Typical newsgroup posting:

Subject:
Stop buying e-books. It’s stupid!

Body:
Have you noticed how these e-books on Internet business marketing cost an absolute bomb?

I saw one the other day and the guy wanted almost $100 for it. It’s ridiculous! I’m not against these people earning a living, but $100 is outrageous.

If you’re interested, there’s a members-only site that is GIVING away loads of these top-end marketing books. I don’t know how they do it, and I don’t much care, but I now cut the money-grabbers out of the loop.

I’d be happy to tell you where to go if you want. I got fed up spending loads of money and these
people seem to have most of the top titles (plus some I’d never heard of.)

I don’t want to mention a site name here, but if you want, you can e-mail me at: yourname@yourdomain and I’ll send it to you. (Just send me a blank e-mail, or put “books” or something in the title. I’ll know what you mean.)

Best….
Notice that I have now got their e-mail address. I know they’ve not yet opted in to my e-zine, but I can now follow up with them privately (NOT in the newsgroup).

So here’s the trick…

Pay attention!

All the postings I make to newsgroups are done using an e-mail account that is reserved ONLY for newsgroup messages. My Mailloop auto-responder is trained to check that mailbox and automatically respond with a follow-up note.

When the Newsgroup members e-mail me for details (and it’s irrelevant what the subject heading of their note is), my Mailloop sends a short, but powerful second message. Again, write like a satisfied customer, not a seller.

Tell them how negative that problem was to you and it still is for most people. People like to see that they are not alone. When others have the same problems, they feel part of a big family. It’s the way to touch them emotionally. They immediately begin to build confidence in you and what you have to say.

Continue by telling them the wonderful solution you have found to solve the problem.

This time, present the benefits they can gain.

Also remember that the fear of loss is more powerful than the desire to gain, so you can briefly explain that their problem might get worse if they do nothing to solve it.

Here’s how my return letter would look…

Subject:
Your e-mail about e-books

Body:
Hi,

Thanks for e-mailing me about those books. I guess, like me and a lot of other folk, you’re
fed up seeing the stupid price tags on some of these publications.

I mean, $100 is crazy, isn’t it. I don’t know how people afford it. Like I said, I discovered a members-only web site that was giving the stuff away, which seems a bit strange but who cares. As long as I get free books out of it, I don’t care how they do it.

All the books are genuine. They’re not forgeries or anything. I don’t think it’s dishonest, but I don’t know how long they’ll stay in business if they’re giving it all. I grabbed the books quick while the going was good. (I’ve got dozens of them now).

Anyway, like I say, the site is members-only, so you have to opt-in to their free newsletter (which is quite good, by the way). You’ll find the sign-in page at http://www.topprofits.info/opt-in.html. You get a choice of about five free books just for subscribing.

The other thing I forgot to say in the newsgroup posting was that this site also gives another free book at least every month through their newsletter. Sometimes it’s even weekly.

Hope it lasts a bit longer yet, I’m saving a load of money.

Anyway, good luck. Hope this info was useful.

Blah……

Notice the style… it’s not exactly textbook English. But then, how many of us write correct English in a quick e-mail?

I gave some FREE information about the solution to their problem. I revealed just enough to prick the curiosity, and I planted a small seed of fear that the site might not be around for long, so best act now. That simply helps to stop them procrastinating.

To maximize the impact, publish the newsgroup letter in all the related newsgroups. Maximum 8 related newsgroups per week. More than that will be considered spamming (yes, it’s possible
to spam a newsgroup). If you spam, not only will your message be removed, but also it’s quite likely to get you banned from the group.

In fact, I would strongly suggest you just publish your letter to one group a day. It’ll take just about five minutes and, if it’s done right, can be time well spent. If you want to push this method of generating e-zine subscriptions (which will boost your Web site traffic), you can post DIFFERENT letters to related newsgroups each day.

For example, the same day that I posted the example above to group 1, I could post a letter to group 2 about how to write good e-zine articles, and then aim them to my free book site again so they can download an e-book on the subject.

Meanwhile, I can post to group 3 about how to get traffic flowing to their site, and aim them to the same place so they can download THIS book.

At each opportunity I would tell them that I discovered this source of great books by subscribing to the TopProfits Newsletter.

Lateral thinking!

If your intention was simply to get your correspondent to visit your web site, you’ll be pleased to know that Mailloop will have automatically saved their e-mail address to a file and you can mail that person again later with another “solution”.

Stay in touch with them (automatically) and let them know that YOU are the expert on their chosen subject.

So, what do you think? Is it ethical or not?

I’m personally a little uneasy with planting letters into groups of fellow travelers. On the other hand, if you really DO solve a problem for them, where’s the harm?

At least I know that I really AM giving away free e-books. And I know, too, that if they subscribe to my Newsletter, there’s a darn good chance they’ll stay subscribed and enjoy the articles and books.

Here’s what you need to concentrate on RIGHT NOW…

1.Go to your e-mail program and check out the Newsgroups. See what groups you can find that fit with your own sphere of interest.

2.Read some of the articles, to get a ‘feel’ for the group.

3.Think up a headline (the SUBJECT of the note) that will catch the readers’ attention

4.Write an interesting article that will spark their curiosity and prompt them to contact you.

5.Design your response, and remember … DON’T SPAM and DON’T SELL.

In a Newsgroup you must help people, not sell people.

Moh. Ali Albar
I rewrite this article of E-book “TheTrafficJam™ Formula” by Graham Hamer