In today’s How to Make Money with Email Marketing post, I’m going to give you some ideas that you can implement if you really want to make a passive income. Regardless of whether you sell products, services, or both, you can make significant income by nurturing an active opt-in email list.
Email marketing is certainly still alive and kicking and many of the top marketers are quick to endorse this type of marketing.
How many times have you found a great website and then something has happened to distract you? Or you have to leave it to do something else? And when you’re free again and want to take another look you can’t remember how you found it. Well, you’re not alone. Most people don’t remember how or why they discovered a certain website. So, they don’t return after their first visit without some sort of reminder. Encouraging visitors to sign up to your email list is a way of reminding them to come back and check out your offers.
If you’re not actively building an opt-in email list, then you’re missing opportunities to make money. When you’re emailing targeted offers regularly you can achieve at least a 15 to 25 percent response rate. Whether you’re operating an online or offline business it’s imperative to start building an email list.
Keep Your Audience Interested
When a visitor lands on your webpage you have about 7 seconds to grab their attention and get them engaged enough to stick around. Even if you achieve this (and of courses this should be a priority!), the reality is that people who’ve just stumbled on your website rarely open their wallets on their first visit to invest in anything you’re offering. They need to have more exposure to what your products and services are. Then they need to build up their trust in you in order to feel safe enough to make a purchase. However, if you can immediately direct them to your opt-in form and get them to sign up to your email list then you’re now in control of how often they hear from you about your products, services and offers.
Direct Marketing Opportunities
When someone joins your email list they’ve given you the green light to market your products, services and offers directly to them. Signing up to your list is confirmation that they trust you enough to hand over their email address. Also, with the knowledge that you’ll now be communicating with them on a regular basis. Already you’re beginning to establish a relationship with your prospect. Email marketing is still more effective than any other type of online marketing. In fact, some would argue that it’s also the best marketing approach in the offline world too.
There’s no end to the type of products or services you can promote through email marketing. However, make sure you don’t confuse your list by sending out content that doesn’t apply to them. There’s a risk that they’ll unsubscribe if you send out information and offers that they have no interest in or use for. Always ensure you send out relevant information to your list.
New Engagement Opportunities
Now that you’ve gained your prospect’s email address it’s so much easier to connect and engage with your target audience. You now have the opportunity to conduct market research by asking them questions, running polls, inviting them to take surveys and so on. Compiling the data you receive from these will give you a clearer picture of what their needs and wants are. In addition, it will determine how you can create and market products that will solve their problems.
Create an Autoresponder Series
If you have something to promote, (either your own product or an affiliate product), you can create a 7 to 10-day autoresponder series. Your email sequence would not only promote your offer but also highlight the problem that it solves for your subscriber. Make sure your emails always provide value to your subscribers. This should happen regardless of whether or not they click the link to your offer and buy it. This shows them emphatically that their purchase will be even more important than the free helpful emails they’re receiving.
Promote Targeted Affiliate Products
Now there is an incredible amount of attractive affiliate products available for you to promote. The advantage of promoting affiliate offers is that you don’t have to create a product yourself. However, you’ll only receive a commission on each sale you make rather than keeping all the money yourself. The buyer will join the vendor’s email list not yours. However, saying that some vendors will pay 100 percent commission on a low-cost front-end offer.
Products that you can become an affiliate for are being launched on a daily basis. So, it’s very easy to get carried away and distracted and move away from your own specific niche. Big mistake! Ensure you only promote affiliate products that are highly targeted to your subscribers. Take time to research the products and services you’re going to promote to make sure they meet your high standards. You want to offer products that you’re proud to stand behind and that will be useful and provide value to your subscribers. Don’t jeopardize losing subscribers by promoting inadequate stuff in the hope of making some quick sales.
Promote Your Own Products
A huge advantage of having your own email list is that you’ve a target audience that you can contact directly. When you create a new product or have a new service to offer make announcing this to your list a priority. Make sure the products you create solve your prospects problems. It’s a good idea to research your product idea thoroughly before you begin developing it. You can check out what problems your target audience is facing by asking them questions. In addition, analyse what they say and ask about in the forums and groups in which they participate.
Top Tips:
1. Whenever you see someone ask a question about something you know how to solve, expand and develop on this to create a product you can then promote to your email list. Tell your audience what’s in it for them and how it solves their problems better than another product.
2. Anytime you can get your list to take part in creating your product they become more attached to it. The result of this is that they are more likely to buy. For example, send a survey to get them to choose the best name for your product.
Email Marketing Ideas That Get Results
To get the results you want from your email marketing strategy requires you to start at the beginning and map out an effective plan.
Build a Product Funnel
If you read my 5 Steps to Creating a Better Sales Funnel post, you’ll know the importance of designing a product funnel. One that helps you see which products you are promoting at the entry level and which products you’re promoting at each stage of your funnel. Your least expensive products sit at the top of your funnel, which is the widest part. These will gather the greatest number of buyers. Your more expensive products will sit at the narrowest part of your funnel. These will generate fewer sales than the top part.
Deliver Consistent Content
It’s crucial to build a funnel for each product or service you offer and create relevant content to ensure maximum results from your promotion. It’s entirely up to you how you achieve this. However, make sure everything blends effortlessly and leads your prospects from one step to the next.
For example, you could be creating a series of educational emails that would then lead your subscriber onto a paid eCourse as your emails progress through the sequence. It’s important to deliver your content regularly otherwise your subscribers will forget you or lose interest. Remember you’re competing with a lot of other emails that land in their inboxes. Have at least one or two 7-day email sequences lined up, including a welcome email and free gift email.
Top Tips:
1. Add genuine scarcity into your emails which will drive sales.
2. Put 2 bolded links to your product in your email which will get you the best click through rates.
3. Send out new emails every day in the morning at 8am. Then send another email in the evening at 5pm to the people who didn’t open your email.
List Segmentation
It’s important to segment your email lists so that your subscribers only receive offers and promotions that they haven’t already purchased. We use AWeber as our email marketing service provider. They, like many other similar platforms, allow you to easily segment your email lists for maximum results.
Build Your Lists Strategically
Now there’s lots of ways to build your email list but it’s crucial you do it in an methodical way. As you gain more subscribers you don’t want to lose control of your main list and all your segmented lists.
A simple strategy for steadily building up your list is to set up a lead magnet, e.g., a free eBook, free report, free cheatsheet and so on. The key is to provide something that your audience needs and that will solve the problem they’re facing. Something that solves their problem in a stand-alone way. It has to be something that will motivate your prospects to take action.
Once someone joins your list it’s important to separate them based on their behaviour to achieve the best results.
Give Them a WOW Welcome
When a subscriber joins your list, whether they receive a freebie or not, it’s absolutely imperative that you extend a warm welcome to them and make them feel an important part of your community. This is a prime opportunity to thank them for signing up to your list and to give them an overview of what to expect from being a member. You can include links to your website, blog and social media in this welcome email too. In addition, if they’ve received a free gift for signing up you can direct them to the next level product or service that will solve more of their problems.
All Roads Should Lead to Your List
Take advantage at every opportunity on your blog, website, social media and so on to guide people to sign up to your email list. Growing your list is more important than getting Likes on Facebook and followers on Twitter. Why? Because when someone has subscribed to your email list you have the ability to market to them directly and strategically.
Never Send Spam
Everyone hates spam! There’s a fine line between sending useful and informative emails to appearing as if you’re spamming your subscribers. Be very careful about sending a barrage of emails to your list with the same content and too many that are sales focused. Yes, you want to include a call to action leading to a potential sale. However, you also want to provide valuable information and build trust.
Early Bird Specials
Promoting a discounted offer to your list should involve a series of teaser emails in advance of your offer. This builds anticipation and excitement around your offer. Make it clear in your emails that there’s a benefit to them but if they don’t get it now someone else will get it.
Present them with a limited-time chance to buy your offer at a special discounted rate just for being a valued member of your list. Ask them to share it with their friends too so that potentially more people will sign up.
Don’t underestimate the power of your list. Having an email list teeming with targeted leads, that you can communicate with on a regular basis, is invaluable. If you nurture your list properly it will definitely make you money. In addition to the automated messages that you’ll have inputted into your email responder system you can also send email broadcasts about new product launches, special offers and so on.
Just take a moment to consider how powerful it is that any customer or potential customer trusts you enough to hand over their email address. Knowing that, please don’t waste the opportunity.
Always make it your goal to over deliver and provide value. By building trust and a reputation for exceptional products and services you’ll gain more customers and ultimately more sales.
I hope my How to Make Money with Email Marketing post has given you some food for thought and that you’re now in a position to escalate your email marketing campaigns.
To Your Success!
