₦airaland Forum

To approach bulk SMS strategically, ask yourself these basic questions in this order…

Question #1: Do I have the core skills required to succeed in this particular business and do they align with my strengths?

In every business industry, there are core skills absolutely required to succeed in that industry, bulk SMS business industry has its own. Do you even know what the core skills required to succeed in the bulk SMS business marketplace are?

And very importantly, do they play to your strengths? Your strengths are the combination of your talents, skills, and education. Put them together and you have something that you can do far better than anyone else… effortlessly.

When you approach this business based on your strengths, you naturally win in the marketplace without even fighting, you get a competitive edge that cannot be duplicated, you attract superstars and partners to work with you and for you to achieve your vision.

So, it’s CRITICALLY IMPORTANT that you know your strengths, then see if they match with the core skills required to win in the bulk SMS industry.

Question #2: What’s my vision?

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Where there’s no vision people perish.” Or to put it specifically, “Businesses without vision perish.”

You need to have a written vision so compelling that you’re ready to sacrifice what’s necessary to achieve it. Without a clear vision, your criteria for making decisions would be arbitrary at best.

Question #3: Who are my target customers?

If you think everyone is your customer, that’s one sign that you’re going to fail! Thinking strategically means defining your ideal customer and having the courage to tell your non-ideal customers to look elsewhere for solutions to their needs.

Question 4: How am I going to make it scalable so that the business doesn’t depend on me to run or succeed?

If you think bulk SMS business is a one-man show, then know that your days in the business are numbered before you even get started.

Question #5: Do I have a business and marketing plan?

I know you have also heard the saying: If you fail to plan then you’ve already planned to fail. In no place is it truer than in bulk SMS business in Nigeria.

Question #6: What is my business model?

What that basically means is that, how do you plan to make money? When I started, I wrote down five different models in my business plan. But my marketplace naturally told me the profitable and sustainable one, so I abandoned the others and focused solely on that one model. What’s yours?

Question #7: What is my pricing strategy?

I need you to understand something that most people don’t understand in business: Your pricing is also part of your core identity. There are at least 6 pricing strategies. What’s yours going to be?

For instance, at 5star SMS, we deliberately don’t come cheap and wouldn’t want to be known as a cheap bulk SMS provider. In fact, we want to be known as an expensive bulk SMS provider because unconsciously, people attach quality to expensive stuffs and that’s what we stand for – QUALITY.

Question #8: What’s my backend strategy?

If all you’re going to do is build websites once for folks or do large volume sales, then you’re no better than a tomato seller in Mile 12 market in Lagos. Listen, fortunes are made in the backend, not in the frontend.

Your backend strategy is how you plan to make money from the same customers over and over again.

Question #9: What are my assumptions and how am I going to establish them?

What are your underlying assumptions? Why do you want to start a bulk SMS business? Why do you think you will succeed in this business? Why would customers buy from you and not from 5star SMS? Why will customers choose to remain with you?

Question #10: What are my sources of finance?

I saved this for the last. Listen, you need money to drive your growth. Don’t let people kid you into believing that you don’t need money. If you’re to succeed in this business, you will need to spend and spend BIG.

Note: That doesn’t mean you can’t start small. But let me tell you something: In the Internet business jungle, those who are willing to do more with more will get more and those who want to do less will end up with absolutely nothing!

Even the famous authors, Jack Trout and Al Ries, in their phenomenally powerful book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, call it “The Law of Resources.”

The Law of Resources states that “without adequate funding an idea won’t get off the ground.”

Without asking and answering these fundamental questions, your chances of succeeding in bulk SMS is slim to none.

Article source: http://5starsmsng.com/blog/bulk-sms-business/bulk-sms-business-how-to-approach-it-strategically/

It's a series on the ebook: Before You Start a Bulk SMS Business available for FREE download at http://www.5starsmsng.com/before-you-start-a-bulk-sms-business

If you’re looking for a quality bulk SMS provider in Nigeria, then there are some basic things you must know. When you know them then you check whether any Nigerian provider has them. That’s how you know a quality bulk SMS provider.

First of all, let’s define quality. As a bulk SMS user myself, quality to me means that my SMS are delivered, in full, with my sender ID, and on time. Every other thing besides these doesn’t count much.

There are factors that make these quality factors possible:

1. Gateway Quality – Perhaps they are SMS gateway run by Nigerians, but I don’t know of one (remember, we have power issues and this stuff has to be powered 24/7). So, most bulk SMS sites in Nigeria use foreign bulk SMS gateways (including 5star SMS). Reliability of these foreign SMS gateways varies.

2. Direct Connection – SMS gateways that connect directly to GSM networks in Nigeria are more reliable than gateways that connect indirectly using SS7 link. SS7 link is cheap, but unreliable. Direct connection is reliable but expensive. At 5star SMS, we use an aggregator whose gateway connects directly to all GSM networks in Nigeria. That’s why our price is slightly higher than others. But we will rather pay a high price and have our bulk SMS delivered than pay peanuts and get nothing.

That said, expect these problems if the connection is via SS7 route:

- Delivery delays (your message are being delivered when there’s less traffic, mostly in the middle of the night)
- No delivery reports (At 5star SMS, you can get delivery reports on request)
- Non delivery of your bulk SMS at all
- Message delivered without your customized sender ID.

As stated before, at 5star SMS, we use a gateway that connects directly to all the GSM networks in Nigeria and that gives us and our customers peace of mind knowing that their bulk SMS will be delivered. And if they are not delivered as at when due, we can check their status by looking at our delivery report. That’s unlike other bulk SMS service where you can’t know whether your SMS was delivered or not.

As we used to say in our local parlance: Shine your eyes! And all the best in your bulk SMS marketing and communications.

P.S. Remember you can send bulk SMS at www.5starsmsng.com

Article source: http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog

5star SMS, one of Nigeria’s leading bulk SMS service providers, has released another powerful ebook into the ever-growing bulk SMS industry in Nigeria.
The ebook is titled, “Before You Start a Bulk Business” with the subtitle, “Candid Revelations of a Successful Nigerian Bulk SMS Business Owner About the Challenges and Rewards of Bulk SMS Business in Nigeria.”
According to the 26-paged ebook, many Nigerians coming into the bulk SMS business do not understand the difference between a website and a business; therefore they approach it as a get-rich-quick scheme and fail, ultimately.
According to its author, Edwin A. Joel, “Just owning a bulk SMS website doesn’t mean you own a bulk SMS business. There’s a world of difference between the two. And failure to know the difference is the difference between success and failure in the business.”

The free ebook guide talks about the foolishness of engaging in price wars, the profit margin obtainable in the bulk SMS business, the real challenge facing bulk SMS resellers in Nigeria, why building a bulk SMS business around the “resellership model” is not a viable and sustainable model, the only approach that will ensure success in bulk SMS business in Nigeria, amongst many eye-opening revelations.

The ebook is available for free download at [url]http://www.5starsmsng.com/before-you-start-a-bulk-sms-business [/url]

5star SMS, one of Nigeria’s leading bulk SMS service providers has announced their integration with Infobip enabling them to offer high quality, enterprise-class bulk SMS service especially to their Nigerian customers.

With this integration, 5star SMS customers can expect prompt delivery of their bulk SMS to destinations in Nigeria. In addition, it will enable 5star SMS to offer bulk SMS delivery reports on demand to users.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” commented 5star SMS founder, Edwin A. Joel, “It will enable us keep our promise of guaranteed SMS delivery leveraging on the robust and quality platform that Infobip offers.”

Infobip is a Croatin-based IT company with specialization in mobile services for businesses. It serves both mobile network operators and enterprises, notably banks, social networks, and corporations. According to Croatian Chamber of Economy, Infobip is one of the world’s largest providers of SMS-based services.

5star SMS is a Nigerian bulk SMS service provider founded in 2011. It’s grown to be one of Nigeria’s leading bulk SMS services that serves many businesses, churches, individuals, and NGOs. 5star SMS is located at www.5starsmsng.com.

Before you choose a bulk SMS Provider in Nigeria, you need to know what their current customers are experiencing. This is commonsense: If other people are satisfied with their services, there’s great likelihood that you’ll be satisfied, too.

But guess what?

Bulk SMS services in Nigeria are too poor that if providers were to publish what their customers are saying about them, they’ll go out of business instantly!

So any bulk SMS site that publishes a list of satisfied customers should be respected and held in high esteem. And it shouldn’t stop at that, the “satisfied customers” they publish should be reachable, at least their picture and contact should be there for you to verify.

Additionally, do a Google search for the bulk SMS site you want to pitch your tent with and see what people are saying about them. Simply enter the bulk SMS’s website address in Google search box and hit your enter key.

Also look at what people are saying on their Facebook Fan Page. This will help you greatly in deciding the bulk SMS provider to choose.

I once did a search like this on a certain bulk SMS website and when I read what users were saying (especially on their Facebook Fan page), I ran for cover because they were terrible!

Warning! Take all those “Facebook Likes” with a pinch of salt because people just click on things on Facebook thoughtlessly and without any sense of responsibility. More so, because people who like a particular bulk SMS website doesn’t mean they are using it.

People click to like a site because their friend is the owner. I know this because, as you probably already know, I own a bulk SMS website myself.

Article Source: http://www.5starsmsng.com. Remember, you can send bulk SMS at http://www.5starsmsng.com.

When it comes to bulk SMS marketing and communications in Nigeria, the old advice: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” may be the smartest advice you can get. You’d better add other “baskets” like email and phone calls to your communication methods or else…

Well, here are three sound reasons why…

1. GSM networks are blocking deliveries of bulk SMS coming from online.

And they are doing it every now and then without any prior warning. So if you had put your hope in only bulk SMS to reach your customers, church members, team members or whoever, you might wake up one day and discover that you can’t reach all your people via bulk SMS. As I write this, GLO is blocking deliveries of bulk SMS from the Web and heaven knows how long it will last.

2. Sender IDs too get blocked

Sender IDs is one of the main attractions of bulk SMS. But as I write this, Etisalat is blocking sender IDs from displaying when delivered to their network. It looks odd. That’s why it is good you always include your company name or your sender name in your SMS. Another reason not to put all your eggs in the one basket of bulk SMS.

3. Everything isn’t guaranteed

Even when our GSM networks aren’t blocking bulk SMS deliveries and sender IDs, you might enter the wrong number of your recipients, his or her phone might be off for an extended period of time, your bulk SMS just might hang in midair… just about anything could happen. That’s my point.

What to do?

I’ve already said it: Integrate emails and phone calls to your repertoire of communication channels. It’s for your own good and safety. All the best in your bulk SMS communications!

Article source: http://5starsmsng.com/blog

Remember you can send bulk SMS at www.5starsmsng.com and expect delivery or your money back!

THINK ABOUT THIS…

 An email can be deleted without opening it first, let alone read it.
 A phone call can be rejected while it is ringing.
 Adverts in the newspaper can be ignored by flipping the page.
 Adverts on TV can be ignored simply by pressing a button on the remote control.
 A radio jingle can be ignored simply by changing stations.
 Adverts on the Internet can be ignored by browsing to another site.

But…

SMS is guaranteed to be read… because by its design… it CANNOT be ignored. Or do you know of a way to delete a text message without opening it first?

Perhaps if there was a way to delete a text message without reading it first, many people will delete them when they see the sender ID without checking out the SMS content. But for now, I’m yet to see a phone with such capability.

And that is to your great advantage.

But Hey, Don’t Do This To Your Recipients…

Don’t spam people with bulk SMS. Only send SMS to people whom you have their permission to send text messages. In addition, send only relevant text messages. Only relevant SMS remains and don’t get deleted immediately.

I’m giving you this advice because just because I noted that, by design, SMS can’t be deleted without reading it first does not mean you should send “anyhow” SMS simply because people will always read it. Rather, spend quality time to do the right things and do them excellently and success will happen, naturally.

Okay, back to the point. To add fire to what we’re talking about in this chapter, let me introduce to you a very powerful concept I learned from legendary Internet marketing coach, Mark Joyner. The concept is known as Deadly Ground Battle.

Are You Fighting a Deadly Ground Battle?

In military warfare, there are many grounds on which combat can occur. One of them that serve our purpose here is Deadly Ground. Mark Joyner paraphrases Sun Tzu on Deadly Ground battle thus: "A Deadly Ground battle occurs when two forces meet and there is no escape route for either. It becomes a pure fight-or-die battle… and there can only be one winner."

According to him, in a Deadly Ground battle, the stronger combatant is always the winner.

Applying it to marketing or any communication process that has to do with persuasion, the stronger force is always your prospect because all she does to win is to simply ignore your advert. And she’ll have nothing to lose as a result.

Wisdom demands that you MUST NOT engage in this kind of battle at all.

But I see many businesses and communicators fight this kind of battle with their customers and prospects every day – battles they are always certain to lose.

But with bulk SMS, it's practically impossible to ignore text messages without reading them first. According to CTIA.org, 97% of text messages are read within minutes.

That’s another compelling reason to adopt bulk SMS in your communications and marketing campaigns.

Now, let me note this (very important): If your prospect or customer reads your SMS, deletes it, and takes no positive action, it’s still a Deadly Ground battle. Therefore, you must craft your message in such a way that it is useful to the prospect at that time.

How to go about that is beyond the scope of this book, but it still needs to be said.

There you have it, another phenomenal power of bulk SMS. We shall continue the series on bulk SMS power tomorrow.

Remember you can get more powerful article at http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog and you can send your bulk SMS at [url]http://www.5starsmsng.com [/url]

Here’s chapter two of my ebook, The Phenomenal Power of Bulk SMS, in continuation of the ebook series before its release. It’s about the power of immediacy that bulk SMS has. Read on…

REMEMBER our good old e-mail?

Who’ll forget email in a hurry? An incredible invention. Still used by many. Absolutely free. So simple. Very popular. But has one drawback…

… we talked about it in the previous chapter: Information overload!

Email has been so overused that if you sign in to check your email now, you’ll see hundreds, if not thousands, of email both useful and useless… and they never stop coming!

The Consequences?

Your emails get buried in the forest of other emails. And your recipient rarely digs deep. What is more, people have developed defenses against the tsunami of emails – they simply don’t bother to check them or read them anymore… in a very long while.

But that is even beside the point of this chapter.

The point is this: When you send email, your prospects don’t get to see it immediately… until they go online. And even when they do go online, not many of them check their emails? Except of course, they are expecting some pay check. LOL.

Even when they decide to check their emails, how many open emails that advertise products? I don’t need to quote any statistics here to tell you that email open rates are at an all-time low.

But What About Bulk SMS?

With bulk SMS… your prospects see your message immediately!

Why? Because people always carry their phones with them everywhere they go… even when going to toilet! And people who forget their phones at home have been known to drive back, paying tolls… again… just to take their phones with them while they go to work or wherever!

And have you seen people who lost or misplace their phones? The atmosphere is as if someone died and you see people mourning…literally… for a lost phone!

Note: I used email as a comparative method because it’s one of the most used and most popular methods of communication and marketing. And note that email is just one comparison. It can be compared to other marketing and communication methods.

Now, let’s take a quick look at a real-world scenario…

Assuming you want to hold a seminar – a VERY BIG one. Hundreds of people have registered to attend. Then something beyond your control happens and you decide to postpone the seminar 48 hours before the scheduled date. Which of these communication method will you use to inform people who registered that the seminar has been postponed?

__ Email?

__ Phone call?

__ Bulk SMS?

If you went for email, well, good luck. If phone call was your choice, well, even if you own a stake in one of the telecommunications company, one thing is certain… your bank account will sadly not remain the same again… by a long shot.

But we both know you won’t consider the first two options, you’ll very likely go for bulk SMS because your prospects will see your message on time. That’s one of the great powers of bulk SMS right there – immediacy – your message gets to your target audience instantly. Another reason to leverage bulk SMS.

Article Source: http://www.5starsmsng.com. Remember you can send bulk SMS at http://www.5starsmsng.com/send-bulk-sms-in-nigeria

In continuation of my series on the power of bulk SMS in general and marketing communications, I present the first power of bulk SMS as contained in my ebook: The Phenomenal Power of Bulk SMS. You can request a copy of the ebook at http://www.5starsmsng.com. Meanwhile, enjoy this article!

A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N! That 9-letter word – what does it mean to you?

Nah, nah, nah… I’m not talking about its academic definition; I’m talking about its intrinsic worth in the real world.

I mean, if you have the attention of 100 million people for 1 hour every day, how much will it be worth to you?

Well, attention in the real sense is POWER; it is MONEY – loads of it, if you know how to convert its monumental potential.

Put in another way: If you have people’s attention, you have power. If you have people’s attention, you’re a potential millionaire or billionaire – depending on the size of your thinking.

Now, please note this: people’s attention is SACRED and should be treated as such – with reverence and utilized for a common good.

The Mistake Most People Make Today

The mistake I see most people make today is think that we’re still living in the Information Age. How wrong!

Listen, the Info Age is long gone! It’s game over for that age. We’re now living in the Attention Age.

Time was when Agrarian Age reigned supreme. In those days, people with farmlands and big families and workers to work the land were the millionaires of their time. The measure of wealth then was the size of your real estate.

Time was when Industrial Age held sway. Then, owners of industries like steel, rails, and oil ran the show and the workers with the needed skills used to laugh all the way to the bank.

Then the Information Age zoomed in in style years ago. Immediately, power and billions gravitated to the guys and gals with the information and who owned the tools to easily get and share information on a large scale. That’s why folks like Bill Gates (who doesn’t know him?), Michael Dell of Dell Computers, the Google guys Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and the Yahoo! guys Jerry Yang and David Filo became billionaires.

All of them own companies built on tools that help people easily and quickly get and share information on a large scale.

But Today?

Just because you have a highly valuable piece of information doesn’t mean you’re going to be rich.

Why?

Because information itself – too much of it – has become a nemesis of some sort. Today, majority of humanity are suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Why? Because we have so much information at our fingertips and we’re overwhelmed and paralyzed by it.

This is what E. O. Wilson saw when he said, “We’re drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” And Wired Magazine once wrote: “Attention has become the scarce resource of the information economy.”

Researchers say, today, the average human sees about 6,000 advertising messages every day! We’re bombarded with advertising messages right from when we wake up till when we sleep – everywhere!

What do you think people are looking for? Our attention, your attention, of course.

Now think about this: On May 17, 2012, Facebook, Inc. held an initial public offering, negotiating a share price of $38 apiece, valuing the company at $104 billion, the largest valuation to date for a newly listed public company. And that’s according to the trusted Wikipedia.

How in the world do you think Facebook make its money? After all, Facebook is free to use and they don’t sell any product.

Simple answer: Facebook has the attention of over 1 billion people worldwide and they sell this colossal attention to advertisers for a specific length of time.

Yep! Facebook has over 1 billion active users as of October 2012 – and that’s also according to the highly-trusted online encyclopedia: Wikipedia.

So, as you can see, years ago, oil and steel and information were the commodities that made people rich, powerful, and famous. Today, it’s how many eyeballs you command; it’s how many eyeballs you can win.

Enough said, let’s zero that in to bulk SMS communications.

What’s the Connection?

Here’s the connection: SMS is a certain attention winner. Please note the word “certain.” Unlike other marketing methods, bulk SMS is guaranteed to get the attention of your target audience.

How so?

Because when you send SMS and it is received by your prospect, her phone will ring. And what will that do? It will get her attention… guaranteed!


People simply cannot stand the sound of a ringing phone – they always feel they must check it out. It leverages on the natural human curiousity. In fact, it has been widely said that the ringing phone is the most powerful sound in the world!
Face it, can you let your ring on end without feeling the strong urge to check it out? In fact, people watch out for text messages! Okay, let me make a personal confession here…

I used to check my phone every now and then to see if a text message came in that I didn’t notice.

Hmmn… this mobile thing has got us between its teeth!

That reminds me of the powerful observation made by Dr. Stephen R. Covey of blessed memory in his legendary book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He wrote on page 150 of the book:

“Most people can’t stand the thought of just allowing the phone ring. You could spend hours preparing materials, you could get all dressed up and travel to a person’s office to discuss a particular issue, but if the phone were to ring while you were there, it would generally take precedence over your personal visit.”

True talk!

So, in summary, bulk SMS has the phenomenal power of getting the attention of your target audience GUARANTEED. And as you’ve just learned, people’s attention is pure gold!

Article Source: http://5starsmsng.com/blog/articles/bulk-sms-a-certain-attention-winner

Remember that you can send bulk SMS at http://www.5starsmsng.com/send-bulk-sms-in-nigeria

I marveled when I discovered the almost magical power of bulk SMS in enhancing all communications. I have graciously documented my discoveries in my new ebook titled, “The Phenomenal Power of Bulk SMS (16 Commonsense Reasons Why Every Right-Thinking Business, Individual, and Organization Should Be Using It Right Now!)” And I’ll be serializing the ebook on this forum starting from tomorrow.

Here are the important things you’ll learn…

* The almost priceless value of attention and how bulk SMS wins it certainly and at will

* How bulk SMS solves the problem of low email open rates

* How bulk SMS enables you to avoid “deadly ground battles” with your customers and rather engage them in a “heavy ground battle” where you have the advantage

* How bulk SMS helps you build you brand inexpensively

* The most powerful word in any language (no, NOT love) and how bulk SMS enables you to take advantage of it to get people to act!

* Why the government of India banned bulk SMS for weeks and what this has got to do with you as a communicator and marketer

* The little-known viral element inherent in bulk SMS and why it is the most powerful thing you’ll learn in the ebook

And that’s just a tip of the iceberg! I can’t wait to get started. Keep a date with me. See you tomorrow! Or if you're in a hurry, you can read all the serials at http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog

Do you want massive response from your bulk SMS marketing campaigns and increased revenue therefrom? Then test these no-cost tips and take advantage of these statistics about email I recently come across which I’m currently testing for my bulk SMS campaigns. Thanks to DEMC for bringing them to my notice.
When you are done with your tests, please come back here and let the world know if you experienced a marked improvement in your bulk SMS marketing campaigns. That way we can help each other succeed in our businesses and whatever it is we are using bulk SMS to do.

Tip #1: Send bulk SMS between 8pm and midnight.

“According to a Q4 2012 analysis by Experian CheetahMail – emails sent late in the evening outperformed emails sent any other time of day.

“Emails sent between 8pm and 12am generated higher open and clickthrough rates, more transactions, larger orders, and greater revenue per email than emails sent at any other time. Email sent from 8pm – 12am had return of 48 cents per email. This was triple the overall average of 14 cents per email.”

Even though email is different from bulk SMS, they share some similarities that if explored could post the same results as emails above.

To do: Send your bulk SMS between 8pm and 12am and also send the same message between 8am and 12pm and see how it pans out.

Tip #2: Deliver bulk SMS promotions on Saturday.

“Experian found Saturday generated the best return on investment. The transaction rate on Saturday was .16%, compared with .11% overall.”

To-do: You also need to test this and see if it works in Nigeria. Yes, Saturday is a work-free day for most people, but Nigerians rarely make payments online. You may need to follow-up on with another bulk SMS or phone call on Monday and see how it works out.

Tip #3: Increase the number of bulk SMS sent for each specific offer.

This means that you should increase the number of SMS you send for a specific offer. Three to five SMS is ideal and ideally, you should change your message content and let it stress the deadline. For instance, the first message could say, 72 hours to go, the second SMS could say, 48 hours to go, the third message will be 24 hours left to advantage of your special offer, and so on.

Remember, the keyword is TEST. So, test and see if this works for your bulk SMS marketing.

Article Source: http://5starsmsng.com/blog/tips/bulk-sms-marketing-3-insider-tips-to-higher-response-and-revenue/

Want to know the real reasons why you don’t get the results you want in your bulk SMS marketing campaigns? Especially as a Nigerian? Here are three real reasons why.

[b]1. Misunderstanding what SMS marketing really is – [/b]Most Nigerians think that bulk SMS “BLASTING” (broadcasting bulk SMS to every Tom, Dick, and Harry) is the same thing as bulk SMS “MARKETING.” How wrong! The real definition of marketing is educating and motivation people to desire your product. And it is done overtime. Besides, it’s a process with several sequences and principles in between that must be observed.

So, hoping to get massive or any result at all from blasting your bulk SMS to people you don’t even know and who don’t know you is simply unrealistic. Bulk SMS works better when combined with other marketing methods.

[b]2. Sending bulk SMS to untargeted and poor quality phone numbers – [/b]Many Nigerians buy and rent phone numbers from sources they can’t even verify. These numbers are usually in thousands and millions and claimed to be arranged by local government and states. So, folks in need of quick results buy these GSM numbers and blast their marketing messages to them, then sit back for the orders to pour in.

And the orders don’t usually pour in because the phone numbers are not targeted and they of poor quality… meaning that the people you send your bulk SMS to didn’t need your product in the first place and may not even be based in your locality. It’s like trying to sell camera to a blind man. Marketing success rests on this principle: Say the right thing to the right people at the right time at the right place.

[b]3. Little or no follow-up – [/b]It’s long been established that about 80% of people buy when follow up are made for at least seven times. But Nigerians will send one or two bulk text messages and stop when they don’t see any result. This is one of the main reasons bulk SMS marketing fail in the hands of Nigerians.

Way forward: Take your time to educate and inspire your prospects to desire and buy your products using bulk SMS, build a phone number list from scratch of rent them from a trusted source related to what you’re promoting, and do follow ups adequately depending on what you’re selling.

Article Source: http://5starsmsng.com/blog/articles/bulk-sms-marketing-3-real-reasons-why-nigerians-fail-at-it/

When I started 5star SMS, I was giving as high as 20 free bulk sms units for testing. The wisdom behind it was to enable customers test our bulk SMS service adequately. By adequately, I mean testing sender ID, testing whether 2-page message delivers in full, testing delivery to all the networks, testing speed of delivery, and the SMS scheduling feature.

But, it has been abused! One user opened thirteen different accounts just to take advantage of the free units, I reduced it to 10 free sms units, he still abused it, I reduced it to 5 free sms units, he still did and the worst of all is that the person was using it to send scam messages!

Then I had to stop it. But before then, I did some meditation and mind-mapping. And I discovered that customers – real customers, the noble Nigerian bulk sms users we’ve had as customers – didn’t even bother about free bulk sms to test. Once they registered, they bought and used it for legitimate purposes.

That’s one. Second, as a new user, you could buy 50 units to test. We don’t have minimum sms units you can purchase. So, the cost is negligible.

Third, we offer money-back guarantee. So the risk is on us. If you buy sms units and you are not satisfied with our service, we will refund your money pronto.

Again, we want to make it very clear that 5star SMS is not a free service. If you’re looking for free bulk SMS, look elsewhere. You’re not our ideal customer.

So, in summary, we decided to withdraw the free bulk SMS for testing because it was not serving its purpose, rather it was abused.When I started 5star SMS, I was giving as high as 20 free bulk sms units for testing. The wisdom behind it was to enable customers test our bulk SMS service adequately. By adequately, I mean testing sender ID, testing whether 2-page message delivers in full, testing delivery to all the networks, testing speed of delivery, and the SMS scheduling feature.

But, it has been abused! One user opened thirteen different accounts just to take advantage of the free units, I reduced it to 10 free sms units, he still abused it, I reduced it to 5 free sms units, he still did and the worst of all is that the person was using it to send scam messages!

Then I had to stop it. But before then, I did some meditation and mind-mapping. And I discovered that customers – real customers, the noble Nigerian bulk sms users we’ve had as customers – didn’t even bother about free bulk sms to test. Once they registered, they bought and used it for legitimate purposes.

That’s one. Second, as a new user, you could buy 50 units to test. We don’t have minimum sms units you can purchase. So, the cost is negligible.

Third, we offer money-back guarantee. So the risk is on us. If you buy sms units and you are not satisfied with our service, we will refund your money pronto.

Again, we want to make it very clear that 5star SMS is not a free service. If you’re looking for free bulk SMS, look elsewhere. You’re not our ideal customer.

So, in summary, we decided to withdraw the free bulk SMS for testing because it was not serving its purpose, rather it was abused.

Article By Edwin A. Joel. Source: www.5starsmsng.com/blog

Bulk SMS is not just another marketing fad in the business arena. It’s a marketing method that allows you to implement time-honoured marketing principles. You’re about to discover why you should start taking advantage of bulk SMS in your marketing campaigns as soon as possible.

1. Bulk SMS helps you to easily command the attention of your audience
When you send bulk SMS and it is received by your target audience, their phone will ring. And only very few people can stand the sound of a ringing phone without the strong urge and curiousity to check it out. What that means is that you’re certain to grab the attention of your audience. As a marketer or a communicator, isn’t attention you spend thousands on adverts to get?

2. Bulk SMS delivers your most important briefly and concisely.
According to research, the average person is hit with about 6,000 advertising message every day. That means in a month, you and I are bombarded with about 180,000 advertising messages.

If people were to pay full attention to all adverts, they will all lose their sanity, so people have found a potent way to cope: by checking out ads for 3 seconds or less, then ignoring them if they are irrelevant to their cause.
But guess what? People will read your complete SMS because it is brief.

3. It is highly responsive
According to a popular statistics, 20% of people respond to SMS. In my own marketing tests, over 30% of people I market to via bulk SMS respond.

4. Bulk SMS enables you to personalize your message
If you’ve been in the field of marketing for long, you’ll know that personalized marketing outdoes mass marketing each and every time. With bulk SMS, you can market to your prospects on a personal level. All you need is their names and phone numbers.

5. Bulk SMS enables you to reach your customer no matter where he is.
Regardless of where your prospects are located on the face of the earth, they will get your message the instant you send it. They don’t need to go online before they see it, they don’t need power supply to power their TV to get it. That means you can expect immediate response and plan along that line.

Now, sure enough, bulk SMS is not the best marketing method in the world – no one marketing method is. But if you want to get astonishing results in your marketing campaigns, you had better take advantage of it. Or at least experiment with it. After all, it is the least costly marketing method of all.

Article brought to you by Edwin A. Joel. Edwin is the author of the ebook: The Phenomenal Power of Bulk SMS and he’s the founder of Nigeria’s most friendly bulk SMS service: http://www.5starsmsng.com

Thanks a lot.

Really appreciate it.

My saying I begged means I politely
told the guy to remove before I do
something drastic.

Issue is resolved.
Thanks.

Not sure about the bulk SMS service to choose in Nigeria? Consider choosing 5star SMS. Here are top 7 reasons why…

1. Extraordinary Customer Care – In the final analysis, you want bulk SMS service providers to understand your needs and be your friend. 5star SMS is a master in this. Visit http://www.5starsmsng.com/ to see what their customers are saying about them.

2. FREE SMS Communications Education – 5star SMS provides free continuous education on how to succeed in your bulk SMS communications through high quality articles, ebooks, reports, and e-courses.

3. Online Payment – At 5star SMS, you can recharge your bulk SMS account from the comfort of your home with your ATM card and automatically get credited with the exact SMS units you paid for and a receipt sent to your email. What’s more, they give you a free report that shows you how to protect yourself when making payment online.

4. Personalized SMS – At 5star SMS, you can send bulk SMS that address all your recipients by name simultaneously… without sending them one by one. This increases the effectiveness of your message.

5. Full page delivery – Unlike some bulk SMS services in Nigeria, if your SMS is longer than a page, 5star SMS will deliver it in full.

6. Affiliate Program – 5star SMS rewards you generously with thousands of free sms if you invite your friends to use 5star SMS. You get free SMS when your friends simply visit the site, you get free sms if they register, you get free sms each time they recharge… for life!

7. FREE Guide – Unlike other bulk SMS service providers in Nigeria, 5star SMS provides a pictorial, step-by-step guide in almost everything you do on their site – from sending bulk sms, to scheduling, to making payment, to searching for anything. This saves you time and headache.

Create a FREE account at http://www.5starsmsng.com to see things for yourself!

Who composes you SMS for your bulk SMS marketing campaigns can make or mar your success. So, I ask, “Who composes your sms marketing campaigns text messages?”

Let me guess…. you. If not, let me guess again… your customer care rep (that’s if you have one). That will lead us to another very important question: Are you or your customer care rep qualified to compose marketing SMS? Do you know anything about SMS copywriting?

Listen, as far as bulk SMS marketing or, to be specific, SMS copywriting, is concerned, there are laws and rules that govern it. If you obey these laws, success is virtually guaranteed, other variables being equal. If not, you’ll be wasting your time and money.

One thing that always baffles me is that people will spend hundreds of thousands to buy bulk sms units to “blast” SMS as they call it, but will invest little time to learn how to compose a simple effective marketing text message. Then when they “blast” the bulk SMS and receive little or no response they throw their hands in the air and say SMS marketing doesn’t work!

Well, if you want to join the elite group of people who know how to compose deadly effective SMS that make people respond, then download a FREE report I wrote to that effect titled, “How to Compose Powerful SMS That Make People Respond!”
It’s available for download at http://www.5starsmsng.com or specifically at http://www.5starsmsng.com/how-to-compose-powerful-sms-that-make-people-respond

Sometime ago I wrote and publish an article titled, “When is the Best Time to Send a Marketing SMS?” In the article I argued – and rightly so – that one could only know the perfect time through marketing tests. In this article I want to share what I’ve discovered in consumer behaviours as far as Nigeria is concerned and how it ties with early-morning SMS.

Hypothetically, let’s assume you want to sell your customers or prospects something. Your best bet might be to send the SMS first thing in the morning. Why?

First, because some people already have their day planned out (and they usually do this in the morning), so you need to get into their schedule, especially if you’ll require them to visit the bank or ATM to pay or even to pay online for your wares.
Second, in the morning the human mind is clear and uncluttered to think. So be one of the first set of things to get on your customers mind. Really, marketing is a mind’s game.

Again, I’d like to advise that you test to be sure. Your peculiar product may require that you send your bulk SMS at a particular time of day to get massive response.

And let me also caution: Don’t be overly aggressive in your bulk SMS marketing or else your customer will associate you with a negative image and emotion. You don’t want that.

So, consider early-morning bulk SMS shots and see how it pans out. Good luck.

This article is brought to you by: 5star SMS Nigeria. You can find more articles on our blog http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog

You’ll be glad to know that our bulk sms pricing has dropped sharply.
This is to encourage more Nigerians to experience the power and rewards
of using bulk sms.

According to our studies, we observe that a lot of Nigerian bulk sms users
would rather make little purchase in order to test the bulk sms waters with
one leg foot before jumping in with both feet.

Here is our bulk sms pricing…
1 ---------------------- 500 = N2
600 ------------------- 1,500 = N1.6
1,600 ---------------- 3,500 = N1.5
4,000 --------------- 10,000 = N1.3
11,000 ------------- 19,999 = N1.2
20,000+ = N1

REMEMBER: You can securely pay with your ATM card online and have your bulk sms
account with 5star SMS automatically credited with the units your purchased.

Get started now by visiting http://www.5starsmsng.com

There is solution. I had the same problem but found a
way round it. i won't go into details why this happens.
Yahoo! sucks these days, I'll advise you do mail forwarding
to your gmail. Coz no one knows when they'll mess up completely.

THE SOLUTION: Simply login using your Yahoo! messenger.
When you login, click on the Yahoo Mail Icon (the one that
looks like an envelope) located at far right (the 4th menu
bar from top).

You'll be prompted whether to sign in automatically to your
yahoo mail anytime you click on any yahoo services. Click
on yes, and it will take you to your mail.

Pls let me know when you succeed in ,loging in.

Edwin

This is announcing www.5starsmsng.com's END-OF-THE-YEAR PROMO!

Buy ANY AMOUNT of BULK SMS at 95 kobo!

Offer ends on midnight, Friday, December 21st, 2012.

You can securely pay with your ATM card or use the bank.

Vouchers available at Winners Cafe: 7 Oriyomi Street,
Off Kodeshoh Street, Ikeja, Lagos.

This is to appreciate all our customers for keeping faith
with us as we build Nigeria's most friendly bulk SMS service.

Take advantage of this offer NOW!

First 20 people to respond will receive a surprise FREE GIFT!

For more info, pls visit www.5starsmsng.com

Thank you.

People are funny and interesting. I say this because, recently, while conducting a research on the bulk sms industry in Nigeria, I discovered that a high number of Nigerians search for the key term: “cheapest bulk sms service in Nigeria.” Heck, some people even want it completely FREE!

So, I ask, “Isn’t bulk sms already cheap enough in Nigeria?”

Hey, let’s consider it… the price ranges from like 80 kobo to N2.

** Isn't this cheap enough to earn a customer’s eyeball?
** Isn't it dead cheap enough to acquire a new customer?

Compare it to the CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) of customers from other traffic sources and you’ll see that bulk sms is dead cheap! Yet, people still search for cheap bulk sms, as if we have expensive bulk sms services.

As a result of this, bulk sms service providers in Nigeria weave a lot of sales gimmickry to entice customers to use their service.

Some will advertise a very cheap price only to reveal later on in their website that customers have to buy high volume to qualify for that low price. Some even double-charge their users when they send bulk sms without letting them know.

Does it have to be this way? Let me know what you think…

It’s Edwin. You catch me on http://www.5starsmsng.com

As I write this, if you search for “bulk sms service in Nigeria” in Google, it will return thousands of result. Needless to say, it’s not practical (within the timeframe you have to make a decision) for you to visit and review all these sites before you settle for the bulk sms service of your choice. It will literally take many hours.

While there are several important things to consider before you reach a decision, the last and important thing you should do before you pitch your tent with any bulk sms website is to test to confirm their delivery, among other things.

How do you test?

Most bulk SMS sites offer free SMS units to test their service, all you have to do is register to use that credit. But the problem is that most sites give from between one to three free sms – which is not enough to test what you need to test like delivery, long sms, network coverage, speed of delivery, and so on.

There are sites that offer 5, 10, and even more free SMS units for test. 5star SMS Nigeria gives you 10 FREE SMS units to test adequately. Now, I’ve seen some sites advertise 20 free sms units to test (clearly, they want to win cheap customers and not necessarily to prove their claim of delivery and its speed thereof).

Does that mean you should go hunting for bulk SMS sites that offer 10, 20 free sms units? No, that’s not advisable. And definitely not my point.
So, should you go for the ones that offer from one to three free sms units? No, either. That’s NOT my point. You should look at other factors like customer service, payment options, simplicity, and so on in addition to testing. Testing is just the last step.

And let me say this (very important), just because some bulk sms websites offer from one to three free sms units for testing doesn’t make them a bad bulk SMS service. They’re just trying to prevent abuse and “cover their ass.” At 5star SMS, we’ve had people sign up and use our free units to send scam messages instead of using it for what it was intended for.

That’s human beings for you. But that won’t stop us from doing what’s right – offering you and our other prospects adequate units to test run our bulk sms service so you can reach a smart decision.

So, here’s what we are talking about in summary… Before you choose any bulk SMS service in Nigeria, ensure you test them. Because it’s one thing to make claims, it’s entirely something else to prove the claims. Good luck! For more bulk sms articles, sms marketing tips, and bulk sms testing visit http://www.5starsmsng.com

I recommend 5star SMS located at http://www.5starsmsng.com.

They have great customer service and automatic ATM card recharge,
they even give away a very practical sms marketing ebook for free.

If you own or run a business of any kind and you're not taking advantage of bulk SMS to promote your products and services, then you're leaving a lot of money on the table. Here are seven compelling reasons why you should start using bulk SMS as part of your marketing campaign as soon as now!

1. It's a certain attention-grabber- In the overcommunicated world we now find ourselves, attention is a scarce commodity and it is highly coveted by marketers. Businesses that are prosperous are the ones that have the eyeballs of their customers and potential customers. And they usually pay for it through the nose.

But, today, it doesn't have to be that way – thanks to bulk SMS that helps you get the attention of your targeted audience… cheaply and certainly. People simply cannot stand the sound of a ringing phone – they always feel they must check it out. It works on the natural human curiosity. In fact, the ringing phone is said to be the most powerful sound in the world! And people always carry their phones with them everywhere they go… even when going to toilet!

Now, that's just the beginning…

2. It's guaranteed to be read- Today, many businesses are unwittingly engaged in what world-renowned Internet marketer, Mark Joyner, calls "Deadly Ground battles." In military warfare, "a Deadly Ground battle occurs when two forces meet and there is no escape route for either. It becomes a pure fight-or-die battle… and there can only be one winner."

Many businesses fight this kind of battle with their customers and potential customers – a battle they are always certain to lose because consumers can decide to ignore marketers' adverts without any risk to the consumer. But with bulk SMS, it's practically impossible to ignore text messages without reading them first.

Phone calls can be ignored, TV ads can be skipped, newspaper ads can be jettisoned, online banner ads can be dismissed, but bulk SMS can't be ignored just like that. A well-circulated statistics has it that 95% of all text messages are read within 15 minutes! If that's true, then it's relatively huge.

3. It can be automated- If you're in any kind of business, you'll attest to the fact that there are many sides to a business and a hundred and one things to do… yet so little time to do them. That's why the amount of abandoned business projects boggles the mind to consider.

Bulk SMS can help you free up your time because it can be automated. All you do is set it up and take a walk… and it would do your bidding! It can follow up on your prospect in a personalized way and help you get that much needed sale.

4. It's highly responsive -Statistics abound that 20% of people respond to text messages. But that does little to help us grasp the real thing, because other variables like message effectiveness and quality of list also play critical roles in determining the overall effectiveness of SMS marketing campaigns.

Personally speaking, when I organized a national seminar sometime ago, bulk SMS outdid all other marketing approaches put together in terms of responsiveness. No wonder Internet marketing guru, Joel Comm, describes the mobile channel as the most profitable marketing channel in the world!

5. It's immediate -When do you want your prospects to see your marketing message? Do you want them to see it by 12 noon today? Send it then and they'll see it exactly at that time, other factors being equal. No delay. No waiting. No "traffic jam."

That's like other marketing methods like TV and radio ads, newspaper and Internet ads. If people don't go online or read newspaper, they certainly WON'T see your ad; if they don't watch TV or listen to radio, your advert will NOT ring a bell in their ears.

6. It's cheap, very cheap indeed - In business, an extremely critical metric is your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). Your CPA is all the marketing expenses spent to win a customer. When you calculate this per your advertising method, then you'll have an idea as to how expensive it is to win a new customer. But compared to other marketing methods, the differences in CPA from bulk SMS is amazingly unbelievable! One page SMS cost as low as $0.005 depending on the volume you're buying and the company you're buying it from.

7. It's integrative -When all is said, it is absolutely critical to note that bulk SMS doesn't exist in a vacuum in and of itself. For its enormous potential to be harnessed, it has to be integrated with other marketing approaches like phone calls, email marketing, websites, pay per click ads, and so on. And it goes without saying that your marketing approaches also depend on the kind of product you're selling and what your marketing objectives are. But what we're actually talking about here is that bulk SMS naturally lends itself to integration… nicely and cheaply.

Are you still dilly-dallying, dragging your foot as to whether you should use bulk SMS in your business? You'd better jump on the bandwagon NOW in order to reap its enormous rewards. Remember: If you're not using bulk SMS, your competitors are using it and they are ever ready to show you the way out of business!

Article Source: http://www.5starsmsng.com

To be successful in your sms marketing campaigns, nothing is to be trusted to chance. You must know what you’re doing or else you’ll end up washing a lot of money down the drain. It is because of this that you must know the best time to send out your marketing SMS.

This, of course, gives rise to the important question: When is the best time to send a promotional SMS? Morning, noon, or night? Even more important, what day of the week? Read on to discover the commonsense answer…

Answer: There’s no clever, clear-cut, one-size-fits-all answer to this important question because prospects behaviours are NOT the same across industries and cultures. Even in an industry, one category of prospects might respond differently to an SMS sent on Wednesday afternoon. Still, another category within that industry might respond in an entirely opposite way.

Heck, at times, how your prospects and customers respond depend on the kind of product you’re selling.
Listen, the only way on earth to know the best time to send your marketing SMS is to TEST. And test, and test, and test continuously until you get a “perfect” time.

Yes, you heard me right, TEST, TEST, TEST! I can’t harp on that enough. Test sending your SMS in the morning and observe how your prospects respond. Test in the afternoon, and test at night. Test for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I had to get specific there so that you’d get my point.

In fact, you’ll even want to test this across traffic sources to lock in your target. By traffic sources, I mean how you won the customers you’re sending the bulk SMS to: Google AdWords, Joint Venture, affiliates, Google organic search, referrals, and so on.

And let me warn you very sternly: Refuse to listen to any “gooroo” who says Monday afternoon is the best time to send your marketing SMS. Anyone can say that, but what anyone cannot do is prove it.

So the answer to the question: When is the best time to send a marketing SMS is TEST TO DISCOVER IT. It’s as simple as that.
For more SMS marketing articles, visit 5star SMS blog located at http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog and to send bulk SMS in Nigeria, check out http://www.5starsmsng.com