Module 4: Email Marketing

Email Marketing is a huge subject and one of the highest return-on-investment (ROI) you can do as an online marketer. Email Marketing touches all platforms, methods, and strategies of marketing from Affiliate Marketing, Funnels, E-Commerce, Brick-and-Mortar stores, to drop-shipping.

We are just scratching the surface in this module – just nibbling on the edge of a large, creamy, chocolate bar with macadamia nuts and raisins!

Many marketers only involve themselves in Email Marketing because the returns are so high. Yet the many facets of Email Marketing can be confusing, but we will be touching on just a few of the basics.

This module includes intermediate and advance strategies which you can access at the end of this module or on this website’s HOME page. 

Alrighty then . . . let’s get started! 

“How impersonal! Who would want to buy from someone they don’t know, especially on the internet!”

After we’d been comparing the “old-fashioned” way of selling products versus the “new-fashioned” methods on the internet, this was the reaction from an extremely successful sales manager of a major company.

His method is now known as “old-school,” and it goes like this . . .

You start with a list of customers or leads. You call people on the phone and set up an appointment. You meet them face-to-face at their place of business, or your office, or a restaurant. You have a cup of coffee or lunch, and talk about your products, pricing, and service. The customer looks you in the eye, gets a feeling of your character, and decides whether to buy or not. (This creates the “trust” I covered in a previous module.) 

Deals were sealed with a hand shake across the table. Companies made millions and gave their salespeople huge commissions based upon their ability to “close the deal” while maintaining a close personal relationship with the client.

This old-fashioned method made mega sales and created customers who stayed with companies for a long time. 

The underlying concept of building relationships is still essential today, but the methods are quite different . . . and challenging.

Enter 21^st century email marketing – with customer lists like before, but with impersonal autoresponders – your invisible sales force that knocks on customers’ digital doors, develops virtual relationships, and promotes your products.

Your big challenge is still the same:

“build close personal relationships with your customers.” 

Let’s begin with a basic definition of email marketing.

Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing.

Thebalance.com adds this clarification: “What is email marketing? The use of email to promote products and/or services. But a better email marketing definition is the use of email to develop relationships with potential customers and/or clients.”

Watch my video, “Introduction to Email Marketing” below.

Soak in these facts about the all-mighty List!

1. What is a subscriber?
Someone who has “opted in” (provided their name and email address) to receive something from you like a free gift, free e-book, action guide, or “how-to,” and to receive regular emails from a particular campaign. You have to get their permission in order to send them something. This can be the tricky part! Getting someone to part with their contact details takes creativity and a finger on the pulse of your particular niche market. I delve into building your list of subscribers in one of my advanced modules.

 2. What is a list?
My online mentor, successful email marketer, and close friend George McBride says:

“A list is a group, a large group of people with whom you have built trust by offering value. When you have a robust list, you will make robust sales.”

 3. How do I build a list of subscribers?
Offer valuable content that attracts individuals interested in further engagement with you. If they decide your content is worthwhile, potential subscribers willingly offer their name and email address, which gives you permission to send them email marketing messages.

4. Why would I want to build a list?
How many reasons do you want? That list could go on forever!

5. Is it true that having your own email list is like having your own ATM?

Well, in many ways . . . yes, it’s true! Successful email marketers with their own list can send out an email and see money in their PayPal or Payment Service account within minutes!

Will this work for you? Sure it can! If you do it right and keep doing it right. (That’s why you’re taking this course!) Remember that one of the key ingredients to a responsive email list is the relationship you have with the customers on your list. If you’re always trying to sell them on a product or hitting them up to buy something, then you’ll have problems.

If you build trust and confidence in your email campaigns and focus on value content that helps your customers, then each email you send can be like withdrawing funds from your own personal ATM!

6. How do I make money from my list?
These days just having a generic list or a bunch of leads is not good enough. You need to develop your list by offering high-quality content in such a way that you build trust, confidence, and respect. If you do this carefully, you’ll create a solid, loyal, and dedicated following.

Many online marketers want to push people into a sale. Successful marketers use attraction strategies which “pull” people into whatever they are promoting instead of “pushing” them away.

Read my blog, “Push-Pull Marketing. Click HERE! 

7. Building an email list sounds hard.
That depends on how you look at it. Let’s get psychological for a minute. If you think something is “hard”, it will be! If you think something is impossible – it will be! If you think something is easy, you will find it is easy. Mental? Yes, but it’s true!

Building your list is really not hard, it just takes some training and learning and practice to do it right. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. (A classic cliché, but it doesn’t work for skydiving.)

Even the most successful marketers made loads of mistakes but refined their skills over time.

But don’t listen to me! Listen to Thomas Edison’s words about inventing the light bulb: “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Or do you prefer Albert Einstein’s words? “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

Once you enjoy the results of having a great list, all your work will be worth your time and energy!

How do you get started with email marketing?

Here are four essential elements of building a list and email marketing:

1.  A customer list,

2.  An autoresponder program.

3.  A landing capture page, and

4. Some type of content, (lead magnet or a free give-away).

In this module you’ll learn about lists first, however, I need to give you a preview of what an autoresponder is and what it can do for you.

Am I putting “the cart in front of the horse”? No, because the autoresponder is the horse AND the cart. The horse delivers the content which it carries in the cart. The customer (or subscriber) list is where you send the horse and cart.

I will be approaching each of these four elements as we go through this module.

What is a simple definition of an autoresponder?

“A program that stores the contact information of your customers and sends them your marketing email messages.”

These programs are available from email marketing service providers.

Without a list of subscribers, an autoresponder program is an empty cart with a clueless horse so…if you want to know more about auto-responders, just click below and lets get started, First Stepper!!

If you have no interest in knowing more about auto-responders, then jump ahead and watch my video, “Frameworks of an Email Marketing Campaign” below.

It’s time to put aside the theory and training and put some action into your learning!

Remember?

Educate – Engage – Expand??

If you are interested in building your list, your followers, your “tribe” of satisfied customers, then here’s what you need to do:

1. Decide which auto-responder company you want to go with. You have several choices. Get signed up and review their program. Even if you don’t understand it all, get the feel of their platform and how to manoever around their website.

2. If you want to go with TrafficWave, then Click here and create an account with TrafficWave.  I’ll be happy to help you understand their platform and walk you through a campaign.

3. Sit down and think about how you want to build your list. Do you want to offer a freebie, a lead-magnet, a give-away? Do you want to do a product review? How about a “How-to” video?

4. Begin putting your lead-magnet together. Start your video, find an article, make a PDF, or find a product to buy and review.

5. Once you have this completed, most Autoresponder companies have landing capture pages you can use by inserting your photos, graphics, and text.

6. Continue reading and learning in this training course and if you have problems, questions, or need assistance, just email me at: walter@walternigh.com

7. Remember, much of this takes time! Don’t get discouraged, frustrated, or overwhelmed. Take the time to do it right. Go back, re-read, review the material in this training course.

You are on a journey of discovery, implementation, and leverage. Your journey will not be completed until you understand it will not happen quickly and realize your need to keep learning and moving forward.

In the following over-my shoulder video, I show you HOW I created a campaign which netted almost 300 new subscribers in 2 weeks.

First you will see the theory and process of this campaign on my training whiteboard, then you will see the implementation.

You will see each landing capture page and campaign letters, as well as go into my back office at Trafficwave to see HOW I set up the campaign.

There is a small $2.00 fee to watch this video.  If you are not satisfied with the content and training inside this video, I will happily refund your small fee.

Yes, Walter! I want to watch this video NOW!