What was the “old” Internet like?

When the Internet first began to bloominto what we now know, back when the first browsers with graphicsappeared in the time known as “web 1.

0,” there were only a fewpeople taking advantage of the huge marketing potential the Internetpresented. There was hardly any competition back then and Internetmarketing was not all that difficult. Since there was little or nocompetition, you could get away with just making a good salespresentation, asking your visitors to buy, and then delivering yourproduct. Business email lists were not a hit back then, although afew savvy marketers had already started keeping a list for futurebusiness.

It was also very easy to build atargeted direct mailing list of potential customers, all you neededto do was simply build a website, optimize it for search engines withthe right keywords then offer a newsletter to your visitors. That isabout all it took, and then you would just have to wait.

Internet marketing soon evolved andthe power of email marketing was finally unleashed! It largelyconsisted of email blast marketing and getting e-mail sales pitchesright, then adding links to a buying page. E-mail marketers soonstarted focusing on crafting the perfect e-mail rather than gettingthe right message to the right prospect. They also generally failedto integrate the relationship building aspect of marketing.

The biggest lesson learned was thatnot all people are willing to subscribe and become part of anemailing list. Even though they may have been interested in theproducts or services that does not mean they wanted to receivefurther information. Spamming became a serious offense, and it stillcarries repercussions for the worst offenders. Email marketing in thepast became a dirty method of marketing, but what is the moderncorrect way reach your customers, without being accused of spamming?

Permission-based emails

The major concerns about spamming ledto the creation of the email list, and this method has gainedtremendous acceptance. The concept of permission-based emailmarketing is one solution to spamming, and it has given a platformfor marketers and business owners to get creative and get people tosign up for their opt-in lists.

Permission-based email marketingshould be seamlessly intertwined with any marketing campaign, becauseit can give your online business a great way to generate emailaddresses with the permission of the addressee. Building andmarketing to an opt-in list not only increases the probability ofyour online success, but will hopefully boost your sales and profits,because you are now only sending information to a very receptivecustomer. You can therefore promote your products and services tosomeone who has confirmed they are interested in you and what youprovide, and that will bring more sales.

You should obey the spamming rules andmake sure that you always offer your subscribers a clear way toun-subscribe at any time, this will keep your most interestedcustomers on your list. Using opt-in email lists will give you abetter margin of success, and is a profitable online marketing toolthat should be integrated into your marketing campaign today.