Are You a Rude Host or Hostess?

Hey,

First, a few announcements:

We have a launch date!

We are launching “Secrets to Building Sites that Sell” on
Tuesday, May 16 at 1:00 PM.

And we are giving away a free “Secrets to Building Sites that
Sell” in our blog contest.

Also, we are having a Q&A call to answer all your questions about
“Secrets to Building Sites that Sell” on Monday at 6PM (Pacific).

All the details can be found below.

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What if I told you there was ONE thing that could make or break
your family business? One thing that could mean the difference
between success and failure in the online world.

Would that be important to you?

Would you sit up and pay attention?

Good.

Because even though choosing a niche is extremely important…

And even though choosing a product is essential…

And even though putting up a web page is necessary…

There is only one thing that will ensure success for your family
business in the long term…
And that one thing is building a relationship with your visitors.

People who come to your website are visitors. They are not
“prospects”…they are not “traffic”…they are not so many head
of cattle who come stomping through your web site.

They are actual people who should be treated as guests in your
home…your website.

Now, if you are trying to cultivate a warm, caring relationship
with someone – do you invite them over for dinner and after they
leave, never call them again? Do you say, “Thanks for coming by”
and then ignore them when you see them at church or around town?

Not if you are a gracious host.

You keep up with them. You visit with them. You help them with
their problems.

And that is what autoresponders are all about.

They are a way to keep up with the people who have taken their
precious time to visit your web site. They are like a “Thank You”
card after someone attends your weddding.

So, how do I “thank” people for coming to my web site? Well, it
all starts with capturing their email. And then, keeping up with
them through correspondance.

There are two companies that specialize in this. Aweber and 1
Shopping Cart.

Aweber does only one thing…autoresponders. They will give you a
script that you put on your web site to capture emails and then
you can select which correspodance your visitor receives.

You may have one series of emails for a visitor that buys one product and
another series of emails for a visitor who is thinking about
attending one of your workshops.

Aweber will check your email against the spam filters and has
great deliverability. One more thing Aweber does very well is
send your emails instantly. There is no lag time. And that is
important if you are reminding your visitors about a phone call
in 30 minutes…you don’t want them to get the email 2 hours
later!

So, for just email and autoresponders, Aweber is the best.

But, if you want to integrate your email, your autoresponders,
your customers, your products, your shopping cart, your affiliate
program and track your advertisements…then you need 1 Shopping
Cart.

And intergration is very important in an automated business like
yours. After all, that is one of the big reasons you are starting
an online business, right?

But, as with all things, there are some pros and cons.

First the price.

Both Aweber and 1 Shopping Cart have an email and autoresponder
program for about $30/month. So that is fairly equal.

Of course 1 Shopping Cart has all the integration we mentioned
above, but that program will cost you about $80/month. And there
are a few things you should know about 1 Shopping Cart.

Sometimes there is usually a lag time between when you send out
an email and when your visitor gets it. Usually, this doesn’t
affect you too much…but if you are telling them about a
deadline, it can come back to bite you.

Also, I think there are more deliverability issues with 1
Shopping Cart than Aweber. Meaning, I think Aweber does a better
job about getting emails to your readers, with fewer bounce
backs.

All that said, it depends on what you are looking for. If you are
thinking about upgrading to all of the integration features of 1
Shopping Cart, then you may want to start at the $30/month level
with them.

If you have your shopping cart and affiliate program taken care
of and you want a top-flight autoresponder service, then Aweber
is probably you best choice.

A warning, however. It is hard to switch from one autoresponder
company to another. So choose wisely in the beginning.

Hey, we have a launch date!

We are launching “Secrets to Building Sites that Sell” on
Tuesday, May 16 at 1:00 PM. But if you are on my first to know
list, you already know that!

Are you feeling left out of the loop?

Then join my “First to Know” list here:
http://www.familyebiz.com/sitesthatsell.htm

Okay here are all the details:

– 1. I have posted video clips of Secrets to Building Sites that
Sell. Not only do I have video clips of the course at this new
site (so you see exactly what it will look like), but I also have
a video of me showing you what comes in the course!

I had my wife video me while I opened the box that came from the
duplicator!

Check it out here:

==> http://www.BuildingSitesThatSell.com/

– 2. We are giving away a Secrets to Building Sites that Sell!

We are having a contest and the prize is…our new video course!

Now, here are the rules.

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You must post a comment to my blog answering the question:

“What will Secrets to Building Sites that Sell mean to you and
your family?”  (100 words or less)

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My wife and I will choose the best one and we will announce it on
the Q&A call on Monday night.

So, post a comment to my blog right now about what this video
course will mean to you and your family.
– 4. We are having a Q&A call on Monday night and we are giving
away another Secrets to Building Sites that Sell!

You have expressed so much interest in this course, that I wanted
to be sure to answer all of your questions. So, I am scheduling a
100 person teleconference on Monday at 6pm Pacific Standard Time.

And we are giving away a second Secrets to Building Sites that
Sell to one of you on the call. You must be on the call to win!

Here are the call details:

Date: Monday, May 15, 2006
Start Time: 6:00 PM
Participants: 100
Dial-in Number:  1-641-297-5500
Participant Access Code: 246810

Keep an eye on your email for more details.

Oh, by the way.

Here is a link to Aweber and 1 Shopping Cart:

http://www.familyebiz.com/1shoppingcart.htm (1 Shopping Cart)

http://www.aweber.com/?209929 (Aweber)

Blessings,

Stephen