Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Don’t Become Phish Food

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phishingDon’t get caught on the line when scammers go phishing for victims. Phishing involves faking emails or web pages, making them look like they represent a genuine company or website in order to trick the user into giving up sensitive information, such as logins, passwords, Social Security Numbers and more.

You may have received phishing emails claiming to be from Amazon.com, eBay, PayPal, banks and other trusted companies. They may say that your account has been compromised or that you need to verify your information to avoid having your account suspended. A link in the email leads to a site that looks like the real site, but is actually a fake. You are asked to log in with your user ID and password, or update personal information.

With this information they can then access your real account. Also, because many people use the same log in and password on several sites, they may be able to get to other accounts by trying your info on other sites.

How can you spot a phishing email? Tell tale signs include: [Read more…]

Create an AWeber Web Form

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In previous tutorials, we went through the steps of setting up an email list in Aweber and adding new messages to an autoresponder series.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a web form or signup box where your subscribers can join your email list. You will want to have a signup box on nearly every page of your website to get more of your site visitors to sign up. Here is what you need to know to start adding subscribers to your list today.

You will need:
• An AWeber account
• A website
• A mailing list set up
• Messages added to your autoresponder
[Read more…]

Set Up Aweber Autoresponder Messages

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In an earlier Aweber tutorial, we showed you how to set up an email list in Aweber.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create the follow up (autoresponder) messages you will send to your list, as well as how to send a broadcast message to your list.

Before you begin, you need to know the basic difference between follow ups and broadcasts. [Read more…]

Using an Email Signature

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One of the most effective Internet marketing secrets is also one of the easiest–and it’s free!

Do your emails include a signature file? A signature file is a standard block of text you include in each of your outgoing email messages and postings to forums.

Most email systems (including Gmail, Outlook and others) allow you to create a signature file which will automatically appear at the end of every message you send. Search the “Help” function in your email program to learn how to do this.

Your email signature may include your name, tagline or slogan, URL and other contact information, such as your telephone number, links to social media profiles or IM and Skype IDs.

To make your signature most effective, include a call to action. Your call to action may drive people to your website to sign up for your newsletter or download a free report. Or you may ask people to follow you on Twitter or call you for a free consultation. Or include a link to your sales page where they can buy your flagship product.

It is best to keep your signature file to no more than 7 lines. You can’t tell your whole life story, just give the basics of who you are, how to contact you and why they may want to contact you.

Keep it simple. Don’t use HTML in your signature. Many mail programs won’t read it properly, and recipients will see a jumbled mess of codes instead of your beautifully formatted message.

Do put any URLs in your message in this format: http://www.IdeaLady.com/. Most email programs will read the URL as a hotlink, making it easy for readers to click through to your site. You can also make your email address a hotlink by entering it as mailto:email@example.com. 

This is a strategy you can implement today. It’s easy, it’s free and it really works. Many of my customers originally found me through my signature file. How many customers will find you with yours?