Just as an experiment, a friend of mine subscribe to ten different opt-in e-mail marketing lists to see which ones are effective. Many websites and online businesses have resorted to sending promotional materials to people who have subscribed to them in an effort to boost their sales or traffic. Opt-in email marketing sends newsletters, catalogs updates and many more promotional materials to website visitors who have agreed to be updated whether monthly, weekly or semiannually.

Through e-mail, an internet user that is on the list will receive their updates through email. If a promotional material piques their interest they will go to the site to learn more or to purchase outright. For the website operators or owners, this is a chance to remind their list of their existence and parlor their wares.  With the numerous sites in the internet that offers the same products or services in one way or the other, the competition can get pretty tight and it is easy to be forgotten.

Back to my experimenting friend, he tried to find out which opt-in marketing strategies grabbed a person into begging for more. Some would send in very simple fashion, some would very outlandish while there are some that would just lie in between. The differences could easily be noticed and some have gotten the idea of an effective opt-in marketing strategy. He dubbed them effective because he felt like he just couldnít wait to go their site and learn more, the more persuasive ones even got him halfway to reaching for his wallet and to his credit card before he realized this was only for an experiment.

Many companies and site present their promotional materials in a wide variety of concepts. Each has their own distinctive style and designs, but more than the outline and the presentation, the content and the articles are what keeps the attention of your potential customer locked on to your opt-in marketing medium. Creativity is the key here.

From talking to many satisfied opt-in list subscribers and forums, I have learned of what is essential in opt-in marketing and what makes the subscribers begging for more instead of lining up to unsubscribe.

Keep your promotional materials light, creative and original. Many people are stressed out as it is. Getting a stuffy business proposal rather than a light hearted e-mail may just agitate them more. A warm friendly smile or banter is always more welcome than a serious business meeting or proposal. While you do want your customers to take you and your products and services seriously, you also want to show them that you know how to have fun.

Splash some color in your emails as well as provide some photos and articles that can be related to you but show good news or good light hearted images as well. Provide a newsletter or promotional materials that will keep them in a light mood. Make your materials eye catching and grabbing that they wont be able to take their eyes of them. Pique their interests.

Have good content and article, even if it means investing in an experienced and professional copy writer to write them for you. An effective copy writer should be able to build trust between you and your customers. They should be able to establish your credibility in what they write. It must be informative but not too stuffy. Let go of the professional jargons and ìtalkìto your recipients.

A good article and content should be able to outline the benefits of your product and services and why they need what you are offering. But do not look to be overeager and too persuasive. It should be able to entertain as well as lead them to buying from you.

Your promotional materials should be clear. Donít leave people guessing. You should lead them to you and not vice versa. Explain to them what they need to do in a manner that wonít be confusing. Try to anticipate also what your target client needs. Do your research and information gathering, many sites will be able to help you with that.

Provide clear and crisp images of what you are offering. If the people know what you have for them, they are more likely to beg for more. For example, if you are selling a car, provide them photos but only enough to encourage them to go to your site for more.

Everyone stumbles across a blog like Problogger or John Chow, and it seems as if they almost fall into a love affair with blogging as a new way of life. While it’s true that blogging is a new way of life, odds are, it’s not the way out for you.

Conservative estimates show that 200,000 new blogs are started daily on every topic from Gardening, to Hot Rods. Less than 1% of these blogs ever make more than a part time income using blogging as a vehicle. I’m not trying to be a buzzkill here, but it’s the truth… you’ll have to learn to cope. So if blogging isn’t a vehicle to financial freedom, what is? Well, in short, blogging of course!

Before you click off the page scratching your head and wondering what message I’m trying to convey, here it is… blogging isn’t going to make you rich (probably). There are a few exceptions to the rule, but generally there is only enough space at the top for people that were pioneers in the niche they blogged about. Or at least lucky enough to garner some real world or cyber attention that got them where they are today. So, what I’m trying to say is this… blogging isn’t an income vehicle, but it is a vehicle to obtain income if you use it in the right way.

You should try to make as much money as you can from your blog, but always keep in mind that you should be using your blog as a springboard for bigger and better things. Bryan from OneMansGoal.Com made a hefty sum of cash monthly from his blog, but he didn’t reach a “great” income until he used his newfound fame to generate contacts, form partnerships, and obtain knowledge about other ways to make money online. I’m not saying you won’t make money blogging, but too many of the bloggers I see are closed-minded and they pass up money-making opportunities every day. Focus on your blog, but don’t lose sight of the world and the opportunities that are presented to you every single day. As one of my favorite bloggers once said “There’s always gold in your inbox, you just have to mine it correctly”.

So in closing, build your blog, but don’t let it hinder your chance for long-term success. Over the next few days, we’re gonna discuss ways that will make your blog far more valuable than just an income creation tool. We’ll discuss ways to use your blog as an outlet that might draw others to you, and in turn, provide you with that “way out”.

Check back!!!

TNX.net is a unique text link advertising service that I was introduced to only a week ago and with the title the Text Link Revolution, that was something I definitely had to try out. Initial reactions to what I saw on their homepage were very good. Let’s take at their current network statistics what I’m currently seeing whilst writing this review:

• Users: 49,498
• Daily Growth: +0.26% (currently)
• Text link ads sold: 23 906 059
• Sale speed: 15 693 Links/Hour

Other stats I saw once I logged in:

• Links created in last hour: 12703
• Number of pages indexed by TNX: 27147715

Other:
Alexa ranking: 11,022

That’s a very healthy network for one that has only been open since September last year and one hell of a lot of text links sold. I signed up to TNX.net to have a poke around and see what I can find interesting for you guys.

Website
The TNX homepage is certainly nice to look at with a nice blend of light blue, white and orange but I’m sure you’re interested in the usability of the website.

Signing up to TNX.net is extremely easy and quick. The sign-up process only asks for simple information and your account is set up within seconds. Once you’re set up all your options are outlined simply at your control panel homepage.

You only have to input your username you wish, password, name and email and away you go! It’s very simple and does not waste any of your time. When submitting your website to their system, it must be individually approved by their team.

Navigation

The navigation is very simple to use outlining all the options clearly for the webmaster and for the advertiser as well as their affiliate program and support link so you won’t be getting lost anytime soon.

Publishers
TNX has a very different way of operating things compared to other text link advertising companies. With TNX you’re able to sell links on every page of your website, this means that you are able generate up to 10 times more profit than if you were offering sidewide links.

As a webmaster you have the option to choose which advertisers you wish to accept links letting you place only relevant links to your page. Once your blog has been approved, with a simple install of a code on your website you’re ready to start using the service. TNX runs on a points system that allows the publisher to trade in the points to TNX for cash (keeping them and waiting for the price to increase for credits is an option), sell them to other TNX users or there is the option of keeping them to buy advertising for yourself.

The value that you sell your links for in TNX-points is calculated by TNX depending on statistics like PR, link popularity, website category and outbound link numbers. TNX take a 12.5% from each person involved in the transaction that’ll be 25% of the transaction amount.

Advertisers
Being an advertiser, you’re in for a real bargain in thousands of links for an extremely reasonable price! You purchase a certain number of points for a price. Prices can be only $11 for 10,000 static links directly to your website which is extremely cheap. In a few clicks you could be promoting keywords directed to your website.

TNX offers a free tool to make paid links natural to Google, which I’m not entirely sure about myself because we never know what Google is up to and how they change and moderate things but it helps to modify your links to look more natural. TNX also offer some very good advice to advertisers on how to rank number 1 in Google for highly competitive keywords.

Support
After looking at the support that they offer, I see they give live support and forum support. Live support can’t be online 24/7 so I’d like to see a few different alternatives in the future like phone support or a ticket system. People who need support really appreciate talking directly to a member of staff and increased means of support will definitely keep users at TNX.

Affiliate Program & Special Offer
TNX also offer a referral program and with which you earn 13.3% of all TNX-points that are generated by the webmaster you refer. If you refer an advertiser then you gain 5% of all payments that the advertiser makes.

You can click below to sign-up for saying thanks for this review.

TNX.net are currently have a limited offer running where they are giving away up to 5,000 points that you can use to buy links from up to 5,000 websites!

Overall
If you use TNX, the price for links on your website is most likely very little. To use it to it’s fullest having a website with hundreds of pages, even thousands the amount of adverts you place on individual pages can all add up to a nice tidy sum each month! The growth at which this company is growing is very reassuring for the visitor. Head on over to TNX.net and try it out.

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? and Can I Improve It?
Search Engine Optimization is a very important part of your website as well as branding. BiG or Brand Identity Guru specializes in optimizing your website for search engines. Search Engines like Google and Yahoo will provide a website with large amounts of organic traffic if they can rank highly on searching a popular keyword. The proven point is, the higher you rank, the higher amounts of clicks you will receive. Apparently, with only around 10% of websites on the internet search engine optimized, BiG can give you the services to increase your rankings and out-perform other companies. BiG will increase traffic to your website by improving:

• SEO (search engine optimization), marketing and positioning strategies
• Paid submissions to search engines
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising Campaigns
• In-depth analysis of search engine rankings
• Reciprocal link development
• Statistical tracking and analysis

The search term “Branding Company” brings back search results that list BiG right up there.

Delivering the Goods
Brand Identity Guru Inc. are an Expert in Search Engine Positioning and they provide results to prove it to. Having your website optimized is proved in this example, complete with testimonials in their sidebar. Search Engine Optimization will increase your earnings whilst being cost-effective, find out how here as Brand Identity Guru provides you with the data to see.

What You Receive
When you work with Brand Identity Guru you recieve the following that will boost your Search Engine Optimization:

• A comprehensive web site analysis (goals assessment, target market profile, and surveys on industry status and past success)
• Assessment of your competition’s search engine positioning
• Keyword and popularity breakdown
• Search engine optimized copywriting
• File name, meta and body tag optimization
• Manual submissions to search engines and directories
• Comprehensive review and analysis of performance
• Complete maintenance and monitoring services
• Research on reciprocal link opportunities and implementation
• Online promotions for your website

Brand Identity Guru will improve your keyword and key phrase optimized web copy, web site submissions, reciprocal linking, online promotion techniques, search engine positioning. Once BiG has worked its magic, you also have access to a complete suite of tracking and analysis services that reveal how well these strategies are working so adjustments can be made.

When you’re easy to find, you do more business. Period.

Who Are They?
Building your brand on the internet is an important part of any website. It’s what people recognise you by. BiG or Brand Identity Guru is a Marketing Company that will help you build your brand for the future. Branding is an important part of a website because it will give your visitors a perception of your website. Making sure you have the right branding will benefit your market share leading to more sales and better recognition. All those popular websites that you visit think to yourself about their brand. Everyone recognizes them because they strive to have a way in which people know them. Brand Identity Guru offers you their services which can improve your brand.

You’re Welcomed

A very nice feature on their website shows a video in the bottom right hand corner when you visit different sections of their website. The person that displays will introduce you to why branding is important and how it can benefit you. This is a great way of keeping the visitor glued to the website as the video offers a personal experience with learning.

Take a Free Test

At Brand Identity Guru, they offer you the chance to take a free test that will determine the strength of your brand. The test consists of 12 questions and will help you know whether your brand is being successful or not. If it’s not why not take advantage of their services (make sure you take the test and get your brand endorsement) and work on developing your brand today.