It’s been less than a week ago since you last heard from me, but there is a very good reason why I couldn’t postpone the follow-up on my recent questions to you. More about this in a sec…

Thank you to everyone who responded the last couple of days. All but one person agreed on the fact that daily emails is too much.

Here’s a summary of all the lessons about email marketing that were spontaneously shared:

• If you email your list, make sure it’s really worth their time… Dom Delimar - comments #7 and #8

• One of the few valid reasons to mail daily is when the content is part of a series on a particular subject… KC - comment #9

• In addition, it is sometimes better to combine short messages into one substantial email… Camilo Buitrago - comment #3

• What good does it do you in the long run when you have zillions of subscribers who don’t read your mail because your daily messages made them go numb… Jacques - comment #16

• Daily mailings makes you loose subscribers and consequentially sales… Linda Cummings - comment #4

• Sending out daily emails will make you loose affiliates too. Those who don’t want their own customers to be bombarded with your emails will stop making referrals, because their own reputation is on the line now as well… Sunny Rivers - comment #13

• Sending your subscribers to a squeeze page is very annoying for them, because they are already on your list… Frank Lockhart - comment #6

• Sending emails in the name of others (JV emails) is not very different from selling your subscriber’s private information…Richard - comment #10

• When you bombard people with offers, they generally don’t make the best buying decisions and refund requests increase. They are NOT trying to rip you off. It was only when their heads cleared they found out they simply didn’t have a use for your product… Sunny Rivers - comment #13

• Definitely never ever hype up anything you’re trying to sell! Inventor - comment #11

• Be honest about your intentions. This will help you to establish a real relationship with your subscribers and facilitates open communication Lark - comments #5 and #14.

• You gain respect when you decide honesty and integrity is more important than making a quick buck. Dan von Wylich - comment #15

• When you are honest, you’re actually likely to make more sales… Coen van Vollenhoven - comment #12

There was a LOT more said in the comments. You can read it all here…

I’ve also taken the liberty to point these comments out to my friend who initially asked the question in the hope that together our voices may make a difference.

Patricia

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Has anyone ever addressed you in this manner before? If literally, I bet they haven’t. But though you may not be aware of it now, my guess is that you’ve received this message on a pretty regular basis…

First things first though.

I need to make sure you understand what I mean with “Pavlov Dog”. If you don’t, please read this entry on the Wikipedia about Pavlov and his dogs first:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

On this page you can read:

Pavlov’s research on conditional reflexes greatly influenced not only science, but also popular culture. The phrase “Pavlov’s dog” is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than uses critical thinking. Pavlovian conditioning was a major theme in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel “Brave New World”…

The other day a marketer friend of mine asked his friends if he should email his list every day or not. My response was: “Please don’t! There’s too much information being sent around already.”

As it turns out, I seem to be the only person in the group to hold this opinion. Though the majority of answers sounded fairly reasonable as they argued you should only write if you have valuable content to share, they all seemed to agree on the fact that there is nothing wrong with daily mailings. I quote:

“An email a day is the American way!”

and…

“Yes sir! You have to train your list to expect email from you on whatever schedule you determine.”

Though I don’t want to post their names for privacy reasons, these are all very well known guys in the internet marketing arena. They are successful and they have their own coaching programs teaching aspiring marketers how to copy their tactics.

But to be frank with you, especially that last quote pressed every button in my system.

Did you know that interrupting email and chat is responsible for an estimated $650 billion dollars of economic damage yearly in America alone? Because it takes an experienced computer user an average of 15 minutes to return to “serious mental tasks” after answering e-mail or instant messages. (Source - EN)

And according to the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of London information stress is responsible for lowering our IQ with 10 points on average… (Source - NL)

Personally I don’t want to be in any way responsible for this kind of damage by adding to the information overload. “Treat others the way you like to be treated yourself.” (In fact it’s a major reason why I have been silent for so long…)

And I most certainly don’t want to ‘train my list’ to respond on schedules determined by me.

• I’d rather you train yourself to keep your mind critical and alert.
• That you follow up on the goals you set for yourself.
• That you share happy moments with your family and friends in real life while neglecting your inbox and cell phone.

So when you do hear from me, I intend it to be worth it.

Of course this is just my personal opinion. The fact that I was outnumbered by all to one sure makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with me…

So I’m rather curious to how you feel about these matters - both as a marketer and/or as a consumer.

• Do you want to (be) mail(ed) every day?
• Do you want to be trained as a subscriber / train your subscribers?

Let me know!

Thanks for your time,
Patricia

P.S. If you need any help with breaking bad chat habits etc., I recommend - as always - that you start on Simpleology right away!

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Well over a month ago I posted about the future of Thin Electrons and asked my members about their preferences.

First of all I must thank everyone for their unconditional support - no matter what my final decision would be. I felt incredibly honored to have such a group of supportive readers!

When it comes to preferences, the majority of responses was in favor of option 1:

Power to the People - I reformat the website into a true web 2.0 construction where you, the members, determine the content. You would get to offer your IM related products and others can review them. You could also write reviews about newly launched products and services by other marketers. Basically turning the site into a towerhouse of knowledge together where the consumers determine what’s good as opposed to the gurus.

And this could be combined with either option 2 (a team to manage the site) and option 3 (selling the site).

I also had a really long conversation with Sam Heyer, who’s been involved with Thin Electrons in the background right from the start. (To be frank I secretly hoped Sam might be interested in taking over the management of the site. Unfortunately he’s very much involved with a big project of his own right now.)

Sam and I discussed all the options and he had some very good ideas how to make a couple of adjustments which would free time for me without having to sell the site. And he also thought it would be better to make the web 2.0 structure which everyone seems to favor, available at a different domain.

I think I’ve been pretty transparant about the fact I very much like the idea of a community based IM resource site where the quality of referrals is guarded through a co-operative social network. With ratings and reviews in the hands of the members instead of the site owners (and probably affiliates), products can be discussed openly and members who engage in blatant advertising of crappy stuff, will find their referrals nailed to the ‘wall of shame’ faster than anyone can shout s*p*a*m*m*e*r!

The good news is that this site is almost ready to launch.

You can expect a pre-launch announcement which will be made exclusively to my members first by the end of next week.

And the bad news?

Well, there isn’t any bad news, really.

I only want to emphasize that since most of you specifically indicated a preference for that type of website, I am truly counting on you to help the site take off. Because I love the concept I was really happy to spend a few weeks building the basic structure. But there is no way I can also commit myself to an endless supply of content…

Can I count on your help?

If yes, then maybe you can take 5 minutes to write down the 3 best resources you use in your online endeavors. It can be a service like webhosting or autoresponders. It can also be a book - the best guide to… (fill in the blanks). Or a course, a software tool etc.

When that website launches, you will be able to post your top 3 resources in a special Internet Marketing resource index.

This article is being sent to over 2000 Thin Electrons members. No doubt it won’t be read by everyone, but even if only a 100 people would submit 3 resources: that way we’ll have an impressive index of already 300 resource favorites divided over different categories - and happening almost overnight!

How much time do you think it would take for one person to find 300 top quality resources and submit them single handedly?

Like I already said: I really need your help with this one!

Another subject which came up in email conversations was the confusion with everything what’s out there.

How do you know what’s the right product or service for you?

All 300 resources could be excellent - you still wouldn’t need them all!

Now this is more of a personal challenge and harder to tackle with the kind of website we’re launching. Because it all comes down to your personal wants and needs. Which will be unique for everyone involved.

Some of it is hopefully obvious. Like if you want to write ebooks, don’t spend money on software compilers or courses on how to get rich selling videos. Right?

Other no-go’s are less obvious. With dozens of ways to market your products, it’s really hard to pick the right solution for your situation. Ebay? Adwords? JV partnerships? Affiliate marketing? Article directories? Web 2.0? Blogging? Or a simple mini-site?

Wow! It’s getting confusing again…

One thing which I’ve built into the site to address this problem, is an option to start small member groups around a certain topic. The idea is that people can offer and get support this way - ask questions and share experiences.

And the only other thing I can say is that it is so much worth investigating what you really want inside and set out a clear path to get there.

As long as you are 100% clear about where you want to go, you will proceed at a very high pace. You won’t have any difficulties determining what you need and what you don’t need to reach your target. You lay out your plan and simply check of the steps.

Unfortunately only a handful of people don’t get distracted along the way…

If you find yourself procrastinating, there is confusion in your mind. Sometimes it’s obvious. Sometimes it’s not. But your mind is definitely confused.

If you’re lucky, it’s about something simple and taking a break and stepping back for a moment could be enough to overcome it. It could also be something more complex - like some nagging feeling about whether you actually deserve to be successful or a fear of failing miserably…

If you think you are going to face confusion - or if you are already confused about what you want - this is for you:

Today Mark Joyner finally released the print book for Simpleology: the theory behind his course ‘to get what you want’ which explains a lot of the hidden psychological triggers that cause confusion. But also how you can recognize what’s happening inside your head and what you can do to stop your mind from being triggered again.

I had the priveledge of reading an early draft. After reading probably a 1001 books on related subjects, I figured I pretty much knew it all. But Mark has put many of the things I heard before in a fresh and clear perspective. Allowing my own neurons to finally ‘click’ on a lot of these triggers.

No difficult words - everything is explained using daily life examples. And with a wonderful sense of humor. So you won’t feel depressed about yourself when you recognize your pitfalls. Quite the contrary: you will be able to have a good laugh about it all!

And you will also feel empowered to make the necessary changes in your thinking so you can proceed with…

… well …

… getting what you really want of course…

‘Simpleology’ the book, is available through Amazon. But before you head there, take a look at the trailer first:

http://patriciarits.simpleology.com/book/

And find out how you can get a lot more for the price of just a single book…

Comes with my highest recommendation!

Thanks for taking the time to read this really long message. I’ll be in touch again in a week or so to give you the link to the new website.

In the mean time, be well and have a fabulous week.

Wishing you world of wealth,

Patricia Ritsema van Eck

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Have you ever heard of Jan Marijnissen? My guess is that unless you’re Dutch, you probably haven’t. So let me tell you a little more about Jan who’s somewhat of a celebrity where I live…

Jan Marijnissen is a politician and leader of the SP - until recently a relatively small political party. The SP has always had a group of loyal members and voters but never enough to play a significant role in dictating new laws and rules in the government.

Because you probably don’t know the Dutch political party system, it doesn’t make sense to give you a detailed explanation of how it works. All you need to know is that we have many parties and their significance is expressed through the number of seats they represent in the cabinet.

During the last big elections of November 2006 Jan Marijnissen’s SP almost tripled in size and is now the 3rd leading party in the Netherlands. This was a success previously unheard of…

Tomorrow - March 7th - we have provincial elections here and the SP is heading for another major victory.

Would you like to know their secret?

Then watch this short video featuring Jan Marijnissen. Don’t worry, it’s hardly got any Dutch in it. It’s mostly images and music. And you’ll be shocked to find out whom else is featured in this video. Somebody I’m actually 99% sure of you do know…

Got it yet?

In essence political success can be explained through a simple 4 steps formula and I want to show you how it is related to Thin Electrons and how you can apply similar strategies when selling digital products online…

And I want to take a closer look at how the above video is responsible for literally driving millions of Dutch people to the SP website. The psychology behind it and how you can use this on your own websites. And of course how all of this is mysteriously related to that one person mentioned whom you do know…

Therefore I’ve written a short case study. If you want know more, please use the form below to request a download and I’ll send you the details of how to access this information.

		Yes! Please send me a free copy of your special report “Viral Politics”.
Name:
Email:

Your information will be treated with integrity and respect - it will definitely never be shared with anyone else.

After clicking the submit button, check your inbox for a confirmation email. You MUST confirm your request before I can send you the download information! So please double-check for typos in your email address to ensure this email arrives…

Thanks!

Patricia Ritsema van Eck

---

Credits for the video above go to www.thisismint.be - you can find the original video at http://www.houjannietvoorjezelf.nl

Disclaimer: The video above has no relation whatsoever to the political preference of mentioned internet marketer, neither is it intended as a political statement and should in no case be read as such! This video has been put on this website for educational purposes only…

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Ever since he wrote “Thanks for all the crap”, internet marketer and copywriter Bill Hibbler has been on my radar. It was actually quite funny. I got triggered by that headline which was sent out on Thanksgiving and decided to give it a read.

There were 2 propositions Bill made in his post which really appealed to me:

1. Let’s incorporate an ‘attitude of gratitude’ all year long instead of on Thanksgiving only…
2. In addition let’s also be grateful for all the bad things which happen in our lives…

“Wait a minute!”, I thought after being 2 paragraphs into the post. “You’re entering my niche here…”

In case you’re wondering what my niche is, let me tell you right away that it’s NOT internet marketing. And because it’s not, I’m currently facing a big dilemma. Which may actually be an opportunity to you!

But before I go down that road, I want to alert you to the newsletter I received from Bill Hibbler today…

Bill has been reviewing the latest trent in IM with the guru’s sending out ‘death’ reports and manifesto’s. Some of them are really quite good and at the very least present you with a trigger to think about what you’re doing again online. Such as the question by Rich Schefren asking you if you are an entrepreneur or an opportunity seeker.

These are very valid wake-up calls. Or they have been to me…

Bill notices that these reports are often used in the true IM fasion for growing a list and making a back-end sale. (Again nothing wrong with that. After all everyone has to make a living and if you want to do it online, you need some extra force to grab attention.) And he continues to zoom into the last in Schefren’s Manifesto series…

Shefren teamed with publishing powerhouse Agora and wrote another manifesto about meeting in European castles with powerful people with plans to take over the Internet marketing world as we know it.

Gimme a break. If you ask me, these guys read “Winning Through Intimidation” a few too many times. Or watched too many old James Bond movies.

Agora does have some brilliant marketers, copywriters and product creation people. But Shefren implies that they’ll eat anyone that crosses their path. And as they enter new niches, the little guy will be crushed UNLESS you sign up for Rich’s next program. Personality-driven marketing is dead because you can’t possibly compete with Agora’s marketing muscle.

Personality-driven marketing is dead? I guess that might come as a surprise to someone like Oprah Winfrey.

The reality is…

I don’t know if you read the Manifesto’s. I did and whereas I greatly appreciated most of the content, this particular bit got me very, very concerned about my future online. I mentioned before that I have been reviewing my activities over the winter, and the Agora giant had managed to become a frightening character in my worst-case-scenario nightmares.

Hold on! What is happening here?

I was buying into the doom-and-gloom future-of-the-internet predictions and actually already planning a strategy based on fear…

Here’s the irony of it…

Do you know what my real niche is?

HAPPINESS

My real passion is the ‘how to be happy’ niche and it was where I started online and it’s where I want to focus on again. I have neglected my happiness websites, newsletters and books in such a way, that I’m actually almost too embarrassed to pick it up again.

I know about fear - the sort which is legit (5%) and the sort which is a fiction of your imagination (95%) - and how it affects your mental and physical health. Fear distorts perspective and can cause long-term stress. It’s generally not the emotion that gives you the best kind of advice on how to act and what to do with your life.

I know about gratitude and how it’s like the super-highway to feeling more content and happy with yourself and your circumstances. (Hence my remark about Bill the marketer entering my niche. Shoo! )

Yet here I was - ‘happiness expert’ - planning new internet strategies or even leaving the internet all together because I got visited at night by the Agora monsters…

Back to Bill Hibbler:

Unless we’re talking about a manufactured item like a car or a camera, people prefer dealing with people they trust over big corporations. And even that’s questionable when you consider the stress most people fell when buying a new car.

So I say forget the Agoras of the world. Don’t let yourself be manipulated by that kind of fear-based marketing.

Finding a market niche you’re truly passionate about and finding and creating products for that niche is a model that’s been around long before the Internet and it’s just as viable today.

You can read the whole newsletter at:
http://www.ecommerceconfidential.com/Blog/?p=80

So what happens to Thin Electrons?

Yes, good question…

I basically have a couple of options:

1. Power to the People - I reformat the website into a true web 2.0 construction where you, the members, determine the content. You would get to offer your IM related products and others can review them. You could also write reviews about newly launched products and services by other marketers. Basically turning the site into a towerhouse of knowledge together where the consumers determine what’s good as opposed to the gurus.

   I quite like this idea actually…

2. Find a team to manage the site - not meaning forum moderators but a marketer, a copywriter, a webmaster etc who run the site together with me and we share the profits. So that’s something different from me performing all the tasks and being coached. I already have my coach… It’s about sharing the to-do list cause frankly I’m drowning in it.

3. Sell the website to a passionate marketer - also very appealing option to me since it would really give me the opportunity to return full-time to my happiness business. I’m also aware this idea can be discomforting to loyal subscribers and members. But in the long run you would benefit from the site being managed by somebody who’s passionate about IM and stays up-to-date with what’s happening in the frontier. I’ve run out of time to check everything out as I used to do…

But before reaching a decision, I would really like to give you the opportunity to let your voice be heard and tell me what you would prefer me to do. So if you care to comment on these options, please do so! It’s very much appreciated by me.

Thanks already and have a great weekend!

Patricia

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Kim Standerline and Anthony Hull are launching a new membership script today which has been specifically designed for the Newbie in mind. It’s called EasyMemberPro and you can find the details at:

http://www.easymemberpro.com

As you can see from the link, I’m not an affilate for EasyMemberPro and neither do I want to be, because frankly I find the script to be hyped up. I confess that I didn’t purchase and install it to check it out thoroughly. I did study the online videos to get an impression and from what I can see in the admin interface, this is a pretty basic script.

To some level it can be compared with Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing Script as it includes an inbuilt affiliate program - this is something fairly unique with membership site scripts - but otherwise it is dwarfed when looking at other features that Mike’s script offers.

Now Mike’s script comes with a hefty price tag and as such this new script would seem interesting still. Especially for the newbie as they point out themselves as well. However…

When you create a site you should never compromise on what you want it to do. And really, the technical possibilities are limited with this one. I have 3 membership sites currently running and none of them could have been made with this simple script. The best thing I can say about EasyMemberPro is that it seems quite easy to create a site when you’re not very familiar with HTML.

So before you buy all the hyped up emails that plenty of marketers are currently sending out, go do some research first.

If you want to learn about membership sites from a marketing point of view, I highly recommend Mike Filsaime’s book on this subject:

Butterfly Marketing Manuscript

If you need a cheap script, check out the open source options. They come with strong community support though it sometimes does take a bit long to find what you need to know. I’m currently looking into Drupal myself and this script is pretty well documented.

I also hear good stories about Joomla, the Mambo successor and a friend of mine told me it’s actually easier to set up than Drupal is.

A script I very much like myself is Profile Manager. There’s a free version and a paid version available - both versions have lots more features that EasyMembersPro and the paid version sells for $197. It doesn’t include an affiliate system, but you can have automated subscriptions with 5 or 6 different payment processors including Clickbank. And the support is truly excellent!

I recently discovered a website where you can find a whole range of links to membership site and community scripts:
http://www.scriptmimic.com/

For further information you can also read some of the post I dedicated to membership sites in the past:

• http://thinelectrons.com/blog/2006/11/03/membership-site-features/
• http://thinelectrons.com/blog/2006/10/31/membership-sites-rule/
• http://letsmakesoftware.com/blogs/2006/08/14/membership-site-scripts/

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The other day I watched the movie “Traffic” on Dutch television. It’s an impressive account of America’s war on drugs as taking place on the border with Mexico. Three separate storylines come together as the movie evolves:

1. First there’s a police officer in Mexico who’s fighting the drugs export at the border and who is being sucked into the corrupt system of officials who allow this export for some kartels while trying to destroy the others.

2. Secondly there’s the ‘drug tzar’ who’s in charge of official couter measures to stop drug trafficing having official meetings and press conferences while in his own home - unknown to him - his A-student daughter is sniffing cocaïne and heroïne…

3. And lastly there’s the rich wife of a drug baron who finds out what her husband’s real source of income is after he gets arrested. Their accounts get blocked and it looks like her life will be destroyed. After some kartel threatens her to kidnap her boy if she doesn’t come up with 3 million dollars quickly, she decides to take over her husbands business…

It’s pretty complicated so see the movie for yourself if you’re interested in learning how it all plays out. The reason I am mentioning it here is because I was intruiged by the personal motivation of all characters involved to do what they do. Which is definitely not your average good guys vs. bad guys stuff…

Obviously a lot is about money and becoming rich. The wife grew up in a very poor neighborhood and doesn’t want her children to live through the same kind of childhood she had. Her love of her son makes things a little more complicated and when faced with the threat of losing him, she makes a conscious decision to run a cocaine smuggling business.

Don’t we all want the best of the best for our children? Yet, how far would you go to achieve this? Would you consciously decide to make money of teenagers - destroying their lives in favor of your own kids…

Then there’s the drug tzar - a government offical who’s a judge as well and taking this job for a couple of years may very well result in becoming a judge in the supreme court. His family life is a disaster however. He’s sacrificed his role of being a good father in favor of a great political career. Which means being away from home a lot, not having enough time to spend with his daughter. As long as she’s performing well in school, there is no need for this?

What do your kids have to do to get your attention before you make a decision about what matters most in your life? As my own father-in-law discovered on his death bed: when the end is near all your political and business contacts mean nothing. You simply want your family to be there and feel loved.

The police officer from Mexico has to find his way in a corrupt system. There’s a general with way more power than he’s got who wants to basically rule the country. The drug kartels are helping him to fund his moves, so he plays them out and allows some to continue smuggling drugs. The police officer cannot openly do anything against this as it will cost his life (demonstrated in the movie with the execution of his partner who tried to tip the DSA about what the general was planning).

This guy is smarter though and while pretending to play along, he also has connections with the DSA helping them to build their case. The DSA offers to make him rich. And that’s where it gets interesting: he doesn’t want the money for himself. Instead he asks them to build a baseball stadion with proper lighting. A place for the local youth to engage in sports and spend their time in better ways than hanging out on the streets and being vulnerable to join the street gangs.

So he wants to invest in the future. Take care of the immediate needs of the children now so they won’t turn out criminals or drug addicts. Giving them joy and hope and some meaning in life.

What does this have to do with internet marketing?

First, I’ve grown quite ’sick’ of many of the internet marketing campaigns. Mainly because of the way they are conducted and the lack of genuine care for the customers. The aggressive intrusion in your inbox. The constant demand to read and buy. Sign up for more newsletters to receive more free reports and software. Many of which are total junk. It’s been taking its toll.

The internet marketing niche is a highly competetive one so I do understand the need for all the marketers who are selling to this niche to shout so loud. Yet the shouting turns you off of reading anything all together. Including the mail from those few who really have something interesting to say.

Secondly I’m really shocked by some of the mainstream ideas about customers. I’ve read messages and reports from pretty well-respected marketers that to grow a business you need to keep your audience addicted to what you’re selling. The way to do this is to never give the complete solution to anybody’s problem. That way you can always ‘reveal more secrets’ and people will continue to buy from you. (It’s a fine balance of course - if you don’t give enough information in the first place, you will have lost a customer for life.)

That’s the same way the drug world works. They create addicts by giving their stuff away so once addiction sets in they have a customer for life. And they don’t care where their customers get their money from and how the addiction destroys their personal life.

I don’t care about who first invented this system for success. It works and it’s being used in many areas of life. And if you’re employing it yourself consciously, whether because you want to be filthy rich or to gain social respect because of your success or have power or whatever the reason, know that it comes at a price. You may not be paying it yourself right now, but at some point you will. As a matter of fact I think this world is currently going to pieces because of this…

Yet it’s not too late to make a difference. I honestly don’t know at this point how you can be successful online without newsletters, blogging and selling products. But in whatever you do, put yourself in the second place and your customer first. Please make an effort to provide good, useable content at a fair price. And when you have your big break-through, think about how you can share some of your success with the children of today so they have a nice future to look forward to as well.

Thank you for reading my ‘rant’. I wish you the best for 2007!

Patricia

P.S.
I’m currently looking for a partner who’s genuinely passionate about internet marketing to help me manage my too-many websites and allowing me to focus more on product creation. I’ll post more about this soon.

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David Thompson is hosting a small give-away event:

http://xrl.us/PatriciaRitsema-Gifts

You may have heard from me in the past how I actually quite detest those big gift bashes since they result in a complete information overload. Well, this one is different…

And I must applaud David for being very strict about how many people were allowed to contribute. Very good contributions by respectable marketers. I feel very honoured to be included on that page.

This event only lasts for 5 days so best check it out now while it’s fresh on your mind:

http://xrl.us/PatriciaRitsema-Gifts

And remember to stay focused as you select only what is useful to you!

Wishing you a world of wealth!

Patricia Ritsema van Eck

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The Thin Electrons membership site was the first I ever built. It’s a free service though there’s a paid level as well for ‘50K’ members and another level will be added soon for elite members. Below you’ll find some features of membership sites explained in more details, using my own site as the main example:

Membership Levels

Every membership site script will offer membership levels and most have the possibility to integrate this with a payment system like paypal or clickbank. When you decide to upgrade your membership, some of your registration data is changed and after a successful transaction you can suddenly access a whole new range of pages. All taken care of on autopilot…

You can choose between one lifetime payment and monthly subscription payments. Subscription payments of course have the benefit of recurring income that is generated without you having to work extra hours. So you can devote your time to promoting the ‘front end’ and getting more subscribers.

One Time Offer

When you register as a member you will be offered the 50K membership at a staggering discount. But that offer only comes once and hence is called a ‘One Time Offer’ - when you hear marketers discuss OTO strategies, this is the offer they are referring to.

Depending on the membership site script that you use, you can present different OTOs depending on the subscriber’s interest. For example, when you downloaded my ebook Tagging for Profit, you’ll read that there’s a step-by-step guide plus process maps and action sheets that go with this book. Available to Thin Electrons members only though…

The link in the book goes to a different signup page than the regular one. The signup form on this page has a hidden field called ’site_access’ with the value ‘wordclouds1′. So when you register on this page, this information is added to your membership data. When you register at another page, the ’site_access’ field has a different value and your personal data can include values like ‘blog’, ‘index’ or ‘myths’.

Not only does this give me some insight in where my members come from, it also allows me to present a different OTO depending on where you access the membership area for the first time!

Building Your List

Another benefit of membership sites is that you automatically build your list. All the registration data is added to a database and a good membership site script will have an email feature built in so you can email your members.

Because you collect more data then with a regular signup form for a mailing list, you can also select particular groups you want to email to. Like emailing only members who have a free membership. Or (at the Thin Electrons site) all members who know who Robbie Williams is…

Because the membership site offers more than a newsletter, people are less inclined to unsubscribe from a membership site then from a regular mailing list.

Personal Pages

When you login to the Thin Electrons membership area, you will be greeted with your first name. And you will come across personal info at several points, which make the whole membership experience more personal and direct.

I’m not monitoring who’s logging in 24/7 in order to write a quick personal hello. That would be humanly impossible. It’s again all done on autopilot. But despite the fact it’s simply a technical possibility, it’s still nicer to read your name then the ‘dear friend’ page which you would find on a static content site.

Internet marketers have also found that when you are selling something online, your conversion rates increase when you address your prospects with their own name.

Easy Content Management

Membership sites are ‘template based’. What this means is that you only design your site elements once (your headers, footers, sidebars etc) and once that is done, you can add page after page simply by typing the content. There’s no need to work on lay-out other than including headlines and emphasis on certain words.

With some scripts you will have to manually add the link to your new page in the sidebar; with others this is done on autopilot again. Very similar to blog scripts where you check the category and your new post is archived. Other than that there’s hardly any work you need to do on maintenance.

I will add to this that the initial design of the site can present you with a bit of a learning curve. Most scripts are quite smart though and will offer you design options in HTML only. Meaning that if you can create a regular webpage, you should be able to create a membership site fairly easily.

In addition many script offer a set of themes. Designs for the site you can choose from if designing is above your capacities. That way you will have a professional looking site without having to put much personal effort into it.

Member to Member Communication

There are several ways you can allow members to communicate with each other. Dating sites for example will often allow members to send a personal message and have an online inbox as part of the membership area. Though this is not a feature included in the Thin Electrons membership area, in theory I could add this with a simple click of the button from the administration panel.

Integrating a discussion board is another option. I’ve seen quite a few forums which are only open to members of a membership site and with a good script the registration to the forum is automatically taken care of. Or offer a simple blog feature so members can post personal messages to all other members. Again these features can be added with a click of the mouse.

Recommended…

The script I used to build the Thin Electrons membership area is called Profile Manager. It’s a great script with excellent support which you can get here:
www.thinelectrons.com/recommends/profilemanager

The marketing strategies I applied stem mostly from Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing Manuscript which you can get here:
www.thinelectrons.com/recommends/butterflymarketing

And though my site was already live long before Jason James released his Membership Riches, the method he explains to build a membership site is pretty much the same I used. You can get Jason’s book here:
www.thinelectrons.com/recommends/membershipriches

Are you a membership site enthusiast too? Let me know!

Patricia

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