.e. people who are good prospects). 
If your customers [...]