We all know that having your own list is the holy grail of online marketing and there are numerous articles on this site (such as here and here).
Once you have an email list, it is important to nurture it and provide value to your subscribers before bombarding them with offers.
There is no problem marketing to your list, but you must always have their best interests at heart and treat them the same way that you would want to be treated by a marketer.
Once you have built that rapport, feel free to offer appropriate affiliate offers that would benefit your readers.
And, hopefully you may also have your own products and services that you can put in front of them.
And this is also a way of launching a new product or even relaunching one of your previous products or services.
Let’s say you’re reopening a membership for a limited time, or you’re launching a product just for your list.
Okay, so you’ve got a product you’re going to be offering to your list for a limited time – let’s say three days.
After the three days, either the product is no longer available, or the price goes up.
Yes, there is nothing wrong with offering special deals to your own list on your own product. In fact, I think it’s a great idea, because people on your list should be rewarded with special deals no one else can get (hint hint!)
In this example you’re going to be sending out a total of 6 emails. Yes, you could do 5, or 7, or… but I’ve found this sequence works well, so it’s what I do. Your mileage may vary. 😊
I suggest you write all 6 of your emails ahead of time, and here’s why:
First, you can schedule them and forget them. Nice.
Second, you can see if the entire sequence flows and makes sense.
Your first email will go out the day BEFORE your launch, and it will say something like, “Watch your email tomorrow for a very special limited time offer for my subscribers ONLY. I think you’re going to love it!”
This first email is low key, short, fun, and only sells them on watching for the next email.
On the day of the launch, you’ll send out two emails, one first thing in the morning and one in the evening.
But if the sales page is lacking, then you can do product selling right there in the email.
The first email of the first day of the launch gives all the great reasons to buy, only abbreviated. I like my sales page to do the heavy lifting.
The second email of that first day tells them how the launch is going, how many people are buying… that sort of thing.
Yes, it’s written ahead of time, so yes, you now know one of my secrets – I’m guessing how well it will be going when I write it. 😊
On the next day you should send one email in the middle of the day to remind them that this offer isn’t going to last, and to remind them of the big benefit they’ll get from the product.
On the final day you should send two emails. The one in the morning says something like, “Last 24 hours.”
The one in the evening says, “Last chance, last email.”
The power of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is very strong in people so don’t underestimate it!
I’ve used this same sequence of 6 emails many times because it’s effective. It works. And it gives me plenty of sales which I can then show to affiliates to get them to come on board and do their own launches.
As mentioned earlier, I recommend you make a special offer that is available only to your own list, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a special price. It could mean a special bonus that only they get. That way your affiliates can offer it at the same price point to their lists, too.
One more thing: If you’re only working with a handful of affiliates, you can make a special page for each one that says, “Special deal for Jane Smith’s subscribers only.”
I’ve found that using this technique boosts conversions by about 10%, depending on the offer and the list.
The thing is to not do this kind of thing all the time or you may end up annoying your readers.
Some marketers do these sorts of “crush campaigns” all the time and it just causes the readers to get angry and unsubscribe and you then need to keep replenishing your list.
Isn’t it much better to actually nurture and help your readers to succeed? They will appreciate you so much more and you can then build a tribe of people who will follow you and buy repeatedly from you and this is the best way to do business as you are building a brand reputation.
By the way if you are interested in building your brand the right way, you can grab a free report called Brilliant Branding by clicking on the featured resource below. If you do download it, please read it and take action and good luck 😊
All marketers will know that building an email list should be your number one priority when starting out in any kind of online business. If you ask any marketer what they would do if they had to start again, most will invariably say that they would start to build their list from day one and wish they would’ve done this the first time around.
So, after you have started to build your list what then? Well, you email them on a regular basis with useful help, tips and advice. You should also try to entertain them and open up to them and show them the real you rather than a business persona.
This opening up builds the know, like and trust factor that will make them more likely to buy from you again and again.
The key is to be yourself and don’t try to fake it. They want to know about you and your perspective on things or they wouldn’t have signed up.
They want to know that you have their best interests at heart and that you don’t just think of them as a commission on a sale!
So, now you have an email list and have started to write to them; great.
The next question is, “How often should you email your list?”
Believe it or not, this is one of the most commonly asked questions regarding email marketing. Some marketers say that you should mail daily so that your list can get to know you.
You’ll be creating a habit where they look forward to your emails. This is true and there are several marketers who mail their list several times a day and make six figure earnings from email marketing.
So who is right? How often do you mail out?
The truth is that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. It depends on several factors ranging from the people on your list to the type of marketer that you want to be. We’ll look at a few tips below and they’ll shed light on how frequently you should mail.
The golden rule is that you should do unto others as you’d want others to do unto you. If you do not mind receiving several emails from marketers promoting products every single day, you’d probably have no qualms mailing your list daily or even several times a day.
However, if you prefer getting one email every 3 or 4 days from a marketer and daily emails seem like too much for you, you can choose to email every 3 or 4 days.
You’ll feel better about yourself… and this will reflect in your emails.
If several people on your list tell you that they prefer fewer emails, then mail less frequently. You must have a ‘feel’ for your list.
There are two types of marketers when it comes to email marketing. One type follows the ‘Churn and Burn’ method of email marketing.
Basically, they release products constantly and use traffic generation methods such as solo ads and paid ads to build their list.
They then hammer this list with emails promoting offer after offer after offer. This can be very effective and they may make thousands of dollars doing it.
The second type of marketer sends fewer emails to the list and he or she is more concerned about building a relationship and rapport with the list. The focus is on repeat customers and the long term value of the customer.
Their goal here is to build a business and not sacrifice long term profits for short term rewards.
Providing value and helping their list is put ahead of short term profits. They treat their subscribers as people and not cash cows.
Both methods are just as profitable… and ultimately, you should choose one that you’re comfortable with.
If you feel like you have something to sell to your subscriber that will be of value to them, cast aside your hesitation and mail away. Just make sure you exercise due diligence and check the product out first.
Never make the mistake of blindly promoting a product that you don’t have a clue about. Like they say, trust takes years to earn and seconds to break.
Curious subscribers will click on the links and you will make sales. So, even if your emails are purely helpful content, do find a way to add a link or two subtly within the email that could lead to sales. After all, you are a marketer and you do need an income to keep your business going.
At the end of the day, the best way to know how often you should email your list is to self-reflect on your business goals and to do what is comfortable for you. Monitor your email open rates, click through rates and unsubscribes. With these stats you’ll have all the information you need to figure out just how often your list wants to hear from you.
If you want to know more about building your list after they have opted in, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you’ve been around internet marketing for any length of time, I’m sure that you’ve heard the phrase “The money is in the list.” You might get weary of hearing it, but it’s smacking you in the face for a reason – it’s the truth! Actually the phrase should really be “The money is in the buyers list.”
First of all, let’s answer the question, “What is a list?”
A list in internet marketing terms is a database of contact information for your prospects. So if you have a product or promote products about gardening and I sign up for your list, I’m a prospect that you can market to repeatedly until I unsubscribe.
So why is building a list so important? Let’s say you start off as an affiliate marketer. You find a niche you truly enjoy and you start working what you’ve learned into some traffic for your affiliate links.
Over a period of 30 days, you funnel 5,000 prospects from the World Wide Web who are interested in your niche straight through your affiliate link to the product owner’s site.
They even buy – yea! You’ve made a 50% commission with a 2% conversion rate. That means 2 out of every 100 people you sent bought the product, and your share was $26.00 (as an example). You earned a cool $2,600 this month – good for you!
But you’re leaving money on the table. Those 100 people who bought from your 5,000 clicks? They’re now on the product owner’s list, not yours. So what they’re going to do is send them more offers over the coming weeks.
After all, they are proven buyers. Over the next 30 days, those buyers fork over some more money for products that complement the original one they bought. That money goes to the product owner, not you – because you passed on building a list the first time around.
Why should the product owner get to cash in on that person again and again when you’re the one who brought them the customer in the first place? Stake claim to each prospect and leverage your relationship with them for future sales and commissions.
You can have unlimited lists for different niches and send automated emails using a simple tool called an autoresponder, examples of which are Active Campaign or Aweber. Every day you can log in and see how many people have signed up, and you can create automated messages to send out to help convert your list into more sales.
If you want to learn more about autoresponders, you can read this article.
If you are serious about growing a successful online business, then you must make list building your main priority.
Even if you are an affiliate marketer like in the example mentioned above, there are ways to capture the prospects email address before sending them to the sales page.
You can do this by creating a free gift that the prospect opts-in (i.e. give up their email address) to receive. The trick here is to make the gift highly relevant to the affiliate offer.
Checklists, workbooks, case studies are such examples of good gifts, or “lead magnets” as they tend to be called.
Once you have your gift, you can create something called a squeeze page (sometimes called a bridge page in affiliate marketing) using your page builder of choice. If you use WordPress, I highly suggest OptimizePress and if you don’t use WordPress I would suggest Convertri.
When you are ready, you send your traffic to the squeeze page, the prospect opts in and is then sent to the affiliate offer.
This is a real win-win because you are building your list and you may also get some affiliate commissions if they decide to buy 👌
When you are a little more confident, you can try your hand at creating your own products and having affiliates send traffic to your offers. How amazing is that?
But whatever you do, you must ensure that you are actively list building all the time.
You also need to manage your lists proactively, and learn how to write compelling emails to get readers to open them and to take action on the contents.
Don’t just bombard your new subscribers with offer after offer. It is important to nurture your list and give huge amounts of value and helpful advice before asking them to buy even more stuff from you.
This is a major mistake that a lot of marketers make, especially in the internet marketing/make money online niches.
So, as you can see, list building is critical for the success and longevity of an online business. But it is also incredibly important that you nurture and manage your list once they have subscribed as it is much easier to convince a customer to buy from you again.
Write emails that help your subscribers and don’t be afraid to get a little personal and reveal things about yourself as this will only make them connect with you more, as you are not just another marketer, but a real person.
And remember that your email list is a source of free traffic, so look after it and it will be a source of income for you for years to come.
Your subscribers will expect you to sell to them so that isn’t a big issue, but don’t go for a hard sell every email. Always have their best interests in mind, rather than making a quick buck and they will reward you with their loyalty and custom.
And don’t email them too often! Some marketers email daily, others a few times per week or once a week. There is no right or wrong but you do need to email them regularly; once a week minimum or they may forget about you.
Some marketers can be very pushy and email multiple times per day, especially if they are promoting a product launch, but I personally think that is too much and too aggressive.
As I said earlier, you need to be managing your list and this includes removing people from your list who aren’t opening your emails as this can affect your delivery rates. And as long as you are continually trying to build your list, this shouldn’t be a big issue for you.
Just remember that your subscribers are real people with real problems that hopefully you can help them solve and you will do well.
So, go out and start building and nurturing your list today. 👍
