Improve Your Internet Marketing

One of the facts of life on the Internet is that it’s hard to hide keeps secrets. For Internet marketers, this is both a blessing and a curse. As in life, it’s tough to create a good reputation, but very easy to ruin it.

In the last few months, I’ve received an awful lot of what I call “Ooops!” e-mails. You’ve seen them, they go something like this: “Oops, my bad! Seems like I sent you a bad link / bad info / etc. in my last email. Been working late, jet-lagged, hit ‘enter’ by mistake…”

Does anybody really think a successful, professional marketer ‘accidently’ sends a single-purpose email and makes a ‘mistake’ with the thing the email is about?

The reason it irked me this time is that the initial ‘error’ email promotes a ‘free’ report - sure, the marketer would love you to buy the *whatever*, but in trying to be helpful and giving to their list, here’s a link to a free report with much of the good stuff.

The “Oops” email says “sorry, my bad - the free report isn’t free, it’s actually $9.95, but there is some good free video…”

It just seems to me that this is part of a trend towards copying any low-brow technique that may ring the cash register. Even if the “oops” email is simply an attempt to double-dose their list, as far as I’m concerned, these marketers are trading integrity for a few quick hits.

Whether you are marketing tool lists and hoping for a repeat sales, or you’re selling a one-time-ever purchase in a niche, integrity and reputation are crucial. In an age of Google and waybackmachine.org, it becomes increasingly easy for buyers to research sellers. Quality, not just in products, but in marketing methods and tactics, are essential to creating a sustainable business.