Technological Demons

Just roared back into town from Gary Halbert’s big damn Miami seminar, and I’m hesitating only briefly before roaring off again for Carl Galletti’s event in Las Vegas this weekend.

I’ll be sharing some of the cool stuff I’ve learned in future posts. No time right now, though — I’ve got a huge project that just went sideways due to technological glitches.

Actually, it’s worse than going sideways. More like jumping off the track, rolling over into a ditch, and disappearing in quicksand.

We’ll get it fixed, but blood, sweat and tears are required. My sleeves are already rolled up. Let the technological exorcism begin.

Here’s one fast tidbit: Email, as marketers have known and loved it, is forever gone as a simple, easy, no-hassle way to contact prospects.

Spam filters are gobbling up emails from your grandmother, and joints like AOL are now armed camps, suspicious of everything and shooting first while asking questions later.

Michel Fortin (one of the speakers at the seminar) has done more real-world testing on this newly-evolving problem than anyone else I know. His answer: Use short — VERY short — non-html emails that lead to a link within the first paragraph.

I’ve used this tactic before, just because I loved the “tease” element of leaving a sentence unfinished. (“What’s the answer to this burning question? That’s easy. It’s… “)

Plus, when I write a pitch, I do not want to be hampered by the limitations of email — there are design issues, length issues, “taboo” word issues, yadda yadda yadda. Screw that.

Once you’ve sent your prospect to your link, you can warble on to your heart’s content.

Simple tactic. But it can ameliorate some of the pain if you’ve seen dramatic drops in response to emailed sales messages. (As almost all marketers have recently.) The real problem, of course, is getting white listed on the major email systems, like hotmail and AOL, and they’re just being bastards about large campaigns. Even mailers who follow all the rules (including providing double-proof of opt-in names) are getting blacklisted.

The Web — it’s an ever-evolving funhouse of horrors.

My friend Harlan has done great research on this problem, and I’ll have more to say about it when I get back.

Okay, I gotta go. I may post again, even from Vegas. There’s something urgent and important going on that few people have a clue about right now… and I want to be one of the first to blow the cover off it.

It’s hot stuff. The money at stake is just ridiculous, too.

Stay tuned.

John Carlton
www.marketingrebel.com