If you have a blog and you’re not building an email list yet, then please, just pack up and go home. As many times as people like me have repeated this advice, if you’re still not doing it, just give up. It’s OK.For many of you, however, you probably do have an email list. From there, it is just a matter of how to use it effectively.
So, I thought I’d prepare a quick, rapid-fire list of tips for you on email marketing. Here we go…
- Always give something away to get them onto your list. The most common giveaway is an ebook. But, you can increase the perceived value by doing something different – a video, video series, seminar recording, etc.
- Invite them to subscribe. Don’t tell them to “Submit”. And here, I’m talking about the actual form button.
- Don’t use default opt-in forms. They’re usually ugly – or corny. Take the time to design the opt-in form to be visually pleasing and optimize for conversion.
- Experiment with other placements for your opt-in form – not just your sidebar.Invite them onto your list from from the common stop points on their visual path (homepage, below posts, etc.)
- Don’t call it a “newsletter”. That’s boring. Nobody cares. That said….
- Test it. You want to always be testing out different phrases and colors to see what you can do to increase your opt-in rate. Just because I say something here, or you see me do it, doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.
- Use double opt-in. Some people like single opt-in because they don’t like losing those people who don’t confirm. But, look at it this way…. you’re keeping the bullcrap emails and non-responsive emails OFF your list. I don’t ever recommend single opt-in for any public, free list.
- Keep track of your confirmation rate for emails, and keep tweaking your “thank you” page so as to increase the percentage of people who actually do confirm their email address after subscribing.
- Use squeeze pages (Optimizepress is good for this). Even if you have opt-in forms on your blog, you still want at least one squeeze page for the same email list. Then, anywhere you mention your email list, link to the squeeze page. Squeeze pages ALWAYS have higher opt-in rates than sidebar opt-in forms on a blog. Always.
- Don’t broadcast your blog posts to your list. If you insist on doing this, use a separate list. On your main list, however, what you send to your list should be personal and invite them over to your blog. Give them a reason to click over to your blog.
- Your email subject line is as important as your post headline. Some of the same headline formulas you see working on blog posts work quite well to get people to open your email, too.
- Be cool. Your subscribers are your community. Write to them like they’re your friends. Be personal. Most people are bored out of their ever-loving minds, so entertain them and have them looking forward to hearing from you.
- Every email you send, have them click on something. It could be a blog post, an affiliate promotion – whatever. You want your list to be accustomed to clicking on things you direct them to.
- Make every interaction with your list fruitful and valuable. That means, never email them without something of value. Give them value, and always back it up with some call to action for them to get more information (hint hint… affiliate link or one of your products). This means that every list interaction is a money-making opportunity for you, but you’re also providing them good value and they’re happy to hear from you.
- Don’t let your list go cold by not emailing enough. In my view, most people could stand to email their lists more often than they do. I usually email my list about 3 times per week.
- Short emails work better. If you send them a novel, they’re going to delete it because of lack of time. Short emails with a link to click work best. There are exceptions, of course, but not many.
- Use anchor text in your links, rather than the URL itself. Anchor text should be phrased to get their attention (like the subject line).
- Line wrap your emails if using a plain-text format. Reads easier on mobile, plus people have a harder time reading long lines of text.
- If sending plain-text emails, use HTML emails which look like text. This way you can track the open rate.
- Whatever you want them to click on, link to it at least twice in the email.
- If you use an autoresponder sequence, schedule it. This way, when you send 1-time emails, you don’t run the risk of doubling up your emails on people (since the autoresponder is sent automatically). Aweber allows you to control which days you are autoresponder emails are sent, thereby allowing you to use the other days for your 1-time emails and avoid conflict.
- Use your list to drive comments. Using a combination of an interesting post, attractive headline and email subject line, drive them to the blog to comment. Actually invite them to comment right from the email.
OK, hopefully you found some nice tips for you in that list.
Lastly, if you don’t yet have a real email list, I highly suggest you sign up for Aweber. They’re the best in the business, and they’re popular for a reason. You can get a $1 trial. From there, take the time to really implement these tips and fine-tune your email strategy. It’ll be one of the best moves you ever make.
davidrisley
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