Like most people, I hate spam. I mean, I can't stand it. It eats up my time, my patience and my energy in ways only few other things in this world can. However, at the same time, I have also learned a way to use junk email to make a profit -- legally, ethically and legitimately. This is actually an idea I got from the "father of guerilla marketing" Jay Conrad Levinson when I interviewed him a couple years ago. And what he says to do is subscribe to a lot of Internet newsletters and marketing newsletters and get on a lot of lists. Even lists people would consider "spam." And what he says is -- depending on what market you're in -- that one out of every 20 of those junk emails will have a good idea in it. Maybe an interesting headline you can swipe for your products, or an idea that intrigues you and, thus, will probably intrigue your own list. And so, by doing a lot of skimming over junk email like this, he gets all kinds of interesting ideas for his own products, newsletters, books and promotions. It's actually a pretty interesting concept that really does work. Try it yourself and see. Get a free email address -- so you don't put your good email addresses on anyone's spam list -- and start subscribing to everything. Not just things in your market, but other markets as well. And then every now and then comb through that junk email and see if you can't pick a good idea out. I think you'll be amazed by the wealth of ideas and strategies you see that you can easily adapt and modify for your business. |
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