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Leads and Subscribers – Are They Same?
In internet marketing the terms “subscribers” and “leads” are often used interchangeably giving the impression that they mean the same. However, they are not same and understanding the difference is crucial for succeeding in net based business.
Subscribers are people who have subscribed to receive information from you. They have given you their email addresses and permission to contact them on those addresses. Information you send them could be in various forms such as newsletters, ezines, your special offers and relevant announcements.
Your subscribers can turn into leads once they respond positively to your call for some action. The subscribers joined the list in the first place to receive information from you, or maybe to receive gifts that were offered for subscribing. When you send them information, most likely you also send them offers that promise to help them in some way. In fact selling your offers may be your primary reason for starting the list. In your offer you call for some action on the part of the subscribers – to buy something or join a private membership group. As long as your subscribers do not respond to your “call” they remain subscribers. But as soon as they accept your offer they convert into leads.
Why are leads important for a business?
Your leads are your customers who purchased something from you or followed you to an area of common interest. You spent your resources to find them and bring them around to trust you. They converted into leads because they have interest in your offer and the niche it belongs to. They became your customer because they believed that your offer would give them something of value that they do not already have. They found the answer to their unsatisfied demands in your product.
There are few special features that set your leads apart from your subscribers. Your leads are seriously interested in your niche. They have developed enough faith in you or in your product to actually respond to your call for action. Additionally, they are also willing to give out their money, time or attention to obtain the product you are representing.
Your leads develop an emotional involvement with you that you can turn to your advantage. When your leads spent money or other resources to get your product they were emotionally moved to take that decision. They expect to find something to satisfy their requirements. You are in a position to grow personal relationship with them. You can give them support to ensure that they make good use of the product they obtained from you.
If you are able to retain their faith in you by giving them what they really wanted (information, or success in some field), you have lifetime customers. You can sell them other products and help them achieve what they were looking for. To sell your new products you have a ready, responsive customer-base. You do not have to spend your resources to find them again. It will be too much to expect that all your leads will take your second product also; but still you will have most targeted market with high conversion rate. Your leads remain the base on which you can grow your business.
How would you like to have responsive leads in the first place?
You have to pay a price to get and maintain your subscribers. Some of your subscribers joined your list because they were looking for freebies. Many of your subscribers are not serious enough to ever accept your offer. But you still carry them, and that certainly costs you something. It will be in your interest to have a high conversion rate. You would like to have a large number of subscribers turn into leads.
Your conversion rate will depend upon how you get your subscribers and how effectively you are able to pre-sell your offer to break down their resistance. To get targeted leads your marketing and promotion should be extremely focused. Secondly, you will need a system such as auto-responder to engage the attention of your subscribers and to convince them that your offer can meet their expectations.
You may be operating in any area, you need leads to sustain your endeavour. A smaller number of targeted leads are much better and preferable to a large number of uninterested subscribers. For any market niche – mortgage loans, insurance, real estate, home based business or any other niche – your leads are your real assets.
To learn about a powerful lead generation system, visit this page:
targeted lead generation
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How to Create Stirring Headlines
Imagine a situation where you are driving to your workplace. You are going by
your usual route. The roads are familiar to you, the areas you pass through are
familiar to you, even the behavior of the traffic is known to you. You are not
concentrating fully on driving – you don’t have to because driving by this route
has almost become a habit. Your attention is partially on driving and partially
on other thoughts.
Suddenly you notice a big “STOP” sign on the road. You come out of your thoughts
and try to figure out what is happening. You are now giving full attention to
what lies ahead. The road is closed for repair and you are advised to take the
road on your right side. You mentally adjust the route you have to take now. You
are forced to re-plan rest of your journey.
The headline of your webpage and subject line of your email should work
something like the “STOP” sign. When people are browsing through different web
pages they are absorbed in their own thoughts. As soon as they arrive at your
web page, the headline should stop them in their tracks. The visitor to your web
page should get hard enough jolt by your headline to take notice, just as the
drivers are jerked out of their reverie by the “STOP” sign.
The subscriber of your newsletter should be drawn by your subject line as he
looks at his in-box containing many emails he receives every day. The subject
line of your email should attract the attention of your reader otherwise the
email may not even get opened. .
Creating Headlines
Your headline has a fair chance of getting attention if it fulfills two
conditions –
1. It presents an unusual situation
2. It appeals to human sentiments
You can create a headline on your web page using tricks of fonts, colors and
graphics to satisfy the first condition, but it will probably not have the
desired impact unless it also satisfies the second condition. The message the
words convey in a headline is by far more stimulating than its appearance. The
appearance of headline can be used to enhance the impact of the message.
The human brain is induced into action by what may be called the trigger points.
While every person will have his own trigger points based on his experience,
there are some features common to most of the people. Try to recall how your
mind is conditioned to react to the “STOP” sign.
There are several trigger words that touch the common sentiments. For example
the word “free” is a powerful trigger word. The thought that we cannot get
anything free of cost is imbedded deeply in our brain. Therefore when we see a
“free” offer we recognize it as an unusual situation and have the illusion that
we can get something without spending anything. If this word is present in a
headline we sit up and take notice – it is almost an instinctive reaction.
There are some trigger words that give suggestion of a better future. In real
life we are trained not to expect any drastic change for the better. Therefore
when something gives a mild hope of improved future we notice. “How to” is
another powerful trigger word. It is generally used to address a problem or a
concern and gives a hope that solution is within reach.
There are several other trigger words which appeal to different human
sentiments. Curiosity is another natural trait in humans which is often
exploited in creating headlines. There are words that give a feeling of movement
and action and have greater appeal than passive words. I had initially kept the
title of this article “How to Create Effective Headlines”. Later I changed it to
“How to Create Stirring Headlines”. The word “stirring” looks more dynamic than
“effective”.
Apart from the choice of words the style of the headline has a strong bearing on
its acceptance. A question in the headline is more stimulating than a plain
statement. The headline “Autoresponder Explained” can be improved to get better
response by changing it to “How Does Autoresponder Work?” The question makes the
headline appear more dynamic and challenging.
While creating a headline the focus should be on the reader and not on the
content. The headline should indicate what problem is being addressed rather
than the solution that is presented in the content.
The importance of headlines cannot be over-emphasized. Unless your headline is
able to grab attention your content is of little use. It is always wise to put
in sufficient effort in creating good headlines. One approach is to create a
large number of headlines and then select the best one out of them. You can take
help of your friends and well wishers in identifying the most suitable headline.
Your headline is your showcase – design it well to attract people.
How to Succeed in Network
Marketing
By Sanjay Johari
Network marketing is one of the methods of marketing products and services.
The organization marketing the products creates a network of individual
entrepreneurs who assist the organization in securing orders for the
product. The individual marketers in the network get commission for business
conducted through their efforts. The enterprising network marketers grow
their own marketing network and, depending upon the compensation scheme of
the organization, the network marketers also get paid for the efforts of
their team mates.
Though network marketing is an old concept it has got a real boost by the
development of internet. Spreading information is one of the key elements of
network marketing and internet provides just the medium to spread the
message at staggering speed. For millions of individuals involved in network
marketing it signifies a complete business. Most of them are looking for
additional source of income. They are lured by the ease with which they can
join network marketing and by the expectation of making some quick money.
But what happens? Most of the people are not able to earn from network
marketing. Many of them get disgusted and either leave or become inactive.
According to one study there is better chance of making profit in games of
chance such as gambling than in network marketing by an average person. A
person who is not serious about his network marketing business would stand a
better chance to earn some profit in a gambling den than in the network
marketing. The same study concludes that the top few involved in network
marketing earn tremendous amount of wealth at the cost of thousands of
network marketers who do not earn any profits.
While I do not question the authenticity of this study, I do feel that this
is a wrong way of interpreting facts. When we send our children to school we
do not say that the owners of the school are earning at the cost of the
students. Even those who realize this fact still send their children to
school.
Network marketing provides opportunity not only for earning but also for
learning. Most of the people are drawn towards network marketing by
unreasonable expectations. They are led to believe that they can earn
without much efforts on their part. Those who try to learn go much further
than those who don’t. The network marketer has to go through the learning
process to find out how he or she can succeed in earning money.
Success is something which cannot be imposed. It has to be earned. Being
successful is a habit and like every other habit it can be cultivated.
Success is not a single event – it is a winning mindset. Network marketing
is one of the best places where you can find the opportunity to develop a
winning mindset. But only those who are willing to learn can hope to benefit
from this opportunity.
All the good organizations involved in network marketing provide plenty of
support to its sales force. They provide learning opportunity, promotional
material, and even mentoring. It is up to the individual network marketers
to learn and develop himself or herself. It is not correct to compare
network marketing with a game of chance. The internet marketers who are the
players in this game have a clear choice – those who learn will succeed.
One of the key elements of network marketing is the leverage. All successful
network marketers use this technique to increase their effectiveness several
folds. Leveraging means getting others to work for you. Now, why will others
work for you? They will work only if they stand to gain for their efforts.
Therefore it is in the interest of the team leader to see that his or her team
members also learn to earn. Network marketing is really a team effort.
Network marketing provides tremendous opportunity for learning, earning and
making new friends. For those who take initiative, success is just round the
corner.
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