Last week Brian wrote about the worst direct email marketing tactic we’ve seen in a while and on Monday I received probably one of the worst introduction emails I have ever received – if you can even call it an introduction.

I read the email, re-read the email and again and at the end I still wasn’t quite sure what the sender was asking of me! But I think the sender was asking me to either meet him for a sales pitch or provide free coaching.

Here’s the problem with “cold calling” using direct email marketing: you can’t hear the tone of voice, you have a hard time reading between the lines, and you can’t clarify and ask questions easily.

In this post, I am going to share the email I received with you, I am going to critique it and share some insights on what a stranger would think reading it, and I am going to provide a rewritten version of the email that I would have liked to have received.

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Ok. I woke up this morning, grabbed my phone to do a quick scan of my email, and check in on Facebook and Twitter. Last night I posted the Infusionsoft’s Biggest Fan article and I shared it on my social networks.

When I checked in with Facebook this morning I saw that a friend of mine commented on the post (Don’t go looking to see who posted it. I deleted the comment so there wouldn’t be any embarrassment), and here’s what he said:

“Email Marketing is Outdated! Just FYI!”

I couldn’t believe I was actually reading this statement. I actually laughed at the ridiculousness and ignorance of this comment. Was he serious? There was no way he could really think that right? I was a bit more than surprised and had to tell Brian what I just read.

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The marketing team over at Infusionsoft is a pretty smart bunch. In an attempt to find some happy customers to feature in their marketing and to get some great free advertising, they’re holding a contest to see who is Infusionsoft’s biggest fan.

Well, Guess What? Infusionsoft’s biggest fan is me!

Yes, we do a lot of online marketing strategy and planning for your clients, but we also manage all of the implementation from email marketing, to website marketing, to information product marketing and more.

Every client seemed to have a different combination of tools they were using and as a result, I have worked with a lot of different service providers. Some used a combination of QuickBooks and Constant Contact, some used a combination of 1ShoppingCart and aWeber, some used PayPal and iContact. The different combinations of tools were immense. But there was one thing that was consistent in all cases – the fact that they needed (and were paying for) multiple service providers.

One client was even paying a virtual assistant more than $2,000 a month to manage her list and keep it current between her shopping cart database and her email marketing provider’s database.

When Bourn Creative decided to focus on proactively marketing and growing our business, I knew that I didn’t want any of the solutions that my clients were using. It was a pain in the butt to manage marketing lists across multiple systems and they were spending a lot of money trying to do it efficiently.

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I subscribe to a lot of email newsletters, and I know that trading my email address for free products, videos, and reports would subject my inbox to a steady stream of email messages with an intended up-sell…

But the email I got the other day really irritated me and inspired this post.

A while ago, I opted in to this person’s website who is a self-proclaimed social media expert (who I will not disclose out of privacy concerns) with my first name and email address and watched the free video, which wasn’t that good and didn’t really provide any value. The free video was just a lame sales pitch.

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Way back when, at the start of my career, I periodically sent out HTML email marketing messages to a big list of my clients and prospects about a service or new opportunity. At the time HTML email marketing was fairly new to the marketing world, and wasn’t yet widely adopted.

I made the mistake, as did many others, of sending these messages right from Outlook like I did with all of my other email messages. Why not, right? Wrong!

In fact, one day some people stopped receiving email from me completely!

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Your “list” is your database of people you can contact with your marketing messages and communications. Email marketing is the most common form of permission-based marketing, which means you must have permission to add people to your email marketing list, and permission to email them information. Email addresses should be obtained only by legitimate means like through opt-in and subscribe boxes on your website, or by specific request. This is why online marketing lists are often called opt-in lists.

It is difficult to talk about email marketing and not talk about list building. In fact, many experts make it seem as if building a big list is the only thing Internet entrepreneurs need to worry about. But when it comes to your list, does size really matter?

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Email marketing is permission-based marketing, which means you must have permission to add people to your marketing list, and permission to email them information. Every email newsletter, ezine, or email marketing communication should have a clear, straight-forward unsubscribe or opt-out link, and opt-out requests should be handled immediately.

Email addresses should be obtained only by legitimate means like through opt-in and subscribe boxes on your website, or by specific request. This is why email marketing lists are often called opt-in lists. Valid contact information should be included in every piece of email marketing and a privacy policy should be provided.

Single Opt-In Marketing Lists vs. Double Opt-In Marketing Lists

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Email marketing is permission-based electronic marketing that is sent directly to your email inbox once a person, provides permission to contact them in the future, usually by subscribing or opting-in to receive more information, sale reminders, or marketing messages.

An email newsletter or ezine (email magazine) is a very popular form of email marketing. An ezine is an electronic form of communication that is sent out on an ongoing basis and used for business to business or business and consumer companies.

Because email marketing doesn’t require printing or postage, staying connected to your audience via email marketing is a more cost effective alternative to traditional print newsletters.

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Last week I attended Infusionsoft’s annual users conference, InfusionCon 2010 at an absolutely beautiful resort just outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

You can read my other blog post on the conference here InfusionCon 2010: Why Infusionsoft is the Ultimate Marketing Software.

Even if you are not an Infusionsoft user, there were a tremendous amount of great resources and tips to learn from the vendors and speakers about marketing your business online.

One of the key concepts that Infusionsoft and their presenting affiliates preached was the importance of following up with your prospects throughout the sales and marketing process.

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I am writing this post as I look out at a beautiful garden and enormous Las Vegas style swimming pool from my hotel room near Phoenix, Arizona where InfusionSoft is hosting their annual user’s conference InfusionCon.

Bourn Creative uses Infusionsoft as the engine to automate our marketing efforts and regularly recommends the software to our clients who are ready to take their marketing to the next level.

While it is not the least expensive software on the market, we and about 1000 other entrepreneurs at this conference, and thousands more around the world truly believe it is the best online marketing automation tool and a big key to achieving marketing success and business growth on a massive scale.

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Often I hear stories of my friends, business peers and networking acquaintances sitting in front of their computer with Email Newsletter Writers’ Block. They just can’t seem to think of anything to write, don’t like feeling pressured to write something fabulous, and secretly hate email marketing because they don’t want to be a copywriter.

So, what do they do? They put it off and procrastinate.

Soon, it has been weeks, or sometimes even months and nothing has been sent out to their list. No announcements. No marketing. No helpful tips or information.

Unfortunately, their list of warm leads is growing colder by the minute!

Here is a quick list of email newsletter topics or content ideas that you can use to help put an end to writers’ block:

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Email marketing is a great way to consistently reach your audience without spending a fortune! With permission-based email marketing, you can send information about your products, services, programs, and sales to hot prospects who have already opt-ed in to your list. That means they want to hear from you!

No matter what type of business you have or what services or products you sell, a value-added email newsletter can be a great tool to help attract more customers and prospects. Email marketing helps you stay in front of your customers and prospects, increase your marketing “touches,” and generate more leads and referrals.

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