Copyright 2006 Elaine Currie

My first "grown-up" reading book had a lasting impact upon my life. This book was "What Katy Did" by Susan M Coolidge. It merited grown-up status because it had no pictures. This lack of pictures was initially a strike against the book: as a junior reader I judged a book not by its cover but by its number of illustrations and whether those illustrations were colour plates or sketches.

What has this to do with using email marketing to promote an Internet business (or any other business for that matter)? It's about making things happen by being in the appropriate place at exactly the right moment.

My much loved book did not have an instant impact, indeed I ignored it for a long time and would forget about it all together for long periods. I owned "Katy", as it became known in my family, for quite some time before I ever read it. The book was a Christmas gift to me from a great aunt who lived a long distance away and could only guess at my reading skills. The book was far too advanced for me when I received it. Katy was, therefore, a disappointing gift and was consigned to the toy cupboard behind the more immediately gratifying picture books, dolls and colourful paints.

Over time, Katy did see the light of day occasionally when I would come across the book and attempt to make sense of it. At first I was simply too young to understand all the words. Later on, I understood the words but the opening sentences did not grab my attention and I never felt compelled to read on.

One day I idly took Katy from my toy cupboard, glanced at the first page and was hooked. I fell in love with that book and devoured it in one sitting. I lived it, breathed it, slept it, wore it, read it over and over until the pages became detached from the spine. As far as is possible, I became the book. With high excitement I retold Katy's story to anyone who would listen. I daydreamed that I was as brave as Katy herself, as lovable as her pretty sister Clover and as kind as poor undervalued Elsie. I developed a desperate need to live in the countryside in a house with a barn, which I imagined would smell of warm wood like my grandmother's garden shed. The Christmas I was presented with "What Katy Did Next" I was so excited I practically had to be sedated. That was the beginning of my life as a serious bookworm.

To be successful, Internet advertising has to be like my Katy book: it was positioned where I would come across it regularly until the day arrived when I was ready to appreciate it. If we advertise a product by emailing a contact list, and it produces disappointing results we should not rush to change the wording of the advertisement or assume the money is not in our list. Chopping and changing is never a good idea. We should consider that perhaps the disappointing result was simply a mater of timing. Maybe our email reached our prospects at a time when they were not in need of that particular product or not ready to appreciate it. Email is a cheap form of advertising so there is little to lose in repeating the same campaign at subsequent dates.

Take as an example, an email promotion for a great autoresponder with all the bells and whistles a seasoned Internet marketer could want. If our mailing list includes many Internet marketing novices who have not yet discovered the joys of autoresponder systems, our advertisement is unlikely to be understood or appreciated. We probably won't inspire interest let alone make a sale to a group of people who would be more interested in a "first steps" ebook. However, if we consistently repeat our autoresponder campaign at respectable intervals, the day will arrive when our novices evolve into mature marketers. They will understand the value of useful tools such as a multi-featured autoresponder, and they will be ready to buy.

Our advertisement can't be everywhere all the time, but we need to make sure it's in as many places as possible as often as possible, dangling its baited hook. When the day arrives that our newbie customers outgrow their picture books, they will be ready to appreciate the advertisement that has been popping up regularly for longer than they can remember. Our customers probably won't get as excited as I did about my Katy books but if they like our product enough, they will tell everyone they meet how good it is and that's a great form of free advertising.