Interview With Marnie Pehrson of IdeaMarketers By Cort McCadden Aug 2, 2006

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Cort: With me today is Marnie Pehrson and she is the founder of an Article Directory, IdeaMarketers, that I use for my writing. Marnie, I know that you are one of the “hotshots” in Internet Marketing; however I would like to know what you did before your Net involvement. When was this? What got you interested in the Net?

Marnie: I’ve been doing business online since 1994. I started IdeaMarketers at the end of 1998. Also, I wouldn’t consider myself “hotshot” either… more like a steady gardener who stuck it out long enough for the fruit to appear.

But to answer your question, I was a computer trainer and database developer who self-published a book called “How to Run a Successful Computer Training Business.” I began by uploading a sample chapter of it to AOL and Compuserve back in 1994. Then people would mail me checks and I’d mail them the book. One of my customers became my best friend - Alanna Webb. Alanna suggested we get together and build Web pages for my business customers, The Web was so new, I didn’t even know what it was. I thought it was something she made up – her last name being Webb! In short, she explained it to me and in 1996, we started the first Internet mall.

Cort: WOW, the first Internet mall! Marnie, did you see the value of Email Marketing almost immediately after it appeared? What made you get involved with Email Marketing?

Marnie: Yes, I did. One of the first things we did was start a marketing ezine on our web site. I soon found that writing articles and getting them in other people’s ezines paid off. Email marketing was really the basis for IdeaMarketers – a place for ezine owners to find articles for their publications.

Cort: What are you doing to avoid the ever-present spam filters from putting your email in spam folders? Are you considering using PDF files to send your ezine like I have started to do?

I’ve found that short emails that then point to a Web page or a PDF file work best. We’re still sending out HTML newsletters too. My assistant runs them through ezinecheck.com first. But, I’ve gotten the best results from writing a personal note and then offering people a PDF report. For example, a short email I sent to our writers about the PDF report, How to Become a Syndicated Columnist, received a 24% download rate – meaning that many people downloaded the report after receiving the email.

Cort: 24% download rate is totally AWESOME! Marnie, what are your feelings about Plain vs. HTML Email Marketing? What about the Audio and Visual Email?

Marnie: As I say, we use a combination of both. I’m considering shifting everything to short emails that link over to the HTML version on the Web. I’ve used audio on my sites, but not in the emails themselves. I think there’s still a bit of a learning curve for people on audio. It’s almost as if they’re afraid to click.

Cort: What have been your biggest successes in your business and why? Failures? What would you do differently if you could do things over?

Marnie: The biggest success has been the bid-for-promotion system on IdeaMarketers where people can set their own price for promoting their articles. The home page and channel pages are sorted from highest to lowest bidders and then by newest to oldest articles. That’s been something people really like and it’s working for them. I get positive feedback all the time on how it’s making a difference in people’s traffic and getting their articles picked up.

The biggest failure? Hmmm… I don’t really consider anything a failure if I can learn something from it. I’m always tweaking and experimenting, and I generally just focus on what works and don’t spend much time beating myself up over what doesn’t. However, if I could do one thing differently, I would have gone to SQL sooner. IdeaMarketers used to run off a back-end MS Access database and it could only hold about 8,000 articles before it would start slogging down to a crawl. Since I went to SQL almost 2 years ago, we’ve grown to over 68,000 articles and it’s still working at a good clip.

Cort: 68,000 articles which even includes mine!:) What would be your advice to Internet newbies concerning Email Marketing?

Marnie: Don’t email people so often that they get sick of you. If you’re going to contact them, make it for a specific reason – and that reason shouldn’t be just to sell them something. Ask yourself: “What can I do for people? What will they be anxious to read or receive? How can I educate others and become an expert in their eyes?”

Become a resource to people. I think that’s what’s great about DEMC (which I might add is one of only 3 ezines I read). You empathize with your readers and seek to fulfill their needs. It’s not all about selling them something.

I’m not saying you can’t sell in your email, after all, that’s why you have your ezine, but that isn’t why they’re going to read it.

Cort: One of three! I know that will be nice for Abbie to hear! Now I know you have a wonderful special for the readers.

Marnie: IdeaMarketers is best known for content. If you need articles for your newsletters and web sites, then we’re a good place to start. Through a special arrangement, we’d like to offer DEMC subscribers a 30-day trial subscription to our Publisher’s Toolbox PRO system. This will give them full access to our library of over 68,000+ articles and our other content management tools. To receive the free trial, go to http://www.ideamarketers.com/publish/demcsignup.cfm . Just fill out the form and you’ll instantaneously have access for 30 days… no strings attached.

Thanks, Cort, for this opportunity to speak to DEMC readers!

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Cort McCadden also known by his real name Hugh Simpson is a former consumer investigative reporter for Post Newsweek TV and the co-founder of the website http://www.moneywiselife.com and the new blog http://moneywiselife.blogspot.com where he shares up to date consumer awareness tips for especially seniors since he has reached 60 this year. He is also an emergency preparedness consultant and he encourages you to download the FR** Emergency Preparedness Guide at http://www.usprepared.com offering tips for preparedness on both man made and natural disasters.

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