Question:     New to Internet Marketing and working Opt-in leads? Answer:   Here's a quick education about opt-in email leads: Marketing on the Internet is new for many people. It is worth pointing out that Internet Marketing changes about every three months. What worked three months ago may not work as well today. For many people that are new to Internet Marketing, this poses a challenge. For those people that are new to marketing in general, this poses even more than a challenge... it can create frustration and misguided conclusions. There are several fundamental dynamics about Internet Marketing that, once revealed, will help to explain what "goes on". This email is written for the newer Internet Marketer. I will start off with opt-in email leads. The term "Opt-in" lead is generally referred to the fact that the lead clicked on a button, banner, asked for information or went through a website and filled out a form. We all make assumptions that since the lead took action that the lead is interested in what they "clicked" on. Many times this is true, but sometimes it is not. For this message, I will not discuss how to work with leads that are interested. I will help explain what happens when leads are generated on line. Some people "surf" the Internet. That means they may be generally curious and bounce back and forth, surfing off into tangents with no distinct purpose. Sometimes these people start to fill out forms on line ... and as they continue to fill out the forms, a sense of commitment starts to occur in their mind. They say to themselves, "I wonder where this is going?" Since they don't what's going to happen once they click the "submit" button, some people start to place buffers between their real information and the information they fill out on the form. Since most people don't like the activity of being "sold to", they often submit the wrong phone numbers. Emails they can handle... phone calls ... no. This doesn't make the lead a bad lead. Look at it from their perspective... they don't know who's receiving the information on the other end. What if they had kids at home and "you" were someone dangerous, or weird ? Many people use free email accounts; such as like yahoo.com and hotmail.com . They will use alias names to protect their identity for the same reasons listed above. Some people are curious, and will just click to see what happens. Some people are doing research and development. They are looking to see what you're doing with the intent of "borrowing" from you something that they could use on their own. So what's the percentage of your leads you should expect to fall into these categories? My research has shown about 25%. That's right. Expect to chop off one out of four of your leads. This is just part of marketing on the Internet. Don't be disappointed... focus on and work with the remaining people. The successful Internet marketer is aware of the numbers and works the business accordingly. It's easy to focus on the "bad ones", but you have to resist the temptation to do so. Keep working. Sincerely, Peter Mingils (386) 445-3585