Today, I had a very interesting call with a friend. This friend has a way of turning everything he is involved in, into a major money-maker. I mean MAJOR money-maker. He is one of those people who simply has a natural sense for trends and especially, trends that translate into massive business - and financial - success.

I have realized for some time that the traditional "email opt-in list" was floating off into oblivion.  As more and more people became more vocal (and litigious) about the abuse of this practice by  unscrupulous spammers, it became clearer and clearer that it was only a matter of time before it would either no longer work and/or no longer be legal. The same way telemarketing died away in terms of a valid marketing practice (for the most part) with the advent of
the "do not call list".

Yet, even while I recognized this was coming, as a professional marketer, this fore-knowledge really stressed me out.  I have long specialized in - and relied heavily upon - internet strategies to maintain consistent and regular communication of some sort with prospects and customers of my own. For the past couple of years, the email opt-in was the preferred and most efficient means of execution. So much so that a phrase heard over and over again in my circles was, "...the money is in the list."

Consequently, I always made this one of the first things I advised my consulting clients to implement as well as part of an online marketing plan. I pretty much told them the biggest mistake they could make was not capturing the email information of everyone their business touched and integrating this information into some sort of automated follow up system (called an "autoresponder"). After all, in this manner, you can stay "top of mind" and even use follow up emails to upsell and cross-sell to your list as well. Generally speaking, the bigger the list, the more money a company could make over and over again.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still believe that.

I'm just not sure email is the best way to do it anymore. At least, not as the sole means of list building and communication. Combine the hesitancy of people to even give this information with deliverability issues due to SPAM filters, and you can't ever even be sure your message(s) is/are going anywhere at all.

So, what is the answer?

Well, that's where the conversation with my friend comes in... He is on the cusp of launching a new company that takes the "tried-and-true opt-in practice" and moves it into a medium that is exploding like gangbusters...the SMS text.

Yes, this is already "out there" in the form of other companies, but the way they are going to execute this technology is going to blow everyone away.  I can't say too much yet but suffice it to say, I think this company will turn the business world on its head, ears, eyes, etc. In other words...topsy-turvy. When this company launches next week, "opt-in list marketing" will never be the same.

Just as a small hint...

Imagine you own "Bill's Taco Shop". Let's say you put, "Text Bill's Tacos to 55555 for weekly coupons and special offers" on all your menus, your receipts, posters around your restaurant, etc. So, let's say you have 500 customers in your list. One Wednesday night your restaurant is incredibly slow. You look around and decide to take action. In one swift move, you send a blast to your list that everyone who comes in that night and shows their text from you gets a free taco or cheese dip or whatever... Do you think that might speed up your Wednesday night? Of course, it would.

And that's only one small way this technology will be able to be used.

What if you were a lawyer and someone was able to tell you they had the ability to put you into their database so that when any of their 1,000,000 subscribers- who had at some point asked for "legal tips" - wanted a lawyer in your area, they would instantly get your contact information right on their phone?

And now...

What if you never had to carry a business card ever again? What if you could tell someone who asked for your card. to text your name to a very-easy-to-remember 5-digit number (Hint: This company is going to be using a 5-digit text branding code that is the most popular and well-known 5-digit number in the country)?  Then, the minute they did that, they would get a personal "autoresponder-style" text back from you? Then, they would continue to get periodic texts from you - that you set up in advance - on regular intervals. Talk about "networking" and staying "top of mind" on steroids!

Still... just the tip of the iceberg. The point is...this is going to be HUGE. I hope you "get it". I know I do. So much so that i decided to drive five hours away, early next week, to learn more about how I can quickly offer these services to my clients. Stay tuned. You'll be the first to get more details when I do!

Check out this company on: http://www.facebook.com/#!/iZiggMobile
or www.iziggblog.com.