Ecommerce Books: E-mail Marketing

Reviewer: Robert E. Fleming "President, eMarketing Association" (Provedence, RI)

email marketing essential reading

Bill Nussey, clarifies and outlines the most effective methods and strategies for deploying result oriented email marketing. This new book provides the kind of information every marketer should have.

Bill Nussey is one of the most respected and experienced leaders in the email marketing arena and this book provides actionable processess that you won't see anywhere else.

If you market anything this is a must read volume.


Reviewer: Jayson Myers (Ellenwood, GA)

If you've never thought of email as a complex discipline like enterprise CRM, let Bill Nussey explain how certain leg-work must be done in order to achieve real success with the medium. In this age of CAN-SPAM and regulatory hot buttons, Nussey shows how to build and execute legitimate marketing programs to actually win customer loyalty and build key long-term relationships.

He cites several examples from top companies to illustrate his philosophies on everything from content to delivery issues. Good read!

Reviewer: Jason Powell (Shi Town)

One of the best investments ever made for me..


Reviewer: Zik Malaf (Mich)

This product is a godsend; The material found within it is fresh, up-to-date and with the times.

Reviewer: Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA)

Lewis is a copywriting and marketing guru with over 25 books under his belt. This book is designed for the times, when so many marketers are concerned about how to get their message out by electronic mail--a lot cheaper than the alternative offered by the United States Postal Service. Benefit: at least e-mail gets through; unfortunately, a lot of bulk mail has not made it to addressees over the years.

So what's different about the electronic approach, other than the method of distribution? Don't you still need great copy and an effective target list of potential buyers?

There are a lot of similarities between electronic and postal direct mail, so you'll read chapters on words and phrases that work and don't work. You'll still get the advice on how to construct your message to grab the attention of the recipient. This immediate attention issue is even more acute with e-mail: hitting the DELETE button is a lot quicker than handling a piece of mail, opening it or not, and tossing it in the trash.

Lewis has tailored this book nicely to this new medium, exploring how to adapt to this communications vehicle without getting burned. Chapters discuss opt-ins, avoiding the "spam" accusation, and how to use the e-mail subject line most effectively. He explores how to establish rapport through e-mail, using personalization and psychology to elicit the desired response. The chapter on rich media and viral mail is certainly something you won't find in a typical marketing book.

This book is filled with medium-specific information, quelling my fear that this would be just another marketing book with "E-Mail" dropped in the front of the title. These pages are a treasure-trove of resources and tailored advice. The ten pages of tips at the end of the book supplement the tips that appear on the pages throughout the text. An abundance of examples illustrate the author's points. Indexed.


Reviewer: Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)

Herschell Gordon Lewis' Effective Email Marketing tells how to avoid the common pitfalls of the typical email marketing program to focus on massmarket messages which get results. Individualization and customization are part of the keys, as well as using techniques that grab reader attention.

Reviewer: Meryl K. Evans "meryl.net" (Plano, TX)

The book is based on Land's Web site of the same name, spamletters.com, which I discovered a few years ago and submitted a letter. In each letter, the original letter is presented along with Land's creative and hilarious reply to the spammer.

That's what Land has been doing, replying to spammers, and in some cases, the spammers have written back and those are included in the book. He takes on the role of lawyer, doctor, pastor, casting director, and woman (Joan). He produces works of fiction (don't tell anyone) and for once, spam is fun instead of an aggravation.

If the book is based on the Web site, why should we read the book? Here are the reasons:

1. There are many letters; it's difficult to read more than a few online.
2. It's great reading material away from the computer and the Internet.
3. Laptops don't handle beach sand, ocean water, or other exotic locales very well.
4. After a lousy day at work, who wants to get on the computer at home? Get a good laugh with the book instead.
5. The book organizes the letters by topic and you can see which ones have replies from the spammers.
6. A book doesn't make your legs go numb like a laptop on your lap while in the bathroom.
7. No downloading time involved!

You can try before you buy by going to the Web site and reading the letters. Also, check the table of contents. Bet you've many of them. Take out your spam frustrations by reading Land's retorts. Those who like reading humor books will enjoy this one, it's one-of-a-kind.


Reviewer: Thomas Duff (Portland, OR United States)

Have you ever wanted to "strike back" at the spammers and the con artists? If so, you'll enjoy The Spam Letters by Jonathan Land (No Starch Press). This is a funny read...

Chapter list: Introduction; Products for Prey: Part 1; Foreign Affairs: Part 1; Spam Potpourri: Part 1; A Quick Buck; Interlude: Bad Impressions; Products for Prey: Part 2; Foreign Affairs: Part 2: Nigerian Scam Artists; Sex Sells; Spam Potpourri: Part 2; Warning/Disclaimer: Do Not Try This At Home

This isn't a book that is going to give you any technical insights or strategies for dealing with spam. Actually, it *will* give you a strategy... yank their chains... HARD!. Land has taken various spam emails he's received (or that have been forwarded to him by co-conspirators) and let his warped creative writing skills loose. Some of his efforts were more for his own benefit, as it was obvious that the return address was not going anywhere that was real. But his real classics were with real emails who decided to scam or spam the wrong person. His exchange with the fabric wholesaler in the middle east is funny. The series with the stainless steel broker is just plausible enough to be real (and the broker played along well). The best efforts were reserved for the Nigerian scam artists. His scenarios of playing off scammers against each other, asking for bigger cuts, and playing the role of both financial advisor and committed asylum patient gives any reader who has received one of these emails a vicarious thrill.

This is an excellent recreational read, but I probably shouldn't have opened it. I'm just warped enough to think I could do this too... :-)