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PROFIT NEWS
Volume 1, Number 01022000  
ISSN# 0112
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 I N T H I S I S S U E:

**** Tip of the week: Stop Clicking

**** Article I
>>The Year In Review/What's In Store

**** Article II  
>>How to Build Killer Emails That Sell
****Article III
>>Five Tips to Using Email Effectively

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Tip Of The Week: Stop Clicking
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The new year seems to be the year of the virus. My computer, just 
yesterday, suffered through seventeen of them, most of which were 
all new strains.   I'm certainly up to date in this department.  

One virus was the VBS.SST@mm, a VBS email worm that was encoded 
using a virus creation kit. It arrives as an attachment named 
AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs 

When executed, the worm emails itself to "everyone in your Microsoft 
Outlook address book. 
On January 26 of each year, the worm will attempt to direct your Web 
browser to an Internet address located in The Netherlands. It normally 
arrives with the subject "Here you have, ;o)" and in the body of the 
email, it says "Hi Check This".

Double-clicking the attachment will infect your system and start to 
pass the virus to other unsuspecting users throughout your email 
program, specifically Microsoft Outlook, although Lotus Notes and 
Eudora can both pass the virus on to Outlook users, who can then 
infect themselves.

If you have received the infected email - it will come from somebody 
you know - delete the email without opening the attachment.

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Article II: This Year/What's In Store
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None of us can foretell the future, well at least I can't. But
looking back into history can give us some idea of what's
ahead-in most cases.

As years go, the year 2000 certainly had its share of peculiar 
happenings. From an unexpectedly quiet opening to a 
rip-roaring last act, it will be remembered as one of the most 
unusual years in recent time.

While it was a great year for Goodyear, Regis Philban, "The 
Survivor" and "Big Brother" television shows, it wasn’t the 
nearly as good for Firestone, Ford, Florida voters, day-traders
Dot.coms and Al Gore. 

Many who got involved with Internet marketing for the fist time, 
bought lists containing millions of names for bargain prices only to 
find that most came back as "undeliverable" and then found 
themselves shut down because they used bulk mail software to 
send them out.

Many Dot.coms bit the dust because they thought they were 
"bulletproof". Because they had technology no one else had, they 
thought they could produce sales and generate revenue without 
solid sales and business practices. Some good reports that come 
out of this past year were positive sales results from E-zine 
advertising along with the emergence of an automatic marketing 
software industry used to control and expedite online marketing efforts. 

These software programs can run online businesses were extremely 
well received by the small minority of "in the know" marketing professionals 
and are said to be the boom of this next year's software sales.

Of course 2000 proved once and for all that banner ads only work 
when connected to an low flying airplane advertising half price 
margaritas over Miami’s South Beach and not on the Internet.
 Scams flourished in 2000, as they will this year and every year 
there after. Internet scams proved once again that there is nothing 
new only new twists to an old game. What was it that P.T. Barnum 

will be a fantastic year for those of us on the Internet. The playing 
field has been leveled and it seems that gradually common sense 
logic and many standards are begin set so we can all play with the 
same set of rules.     

I look forward to a banner year, not that kind of banner!
 
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 Article II: How to Build Killer Emails That Sell
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Have you ever been given a phone number out of context? I have 
and when that happens I usually get it wrong. I’m in the habit of 
reading a phone number using proper spacing. For example it’s 
easier to understand when the phone number written out; 
800-555-1212 but 8-005-551-212 is confusing due to different 
spacing.  

Any reading can be difficult if a logical pattern of special 
distance is not adhered to.     

Psychologists have done many eye-graphic studies, which have
proven without a doubt that comprehension is linked to visual 
context. In other words when the eye sends messages to the 
brain we tend to comprehend things that are in certain order.

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 1. Spacing of numbers, email address and URLs are critical not 
only to comprehension but also click-ability - That’s the ability to 
cut and past a link without chance of error.
Most surfers won’t go out of their way to get to you if you don’t 
make it easy for them. They simply move on to the next site, more 
than likely a competitor.
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2. Limit line length to 65-70 characters across because various 
e-mail programs wrap the text at wrong points or not wrap it at all. 
In addition psychological tests have proved that when a line of 
print is too long the eye cannot send proper messages to the 
brain for proper comprehension.
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3. Paragraphs should be kept short. In paper writing, paragraphs 
contain one complete thought. With email, it is necessary to 
make things easier and quicker to read and understand so the 
normally correct paragraph should be broken up into two 
paragraphs, no matter of if its meaning is continued into the 
second. This is necessary for faster comprehension due to 
the different type of reading being done.
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4. Capital letters area considered shouting and thus are a "no-no". 
But I have found that they can be used to emphasis a point in a 
subject line or in the body of the text as long as they are not 
over-used, a word or two is not considered objectionable.
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5. Length is of utmost importance. Most people have too much 
to do, so they will not read every email at length. If the length 
can’t be controlled, it is imperative to include ‘rich’ key words 
that will make your reader stop as he scans it to find words 
that interest him. Rich words properly used can paint a 
important picture.
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6. Quantity of commercial email varies but experts tell us that 
it takes seven to produce a call to action. Sequential email is 
the backbone of business sales communication.

When I walk into a mall store, I want to be left alone. I expect 
a salesman to say hello, but I also expect to be left alone, at
least at first. If and when I need further assistance I will seek 
out the salesman who greeted me.

Why? The answer is simple, he is now the only familiar face 
with which I can identify and built trust.  Email works the 
same way. Email that has the best content, are the most 
helpful, are the most persistent and consistent will win in
the end.
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6. It is no longer necessary to sell something in your email.
I know this sounds unusual but it’s true. Your objective is 
to get your reader to your web site for more detailed 
information. We’re assuming that your web site is a good 
one and will do the selling job for you.
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7. Email can cover the planet in hours, if not minutes, so 
you must be very careful what you write. Be sure to stay 
consistent and never make promises you can’t keep. 
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The final word is that email needs are not the same as 
the printed page they are more interactive, faster, more 
effective and cheaper.

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Five Tips To Effective Emailing
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Although we are beginning to take email for granted there’s much
more to it than meets the eye.  Email is cheaper, faster than a 
letter, less intrusive than a phone call, and less hassle than a fax. 
Time zone differences are less of an obstacle since email takes 
on characteristics of an immediate nature allowing the recipient 
to ask spontaneous questions which can lead to additional sales 
for business.  

Email diminishes the differences in location and time zones 
making it the media of choice for major world-class companies.  
Email, like conversational speech, tends to be sloppier than 
paper communications and can pose a problem when your 
not sending a message to a co-worker lining up a luncheon date.

You open your snail mail, if the business letter is not well 
written with several misspellings, incomplete sentences 
and a general untidiness your first impression would 
naturally be to question the credibility of it’s contents as well 
as the sender’s intend.

Lately many business emails I have been received have not 
been up to very high standards grammar. In fact when I 
receive emails of this nature I dismiss them as junk and 
delete them. The following five tips can be vital to business 
when sending out your email. 
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1. Don’t misspell any words! This may sound stupid but 
people are insulted when a word is misspelled. They will 
forgive one or two but any more is beyond the limit. 
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2. Always keep your emails brief and to the point. I receive 
over 500 emails daily and I don’t have time for sub standard 
companies. (Notice I said companies? A company reputation
rises or falls on the first contact).
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3. Always include your web site address. If you don’t have a 
web site there’s little chance for anyone taking you or your offer 
seriously.
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4. Always include a method to unsubscribe and make it easy. 
Many companies force the subscriber to log on to a web site 
and go through several steps to get off 
a list. If you do this, you not only run the risk of never doing 
business with that person, you escalating his rage and he 
may take action of some sort against you.
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5. Never quote federal laws in your email. This is tactic used 
by bulk spammers, which blatantly announces that the person 
has been spammed and that it’s legal 
to do so under a federal guideline.
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Be sure to always proof your work by at least one or even two 
people. This is important not only to the spelling and grammar 
but to the meaning of the entire piece. What one person 
understands may not be the same to another. 

And finally always send the email to yourself before you press the 
send button. I have always found something I needed to change 
in my emails because when they get read in my mailbox I read with 
a more critical eye and so should you.
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