Power Marketing through Newsgroups

By Candice Pardue

Reach your target customers with newsgroups

Power Marketing through Newsgroups

Reaching your target customers is the number one key to successful Internet marketing.

When marketing to newsgroups and mailing lists you are reaching an audience who is considered a targeted audience. These people share the same interests and are letting others know their opinion, questions and concerns. Also, most are free. If you can find a newsgroup or mailing list that is related to your product or service, you may have found a goldmine!

Below are a few helpful tips to get you started with your newsgroup marketing...

How To Find Appropriate Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

Finding the right newsgroups and mailing lists is quite simple, but may take a little time and effort in the beginning. You can begin with the search engines. Search for "newsgroups" or "mailing lists" at first. Once you have found sources for newsgroups and mailing lists, then you may narrow your search to topics related to your product or service. This will allow you to find groups or lists that may have an interest in your product or service.

For example, if your online company sells software, you may want to narrow your search to keywords such as software, computer software, computers, etc. This will allow you to find groups or lists of people who are already directly interested in your product or service - a targeted market.

Also, don't neglect those groups who would use your software. For instance, if your software is used by fitness centers, you want to browse those newsgroups as well.

When I want to find newsgroups related to my sites, I use Mailloop to search out the relevant groups. I just type in the keyword(s) I'm looking for in the Newsgroup portion of Mailloop and the program does the rest. Mailloop will come up with a list of possible Newsgroups and will save the ones I want to keep in a list for future use.

Then, I can post to these groups whenever I want using Mailloop's mailing capabilities. You can go here to get more information about the many other uses of Mailloop software.....

Mailing List Software

Now that you have found the newsgroups or lists of your targeted audience, there are some do's and don't's to remember.

Do's of Newsgroup Marketing

- Do always include your signature or "sig" file after each post. This is the wholepurpose of going to the newsgroups or getting a mailing list. Your "sig" file is the key to getting your customers to visit your site. Be sure to read the extra bonus report at the end of this page on "Effective and Acceptable Sig Files."

- Do offer free advice or answers to questions that are being asked in the newsgroups. This is a way to gain trust and it also gives you credibility establishing you as an expert in your field. When you help someone with a problem or concern, you've already gained their trust and respect; therefore, it becomes much easier to suggest your product or service to that individual.

Remember, after you give the advice or answer the question, you will have your "sig" file at the end of the message, leading them to your site!

- Do offer your services and products, but very subtly. If your online company has a special offer, product, or service that will be of benefit to the people in the group or list, you can tell them about it.

Be careful not to "advertise" and make sure that there is a true benefit for the people in the newsgroup or mailing list. I can't stress this enough. A blatent ad in a newsgroup could get you banned from that group and get you plenty of unwanted negative publicity! After all, news is the keyword in newsgroup.

Note: Before offering your product or service in a "subtle" way, try to post several messages offering help, free advice, answers to questions, etc. In doing so, your post will be more effective and you will be more trustworthy to the group when you do offer a special product or service of interest.

- Do observe the newsgroup for a week or two before actually posting a message. This will allow you to examine what kind of people are participating and what their main interests are. Also, by observing the newsgroup, you may be able to find out how the people in the newsgroup respond (or react) to companies who are trying to sell products or services. Then you can post or, decide not to post a message based on what you observe.

This will save you from embarrassment or losing potential customers. Again, this is a little time consuming, but is a powerful resource for bringing in customers and profits.

Don't's in Newsgroup Marketing

- Don't use any blatant advertising. This is not acceptable in the newsgroups and is not appreciated by the people in the group.

- Don't use the word "subscribe" in your content description. It may make newsgroup patrons angry. Internet people seem to enjoy sending hate mail when they don't like what you have to say. So, avoid this word.

- Don't get off the subject when posting a message. For example, if you're in a group that has been discussing CD players, make sure that you post a message about CD players. If you post a message about computer software to a group that is discussing CD players, you may be kicked out of that group all together. Stick to the subject (you can always mention a different subject in your sig file!).

- Don't send bulk mailings to a mailing list. This is called spamming and is illegal on most servers. When posting, send it in a personal manner as if you were writing to each individual. There are programs that allow you to do this without spamming. I use the Mailloop program for Internet mailings.

Now that you've found your newsgroup and are ready to post a message. You're ready for your "sig" file.

Special Bonus Report: Effective and Acceptable Signature Files

What is a signature or "sig" file? It's your signature or electronic business card. It can and should be placed at the end of your e-mails, mailing list messages, and newsgroup postings.

 Tip! Your sig file should be short and informative with no blatent advertising to the newsgroup or forum. Pull, don't push!

Your sig file is the key to bringing customers and sales to your site. You can take advantage of this opportunity everywhere you go on the net. The sig file is a subtle way of bringing customers to your site. Without trying to force some flashy advertisement on the potential customer, you're simply extending a brief invitation to visit your site and a reason he/she should visit right away.

To make your sig files work for you, you must find out (once again) who you're targeting and what type of benefit you can offer to that individual.

3 Keys to writing a Successful Signature File

In order for your sig file to be effective, it must contain these three elements ...

1) A major benefit to the customer who is considering visiting your site, such as a place to get free information about the product or service that is of interest to them.

2) Action step - Encourage them to act now. They may intend to visit your site later, but never will. Action steps such as "Click here for details today", or "E-mail now for free information" encourage the customer to act immediately and not wait.

3) A direct link to your site, or more specifically, to the page of your website that offers the product or information they are seeking. This gives the potential customer immediate access to what you are offering.

Remember, a sig file should be short and simple. This is a powerful marketing tool when used properly. You can now take advantage of this marketing tool and become an online success!

Example of an Effective Sig File Below:

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Jane Doe, CEO, Software Limited, Inc. E-mail: janedoe@sli.net Click here now for free list of Internet design software!

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Article written by Candice Pardue, web promotion and sales page writing and Webmaster Course. Go here to learn web design from start to finish. This one's for beginners...

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