Introduction To Newsgroup Marketing

While it's true that millions of people visit the Usenet newsgroups every day, there are an equal number of people who don't even know what they are. And the chances of your posts being read and acted on are not that great, as each day more and more marketers advertise here.

And that's not all you have to worry about. If you mis-post, or if you over-post, or even if you format your placement incorrectly, you're in danger of getting flamed. If your violations are deemed serious enough, you may even lose your Internet access.

For this reason, we don't recommend newsgroup marketing. No matter how hard you try to stay out of trouble, there's always someone out there waiting to complain and get you booted off the 'Net. It's just not necessary as there are a ton of other ways to bring visitors to your web site.

On the other hand, some people are looking for every possible avenue to drive traffic to their site. For these people we've provided the following information. If you don't mind being called a jerk -- or worse -- every once in a while, and have access to other ISPs, this should help.

While great results can be had from the newsgroups, we do not recommend it as we can not be responsible for anyone losing their Internet access. Besides the following, there is really a ton of information out there on the 'Net. If and when you're ready, just hit the search engines.


The Most Important Rule

If there was just one piece of advice I could give you it would be this. Keep posts relevant. If there's one activity that will get you into hot water quicker than anything else, it's posting an irrelevant message to people who have no interest in what you are talking about.

For example, if you are selling a video tape on how to improve your golf game, you wouldn't be out of line to post information about it in groups relating to golf. You can also post information about it in groups that have general merchandise for sale, or sports groups that allow advertising.

Under no circumstances should you post your ad in tennis or swimming discussion groups (as they are not within the subject category). The worse thing you can do is post your gold ad in groups that are completely unrelated, like groups on politics, gardening, or antique cars.


Getting Started

One of the most important things to do before you begin any newsgroup posting is to read the 'frequently asked questions' (or FAQ) of the group you want to post in. The FAQ is regularly posted in most newsgroups, and it details the specific posting rules.

Don't assume that a specific activity is acceptable until you check. For example, the FAQ for alt.business (a general business group) is different from the FAQ for biz.marketplace (an ad-only group). Don't follow along with what "everyone else" is doing, it can get you in trouble.

A general FAQ for all newsgroups is available from news.announce.newusers. Read this first to acquaint yourself with the overall philosophy of USENET. You can also find specific answers to commonly asked questions in the news.newusers.questions newsgroup.

Even after you have read the FAQ, I suggest you also "lurk" for a week or two. Lurking is when you spend time in a newsgroup without actually participating. This is an excellent idea, especially if you are new to an area or are unsure of the specific posting guidelines.

You'll find out not just what others are posting, but you'll be able to see what types of responses people are generating by the online commentary that so often follows. You will also find that certain people, the regulars of the group, are quite active online. Read and learn.

For newsgroup posting, most serious online marketers use a program call Free Agent. If you don't have Free Agent, you should click on the link in the last sentence and download it right now. It has many time-saving features, and your time is very valuable.

If you're using a commercial online service like AOL, you won't be able to use Free Agent. It is not compatible with commercial online companies. Therefore, if you are on AOL, Prodigy, or CompuServe, you will have to learn how to use their built-in newsreader program.

The technical aspects covered here are based on using Free Agent since it is the most popular news reader for Internet marketers. If you use a Mac, (Congratulations!!!) You should probably use YA Newswatcher. It's the best I've seen so far -- there aren't a whole lot of choices.


"Free For All"

There are basically two -- completely different -- approaches you can take with your newsgroup marketing efforts. First we'll take a look at what seems to definitely be the most popular way, posting blatant ads in as many newsgroups as you think you can get away with.

First, do a "search" or a "find" and locate the newsgroups that contain the words "jobs," "business," "pc," "home," "employment," "network marketing," "mlm," etc. When you find these groups and subscribe to them, they will be remembered for future use.

Do not let the term "subscribe" fool you -- it is FREE to subscribe to newsgroups. When you are ready to post new ads, all you have to do is bring up the newsgroups to which you have subscribed and you're ready to go. There are over 30,000 groups, find at least 50.

Newsgroups come and go from time to time, so you may want to "refresh" the list occasionally. This will throw out the groups that no longer exist and show you the new ones that have come up since the last time you obtained a listing. I set it to check each time you load the program.

The next thing you want to do is retrieve and bring up the latest article headings so that you can get a feel for how busy each newsgroup is. You definitely want to advertise in the crowded newsgroups. Do not let all the competition scare you off. Be aggressive and post, post, post.

Now when you use your news-reader program, your subscribed newsgroups will be at your fingertips. Place your ads by "posting new article" to each newsgroup that you would like to post to. I place about 20 ads each time I post, every day or so, sometimes every day.

It depends upon how many responses I am getting. You will eventually want to get about 30 to 40 responses a day, about 200-250 a week from the newsgroups. This is easily achievable if you are consistent, and don't mind walking a very fine line.

Some people have found that their responses double, or even triple, when they post their newsgroup ads in the morning as opposed to at night. This is probably because if you post at night there is a good chance that your ads will be buried by the new ads posted in the morning.

You can post an identical ad safely to about 10 newsgroups at one time. After you prepare your ad headline and copy, simply type in ten newsgroup names in the newsgroup field and separate them by commas. They will automatically be posted into all 10 newsgroups, simultaneously.

To avoid spamming at all costs, as some internet service providers don't want you sending the same ad to too many newsgroups at once, you may even want to post each ad individually, changing up a word here and there in each ad. It's up to you.

When using Free Agent, you do not need to keep typing new ads every time you go to post on successive days. Simply go to Window then to Open Outbox. All the ads you posted (with the smiley faces) are there. Call one up. Remove the newsgroup name from the field at the top.

Type in new newsgroup names, and Send it. It will tell you that the ad has already been posted and ask if you want to post it again. Hit Yes. You will see that the newsgroup name has changed next to the smiley face -- you can always tell which newsgroup you last posted an ad to.


"Politically Correct"

The "Politically Correct" way to market in newsgroups is to simply use them the way they were designed to be used. Engage in meaningful discussion with other members of the online community on the topic that a particular newsgroup is designed for.

You'll make more contacts, get more inquiries and you'll learn a lot more in the process.

Sure you'll make a sale here and there from the dozens of repetitive advertisements you post in groups like misc.entrepreneur and alt.business.multi-level. But remember, most people who visit these newsgroups are doing the same thing you're doing, promoting their business.

There are over 30,000 newsgroups on just about every topic you can imagine. Pick a few that pertain to something you're interested in and spend at least 30 minutes every day visiting these newsgroups and reading the new postings. Become an active member of the group.

Outside of blatant advertising, the second most effective way to get your message out is to include a 'Sig. File' (also known as a signature). This is a 3 to 6 line 'mini-advertisement' at the end of your posting that advertises your products and/or services and of course your URL.

In addition to being non-intrusive, the Sig. File is probably the most accepted form of online advertising and was the way commercial activity was initially introduced to Usenet. Regardless of where and when you post, feel free to include your Sig. File.

You should never attempt to sell anything in your signature, simply state the specifics of your business and how people can contact you for more information. This should be your e-mail address and of course your web site URL. Signatures generate leads.

When people see that you're an expert on whatever it is they're interested in, they'll be very eager to learn how they can benefit from doing business with you. Show them that you know what you're talking about and the rest is easy. Post blatant ads and most people ignore them.

If someone asks a question and you know the answer -- give it to them. Even if you don't, many times you can post a reply with a short comment and know that hundreds of qualified prospects will see your signature and a good number of them will visit your web site.

This is just one of the many tricks that you can use if you're careful. Again, use common sense. If people read you're follow-up post and all you said was, "I agree" or "I don't know" and then they see your 6=line signature advertising your business, they'll just laugh.

Yes there is a little time, effort and thinking involved with this method but this is the way to really profit from the newsgroups. Post intelligent and helpful replies and your signature will be seen by qualified prospects who will sincerely have an interest in your product or service.


What Should You Put In Your Ad Copy?

Please know, that no matter which of the over 30,000 newsgroups you are reading, many people who are also reading them would love a good work-at-home opportunity. This is a fact of human nature in the 90s. So, be very aggressive. As they say, it's a numbers game.

Diversify your target audience. Write different ads to target different people. That's intelligent marketing, and doing this will hold you in good stead. Some ads will attract MLMers, some will attract college kids, some will attract retired people, some will attract housewives, etc.

The best way to go is to diversify. In your headers (the first thing people see when scanning through the newsgroups and the only thing they see if it does not catch their eye and entice them to look further, into the body of your post), use keywords that will get their attention.

Use these words in your headers sporadically: housewives, college students, retirees. There are so many different headers that you can think of to attract different people, in all different types of newsgroups. Generic ads generally don't work as well as specifically-targeted ads.

Now, let's discuss the body of your ad. I don't know about you, but when I am scanning newsgroups, just looking at different ads, I tend to skip to the next ad heading if I click on an ad that is more than two pages long and is filled with long paragraphs. So make it easy to read.

Again, to avoid spamming, and also just to break the monotony, and appeal to as many types of people as possible, I change the wording, not only in my headlines, but also in my copies. There are, however, basics that I try to cover in all ads:

FREE web site, Training Center access, tremendous support, etc.
Set your own hours (PT, FT).
Set your own income expectations.
No merchandise buying or selling ever.
This business sells itself and can be conducted completely online.
Completely legitimate and legal.
No experience required -- we make sure you succeed.
Work as much or as little as you'd like and make great money either way.
You don't have to wait to start making money tomorrow.

I never mention MLM, downlines, marketing plans, or anything like that in any of my ads, even the ones I post in alt.business.multi-level. There is no reason to. You do not want to turn off people who have had a negative experience with MLM or who do not understand MLM.

You want to introduce these people to a new, honest, and upstanding company in the Network Marketing world. However, in order to do so, you must get their attention first. Personally, I do not believe there is a need to mention MLM in the ad itself.


More Tips And Tricks

If you get a request to stop posting inappropriately in a newsgroup (whether you consider it inappropriate or not, you want to try to "keep the peace" here), reply to the sender. Tell him or her that you are very sorry, and that the inappropriate post was not intentional.

Also let him or her know that you will unsubscribe from the newsgroup immediately. That is what I did on three occasions when I first started, and I got back an appreciative reply every time. Never ever reply to a flame with your own flame -- you'll regret it one day.

The main thing you want to avoid is "spamming," which is an internet term for posting ads in inappropriate newsgroups, or posting the same ad too many times at the same time. It is very important that you do not spam, or the cyber police will come after you.

Do not post to every group you see, and do not post the identical article too much. Change the words, the phrases, the articles, the headers, and you will not get accused of spamming. Post to many groups, but never the same one too often. Switch groups each day or week.

I divide the newsgroups I'm working into four equal groups (each one with their own ad) and post one ad to each group each day. The next day, ad #1, which was in group #1 the day before, now gets moved down to group #2, and so on.

By the fourth day, each ad has been posted to each group of newsgroups. On the fifth day, I start all over again with four fresh ads. Do not post 50 ads at once. Rather, do 20 every day, or every other day, and see what the response is, how many replies you receive, etc.

Take note of which ads you placed in which groups. Try different wordings in headers and the bodies, and keep a tab of which ones people reply to and which ones people do not reply to. Any time spent tracking the inquiries is time very well spent.

One way to do this, is to ask people to type "a specific word" in the subject slot in their reply to your ad. Keep note of which "word" you put in which ad, and in which newsgroup. When the replies start coming in, you'll know which ad(s) they are in response to.

Also, take note of which ads worked where, and which ones did not. I post randomly in many different newsgroups. I am still figuring out where to post. Just work it. You will make interesting discoveries as you go along and gain experience.

How long will your ads be seen? It all depends. If you post an article, and only four other people post there over the next 3 days, then there is no reason to post in that newsgroup again, is there? Anyone who goes to that newsgroup will see your article, as it will be the fifth from the top.

Now, if you post to a newsgroup, and 486 people post there that day, right after you do, I would consider going back there the next day, or perhaps waiting a couple of days. Again, be creative, and change the wording of your articles.

Change the title of yourself, as listed in "preferences" in your newsreader. Before you re-post, get all new articles, and look for yours. If yours is way down on the list, post a new article. If it is not, wait a day or two, or a week sometimes. Use common sense at all times.

If you have different aliases that you can use with your e-mail account, then in the news-reader's preferences, switch which e-mail address you type in. When you are posting many ads to newsgroups, it is best to use different aliases, if you have that option.

For strictly posting to the newsgroups you can use News Poster Pro. This program greatly simplifies the process of organizing your newsgroup posts. You will be able to automate your posts seven days a week. The only draw back is that it costs about US$200.00. If you ever use this software our advice to you is please don't spam the newsgroups and never post your ad in groups that are completely unrelated to what you are promoting. Spamming and irrelevant posting will get you into a lot of trouble and you may even end up being TOS, kicked out by your ISP and lose your Internet Access. Please, let's be responsible internet marketers.


Closing Remarks

In terms of posting to newsgroups, it takes a few days before you start getting up to twenty or more inquiries per day. Do not worry if your response rate is not that heavy right away. Consistency and patience are what determine the difference between so-so and super success.

Let me assure you, plainly and simply, that it is definitely acceptable and legal to post ads in the newsgroups. Indeed, it is expected. You are promoting a home business opportunity. In general, stick to job-related and business-related groups, as well as pc groups.

Like I said, be creative, be aggressive, and be smart. I mean, do not post in "disc.jesus.saves". They will not like that. You have to feel out a newsgroup by seeing what other articles people are placing in these groups. Then, and only then, decide if it is appropriate to post there.

Again, post to as many newsgroups as possible. Concentrate on the crowded ones, but also hit the less crowded ones. I get a few inquiries from newsgroups that are not heavily populated. I used to do a lot of advertising in newsgroups, and that is how you will get many responses.

There is an unlimited supply of people like you and me, out there on the internet, who are interested in starting their own businesses and working from home. Literally thousands of new people go on the internet every day, from all over the world.

There is an endless supply of potential customers out there. Every hour, hundreds and hundreds of new people go to the newsgroups for the first time. Whether or not you get responses, is only a matter of when, where and how you post. Then again, you'll do fine without them too.

Most of all, remember -- this is a fun business as well as a successful one. Once you have your newsreader set up and a basic plan of action for posting (which will not take long at all), you will easily see just how easy and fun it is. Good luck!

"Safe" Newsgroup List

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