Posts: 3

1. The Secrets Of Smart E-Mail Marketing

   16.Mar.08, 07:07 EDT
   
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   Small-business owners have monkeyed around with mass e-mail campaigns for years. We started out with software like Outlook, ACT!, and GoldMine, which merged and lobbed generic messages to groups of customers and prospects.

   More recently, many of us have turned to e-mail-marketing vendors to hone our electronic attacks. These services manage campaigns by allowing recipients to opt out and feeding the interested with more information. Better yet, these easy-to-use, database-driven tools--many customizable, down to the logos and graphics--are also cheap: usually under $100 per month to blast thousands of e-mails.

   But just because e-mail campaigns are becoming more common doesn't mean their architects are getting better at crafting them. The big problem: relevance--as in, the lack of it.

   This isn't rocket science. When Staples (nasdaq: SPLS - news - people ) sends a message plugging free shipping, that's a lot less compelling than a special offer on printer cartridges you've purchased before. Likewise, learning that Borders (nyse: BGP - news - people ) is offering 30% off best-sellers is nice, but how about 30% off titles by your favorite author or on a subject you're interested in?

   Of course, the fact that you can operate a car doesn't mean you can drive it very well (just ask Britney Spears). The same goes for e-mail campaigns: Blasting a product ad to millions isn't particularly effective--unless you're hawking mortgages, stock tips or Viagra.
   "The more relevant [the] message to the recipients' interests, the more likely [it will] rise above the other messages," says Eric S. Groves, a senior vice president at Constant Contact.

   Groves should know. His firm provides e-mail marketing services to over 150,000 small companies. It also offers free guidance, including live Webinars, recorded tutorials, white papers and a newsletter called "Hints & Tips." As for performance, Constant Contact manages to successfully deliver 97 out of every 100 e-mails, according to Return Path, an independent e-mail tracking firm.

   It's not that sending the right message to the appropriate people is hard--it's that too few business owners take the time to do it.

   Mark Sperling is one of them. His company, Girls Learn To Ride, teaches women extreme sports, like skateboarding, BMX, motocross and other activities most of us would avoid. Sperling knows his customers have a variety of interests: A snowboarder might not be thrilled to know about the best waves on the West Coast, and a teenager couldn't care less about spa treatments for older athletes.

   That's why Sperling takes the time to carve up his audience before trying to reach them. "We have segmented lists," he says. "That way, we can send out relevant e-mails [about] upcoming events in a sport that matches the profile of the athlete." The same logic applies to different product lines.

   Sperling sends out six to eight messages a month. These include a newsletter, which goes to his entire database; a weekly news e-mail for those who ask to receive it; "event update" or custom e-mails segmented by age, location or sports interest; and periodic surveys. Costs: about $150 a month to Constant Contact. Sperling also pays a few bucks to cover the time his in-house staff spends tailoring the messages. Result: Click-through rates have jumped 10% to 35%.

   For all that smart targeting, it's still hard to get people to open e-mails unless they recognize the sender immediately. According to a 2002 survey from DoubleClick, 60% of respondents cite the "From" line as the most important factor motivating them to open e-mails.

   If a brand name is more memorable than a personal name, use it in the "From" line. Avoid using generic addresses like sales@ or info@. Also, keep the "From" name consistent and recognizable in all of your e-mails.

   The "From" line is important, but the subject line is where you set the trap. The key is attracting attention with imagery and specificity. Example: A subject line that reads "Five Plants Deer Won't Eat" is more compelling than "Monthly Newsletter."

   Remember: When it comes to e-mail marketing, it's all about quality, not quantity. Take the time to do it right.

2. How To Make A Million Before You Turn 20

   16.Mar.08, 07:02 EDT
   
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   While their peers were out making trouble, these young achievers were making bank.

   Forever in search of the secrets to entrepreneurial success, we peeked into the inspirational lives of five whiz kids who built million-dollar enterprises before the age of 20.

   They partnered with friends, siblings and mentors, or did the work on their own. Three are from the U.S., two from the U.K. All started at age 15 or younger--and one before he broke double digits.

   Their common thread: preternatural business sense and demon drive to turn ideas into reality.

   In Pictures: Businesses Of The (Really) Young And Successful

   Five Teen Millionaire Entrepreneurs: Fraser Doherty, Ashley Qualls, Catherine Cook, Cameron Johnson, Adam Hildreth

   In Pictures: Eight Ways To Make Money Online

    

   While four of the five were making a mint on the Internet, Fraser Doherty was doing things the old-fashioned way. In 2002, at the age of 14, Doherty started making jams from his grandmother's recipes in his parents' kitchen in Edinburgh, Scotland. Neighbors and church friends loved them. As word spread, Doherty started receiving orders faster than he could produce them at home, so he rented time at a 200-person food-processing factory several days a month.

   Go With The Flow

   By age 16, Doherty left school (with his parents' blessing) to work on his jams full time. In early 2007, Waitrose, a high-end supermarket in the U.K., approached Doherty, hoping to sell his Superjam products in their stores. Within months there were Superjam jars on the shelves of 184 Waitrose stores, hoisting Doherty and his business to new heights.

   Doherty borrowed 5,000 pounds (about $9,000) from a bank to cover general expenses and more factory time to produce three flavors: Blueberry & Blackcurrant, Rhubarb & Ginger and Cranberry & Raspberry. Tesco (other-otc: TSCDY - news - people ) followed, adding Doherty's products to 300 stores across the U.K. In March, Superjam will launch at Tesco in Ireland.

   Last year Superjam hit $750,000 in sales and is on track to double that in 2008 (about 50,000 jars a month). Based on a reasonable valuation multiple of one times revenue--jelly-maker J.M. Smucker (nyse: SJM - news - people ) trades at 1.2 times sales--Doherty's 100% stake is worth in the neighborhood of $1 million to $2 million.

   Not bad for a 19-year-old. Doherty's recommendation to other young entrepreneurs: "Have an attitude of adventure, and enjoy the journey."

   Double Down

   Cameron Johnson truly took that perspective to heart, parlaying one hit into the next. Back in 1994, when he was just 9, Johnson launched his first business out of his home in Virginia, making invitations for his parents' holiday party. By the seasoned age of 11, Johnson had saved up several thousand dollars selling greeting cards. He called his company Cheers and Tears.

   But the little guy didn't stop there. At age 12, Johnson offered his younger sister $100 for her collection of 30 Ty Beanie Babies, all the rage at that time. The young entrepreneur quickly earned 10 times that amount by selling the dolls on eBayEBAY - news - people ). Smelling potential, he contacted Ty and began purchasing the dolls at wholesale with the aim of selling them on eBay and on his Cheers and Tears Web site. (nasdaq:

   In less than a year, Johnson banked $50,000--seed money for his next venture, My EZ Mail, a service that forwarded e-mails to a particular account without revealing the recipient's personal information. He hired a programmer to flesh out his idea, and within two years My EZ Mail was generating up to $3,000 per month in advertising revenue.

   Be Fearless

   Johnson still wasn't done. In 1997, he joined forces with two other teen entrepreneurs, Aaron Greenspan and Tom Kho, to create an online advertising company called Surfingprizes.com, which provided scrolling advertisements across the top of users' Web browsers. Those who downloaded the software received 20 cents per hour (a tiny fraction of the value to the advertiser) for the inconvenience of having ads splay across their computer screens.

   The boys employed a classic pyramid strategy to spread the service. Users who managed to refer Surfingprizes.com to a new customer would nab 10% of that new person's hourly revenue.

   But Johnson and company didn't just sell software--they wanted a piece of that juicy ad revenue too. Their solution: partnering with companies such as DoubleClick, L90 and Advertising.com that could sell the ads for them. Under the agreements, the middlemen would collect 30% of any ad revenue sold, while the three boys split the remaining 70%, out of which they paid those referral fees.

   "I was 15 years old and receiving checks between $300,000 and $400,000 per month," says Johnson. At 19, he sold the company name and software (but not the customer database) to an undisclosed buyer. Says Johnson, "Before my high school graduation, my combined assets were worth more than $1 million."

   Now just 23, and with other ventures under his belt, Johnson spends his time giving speeches and promoting a new book. "Put yourself out there," he advises. "Don't be afraid of rejection. Don't be afraid to ask anything."

   Stick To A Vision

   At 15, Catherine Cook and her brother Dave, 17, were flipping through their high school yearbook and came up with the idea to develop a free interactive version online. In 2005, the two convinced their older brother Geoff, a budding Web entrepreneur himself, to invest $250,000 and his time to help them launch MyYearbook.com, a social-networking site based in Skillman, N.J.

   Soon after, the Cooks merged with Zenhex.com, an ad-supported site where users post a variety of homemade quizzes, more than doubling the number of eyeballs taking in their site. But when they tried to expand even further, they hit some snags. Potential investors wanted to move the company's headquarters to New York (the Cooks wanted to stay put). They also wanted to have ads appear on users' personal profile pages (the Cooks didn't).

   Good thing the Cooks stuck to their vision. By 2006, MyYearbook had raised $4.1 million from the likes of U.S. Venture Partners and First Round Capital. Since then, the site has attracted such advertisers as Neutrogena, Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ) and ABC; has grown to 3 million members worldwide; and rakes in annual sales in the "seven figures," says Catherine.

   How to compete in an industry dominated by MySpace and Facebook? Mine a niche. "[Our site is] specifically for high school students, and we really listen to the suggestions of our members," says Catherine.

   While the Cooks decline to discuss the value of their stake in the business, one MyYearbook investor (who agreed to speak only if unidentified) claims the Cooks' chunk is worth "well over $1 million."

   Seven figures is real money to anyone, let alone a teenager. Yet despite their heady success, all of these young world-beaters seem to remain--refreshingly--kids at heart. "I'm not driving around in fancy cars," says Doherty. "I'm in it totally for the adventure."

   Profits and perspective: Sounds like a recipe for even greater success in the decades to come.

   
   

3. 10 Strategies: An Overview

   24.Feb.08, 10:24 EST
   
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   Fast Profits in Hard Times will teach you everything you need to know and give you specific resources (websites, toll-free numbers, etc) to implement the following 10 strategies:
   
   

   1. Invest in Tax Liens
   Buy liens placed on properties by municipalities because owners have fallen behind in paying their property taxes. Then, when the property owners pay what they owe to the municipalities, receive not only a return of your principal but also a penalty interest rate set by the municipality, typically in the range of 8% to 25%. If the property owner defaults altogether, take possession of the property for a fraction of its real value: the sum of the back taxes you've already advanced. You can then sell the property, even a bit below its market value, for a huge profit.

   2. Buy Real Estate Below Market Value
   Identify real estate sellers who are willing to accept less than their property's full market value for a variety of reasons. Then resell the property immediately at a profit, rehab it, rent it out, or even live in it yourself, all with the built-in financial cushion of having purchased the property for far less than it is truly worth.

   3. Invest in Income Trusts and Master Limited Partnerships
   Earn high yields of 8% to 13% by investing in trusts that extract or transport natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, or timber. Such trusts pass a large amount of their earnings directly to investors through monthly dividends. Depending on the trust or MLP, some of the distributions may be considered a tax-free return of capital, boosting your after-tax return even more.

   4. Invest in High-Yield Stocks
   Invest in stocks with stable businesses that pay dividend yields of 5% to 15% or more. Some industries offering such high yields include electric utilities, oil tankers, and real estate investment trusts, and several broad-based closed-end mutual funds. This is a way to make your capital compound with very little risk when you reinvest the dividends or to boost the income you live on if you take the dividends in cash.

   
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   5. Enroll in Dividend Reinvestment Plans
   Invest in companies that offer Dividend Reinvestment Plans, known as DRIPS, which allow you to use dividends to purchase

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