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A Loaded Bank Account Sometimes Means Bankruptcy is Near
The first thing required for successful communication - be it in sales or something else - is to find a common interest. Success is achieved when two individuals agree they have the same goal and are discussing which of them is going to do what...
Are Your Emails Gettting Through?
If sending email to a mailing list is part of your markėting or business building strategy, you want to make sure your messages are reaching your audience. Are your readers getting your emails? Due to the proliferation of sp@m, ISPs (your web...
Deciphering Marketing Lingo for Small Business Owners
Maybe you've heard these different marketing terms, maybe you haven't. Either way, let me help to clarify the difference between them, because you should have all three if you want to market successfully. And knowing what they are may be your first...
I Want to Do an Ezine! Part 4 How Do I Promote?
I Want to Do an Ezine! Part 4 How Do I Promote? Copyright Terri Seymour Now that you have your ezine named, designed, formatted and ready to go, who do you send it to?? To get subscribers, you need to promote your new ezine. There are several...
Where and how to get information for your newsletter and ezines.
Where and how to get information for your newsletter and ezines.
With the rapid expansion and diversion of commerce, manufacturers, career seekers and even hobbyist move into more and more specialized areas of endeavor, there is an increase...
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Increase Traffic by Programming a Contest!
Visitors come to your site and don't buy on their first visit. It often takes 6-7 visits before they buy. So, how do you get their business if they don't come back? For that matter, how do you get them to come back?
One answer is to run a contest. Not just any old contest will do! It must be crafted to keep them returning again and again. Lots of smart people will tell you that running a contest will help but they don't tell you how to do it. Here's a blueprint you can alter to suit your purposes.
Every aspect of the contest was handled by CGI scripts and a couple of web pages. Even selecting the winner was done by a script. This final script simply located the persons with the most referrals. It drew one at random if there was a tie for first place.
One of my clients came up with the basic idea and we developed it together as a team. People would get one "entry" into the contest when they signed up for one or more of his newsletters. They would get another "entry" for each person they referred.
It was hugely successful. During the 60 days of the contest, over 45,000 new people had subscribed to my client's newsletters. They were coming back to his site over and over again. Orders for ezine ads poured in.
At the end of the contest period a week-long cruise vacation to Montego Bay, Jamaica was awarded to the winner. Generally, if the prize is valued at over $500, some authorities in your state may expect to be notified. There are various requirements; check with the appropriate state agency for details.
We posted a complete set of rules for the contest on the Web site. We announced the contest itself as well as the current front-runners in each issue of my client's newsletters.
Each person entering the contest was assigned a Personal Identification Number (PIN). The PIN was used to connect them with their referrals. Next, a person was given the chance to tell their friends about the contest.
We made everything as easy as possible for the contestants. All they had to do was supply the email address and name and the scripts did the rest.
They'd be shown the message that was about to be sent to their friend. We were making every effort to be honest with them and not cause any ill will.
When their friend(s) entered the contest, using a PIN we gave them, their "referral count" would be be increased. To win, a contestant had to get the most referrals. In the event of a multi-person tie for first place, the software would automatically conduct a random drawing.
During the contest, each contestant was able to use a
special Web page to monitor the contest. They'd see the top- ranked contestants and the number of referrals each one had made. They could log in with their PIN and see their own referrals, too.
They were able to come back to the site at any time and enter new referrals. We added a small form that would look up their PIN in case they'd forgotten it. They could send their own emails to friends to tell them about the contest. They could place ezines ads giving contest details and a PIN to use.
Keeping up with all those contestants, who they referred, how many they referred, etc., was a job for a database engine. Since we had MySQL on a server we controlled, we used that. The scripting was done in Perl.
Two Perl modules were needed: DBI.pm and the MySQL module for Perl. The modules are chunks of Perl code that let a script send commands in SQL (the generic language of databases) from the script to the MySQL database engine (program).
You can use a different database; you just need the the database-specific module so Perl can "talk" to it through the DBI module. DBI is needed regardless of which database you use. Specific modules exist for Oracle, PostGres, etc.
We verified the email addresses of all the winner's referrals; we would have to disqualify a contestant if any of the addresses were faked - and award the prize to someone else. We designed the code so that any attempts to cheat actually decreased your odds of winning - and it was all automatic!
Thousands of names and email addresses are in the database. The referral counts have been reset to zero and we are ready to launch another contest at any time we choose.
The programming effort, for the most part is all done. We'll just have to edit the contest page(s) and the rules page to reflect the new prize and the new "start" and "end" dates. We can easily get *at least* as large a subscriber boost with our next contest!
Here's the bottom line: You'll get more visitors, and they'll visit again and again. You get to show them your offer enough times to win their business. No matter what product or service you're selling, an automated referral contest is something you should seriously consider.
About the Author
Steve Humphrey promises that you can learn to use CGI to turn your own website into a marketing machine in two hours or less with his excellent CGI learning system: Learn to Use CGI in 2 Hours. Required reading for anyone who wants to automate their website or their marketing efforts. Click here to learn more: http://www.roibot.com/tk_cgi2h.cgi?cgiAV1b
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Ezine Article Submission - Submit Your Best Articles For Massive ... |
EzineArticles.com allows ezine or email list publishers to upload or download free expert content that can be used within email newsletters or websites. |
ezinearticles.com |
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The Ezine Directory |
The Ezine Directory lists thousands of the best email newsletters available on the internet today. Search, browse, or add your ezine for free! |
www.ezine-dir.com |
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e-zine-list: John Labovitz's e-zine-list |
I also wrote "Five years and counting," a longer article for Art-bin about the history of e-zines and the e-zine-list. Finally, for the real Internet ... |
www.meer.net |
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BME: Body Modification Ezine - The biggest and best online bod-mod ... |
Comprehensive resource on piercing, tattoos, scarification, subincision, castration and all other forms of body modification. |
www.bmezine.com |
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Ezine Publishers & Email Marketers Promote Their New Email ... |
Submit Your Ezine To New-List For Massive Free Exposure - Grow Your Ezine - Ezine Marketing Made Easy By New-List.com. |
new-list.com |
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Ezine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Ezines are typically tightly focused on a subject area. ... CULT OF THE DEAD COW claims to have published the first ezine, starting in 1984, with its ezine ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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News & Ezine Strategies For Email Newsletter Publishers ... |
EmailUniverse, The E-mail List-Owner Resource Network is an excellent source for today's Email List Owners, Managers, and Editors. |
emailuniverse.com |
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Best Ezines - Email Newsletter Peer Reviews & Ezine Awards For ... |
Email Newsletter Publishing Award Site: Fellow Ezine Publishers Review The Best Email Newsletters. |
www.bestezines.com |
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Ezine Directory |
Home | Sign-up for your Free listing | Link to us Code | TOP 100 Ezines. CATEGORIES ... ezine directory. link exchange with us ... |
www.ezinelisting.com |
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Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign ... |
Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign software. Keep in constant contact with clients and potential customers. |
www.ezinedirector.com |
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Splendid E-zine |
Splendid: Daily music reviews, articles, interviews and more. |
www.splendidezine.com |
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OS/2 e-Zine - The Best OS/2 Reading Anywhere! |
Monthly magazine with reviews, articles, and discussion forums. |
www.os2ezine.com |
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E-ZineZ - The Handbook of Ezine Publishing |
An ezine directory, free ezine builder tool, ezine tutorials including everything you need to know to start publishing an ezine or email newsletter. |
www.e-zinez.com |
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EzineUniversity - Free Online Training for Ezine Publishers |
EzineUniversity provides provides information, tools and products for ezine publishers. Featuring EzineUniversity Journal, EZU Tutor and FREE online ... |
www.ezineuniversity.com |
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Ezines |
E-zines directory with categories of free ezines, newsletters, email magazines and online publications. |
www.web-source.net |
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My Favorite Ezines - The Family Friendly Ezine and Email ... |
The best family friendly ezine and email newsletter directory providing education - motivation - inspiration and marketing support. |
www.myfavoriteezines.com |
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Tattoos.Com Ezine Front Page |
Historical information from the tribal art of Borneo to the wood block prints of Japan. Alphabetical listing of studios around the world, events, ... |
tattoos.com |
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Welcome To Ezine.Com! |
Welcome To Ezine.Com! Welcome Page For Ezine.Com ezine online magazine electronic magazine zine e-zine ezines eziner ezining. |
www.ezine.com |
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Ezine Information |
What makes your ezine hot stuff? With literally thousands of ezines online ... We all have ezines that we love to read and learn from but that doesn't mean ... |
www.dtguide.com |
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Asian American Movement Ezine |
Asian American Movement Ezine is a radical and progressive zine on Asian American politics, art, history and culture. |
www.aamovement.net |
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