Renewing e-mailing?

[jmorandie]

Hi

I'm going to launch my website soon. I will sell cooked pork meats from french land to a upmarket target, interested in old school taste and tradition.

I'm thinking about exploiting my future mail database, but I haven't found yet something to stand apart from my competitors.

Do you have any good idea about that?

Thanks

JM

[maryannejames]

Here's a technique that I paid good money to find out about. I don't have room to go into all the details, but the essence is quite simple and it is important you stick to the format. It is also important to realise that this technique applies to any business - please don't say your business is different to any others. This technique will work if you are selling bum fluff!

Type and print three sheets of A4 paper (each one must be no more that one side).

1. This is a press release and here it is important to find a potential problem with the product you are selling or something similar. In your case it could be something like: "How to avoid food poisoning when buying foodstuffs on the internet". The more controversial the better. Make this the headline.

Then write a paragraph or two about the dangers of buying on the internet and the terrible consequences of food poisoning.

The first full paragraph, of course, gives several things (approximately 5) customers can do to avoid these problems. If you don't know the answers, who does? At the bottom of the page give a phone number on which a reporter can contact you for a telephone interview. Remember that the reporter is looking for a story, so by giving as much taster information as possible, you are helping to make his/her job easy.

At the top left of your page write, "For immediate release", and at the top right give your name and details.

Finish at the very bottom of the page with "# # #" placed in the middle of the line. This tells the reporter that is the end - there are no more sheets.

2. Prepare a single sheet which is a biography of yourself (this is called the bio sheet). Put as much relevant information on this sheet as possible. Give details of any qualifications you have and experience selling here and abroad. Once you have had a few articles published, you can add basic details of these onto your bio sheet and this will steadily grow until there is not enough room to get it all on. When this happens you leave out the least important and include only the most important.

The aim of this sheet is to show the reporter that you are not nuts and that you are qualified to speak on the subject. Remember, if you are in the industry, you are almost certainly more qualified than you think! Have faith in yourself.

Don't forget to put your name and contact telephone number on this sheet.

3. Prepare a Q and A sheet. This is a rather odd beast because it only has questions - no answers. Prepare this by thinking of the questions you would like the reporter to ask you in the order you would like them asked. Make sure the questions lead from one to another as much as possible and also that you include some difficult questions to show that will not try to duck the important issues. Don't put the answers on this sheet, but make sure you know the answers. If it helps, do another version of the sheet with the answers on just for your reference.

You can also put on the bottom of this sheet a suggested introduction which will again help you do some of the reporter's job.

Again finish with the three hashes.


Now, this is what you do. Fax (not email) the first sheet (the press release) ONLY to all the newspapers, magazines, local radio stations you think may have the slightest interest in a story about food poisoning. Keep the bio and Q and A sheets back.

If you are lucky a few reporters will give you a ring. Don't panic. Just treat it as though it is one of your customers phoning up. When they do, let them ask you some questions. The first will probably be a 'Is he/she a nutter' type question. This may simply be something like, "Hi John, this is .... from ..... Please tell me what you see as the main problem for people buying food from the internet."

Answer the question in a simple, straightforward way. Don't try to cloud the issue with too much science at this stage (that may or may not be relevant later). And whatever you do, don't start talking about pseudo science or other rubbish. If you do,you will have failed the 'Nutter' question and that is the last you will hear from them.

To start with, you will of course be nervous and so let the reporter control the interview, but as you become more practiced, you will be able to control it a little more.

If no-one calls you, there is something wrong with your press release, so re-write it (show it to some friends) and send it again. Keep doing this until someone phones you.

Now, here's the deal. The whole thing is a game. The reporter wants a story that is more than a simple advert for your products or internet site. But he/she knows that you want some publicity too. So, some time during the interview, ask if it would be okay if the reporter gives your contact details in the article. Mostly they will agree because they play this game every day and they know the rules too. If they say no, don't worry to begin with because every time an article appears you can add it to your bio sheet (keep copies, if you can, of course). Eventually, when you are more confident, you can deny an interview if they decline to publish these details. What's the point of giving an interview if no-one knows who you are?

The final part of the process is to say to the reporter that you also have bio and Q and A sheets and if they would kindly give you their fax numbers, you will be happy to fax them as soon as the interview is over. (Say this too if they ask you if you have any other information you could send). That's why you don't send them with the press release. If you did, they would not need to phone you and you would never have the opportunity to ask about having your details in the article/program.


There are two points to all this. The first is that you simply get the details of your business/internet site/telephone number etc out there in an article which is seen to have the backing of the paper/magazine/radio station etc.

The second is that you are setting yourself up as an expert. Your first reaction is probably that you are not an expert. But believe me, if you have been doing a job for some time, you are an expert. It's just that no-one knows it yet. Well, this is how you let them know.

The press and other media keep records of who their experts are and any time they need someone to speak on a particular topic, they look at these, so don't be surprised if you get other calls when your press release has gone cold.

Now think of it this way. Someone who is thinking of purchasing your type of goods from the internet sees the article and notices your contact details. What are they going to do? Are they going to start scouring the internet for sites that sell this stuff or are they going to go straight to the person that by implication is an expert? It's not rocket science, is it?

Now watch out for further opportunities for more articles. If a particular food is mentioned in the news, jump in quick. Half an hour preparing the press release. You already have the bio sheet and your Q and A sheet probably won't need much altering and off you go again.

Your competitiors will wonder at how you are getting so much attention from the press while they are having to pay for their advertising.

I have just started using this technique with my new business, WordsPlease, a site designed to stimulate intelligent children aged 10 - 14 with the English language. I'll let you know how I get on.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Mary Anne

[jmorandie]

Nobody can help me?

[fisicx]

Hi JM,

Missed this one first time round. What do you mean by future mail database?

Will this be an opt-in thing from the website? Will you be sending out newsletters and the like?

And if you don't do anything different to your competitors then what's the incentive to buy from you?

[jmorandie]

Thanks maryannejames, I didn't see that anyone replied... Sorry!

It's a great idea what's you're giving, I will for sure use it, but I don't know if the french press is more active than the US press.

fisicx, the site is not launched yet, so this is why I talk about my future database. It will be an opt-in, and I'm different from my competitors as I sell fresher products who are coming straight from the producers.

My problem is that I don't know how to say it in a good way. Maybe the videomail would be a great idea? I found this and I think it sure does the trick. What do you think about it?