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30 Ideas to Email Your List When You're Stuck on What to Send

Email Marketing/ Marketing

30 Email Ideas to Send Your List When You’re Stuck on What to Write

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I’ll admit it…I often get stuck on email ideas to send to my subscriber lists, as well as email marketing ideas. It’s a challenge to come with an email marketing strategy that strikes the right balance of sending value frequently enough without overdoing it and annoying subscribers.

One solution I’ve set up here at WAHS is to have regular newsletter emails twice a week that includes jobs. While the jobs portion is easy to do, I still get stuck on  email ideas I can send and email marketing ideas, especially to my other lists that don’t have a set schedule.

I’m a concrete person who likes checklists and so I decided I’d create a list of email ideas that I can refer to it whenever I’m stuck. Here are 30 ideas on what you can email your list beyond your welcome email.

Email Ideas to Send Your List

  1. Breaking news
  2. New content (i.e. new blog post)
  3. Blog digest or round up of content
  4. Direct subscribers to oldie but goodie content on your blog
  5. Top or most popular posts of the week
  6. Anniversary or other significant events
  7. Seasonal content or specials
  8. Reminders
  9. Social media links
  10. Sneak peeks or behind the scenes
  11. Re-engagement emails (email to people on your list who haven’t opened an email in awhile)
  12. Sales/Discounts
  13. Freebies
  14. Video
  15. Feedback survey
  16. What I wish I knew then… (or my mistakes)
  17. Tools and resources
  18. Case study
  19. Testimonials
  20. Mythbuster
  21. Tutorial
  22. Motivational or inspirational story
  23. Q&A emails (respond to questions you get)
  24. Reviews
  25. Share other blog content you think will give value to your readers
  26. Books (i.e. what I’m reading now or top 5 books to read about…)
  27. A challenge
  28. Update on current projects
  29. Contest
  30. Quiz

Done-For-You Email and Templates

Want ideas or just a faster way to create your email? I love done-for-you content and PLR because it gives me a template and outline to work from. I have two resources that I use when I feel stuck on email.

Affiliate Marketing Master Swipe File: I grabbed this resource the minute I saw it because it not only gives you emails that you can use as your own, but also, it includes affiliate links. Just put your affiliate link in the email, and send to your list!! This resource was put together by Jim Daniels is one of the original Internet entrepreneurs. It’s only $17! It’s the best $17 I’ve spent this year.

Email Ramp has nearly 1000 emails (999 to be exact) that you can use in your email marketing. It includes a variety of email types including list nurturing, pre-launch, story telling, offers and more. Plus it has emails in a variety of areas including Internet marketing, beauty, self-help, health/weight loss, and more.

Do you have other ideas to email your list? Let us know in the comments below.

30 great ideas on what to email your list when you're stuck on what to send. Free download article to read and use later. #emailmarketing #emailideas #emailtipsClick To Tweet
Simple Email Marketing Tips for Big Profits

Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing/ Technology

Simple Email Marketing Tips for Big Profits

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If you’re overwhelmed by the idea of email marketing, here’s a straightforward tutorial on how to set up an email list to boost your online business income!

When I ask other online entrepreneurs about the one strategy they could never do without, their answer is nearly always email marketing. There is a reason successful Internet business owners say, “The list is gold.” But many beginning online entrepreneurs put off starting a list thinking it’s too expensive or hard. Not starting a list right away means leaving money on the table. Here are actionable steps and tips that you can start using to set up and build your email list today.

Setting Up Your Email Marketing List

To make the big bucks with email marketing, you have to have an email list. Here’s how to set up your list.

Choose a List Service

The first step to email marketing is getting a list service. There are many to choose from, and most can work for you, but before signing up for any service, you want to think about your needs now and in the future. Many bloggers have moved their lists to Convertkit, which does offer a lot of great features. However, I’ve decided to stay with Aweber because I can run many lists from one account. At Convertkit, you can segment your list into mini-lists, but they’re all part of one single large list. Because I have several online businesses, I need to have separate lists. Plus, I’ve found in the long run, as the list gets bigger, Aweber was a better price. With that said, if you need one list, Convertkit has some bells that whistles that are more easily done with it’s system than Aweber.

Aweber and Convertkit aren’t your only options, although they tend to be the two most popular. Mailchimp offers limited featured emails list service for free up to 2,000 subscribers. Other services include Constant Contact, GetResponse and MadMimi.

Here are a few things to consider when looking at an email service:

  1. Autoresponder: These are emails that automatically go out when someone subscribers.
  2. Email Blasts: These are emails you can send as needed, such as for a promo or weekly newsletter.
  3. List Segmentation: The better you can target your emails to what subscribers want, the higher your responses (and income) will be. List segmentation allows you to organize your list into sub-groups based on what form they subscribe through or links they click in your emails. You can attach email campaigns to these segments, that work like an autoresponder and send out email(s) automatically. You can email blast the segments too.
  4. Features: One of the benefits of Convertkit is the optin options for content upgrades (additional freebies offered on your website with email optin). Convertkit makes it really easy. Or you can use a service like Leadpages (check that it works with the email service provider you like). However, I’ve found a way to do the same with Aweber, including to have way to click and open a box with the email subscription form. There are other features you may want or need as well, so be sure to look at everything the email service provider offers to make sure it can meet your needs.
  5. Automatic blog updates: Some services will automatically email your new blog posts at a schedule you want (i.e. when it posts or once a week).
  6. Optin Options: I always stick with double optin (subscriber enters email to subscribe, and then has to confirm the subscription…2 optins) to protect from spam complaints, but if you need a single optin (subscriber gives email and is added to the list), check that the email service provider offers that.
  7. Integrations: Depending on the other tools you’re using online, you may need an email integration. For example, while ClickFunnels offers tools to build an emails list, I prefer to integrate my Aweber account with my ClickFunnel’s account.
  8. Reporting Tools: This tells you how many opens and clicks your emails receive, which can be helpful in understanding what makes the people on your list excited to get from you.
  9. Testing: This allows you to try out different aspects of your emails to see which deliver the best results.
  10. Support: The service should offer quality support either by online chat, phone or email, or all three.
  11. Training: Email is very powerful, but services are not always user-intuitive. Training and support documentation should be available so you can maximize the features of the service.
  12. Free Trial: Services that offer a free trial (most do), give you the change to try before you buy.
  13. Price: While free might sound appealing at first, if you’re serious about having an online income, you should consider the costs as your list grows. I’ve stuck with Aweber because whenever I compare features and price, it still offers me the most at the lowest expense.

I’ve been with Aweber forever, and while I’ve looked at other services, ultimately I’ve stayed with Aweber because it offers everything I need, allows me to run more than one list account, and has the best pricing for what it offers.

Once you sign up for a service, learn the ins and outs of it so you can start using it ASAP.

Set Up Your Emails

Most online entrepreneurs have at least one, but often more, emails that are automatically scheduled to go out when people subscribe. For example, WAHS has four emails that go out that cover things like welcome and sending a free report, information on how to find content on the site, tips for finding work at home and avoiding scams and more.

Here’s how to set up your autoresponder:

  1. Decide what emails and how often they’ll be sent. Remember, you can send email blasts as needed. Think of your autoresponder as delivering important tidbits all subscribers should know about you and your business that will help him get his problem solved. Also decide how fast they’ll go out. You want to have the emails sent in a fairly quick succession, but if there’s a lot of them, you may not want to do it daily. Instead, you can have the first email go out day 1, the second one day 2, the third one day 5, the fourth one day 7.
  2. Develop a free gift, lead magnet, to send in the first email when people subscribe (see How to Get Subscribers below). This can be a report, printable, checklist, video…whatever would have enough value to help a subscriber and entice him to subscribe.
  3. Decide if you’ll send regular text or HTML emails. Most service now make it easy to have color and graphics without knowing HTML. These  can make your emails look more appealing, but don’t put too many bells and whistles at it might get caught up in a spam or filter. Many email providers don’t automatically load pictures when people open their email either. Try to use the same color scheme as your website, and have a consistent template.
  4. Write your email(s). I write my in Word and then copy and paste them into my email service.
  5. Set up a schedule of ongoing emails (email blasts) such as a newsletter, monthly special offer, etc.

Create and Install Your Subscription Form

Once you’re email is set up, you need a way to get people on the list. Your list service will have tools for you to design a subscription form. In fact, you can usually have a variety of them depending on where they’ll go on your website. For example, you can have one that popups on your home page, a smaller one in your side bar, another one that appears at the end posts, etc.

  1. Use your services tools to create your optin form. Don’t ask your subscribers for too much information or they won’t want to subscriber. A name (so you can personalize the email) and an email address is enough.
  2. Copy the code the list service gives you and past it in the text editor of your website (note it should be in the text and not visual editor).
  3. If you’re using an integration, you can usually create a basic form because the 3rd party will have it’s own form. Then you simply use the 3rd party’s instructions to connect your list service to the 3rd party, and then select the list you want to connect to.

How to Get Subscribers to Your Email List

One of the best and most effective ways to encourage people to give you their name and email is to provide them with a valuable free offer. The goal is to give them something they feel will make their lives better or help them reach their goals. For example, here at WAHS, one of the things I give away is a list of companies that frequently hire. People who sign up and get the list can learn how to find a work-at-home job, but also start applying to work-at-home jobs right away. Here’s how to use a free offer, otherwise known as a lead magnet, to get subscribers:

Decide on Your Free Offer (lead magnet)

Deciding on a free offer can be hard. Not only do you need to figure out what to offer, but also, you need to decide how to deliver the information. You want to offer something enticing, but not give away all your secrets that the subscriber doesn’t want to buy from you.

Here are some tips to help you create your freebie:

  • What does your market want or need? Make a list. For example, many in my market want a work-at-home job.
  • Choose one topic from your market needs list and determine how you can solve it. For example, I can solve the need for WAH jobs by providing a list of legitimate jobs.
  • Decide on a medium to deliver your solution that works best for you and your market. Some of your options include a report, video, ecourse, blueprint, checklist, consult, etc.

For example, I know that many people coming to WAHS want a work-at-home job, but they have trouble finding legitimate companies. So I made a list of companies that frequently hire. In this case, a PDF with a link to the companies was the best delivery option. A cake decorator might offer a piping tutorial video. A virtual assistant might offer report on how businesses can save money by outsourcing. A life coach might offer a free assessment.

Setting Up Your Email to Deliver the Free Offer

Because this involves a little tech work, many people get nervous about setting up an email system. In reality, if you can upload files and copy/paste, you can set up your email system. Here are the steps:

  1. Upload your free offer to your website server, DropBox, Google Drive or whatever online storage you plan to use. If you use a service like DropBox or Google Drive, make sure you set your file so that it can be shared. For video, you can set up a private video on YouTube or Vimeo.
  2. Copy the link to your free offer and add it to the welcome email (first email) in your autoresponder.
  3. Test that your email system works. Enter your name and email into the form on your website. If you have double-optin, click the confirm in the confirmation email sent. If all goes well, right after that, the first autoreponsder email should arrive with the freebie. Check that the link to the free offer works in the email.

The beauty of email is that you can stay in touch with your subscribers so you can build trust and rapport. These people have raised their hands to say they’re interested in what you’ve got, which means they’re open to knowing more. The trick is to email them in a way that they find value in what you’re sending. If you send ad after ad, they’ll unsubscribe.

Beyond Your Free Offer

At first, just telling people they’d get updates was enough to have them subscribe. Then you had to offer a freebie (lead magnet) to entice them to join your list. And now, you can boost your subscribes through a content upgrade.

A content upgrade is basically another freebie you can give your list, but instead of being something that provides value related to your overall business topic, it adds value to a specific blog post or webpage. For example, on my blog post about the perfect blog post, I offer a free Perfect Blog Post Checklist. While the post provides all the information, in exchange for name and email, you can download a printable checklist to use when you write a blog post.

Like other freebie ideas, your content upgrade can be anything from a checklist, tools and resources list, printable/fillable worksheet, audio, video, etc. Since they can be time consuming to create, don’t feel you need one for every post. However, you might consider creating one for your most popular content, as well as a way to offer something new once a month or so.

Also, note that your content upgrade can be a way to segment and better target your list. For example, the Perfect Blog Post Checklist is part of my larger WAHS list, but people who subscribe through that form get a different email follow up sequence and are tagged as people who are interested in blogging. That way if I have something to special to say about blogging, I send the info just to those folks.

What to Email Your List

Your email is set up, now what?

If you haven’t already, consider adding additional follow up emails to your initial email with the freebie using the autoresponder option. For example, you might send a follow up a day after they get your freebie to make sure they got it and ask if they have questions about it. Here at WAHS, I send several emails that help subscribers learn the basics of working at home, as well as tips to finding what they need on the website.

However, you’re not limited to the autoresponder series you create. You can also send out an email at any time (called an email blast or broadcast). WAHS sends out at least 2 of these a week with WAH jobs, tips and more. Here are a few other things you can send out:

  • Your latest blog post. In Aweber, you can have the system automatically email your new blog posts when they go live or at a specified time. For example, you can send a list of all the week’s posts on Saturday a noon.
  • Tips or how-to’s to help your market. These emails show off your expertise and can provide value to readers.
  • Industry news. This shows you’re an expert to be trusted.
  • Sales or discounts exclusive to subscribers. My subscribers get WAHS courses at nearly 50% off simply for being a valued subscriber.While you don’t want to sell all the time, you can send an offer occasionally. In fact, the email offer is where many bloggers and other online entrepreneurs really make their money.
  • Give updates or behind the scenes view of what’s going on in your business.
  • Answer common questions found in groups and forums of your target market. Again, addressing the needs of your readers gives them value and builds their trust in you.
  • Do a reader survey or poll. This gives you feedback on what readers want.
  • Highlight a case study on one of your clients by sharing the results they had from working with you. This builds your credibility.
  • Interview someone in your industry. WAHS does this every Wednesday (success profile) and Friday (expert tips). It takes some of the work off you, while building your network of influencers.
  • Review tools, apps or software that will save your readers time and/or money. Again, many people will want to use what you use to achieve your results. You can even use an affiliate link as long as you disclose your affiliate relationship to your readers.

Need more ideas? Here are 30 ideas to email your list.

The ultimate goal with email marketing is to provide value to your readers, as well as establish trust and rapport. The more your readers like and trust you, the more open they’ll be to buying your products or services.

Easy, step-by-step instructions and tips for setting up an email list to boost your online income through email marketing. #marketingtips #emailmarketing Click To Tweet
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Expert Tips/ Success Stories

Work-At-Home Experts Share Their Favorite Email Marketing Strategies

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One of the most effective ways to market your business also is one of the most common causes of headaches for work-at-home entrepreneurs; email marketing. Most people have tons of questions about what to do and how to best use this form of marketing. When should I send out emails? How often is too often? What subject line to use? We all want to start off on the right foot, especially when it comes to gaining more exposure for our business. So, we asked our experts what they suggest. Here are our experts favorite email marketing strategies.

 Samantha R Strazanac

Strazanac Solutions

@strazsolutions

  1. Be human and add personality to your emails. Its about building a relationship.
  2. Use multiple links to the same page to increase changes people will click one of them
  3. Write as if you’re writing to a friend, its about earning the readers trust to continue reading your emails and acting upon them.

Sacha Ferrandi

Source Capital Funding, Inc.

@sourcecapital

Trigger Curiosity – When participating in an email marketing campaign intended to provoke an action, the subject line is one of your most valuable space of text real-estate, given it is a strong determiner of your emails click-through rate. Getting people to open your email is the first step to increase overall engagement.

An excellent way to help increase your click-through rate is to trigger curiosity.

By developing a sense of mystery, people are more inclined to click on your email simply to satisfy their curiosity. An easy way to do this is to use phrases like: “Find Out How…,” “How To…,” and “Discover How…,” without actually giving an answer or solution within the subject line. This tactic causes the user to start asking themselves questions and helps convince them that your email is where they can find the answers.

Although there are many studies proving that this tactic works, it is not one size fits all. A/B test several different subject lines on the same email and discover which version worked best for your desired target audience. Once you have found the best performing variation, you can then go back and adjust your email subject lines accordingly. The more people you get to open and read your email, the more engagement you are likely to receive.

Shay Paulson

MeritMedia

  1. Send between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. – this keeps your email from getting automatically deleted in the morning or evening “select all” route
  2. Send something of value to your list.  This could be tips about getting your house ready to sell, if you’re a realtor.  Or it could be a workbook or work sheet helping clients think through goals.  Give them reason to open and linger over your email.  If you’re emailing someone one-on-one about a job opportunity, be concise.  Tell them what of your interest in the first sentence. Ask them to tell you more about the job, and attach your resume.
  3. Tell them what they’re getting in the subject line.  Don’t go for click bait – that just damages credibility.  If you’re offering tips, say something like, “Get your house ready to sell with my top 5 tips”
  4. Also A/B split testing is great for subject lines as well.  You might try “Get your house ready to sell with my top 5 tips” and also “Selling your house? Here are my 5 free tips to help you prepare”

Lauren Pawell

Bixa Media

@bixamedia

  1. Resend your campaigns to subscribers who didn’t open them the first time around. Do this 5-7 days after the original campaign and use a different, but equally compelling subject line. This will give you a quick boost in open rate on all emails if you do this systematically.
  2. Prune your list regularly. Subscribers who don’t engage with your emails are just dead weight on your list, dragging down your deliverability. Have a system in place to clean up your list, at least once per quarter.
  3. Engage subscribers immediately after they join your list. In one of your first automated emails, ask a simple-to-answer question that begs a reply. Why? First, replies indicate to ESPs that your emails should be delivered to the inbox, not the spam folder. Second, subscribers who reply are likely to be better prospects.

 Jason Zigelbaum

JQBX

@jqbx_fm

  1. Point users to the content you want them to see first. Showcase your highest ROI links at the very top of the email and make sure you compress all your images so that the email loads fast when opened.
  2. Make it easy for users to unsubscribe. Add a link to the email the unsubscribes them from the list immediately. Don’t present the user with options when they click the link or else you risk getting reported as spam.
  3. Take full advantage of the Subject line and preheaders. Make your subject captivating and consider using emojis if they fit your demographic. Also take advantage of preheaders as another chance to motivate the user to engage with your email.

Don Sturgill

Donald S Sturgill Agency

@donsturgill​

  1. ​”Don’t be afraid to send email. Send it often.” Many business owners think once each month should be plenty — they don’t want to appear ‘pushy.’ Once per month is the minimum. Once per week is much better, and once each day isn’t too much. Just be sure to send pack your mail with value.
  2. Segment your mailing list and create special campaigns for each segment. An eCommerce store, for instance, might segment by product line and send special emails to those interested in gardening or those interested in clothing. How do you segment the list? Use the available info (prior orders and inquiries, for example) and track where the clicks go. Someone who consistently visits the gardening department goes in that segment. Someone who normally browses clothing goes there.
  3. Never forget the purpose of your email. It is not to sell something. It is to get the right people to click on the right link that takes them further down the road to placing an order. The purpose of the subject line is to get the email opened. The purpose of the copy in the email is to get the click. Period.

Brandon Stiles

Stiles, Johnson & Wayne

  1. Fight the fear of being “annoying” when following up with prospects- follow up at LEAST 4 times with a prospect. Unless it’s a “no”, it’s a “not yet”.
  2. Pay attention to your copy; remember, people buy off emotion, then justify that purchase later with logic. SO don’t focus on the features of your product or service- focus on the benefit your customer receives! This is all about psychology.
  3. Follow the “hut-hut-HIKE” method when emailing. Two setup emails (providing lots of value and education to your prospect.. Actually HELP them), THEN the “Hike!” where you call for the action- to buy or to sign up or something like that.

 Michael Doane

 CadmiumCD

@medoane

  1. To increase opens and click throughs, segment subscribers who didn’t open a given campaign, and resend the message to them with a note like: “Did you see this?” This can double your opens and click throughs, increasing your ROI on any given campaign.
  2. Be consistent. If subscribers know they’re going to get Monthly emails from you, they’re less likely to unsubscribe and more likely to consume your content.
  3. Don’t be a robot. Send emails that ask people to act. Ask a question and when you get a response, send a message back.

Deb Coman

 Deb Coman

@debcomanwriting

  1. Focus – Strip down the message and include only one call to action, once clickable link.
  2. Be real – Write conversationally, as if speaking in person to your target audience one at a time over a cup of coffee.
  3. Give value – Only email when you have something of value to your audience that will give them a result and help them solve a challenge.

Boni Satani

 Zestard Technologies

  1. Use of Plain Text Format for Emails- I personally prefer plain text email format since the prospects are mostly in for an actual personalized email experience. The open rates are usually higher since the prospect would feel it is coming from an actual person and not from an automated email generator. Friends do not send HTML mails. Replicate the same idea for your business.
  2.  Break your email content into sentences instead of paragraphs-People have incredibly short attention span while reading mails and tend to read stuff, which is easy to consume, precise and to the point. One should break the email content into sentences instead of paragraphs,making it easy for people to skim through the email and encourage to read further and take action.
  3. Send emails at around 7 AM or 2 PM- Emails dispatched early morning and the afternoon period tend to generate better results as per research reports. The emails tend to have higher open rates than emails sent during other time periods.
  4. Experiment with subject line for more open rates-I personally spend a lot of time in analyzing various email subject lines that work well with the intended audience. Sampling test audiences with different subject lines presents actionable benefits with nearly more open rates.
  5.  Send mails through a personal name-I have observed repeatedly that tend to open more emails if it’s sent through a name. Additionally, if it follows a particular format like this: Name from Company Name(Boni from Zestard), it gives the person an aligned business or domain inducing more trust from the reader than before.

 Brianna Valleskey

 Brave Ink

@bri_valleskey

  1. Only send your best content: People are bombarded with hundreds of emails daily basis. When you send an email, make sure it’s your absolutely best content, best quality and / or best offer. You want to make it worth someone’s time to open and read your email. The minute someone feels like you’re sending them junk, you’ll go right to their spam inbox.
  2. Send emails during down times: Send your emails at times when the majority of your recipients will be able to open them — later in the evening (8 or 9 p.m.) or even on weekend mornings. These are times when people most likely won’t be at work, but will have their mobile phones and get notified when your email arrives in their inbox.
  3. Spice up your emails with personalization: If you have any information about your subscribers (their first name or company name, for example) some email tools or marketing automation systems will allow you to insert that information into an email. Use someone’s name in a subject line to get their attention, for instance. If you don’t have any personal information, you can still get someone’s attention by addressing them directly, like saying “Your business matters.”

 Albert Kaufman

Albertideation
@albertideation

  1. Make sure all your contacts have a first name and that name is capitalized in your database
  2. Ask people for their birthdays when they sign up for your list – set up an autoresponder that sends them a birthday note every year!
  3. Try sending out at different times and track the results.  Try Saturday!  Marketing without measuring is not marketing!

 

Work-At-Home Success Expert Help: Email Marketing

Featured/ Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing

Work-At-Home Success Expert Help: Email Marketing

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Every successful online entrepreneur I know has an email list. But like most tasks new online business owners are told they need to do, often there is little information on how to do it. You’re tweeting and pinning and emailing, but are you doing it right?

In this week’s “From the WAH Experts,” I ask successful online entrepreneurs how to use their email list to make money. What are they emailing? How often? What are their tips for successful email marketing. You’ll notice a few themes that include emailing value over offers and send information your subscribers want to know about.

Doyle Buehler, The Digital Delusion
Doyle Buehler

As you know, email marketing is a huge part of successful businesses online. Email can be used in many ways, but should be focused on the following key points:
1. Always deliver “value” – most businesses only send out a newsletter, filled with a lot of irrelevant information, how awesome you are, blah, blah, etc. Look at what the person receiving can actually DO with what you send. Are you delivering education and tips for how to solve your customer’s pain?
2. Life is not a perpetual promotion. While sales are important, not every email should be a discount. Give them something that is beyond “just another promotion”.

 

Gisela Hausmann

In general, the following rules apply:

a) Quality over quantity! Only send an email, when you have interesting content to offer. Once a customer has been “disappointed” by two or three emails with mediocre or run-of-the-mill content, he’ll learn to ignore your emails or, on a bad day, even unsubscribe.
b) Greet your subscribers and finish with a polite and friendly ending salutation! Getting to the point is great but leaving out these two elements is a mistake; greeting and ending salutation are expressions of respect.
c) Don’t write more than a screen-ful! Firstly, you want to “teach” your recipients that you offer short, intelligent, interesting information bytes, that your emails don’t drag on forever. Secondly, today many people read their emails on their smart phones, on their commute to work. Nobody appreciates reading long emails on a smart phone. If need be: Split the content in two or more emails or end on a call to action: “To learn more please call me at …”

 

Nick Brennan, Founder & CEO of Watch Social Media

Nick Brennan Watch Social Media

I’m a huge believer in high-quality, educational content, not sales material. Showcase your expertise by providing valuable information (blog entries, white papers, e-books, etc.) the people on your list are looking for and the sales inqueries will come in. I promise. Never email your list more than once in a 7 day window. That is a recipe for spam complaints and unsubscribes. Instead email biweekly with the kind of content mentioned above and you’ll remain top of mind when your email hits their inbox without being an annoyance.

As for scheduling, favor the Central and Eastern time zones as 80% of the U.S. population resides there.

 

Javed S. Khan, EMpression: A Marketing Services Company

The first and most importantly exercise anyone must engage is prior to executing any campaigns with their list is to establish segments. The stronger the segmentation of your list, the more effective and targeted your email marketing program will be. Over 38% of consumers have stated that they remove themselves from email lists because they find the communication irrelevant and annoying. Why? They are receiving content that is not relevant to THEM. Segmentation will solve this issue and help with how you can maximize the usage of your lists.

One of the best ways to maximize your list is to treat it as a “sounding board” or “advisory team”. It will save on guessing and focusing your efforts on what people want to see and hear.

Communicate weekly, bi-weekly or monthly social media activity reports with your list. Encourage them to join your social media community as part of your call to
action.

What do you send?
Speaking Engagement Announcements, Webinar Invitations, Networking Opportunities,
Video Content
Curate Content – 3rd party
Social Media Integration

How often do you email?
At least 1-3x per month

Nicole Royer, Start-Up with Nicole
Nicole Royer Start Up with Nicole

The biggest problem most newsletters have is that they don’t know what their audience wants. Most don’t want a weekly newsletter – they want a tangible solution to a problem they have. In order to do that for my audience, I constantly interact with them, check various sites for questions that people have about my area of expertise, and create resources based on problems my clients actually have. Every Friday morning, my mailing list receives a new business resource, workbook, downloadable, podcast, or blog post.  Another thing many businesses forget is that an email list is part of your sales pipeline – you have to ask to make a sale in order to make one, and a mailing list allows you to do this for people who actually trust you and your brand.

 

Nicole Krug, Social Light

Nicole Krug

Perhaps the reason why email marketing can be so daunting is because it’s very flexible – you can use it to show of new products, drive up videos views, or even get your community engaged with a new social media campaign. While each brand will have different needs, goals and content to share, what’s consistent for everyone is that email is a great way to stay connected and top of mind with your list.

If you’re new to email marketing, my advice is to start with a monthly mailer so that you can create regular content without anyone feeling overwhelmed (including you). Try including a few elements such as a featured product or service, an upcoming event or links to your latest blogs. After you’ve sent your campaign use the analytics to see what people clicked on, this is a great way to learn what people on your list are interested in (and what they’re not) so that you can build better content to keep your audience engaged over the long term.

Carrie Aulenbacher, Romance author/freelance writer for Fridge Magazine.
Carrie Aulenbacher

My favorite way to use my email list is to include an author video in each month’s edition. This is exclusive to subscribers a month before it goes live on my YouTube channel. Instead of sending a long newsletter with a huge block of text, I give them an easy to watch video with small sidebars of other tidbits instead. I try to send the last Monday of every month, although depending on holidays, that’s not set in stone.

 

Dean Levitt, Chief of Culture at Mad Mimi Email Marketing and Director of Online Support for GoDaddy Email Marketing
 Dean Levitt Mad Mimi Marketing

*1. How to use an email list:*
The most obvious way to use an email list is to simply stay in touch with your customers, readers and subscribers. A monthly newsletter, even if it is short and contains a simple update about your business or blog or service is a fantastic way to keep these people engaged.

Other ways you can use your email list are for:

  1. Automated Follow-ups – using email platform tools like auto-responders, you can automate a welcome email or a follow-up 1 week after purchase.
  2. Serialized Emails – In keeping with auto-responders, you can create a series of emails that can be used to onboard new customers, share chapters of a book or share a “greatest hits” of your blog.
  3. Surveys – Sure, you may need to add in a form or work with a survey tool like Survey Monkey but email is the best way to do customer research.
  4. RSS to Email – If you’re a blogger, using RSS to Email features in your email platform make it super easy to send blog updates automatically!

*2. What do you send?*
Every email should have an over-arching goal like “I want readers to visit my website” or “I’d like to sell this red shirt.” Once you’ve decided on the goal, keeping your email short, and focused on getting readers to take an action that achieves that goal is vital. A strong call to action, near the top of the email and a brief description of why the goal is of value to your readers will net you a strong response.

*3. How often to do you email?*
The ideal frequency depends on your content and what your subscribers prefer but if you’re unsure, some experimentation is needed.

Most businesses should send a monthly newsletter and then possibly increase frequency from there. With increased frequency you’ll notice an increase in unsubscribes and
lowered view rates but don’t panic. Add up your open rates over the entire month and if you’re reaching more people by increasing your frequency then that may be the right tactic for you.

Ed Brancheau, Goozleology SEO
ED M BRANCHEAU

Email is still the most affordable and effective method to contact current and potential clients (especially when it comes to B2B). One method that I
like to implement is tracking social media to see what people are talking about (I use BuzzSumo) and then I simply send an email about it. And I like to send emails randomly every 3-10 days to keep my readers on their toes.

 

Lauren Pawell, owner of Bixa Media a digital marketing agencythat helps entrepreneurs turn their WordPress & Shopify websites into revenue-generating powerhouses.
Lauren Pawell

1) Email autoresponder: This is a MUST for anyone who is engaging in email marketing. Why? It is automated, think “set it and forget it” and can increase your prospect customers knowledge about your brand and your product, encouraging them to buy. Think educational and go for 3-5 emails in this series. Focus on offering value to your new email subscriber.
2) Weekly campaigns: We send emails once per week, on Monday mornings. Any more than that and it would turn off our subscribers. We focus on providing useful and educational content that contains action items our readers can implement right away, without our help. We focus on this type of content approximately 80% of the time. 20% of the time we promote our services. Why? We believe if we can provide value to our email list, at no charge, and they know, like and trust us, when they do need help, we will be top of mind.
3) Tip: Not sure what content to send to your email list? Write down the 10 most frequently asked questions you get from your customers and turn each one into an email campaign. You’ll have 10!

Work-At-Home Success says…

Currently at Work-At-Home Success, emails go out on Tuesday and Fridays with information about current posts subscribers will want to read, notification of newsletter posting, and links to events and other great resources on the site. The thing I notice about emailing is that traffic goes up on the days I send an email. With increased traffic comes increased income, even if the the email doesn’t specifically make an offer. But of course, there is a balance. Too much email, and readers unsubscribe, especially if you email to many “buy me” offers.

Do You Need an Email List?

Affiliate Marketing/ Blogging/ Featured/ Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing/ New Posts/ Online Income

Do You Need an Email List?

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Yes, you need an email list. If you do business online (and every business should be online), you need to develop and nurture an email list. I know many people question this marketing strategy since social media has come along and created new ways to stay in touch with consumers. But nothing works quite as well as a mailing list. Think of it this way, social media is like walking into a party and announcing, “Hey everyone, I just put my product on sale for half off!” Many of the people in the room will give a thumbs up and some will buy. But an email list is like going directly up to an individual person, saying hello, giving some helpful bit of information with an “oh by the way, my product is 50% off”. Although email is sent in bulk, it has a direct, more intimate feel. And that’s how you want to treat your list (and social media friends). They are special because they’ve raised their hands and said, “Yes, I want to hear from you.”

As you peruse the Internet and hear from guru after guru about their secrets to online profit success, you need to keep in mind that in nearly all cases, their success comes from having an email list. Even the gurus that sell something saying you don’t need a list, will likely provide some sort of tutorial on how to create a list to maximize your success. Why is an email list the key to online success? Here’s why:

1) It reminds people that your business exists. There are a gazillion sites on the Internet. Thousands if not millions are in direct competition with you. Being able to periodically email people who have been to your site before allows you to remind them about you and bring them back to your site.

2) It allows you to build trust and rapport. Few consumers will buy on the first visit to your website. Even if you own a blog and don’t sell something directly, they are unlikely to click on an ad or affiliate link on the first visit. Why? Because they don’t know you. Through email contact you can share tips and information that allow consumers to learn about you and trust that what you have to offer is good.

3) You can strut your stuff. People go to the Internet for information. An email list allows you to disseminate information that proves you know what you’re talking about. It sets you up as an expert and helps build trust mentioned in number 2.

4) It increases sales. While you don’t want to send your list offer after offer, sending the occasional offer or including a link to an offer at the end of an informative email gives you a boost in sales. Your website or blog doesn’t need to do all the heavy lifting when you have a list. The people on your email list are more likely to buy because they know and trust you. If you say it’s a good deal and the offer meets the the need, many will buy.

The only marketing expense I have is the cost of using an email list management service (I use Aweber, but there are others). Many people skip list building because it is an expense (about $20 per month). But of all the expenses outside of web hosting, the email list management service will be the best money you spend. Once you have your list set up, make sure you promote it. Here are some tips:

1) Have a free offer to entice people to join your list. This can be a free report or mini-coaching.

2) Have a subscribe box on every page of your website or blog.

3) Have a sign up box on your Facebook Fan Page.

4) Every now and then, Tweet or post on Facebook about your free offer and encourage people to subscribe.

Once you have your list, treat your subscribers well. Share inside information, give helpful tips and provide great resources. An easy way to provide both content and offers is through a newsletter. Or you can use the blog feed feature of your email management to automatically email the list your blog posts for the week.

Just make sure you don’t email too often and don’t overdo the offers or subscribers will leave the list. Nearly everyone is overwhelmed by email and you don’t want to be one of those people who annoy more than help. That’s why good content is so important. You want your subscribers to feel the information you send is worth filling their inbox.

Nitty Gritty Ed

Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing

Don’t Be a Sally: Email Etiquette for WAH’s

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Guest Post from Jacqueline Myers

Let me tell you a story. I’m not proud of it, but here it is.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend and co-worker of mine and I were talking about some email correspondence we received from another employee where we work. This person is in a place of power within the college (yes, we work for a college, which makes it even worse), a director with many staff members under her.

My friend and I ended the conversation by bashing this individual, let’s call her Sally, solely based on her emails…you see, neither of us have ever laid eyes on her because we work remotely, in fact, in another state.

What in the world could be so terrible about Sally’s emails that we could think so poorly of her without knowing her? Oh, let me count the ways! She never proofreads, so her emails are full of typos and misspellings, not to mention grammar mistakes. She isn’t clear about what she is talking about or what action employees should take. She is forever sending out emails and forgetting the attachments. She uses insipid subject lines…shall I go on?

Why am I telling you this? Because we can all learn from Sally.

Even though we now see email as an informal way of communicating in our tech-savvy world, it isn’t…if you are using it to communicate with clients or potential clients.

Your emails are often the first impression you make in your at-home business. You may never meet a client face-to face. So the question is: what type of impression do you want to make? Ignoring standard business writing practices, simply because they are going out in email form, can mean doom for your bottom line.

So, before you hit “send,” go through this checklist to ensure you are putting a professional, intelligent, expert foot forward:

 Did you:

147Write a meaningful subject line?

Try including an action word or descriptor before the main heading to tell the person what to expect. For example: “Request: Invoice Update” or “Update: Meeting Time 10/22.” We all know what a jungle our inboxes can be. Try to imagine what subject line would be meaningful to that client.

147Proofread?

Take the time to read that email out loud very slowly to yourself to check for typos and awkward phrases—every time. If the email discusses a sensitive or emotional issue, consider writing it and then holding off on sending it for at least a few hours, then see if the tone is appropriate.

147Use professional language?

No matter what you are writing, you need to know your audience. Make sure to avoid slang or “text-speak” (OMG) with clients, unless you feel very comfortable with them, and they with you!

147Spell their name correctly?

This is especially important when you are making initial contact or writing cold call emails. Your well-written email offering a service they need may end up in their “trash” box if their name is spelled incorrectly. Names are important. It is worth the time to double-check the spelling.

147Remember the attachment?

I force myself to add the attachment before I write the body of the email. Once this became a habit, I never had to worry about looking like I wasn’t paying attention. Your clients want to know that they have your undivided attention. Do they?

147Double-check the date and time?

Remember our friend Sally? This is one that she screws up almost every time she sends out an “informative” email. I know when I get an email from her about an upcoming meeting that within an hour I will get a “cancellation” email, letting me know that she wants to cancel that last email. Then, she sends out another one with the (usually) correct information. I’m assuming you are as busy as I am, and that you don’t have time to deal with that. Neither do your clients.

About the Author: Ever wish you had your own, personal English teacher? Now you do! Jacqueline Myers is a college instructor, freelance writer and blogger. Her blog, www.nittygrittyenglish.com, is a fantastic place for WAH’s like you to get quick and correct writing and grammar tips to keep your business successful…even if you are UN-enthusiastic about writing! Learn more about her, her *free* resources and professional services by visiting her blog now!

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Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing/ New Posts/ Online Income

Traffic – The Vehicle to Online Success

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Many years ago, I was talking to a man about a business opportunity and he told me he was building a website that would work for him 24/7. He was a truck driver, so I’m sure the flexibility of an online business was appealing to him. But he seemed to believe that all he needed was a website. While a website is an important aspect to online success, having a website in and of itself doesn’t mean he’ll make money. I think this is where many would-be online entrepreneurs struggle. If you don’t let people know about your website, they can’t find it and therefore can’t buy from it.

Marketing is a scary term for some. But actually marketing doesn’t have to be obnoxious or hard. But it does need to be done every day. Here are some tips to marketing your online business.

1) Know your market. This is so important for effective and affordable marketing. Knowing your market helps you find the market and create marketing strategies that appeal to them.

2) Promote the solution. There’s a well-known marketing analogy about buying a drill. A guy needs to drill a hole to hang a picture in his home. He goes to hardware store #1, where the owner tells him about how many years he’s been in business and how his drills are souped up. Wanting to think it over, the guy goes to hardware store #2 where the business owner starts talking about a drill that creates a hole quickly and safely. They guy immediately buys from hardware store owner #2. Why? Because the guy didn’t need a drill, he needed a hole. That’s what hardware store owner sold – the solution to getting a hole. That’s what you want to do. Sell the solution. What does your product or service provide that BENEFITS the customer. Your market doesn’t care that much about how great you or your product/service is, they care about whether or not you can help them. Sure your greatness can provide credibility that you can solve a problem, but the solution is what you want to focus on.

3) Go where your market is. Splatter marketing where you run your promos in generic sources doesn’t work. Why? Because generic offers don’t appeal to consumers. I provide work-at-home information, but moms want to work at home for different reasons than baby-boomers. If I go to generic ad sources, I have to give generic offers. But if I go to moms and sell the ability to be home with children and if I go to baby boomers and sell the solution to surviving retirement, I’m going to have better results. It’s more effective and cheaper to place your marketing in niche sources.

Now that you understand what you need to know to create and distribute effective marketing, you need to develop strategies. There are tons of ways to market your site. Some work fantastic with some online entrepreneurs and not with others. You’ll need to test your materials, markets and strategies to find what works best for you. I’ve listed the most effective and affordable options.

1) Email list – You absolutely have to have an email list. Everyone I know who makes a living online has an email list. Most people who visit your site won’t buy and usually won’t be back again, unless you stay connected with them. An email list allows you to keep in touch, build rapport and credibility and bring them back to your website. The best way to build a list is to offer a freebie, such as a report in exchange for their name and email. Promote your list on all pages of your website and through your other marketing efforts. For example, you can mention your free report in your email signature line or through Twitter.

2) Article marketing – Sharing content with other websites gets your business in front of others in your market who may not have found you otherwise. Plus, the links back to your site in the bio section of the article increase your link popularity, which helps in search engine ranking. You can write articles and distribute through article directories and/or write unique articles to share with specific websites or blogs.

3) Search Engine Optimization – SEO is ever-changing and you can waste your life away trying to get high ranking on search engines. I know many online marketers that don’t pay much attention to SEO anymore. I don’t lose sleep over SEO, but since about 30% of my traffic comes from search engines, I don’t want to ignore it either. My tips are to have good page titles, keywords and descriptions for each page of your website. Use search engine friendly titles in your meta tags, and reader friendly titles in your articles.

4) PR – Getting press is one of the best ways I’ve found to generate traffic. I use a service called Help a Reporter Out where media sources look for people to interview. Through this service I’ve been interviewed for Redbook, Women’s World and more. Even if the media source is a smaller outlet like a blog or podcast, getting exposure puts me in front of people who may not have found me otherwise. The key to getting PR through HARO is to write a great pitch geared toward what the outlet wants. I occasionally post a request for experts for the podcast with specific instructions and I’m shocked at some of the responses I get that don’t give me what I need. When I pitch, I provide an opening paragraph about me and my accomplishments and in the second paragraph I respond to the pitch. You can send cold pitches out to local media, but I find I get the best results with HARO.

5) Social media – I’ll be honest, I don’t much like social media. I don’t mind it for connecting with friends and family, but it’s time consuming and often I feel ignored or overwhelmed. At the same time, social media is a great way to connect with your market. The key is to participate in the social networks your market is located. If your market doesn’t Tweet, you don’t need to be on Twitter. The other key is to not market all the time. Social media is social…that means two-way communication. So you need to comment and share in response to others.

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Auctions and eBay/ Marketing

How to use Email to Create a Lasting Relationships with Your eBay Customers

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eBay’s DSR scores or Detailed Seller Rating scores are important to anyone buying and selling on eBay. Buyers look at your DSR to determine whether or not to buy from you, so it is important as a seller to do your best to keep those DSR scores up.

Communication is one of eBay’s DSR score areas, and is also an essential part of buying and selling on eBay. It is especially important as the seller to have good open communication.
Guest Post by Jen Cangelosi

The first communication you have with a buyer is usually just after they have purchased an item from you. This first email can set up a good relationship, one that will ultimately win you future sales and repeat buys. You should also strive to keep communication open at every step of a sales transaction, and even beyond.

If you are like me you get excited with each sale you make, and are thrilled anytime something sells for a price higher than anticipated. On the other end, the buyer may be doing the same thing. They are ready to have that item in their hands as soon as they have payed for it.

Here are my tips for using your email to follow up and create a lasting buyer-seller relationship:

– In the first email, after I have received payment, I thank the buyer for their business and confirm that I have received their payment.

– When preparing an item for shipping, be sure to wrap it neatly and include a hand-signed receipt and thank them again. If a buyer has bought multiple items from me, I sometimes include an eBay gift certificate to show my appreciation for their business. eBay gift certificates can be bought for as little as $5.00, and can be either emailed directly to the recipient or you can print it and mail it yourself.

– You next step is to send another email and clearly state your expectations for shipping times. This should be done soon after confirming receipt of payment. If you do not ship on weekends, be sure to let the buyer know this in the email. Use your eBay Selling Manager to personalize your ‘shipping notification’ with the buyers name by using the email auto text feature.

– Keep your communication prompt and clear – respond to buyer emails and be proactive in providing order status updates when needed. Email the tracking number, or if using UPS or USPS for shipping use their option to provide an email address so the buyer gets automatic updates on their order status.

– Once you receive confirmation that the buyer has received the item, be sure to send a follow up email to thank the buyer one last time. You can also use this email to invite the buyer to check out your other items, and to add you to their favorite sellers and/or stores list so they can receive updates on any new or special items you list.

Once you begin to build your emailings list, take advantage of eBay’s email marketing tool. This is a remarkable tool and can be fully automated. Mine is set to send out weekly emails that show any items I have newly listed.

Before long you should begin to see repeat buyers.

 

About the Author: Jenn Cangelosi has been selling on eBay for more than 10 years, earning both PowerSeller and Top Rated Seller status. The past year has found her spending time on Amazon as well, quickly becoming an expert at the ins and outs of this new marketplace. She is dedicated to helping others build thriving businesses by sharing her knowledge and expertise of buying and selling on eBay and Amazon. Learn more about about Jen at Boutique Bargains

Affiliate Marketing/ Home Business Tips and Tools/ Marketing/ Online Income

Effective Email Marketing Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated

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There are very real concerns about list building and promoting to the people on your mailing list. And all the conflicting information out there doesn’t help matters when you’re trying to do the right thing.

Whether you’re new to list building or have been at it for awhile, it’s completely normal to hesitate about sending offers and even feel a little guilty about doing it.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) If you have not yet made the attempt to promote your business to your subscribers, don’t act hastily by inundating them with an onslaught of email promotions. Start out slow and test the waters first. An initial email letting them know you will be sending them valuable offers will open the lines of communication and lessen the shock value of promotions appearing in their inboxes.

2) A subscriber who is not interested in receiving your offers will have the opportunity to let you know, and most will not hesitate to be very forth coming. Just as they had the chance to “opt-in” to your mailings, they will now have the chance to “opt-out” of your promotions.

This will help you weed out subscribers who aren’t customer material. The good news is that most people will appreciate and be receptive to your offers given.

3) Once your list knows what to expect, you can begin the actual task of promoting. That doesn’t mean you can send them multiple offers on a daily basis until they exile your address to the world of SPAM. However, it does mean that you will have to stay on top of contacting your list and make a point of doing so frequently enough to stay current and fresh in their minds without filling their inboxes with clutter.

4) It’s important to maintain a balance between content-driven emails and those containing promotions. Selling to your list requires a delicate balance. Mix it up without mixing messages. In other words, alternate between information and promotions but don’t blend the two.

You do not want to take the risk of your message getting lost. You want to remain to be a voice your subscribers can trust without becoming too sales-driven and you also want to make sure your offers are clear without getting lost in your content.

I know that selling to your list can be intimidating because I used to feel that way too, but you have to remember that you’re running a business and emailing your list is not charity work.

If you have not yet made the attempt to promote your business to your subscribers, or you feel in the wrong when you do, it’s time to overcome your fear of selling to your list so you can make more money. Head over to Email Marketing Sweetie and learn how to grow your list, reduce your workload, and boost your income.

About Melissa Ingold : Melissa Ingold is the CEO of Internet Marketing Sweetie, and she is a full-time entrepreneur with over 8 years of experience working online. She has built a successful online business through information product marketing, affiliate marketing & management, membership sites, and content marketing. Read More About Melissa