Marketing Fitness Plan For 2010
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With 2009 coming to a close I wanted to share information I think is extremely important and call it:
Marketing Fitness Plan
Has a nice ring to it, huh? 
I like it! But what is even more important then my like or dislike of the title is an actual information.
As we strive to succeed and do more and more business online we become entangled into buy/sell relationships whether we like it or not. Sometimes it is based on immediate need, other time it could be an idea that struck a chord with you and lastly – because a sales copy was just too damn good!
You know its true! I get caught up in buying frenzy too!
In this post I want to share my own personal plan to “trim the marketing excess” and move into 2010 lean and mean marketing machine!
Trim Your Email Marketing Fat
If you are doing email marketing, and I hope you do, as other wise your online business is nothing but an overblown hobby, this one can be impacting you directly.
Impacting Financially!
Email marketing MUST be part of your overall strategy and properly implemented it will do wonders for your growth but it is also an cost you have to keep track of! I personally use aweber for my mailing list management but as you will see below what I’m about to share applies to both most popular autoresponder services: aweber and getresponse.
You see pricing strategies used by both services allow you to get started with minimal investment and as you grow – you pay more. And actually quite a bit more… See images below with pricing tables from both services:
I’m personally partial to aweber as it is more blogger friendly, or it used to be but either way – you have to pay attention to number of subscribers on your lists as this is what you are charged based on!
Tip: Trim Your Expense! But did you know that you are also getting charged for the leads that have chosen to leave your mailing list and have unsubscribed? As you can see in images below – it can quickly start costing you money!
Periodically Go through your email lists, search for unsubscribed leads and delete them from your autoresponder. This is especially important if it moves you from one pricing category into another!
Trim Your Monthly Commitments
Membership models have become a goal for many marketers as it creates a form of stability for the owner of the product / service and allows him concentrate on delivering value customers need. It also creates a financial stability among a few other nice things, but…
As membership model became popular – so did the concept successfully used by direct marketers for years – Forced Continuity! One that was superseded earlier this year in Internet Marketing world by “Optional Continuity”.
We are enticed to subscribe just because the value presented makes it a no brainer to try. Combine with low monthly cost (in many cases) it keeps that expense under our radar and can go unnoticed for months on your PayPal or credit card account!
Sounds Famililar?
Then please, do read on!
Small amounts can actually add-up in total to a rather sizable chunk! And what I’m here advising you to do is one thing:
Evaluate Each Subscription!
Take a look at what you are paying for, evaluate it against your current needs and you goals for 2010, track and create a summary of past performance!
You need to take a carefully look at each and every monthly subscription, service and decide if it is right for you or not. If it is directly tied to your core business, such as autoresponder, or if you can go without it.
You might be surprised what you will discover!
While there are many other ways to trim your unnecessary expenses – 2 I mentioned above can have a big impact on monthly bases and getting rid of what you don’t need or cutting it down in size can have a positive impact on your BETTER START OF 2010!
Related marketing articles from blogosphere:
- How To Set Up The Most Effective Email Follow Up System – Part 5 (johnchow.com)
- Tips on How to maximize your Opt-in list (web-workathome.com)
- Internet Marketers Must Listen Before They Speak (mikemoran.com)
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21 Responses to “Marketing Fitness Plan For 2010”
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Any advice that shows marketers how to cut costs without impacting their efforts is a major resource – thanks for the great post, Alex!
Doug Champigny´s last blog ..A Must-Have Internet Marketing Training Resource – Good Thing It’s Free!
Thanks Doug,
Just doing my part, same as you. People need answers and solutions but also need to keep track of what is already there to not get overloaded.
Yes, your title is great, caught my attention.
I also love the concept of trimming the fat. Hope you will be writing more on this.
Sheila
Thanks Sheila,
I’ll see what else I can come up with
Creative title! I love your blog, bookmarked
Jason´s last blog ..Free Pint of International Delight Creamer – Coupon
Thanks, glad you liked it
Great idea! Anything that helps folks focus on being more profitable in 2010 is a very good thing indeed. And building a list…it’s one of, if not THE, most critical thingees you can do.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..Add your OWN INCREDIBLY inexpensive affiliate program to your WordPress blog!
I think I’ve already canceled all paypal subscriptions, and will reinstate some after the new year.
I’ve heard of that little Aweber trick once before (not nice lol); is deleting them really all you have to do?
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Simons Running A Contest – Over $800 In Prizes!
Dennis,
I thinks i’ts part of the business for aweber, after all – you are paying ofr number of users on your mailing list, it is never mentioned that those users have to be active. Deleting all who unsubscribed is all it takes. It does impact your stats and you have to be aware of it, so pay attention to number of unsubscribed you have and be sure that having them is not putting you into next price category, if it does – delete them.
Thanks for the clarification Alex.
“it is never mentioned that those users have to be active.” – some might call that sneaky.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Blogging Halted Here – Don’t Despair, This Is A Good Thing!
Dennis,
Well I can’t defend or attack aweber for this one, honestly. I simply never seen anywhere specifically mentioned anything about it. perhaps my clarification is incorrect and I would love someone who knows to provide input.
Perhaps aweber does provide a explanations somewhere on their site for everything we are paying for, I just don’t know about it. Either way – I love the service they provide and willing to deal with small inconvenience described here in order to use it.
Hey Alex, sorry I didn’t mean to start anything, just poking a little fun at them.
I only use and recommend Aweber also, I’d never leave.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Blogging Halted Here – Don’t Despair, This Is A Good Thing!
No worries Dennis
Wherever possible, another good trimming method is to combine subscriptions into one newsletter. I know of a blog where you had subscription pages in three different places and each of them sent at least one email every week. By having one single place where users can check/uncheck what they would like to receive, they’ll have one single email packed with everything they chose and that could come cheaper as well.
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the great post. A couple of months ago I started cancelling some of my continuity memberships. It gave me a feeling of relief as my monthly expenses dropped.
Of course, then there are the new ones you sign up for. I need to reevaluate and, as you say, make sure they are relevant to my business model.
Thanks for the heads up on aWeber. I will keep that one in mind.
Happy holidays.
Brenda
Brenda Simard´s last blog ..Provincetown, Massachusetts: Beautiful! Part 1
Thanks Brenda,
Glad I could help!
nice post, but I think Aweber is a bit too expensive especially because the payment increases as the members list increase
First, you never ever want to go free or even real low ball cost on things like autoresponders.
Second, if you really compare features/benefits of all the cost-based autoresponders, you will see it is an excellent deal.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..The $10 Winner And More Good News…..
You’re absolutely right. Amount of money spent is nothing if you’ll get what you really want from that service. If it can improve your stats now, go for it. Otherwise, stop using it.
Harrison Stuart´s last blog ..Spying on Your Spouse’s PC- Right or Wrong?
Hi Alex,
I finally got to reading some of your recent posts!
The Christmas season caught up with me! 
Re aweber I am with aweber, however I don’t have the high list yet to worry about, however thank you for pointing out that the unsubscribs can still cost you money. I will keep that in mind.
And 2! Boy can I relate to the forced continuity program! Last year I was forced to sign up to a couple of forced continuity programs due to buying the original product I wanted. The hard thing was going through the canceling process. These programs did not make it easy to cancel! I had to make late night international phone calls etc and had to get quite abusive in order to make sure I was canceled from the subscription.
I am now very weary of buying products that force me to continue paying. If I see that I am being forced to continue I will not buy!
Thank you for a great article!
Kind Regards
Jacinta