Email Marketing
How Often Should You Email Your List?

Is there a right or wrong way on how often should you email your list? We all know that your list should be treated as if it is a goldmine. Think about it. How would you react if you were bombarded with emails that provided no real value with the sole purpose of getting you to buy something?
Would you say that once a week or month is enough. You certainly do not want to inundate your subscribers with too much information, but at the same time you do not want them to forget about you either.
Why It is So Important To Frequently Send Emails

If you get it wrong when sending your emails, you could border on being annoying, in which case your subscribers will unsubscribe from your list. On the other hand, if you communicate often enough at just the right times and frequency, you have a better chance of making more money than the average marketer.
Some marketers recommend that you stay in touch by sending your list a weekly newsletter. While others say twice a week is not a bad idea as an absolute minimum.
When would it be considered as wrong to send out scheduled emails? Randomly sending out emails is not such a good idea. Say, you send emails 3 times per day over a 4 day period, then you decide to send out 2 per day for a week.
If you carefully consider what is needed to foster a positive relationship between you and your subscribers, once a day would be regarded as a good start. Provided you share very useful information in the form of free videos, mini reports or something that has real meaning in their lives. It must be new, exciting and content that has not been shared previously.
When you establish frequent contact you will start accomplishing some important factors that are needed to grow your business, such as:
- Strengthen your authority in the Niche that you are in
- Establish credibility and trust with your readers
- Demonstrate that you are here to stay
- Increase your chances of being foremost in the mind of your subscribers when it comes to purchasing your offer
- Fully showcase the benefits of making use of your products or services
Most importantly, when looking for an answer on how often should you email your list, you should bear in mind that your subscribers should be treated like family. This can be done by sending them an email where you simply state how much you appreciate them, then give them valuable information that will make a difference to their lives. All this without any strings attached.
Things To Avoid When Sending Emails

Do not shove all kinds of marketing messages in the face of your subscribers to try and twist their arms into buying this or the other from you. Unless, of course, you do it in a tasteful manner where they get to realize the value in owning a particular product you have.
Some marketers go all out to promote anything and everything for the sake of making money. Avoid doing this. Send emails that focus on useful information and list sources that will add value to the life of your subscribers. Never think that you are bothering your readers if you have something of value to share with them.
Should You Broadcast Messages Or Send Autoresponders?

If you intend making a special announcement, then a broadcast message as a one off email would be ideal. On the other hand autoresponders make the lives of internet marketers so much easier.
Which one of the two would be better to use?
There is no right or wrong answer in this regard. Below are a couple of guidelines to help you along:
Broadcast messages – If you are a very organized individual who are able to send broadcast messages consistently on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, then this would the way to go.
Autoresponders – Most people and business owners already live a very hectic life, and would therefore prefer making use of autoresponders. This way you can keep in touch with your prospects for months if not years. All this without even being there. All that is required of you is to do the work once, then set and forget about it.
The only problem is that too much automation can become impersonal to the point where people do not feel valued. It won’t be a bad idea to relate a story to your subscribers every now and again. You should mix it up a little. Make use of an autoresponder, but also broadcast something of importance every now and again.
For instance, on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday you could set your autoresponder to do its thing. Make a point of personalizing your messages on all the other days, which would include making use of broadcast messages.
Your subscribers will see you as a real person and not think they are dealing with a robot. This is the kind of approach that is highly recommended.
Test it by taking a closer look at how often your mails get opened, etc. If you experience too many unsubscribes, then it is a sure indication that you are overdoing it. Close monitoring is the key to your success.
7 Email Subject Lines To Increase Your Open Rates

Your email’s subject line is the gatekeeper of your email campaign. When you invest hours of work into getting the segmentation right and nailing the email copy, you absolutely want your email to get read!
The average person gets dozens of emails every day – and this may include coupons, newsletters, social media notifications, password resets, lead nurturing emails, invitation to parties, and so on. It’s a lot of material to sift through, never mind open, and most people open the emails based on how effective the subject line is.
People’s inboxes are always full of messages so it’s all too easy for them to hit Delete without a second thought; yet email can be a powerful tool when used to market your business. Subject lines that convey a sense of urgency tend to have higher open rates than say, those that offer freebies, and the use of first names has been found to increase the open rate by a small margin.
But there’s a lot more to subject lines than first names, and knowing which factors affect open rates can help you draft effective emails. Here’s a quick guide to get you started:
1. Localize And Personalize

You’ve probably come across basic personalization in email marketing- “Hey John, would you like..” It’s pretty common nowadays and perhaps a little overused but that does not mean you shouldn’t personalize your subject lines. You get a better effect when you use customer attributes and actions to tailor your emails. Remember the following:
- Use first and last name
- Modify the subject line based on the recipient’s location
- Mention their actions on the website- favorite features, what they’ve been up to, etc
- Clothing stores are very specific to gender when highlighting products
2. Be Very Specific

Whether you’re sending notifications or direct updates, you need to be clear about each campaign and your objectives. However, being upfront doesn’t necessarily mean revealing everything the email is about, but assuming you’re targeting specific segments, then you need to point that out in the subject line.
It might sound counter-productive to let people know why you’re sending them emails but it’s actually the best way to get their attention and get click-throughs.
3. Take Time To Build Momentum

Auto-responders are very effective at sustaining a life-cycle email marketing campaign. The series makes it easier for you to present yourself to the recipients and allow you to build momentum, because you shouldn’t just email people out of nowhere.
Informative subject lines can be used in a series to build momentum and increase your email conversions but unfortunately most businesses send less emails than they could for fear of annoying their recipients. If the emails are relevant and helpful, you shouldn’t worry about annoying the readers.
4. Test Everything!

You may have read that short subject lines are more effective at boosting opens: it’s one of the many marketing quotes thrown around but the truth is you can never be sure how true that is for your own audience. Subject lines are relative to your audience and there really isn’t any hard rule when it comes to length.
To give you a better picture of what works in subject lines, here is a compilation of 7 email subject lines people went crazy about:
1. ” Hey”
When handling inbound marketing, simple subject lines have the best results. This particular example is not about a smart or short subject line, but rather the effective combination of casual personalization and the sender name paring- for instance if you received an email from the president with this subject line, you’d be curious to find out what he has to say.
You may also try paring a goofy mascot with a serious subject line.
2. “As You Wish”
Learn what makes your audience tick and employ a few psych principles to get their complete attention. For instance, this subject line was taken from a movie, The Princess Bride, and UncommonGoods used it on their buyers for a more personalized effect.
3. “Where to Drink Beer Right Now”
Okay, so not everybody loves beer, but imagine receiving this in your inbox at 18:45 on a Wednesday night? I mean, think about it: you’ve been holding it together since Monday and now you need to decompress with a few of your buddies before the weekend gets here; and then you get a notification just as you’re about to head out and it says “Where to Drink Beer Right Now”.
The timing alone makes this subject line a winner.
4. “Not Cool, Guys”
We’re not all equipped to be snarky writers but you can play around with the subject line and find a way to make it stand out.
5. “You’re Missing out”
You may have heard about FOMO, an acronym for fear of missing out; which is actually a big deal now in our interconnected society. Naturally, people don’t like to miss out on things, and a smart marketer will exploit this vanity by initiating an effective marketing campaign.
6. “DO NOT Commit These Facebook Atrocities”
No matter how reserved or down-to-earth you are, nobody likes to do things wrong.
This line spells out “DO NOT” using full caps for effect, so that way readers will notice the message in their inbox.
7. “What Can You Afford?”
This is an interesting and somewhat encouraging angle; showing your audience a bunch of products that are RIGHT on their budget. Its also kind of competitive, your audience pitting cash against what’s available on the market.
You needn’t be a psychologist to play this game; just pay attention and you’ll see a number of opportunities. Remember principles such as scarcity, urgency and social proof, and see how they boost your conversion rates.
How To Create The Most Powerful Lead Magnet

Everyone probably knows the power of giving away something for free to encourage visitors to give you their email address.
But your lead magnet has to be a real no-brainer offer as people are more suspicious and untrusting than ever as they are constantly being bombarded with marketing from all angles and your free gift has to be incredibly valuable and, more importantly, useful, if they are going to be tempted to part with their valuable email address.
I’m going to use the online marketing niche as our example to explain this technique, but keep in mind this could work equally well in other niches, too.
For example, a bride-to-be has an acne outbreak the day before her wedding – what wouldn’t she do to fix her problem?
A woman is in immediate danger of losing her job – what wouldn’t she do to convince her boss not to fire her?
Parents are losing their child to alcohol – what wouldn’t they do to save their child?
Pay Attention!

Their need is great and immediate. Do you think they might pay to find the solution? Of course. Do you think they would enter their email address into an opt-in form to get the solution? You bet they would!
For example, Google just changed how they rank websites, and now thousands of online marketers are losing tons of money. Think they might like the solution?
Paypal is suddenly seizing accounts without warning and freezing the funds. Would the account owners like an answer on how to unfreeze their accounts? Would everyone else like to know how NOT to get their accounts frozen? You bet.
Facebook just changed (fill in the blank) and now marketers are unable to (fill in the blank) or maybe they’re banned, or…
Aweber just did the unthinkable, and marketers everywhere are freaking out.
XYZ hosting site just got hacked, big time. Websites are down and backups are missing – what to do?
The list goes on and on. Keep tabs on the forums and you’ll find a new crisis every month and often every week.
Offer The Latest Solution

As you’ve probably already guessed, your lead magnet is going to offer the solution to the latest marketing crisis.
Just imagine how fast marketers will give you their email address when you have the answer they desperately want NOW.
Good old-fashioned research, that’s how.
Go to the help sections of the websites involved in the latest crisis and find out everything you can.
If possible, call the website and ask all the questions you need to ask.
Hit the chatrooms and forums and glean all the helpful info that is available. If you find an expert who knows what s/he’s talking about, do a quick phone interview.
Act Fast

Timing is everything on this, and you have got to act fast.
If the crisis hits on Monday, ideally you want your lead magnet up no later than Tuesday to take full advantage of the tsunami of new leads you’re going to get.
The trusted expert and authority, that’s who.
Do you think people will open and read your future emails? You bet your life they will.
Spread Your Net Wisely!

Now here’s the trick to getting your squeeze page in front of as many of these marketers as possible:
Outsource people to search out forums and threads where marketers are talking about this problem. If someone is looking for help, that’s where you want a link to your solution.
Have your outsourcers post a link to your squeeze page offering them the answer they seek.
Yes, it’s that easy.
Not bad, right?
Oftentimes that thread and even your post offering your lead magnet will end up on page one of Google for that particular search.
Not bad, right?
And here’s the best part – your opt-in rate will be sky high. It will almost certainly top any squeeze page you currently have.
One more thing – if you want to take this just one step further, it can blow wide open.
Get On Record!

Get podcasters to interview you and do guest posts on as many blogs as possible.
Think about it – this problem is all over the online marketing community. What podcaster or blog owner doesn’t want to have someone with the solution to offer their listeners and readers?
Just one post on a major blog or podcast can result in a thousand subscribers in 48 hours.
This way you’ll be able to grab not only the marketers looking for a solution, but also everyone else who wants to avoid this headache.
Wealth loves speed. Now go find the latest crisis, research the solution and start building that list.
A side benefit of doing all this research is that you will always be on the cutting edge of whatever is going on in your niche and this is a great place to be.
Too many marketers rest on their laurels and regurgitate the same tired old tactics even though the marketplace has evolved and many of the tactics may no longer work, although the underlying strategy probably does.
Keeping yourself informed will help you to constantly be on the lookout for new trends in your niche and you can jump on these fast as you will become aware of them quickly, so don’t underestimate the power of being “in the know” as it can keep you way ahead of the competition.
Lead Magnets: 5 Steps To Creating A Desirable Lead Magnet

If you are new to online marketing, you may not know what a lead magnet is so let’s start there.
The idea is that once they have opted into your email list, you can then send them regular emails with tips and tricks and the occasional offer. You can read more about using autoresponders to send automated emails here and you can read this post about finding great lead magnet ideas.
So, how do you create a desirable lead magnet that your visitors will be unable to resist?
Well, follow these 5 quick steps and you’ll have a great lead magnet put together in no time at all.
1 – Know Your Audience

This is by far the most critical part of creating anything for your prospective visitors and buyers. You must know the audience you are trying to attract, and you must know them on a deep level.
A lead magnet is a highly targeted gift that solves one problem for your readers. Remember, less is more.
Your niche may have a number of sub-niches and you can create different lead magnets for each different sub-niche.
For example, you may be in the Internet Marketing / Online Business niche and you could develop a separate lead magnet for those interested in using blogging, Amazon Kindle, Ecommerce etc.
These are all types of online business but vary dramatically in what the audience needs.
You can create a generic lead magnet for “Online Business” but it won’t be nearly as successful as more specific, targeted lead magnets.
If you already have a website, listen to your readers. If you allow comments on your posts, what are they saying? Any questions you see are potential lead magnets.
Browse forum boards in your niche to see the kinds of questions people are asking for more insights into the problems your readers are encountering.
OK, so you know your audience and what their problem is. Onto step 2.
2 – Brainstorm Lead Magnet Ideas

Now you have an idea as to what problem your lead magnet is going to solve, it’s time to get creative.
DO a brain dump and get everything out of your head. Nothing is off limits at this point as you will go through everything later and discard what you don’t need.
The important thing here is to always have in mind the research you carried out in step 1.
It can be very easy to go down the wrong route and to start creating a lead magnet that you think your readers want.
If you find yourself doing this; STOP.
You already know what your readers want so just give it to them.
Go through your brain dump, get rid of what you don’t want, and then start to think about what type of lead magnet you want to create which moves onto the next step.
3 – What Type Of Lead Magnet Will You Create?

OK, you’re really moving now!
You’ve done your research and got a seed of an idea for your gift which will be irresistible to your visitors.
Are you creating a “how-to” type gift? If so, this may work well as a quick tutorial type video, unless your niche tends to dislike video (although this is rare nowadays)
Are you creating a checklist, tool list or resource guide? If so, then a simple pdf report may be best.
Are you creating a motivational type of gift? Then perhaps an audio would work best.
Once you have decided on the format, now you can move onto the next step and actually start creating it.
4 – Create Your Lead Magnet

OK, now it’s time to put everything together and create your amazing free gift.
Research the topic fully and make your explanation as to how your readers can overcome the problem as simple as possible.
If you are writing a report, make sure it is easy to read with good use of headings, paragraphs, bullet points, graphics etc.
You can create great reports in MS Word or Pages and convert them to pdf’s, but if you want to take your reports up a notch, then consider looking into either Designrr or Sqribble to create eye-catching pdf reports.
If you are recording a video, you can use free or cheap screen recorders such as Screencast-o-matic and if you want to edit it, you can use something more powerful such as Camtasia.
If you want to record and edit audio, you can use a free tool called Audacity.
Once you have created your lead magnet, the final step is to get it live on the internet, so onto the final step.
5 – Upload And Automate

So, you now have your sexy new lead magnet. That’s great, but now you need to get it online so people can find it, opt-in and then download it.
Firstly, you’ll need to sign up to an autoresponder service such as Active Campaign or Aweber. You will use these to generate some code for an opt-in form, and, more importantly, to send automated emails to people who sign up for your free gift.
Once you have signed up to an autoresponder, go and create a form that people can fill in. This will then generate some code that you will need in a minute.
You may also want to create an email sequence to welcome your new subscribers.
Now you have your opt-in form code, you need to create a web page for people to visit to read about your free gift and to opt-in. This is normally called a squeeze page or landing page
There are many page builders out there, but I prefer Convertri or OptimizePress.
Choose a template and create your squeeze page. Keep it simple, perhaps an image of your gift and a few bullet points explaining what they’ll get.
Once you have designed it, you need to add the form code from your autoresponder to the page so there will actually be a form that they fill in with their details to get their gift.
The final part is to upload your free gift so they can download it after signing up.
You can upload it to your own website or use something like Amazon S3 which is incredibly cheap; in fact, you get the first year free.
Once you have uploaded your gift, you can add the link to it in your welcome email.
OK, there are the 5 steps you need to create a desirable lead magnet.
I know there are a number of technical moving parts involved in doing this, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
And here is a handy infographic that you can use as a reminder of the steps to follow.






