Email marketing question - just ask me!

Do you have a burning email marketing question
that keeps you up at night?

If so, I'd like to help.

If you've got an email-marketing related question
(or need some advice), ask it here, and I'm going to
do my best to track down an answer for you.

About me:
In November of 1997, I launched the
$10,000 Marketing Tip of the Day...

... It was a daily ezine subscribed by
tens of thousands of internet marketers.
As you can see, I've been doing email marketing
quite some time.

I ditched the newsletter some time ago (because I got lazy),
and today I broadcast a weekly internet marketing talkcast.

I say this not to brag, but to demonstrate
that I'm an email marketing junkie with lots to say.

Important: I'm not selling you anything here.
I'm willing to help becaue I'm feel fortunate and
want to give back.

Ready? No question is taboo --
everything from the best day to email to
how to boost open rates to whether
plain text email vs. HTML emails.

Do you have a question for me?

 

How does email marketing work ? Where do you get the email addresses from and how do you get the advertisements for your email newsletters ? What software do you use to send bulk emails ?

 

My problem with email marketing is what is the best email header to make the email open rate is high?
I need comment on how to setup a attractive email topic to grab attention.

 

Which area do you think is suitable for email marketing?How about web hosting field?

 

Q: What do you think about personalization in the e-mail's subject line?

 

Email marketing is an arm of direct marketing. It uses electronic mail as a way of communicating commercial (or noncommercial) messages to a list of subscribers.

In the past, email service providers offered the option to accept subscribers by email. You're given a special address to promote (e.g. ) and when the email arrives, the system automatically accepted the recipient as a new subscriber...

... But these days, the most accepted way to get subscribers is from an optin web form found on your website landing page. Many website owners use these web forms as an ethical bribe to give your website visitor more information (like free reports or access codes to watch a video or listen to an audio).

Just about every CPA (Cost Per Action) program uses these optin web forms to process leads. You've seen 'em before -- offers like, "Win a FREE $25 Walmart Gift Card" or "Download this ringtone FREE." In each case, the visitor of your website is asked for at least their email address. Once the email address is submitted, you now have permission to email your prospect over and over again.

Even Web 2.0 sites like Twitter and FaceBook use email marketing to create a buzz and virally spread the message about your social media pages.

Email marketing (when done the right way) helps you create a relationship with your prospects, customers and clients.

As far as advertising within your email marketing messages, I don't recommend it. Instead, I suggest teasing your recipients with a two- or three-paragraph plain text email that links to a separate landing page. Blatant advertising within your email messages is a surefire way of getting spam complaints. And too many spam complaints might trigger your web hosting company to shut down your website operation. The other advantage is you can easily track the percentage of people who click on your recommended link. Tracking your emails lets you see a pattern on which emails generate high response (and more important, which ones don't).

Funny you should ask about email marketing software... for the last 9 years, I've always recommended an email service bureau to handle the sending and management of your email marketing. I still do for most internet marketers...

... But if you're technically savvy, you might try this open source (totally free) email marketing software package...

... I just installed phplist over the weekend, and so far I'm VERY impressed:
http://www.phplist.com

 

I'm guessing you're referring to the subject line of your email, yes?

If so, I hear you and understand your concern.

The subject line is the most important sentence of your email.

You can offer tonight's winning lottery numbers in the body of your email, but if your subject line doesn't convince your prospects to open your email, your emails get deleted (instead of opened).

I'm big into formulas... copywriting formulas. These formulas have worked for hundreds and thousands of years to convince people to buy and respond to offers. One formula I suggest to get your emails open is the 4 U's of copywriting:

- Urgency...
- Unique...
- Ultra-specific...
- Useful.



Urgent
Give your recipient a reason to act now instead of later. Use the principle of urgency in your email subject line by incorporating a time window...

... For example, "Build your own deck in just one weekend" offers a greater sense of urgency than, "Build your own deck".

Urgency can also be created with a time-limited special offer (such as a discount or free gift) if your prospect orders quickly. For example, "Order 1 large pizza, get a 2-liter FREE tonight".


Unique
Powerful subject lines either say something new... or if it says something the reader has heard before... says it in a new and fresh way.

For example:
"Why Amish farmers make the best pies" is better than "Save 15% on pies".

The copywriting pros refer to this as "fascinations" or "marketing bullets"... they tease the reader into reading further and ordering the product.

More examples:

"What never to eat on an airplane"...
"The truth about aspirin"...
"Bills it's okay to pay late"...
"Best time to file for a tax refund"...
"Hot travel bargains for cold weather"...
"How to buy a house with no down payment"...
"What banks don't want you to know"

I could go on and on and on.

The master of "fascinations" is a guy by the name of Gary Bencivenga. He offers a free newsletter about marketing bullets here:
http://www.marketingbullets.com/index.htm

Bottom Line Secrets made fortunes over the years using nothing but marketing bullets -- check 'em out here:
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/index.html


Useful
Strong email subject lines appeal to your recipient's self interest by offering a benefit or advantage.

A subject line with a feature is weak. It's probably not going to get your email opened. Features are merely descriptions of what you do or what you offer.

For example, a feature is a diamond-tipped 3/8" drill bit. But the benefit is "make holes in seconds."

When writing email subject lines, answer the prospect's question, "What's in this email that gets me to rush to open it?"

Here are some useful email subject lines I found in my email inbox:

"Proven "Techniques" For Sparking Attraction"...
"Chiropractors - these 14-pages pay you an EXTRA $540.00"...
"This tip makes you $273 tonight (and how to do it)"...
"How to get $250 in Google Adwords FREE"...
"Slash 17 strokes off your score by this weekend"....


Follow these 4 U's of copywriting and watch your email open rates drastically improve.

 

I have big mailing lists, but my host has limits for mails that can be sent every hour.

what is the best way to send mails to such big mail lists?

 

If you've got a website, you can do email marketing.

I can think of lots of ways to use email marketing for web hosting followup marketing... and the good news is you'd REALLY stand out. Since I've been online, I can't remember many web hosting companies using email marketing. So this is a great opportunity for you -- low competition with lots of demand. We call this a wide-open niche.

Remember, you want to answer your prospect's question, "What's in it for me to take the time to read this email?"

Think like your prospect. Website owners almost ALWAYS hate their web hosting company. They have LOTS of problems and they'd make the switch if only it wasn't so painful (and it is painful... I've switched many times, and I'd rather get root canal). Send an email out that calms your prospect and assures them that making the switch is fast and easy.

Your emails shouldn't be sell, sell and sell. The vast majority of my emails are just great, free tips and advice. That way, when I do blatantly pitch something, it's well received. People HATE getting pitch to death by email these days.

You might send periodic tips on how to use CPanel to make a website run smoother.

Every month you might feature a script that's included in your web hosting package.

Periodically remind your clients about your low-cost memory upgrades which makes their website load quicker.

Send testimonial emails every month... nothing hard -- just grab a new endorsment and email it to both your prospect and customers. I bet you get new business this way (from your prospects) and I bet you slash your cancels (from your current clients) with this simple email marketing strategy.

Email your prospects videos that help them get ranked #1 in the search engines -- Google has this nifty site with short videos about search engine optimization:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleWebmasterHelp

Survey your customers via email. Surveys always get the best response in my experience. Just end your email with, "Reply to this survey and let me know what you think." You're going to be stunned how many emails you get back. Make sure to reply to these emails... even if it's just a canned response. Something like, "I got your email below... thanks for replying."

FAQs work really well. Take all of the questions ever asked by your prospects and have your marketing department craft answers to the 10 most-asked questions. Take those answers -- one at a time and email them to your prospects.

Think about ancillary advice that your web hosting prospects would like to know about... how about email marketing:> You might just send a quick FYI and lead 'em to this very post. They'll thank you for it. Here's what you might send:

Subject:
Get more customers with these email tips

Message:
FYI... there's a great discussion
about email marketing that you might
want to check out...

... Read more about it here:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1565426

See that? Simple. Just a two-paragraph email is all you need to look like a hero in the eyes of your prospects.

 

I suggest adding the name at the end of your subject line -- like this:

"Get the secrets to clear skin Jennifer..."

This way, if the subscriber didn't submit her name upon registration, the subject line still reads okay -- like this:

"Get the secrets to clear skin ..."

Some markets react different, though. That's why I suggest using split testing to find out for sure. For example, you might find emailing to internet marketers with their name in the subject line is a big turnoff and decreases open rates.

I wouldn't personalize the message. There's no need to... your email subject line got their attention... have your message get right to the benefit and lead 'em to your call to action... your phone number or your web site address.

Most email service providers these days offer the ability to send half your subscribers one version of an email message and the other half of your subscribers a slightly different message. I'd test version A with the recipient's name and version B without the recipient's name and see which gets higher response. Make sure to keep the message exactly the same with both versions for a scientifically valid test.

If your total subscriber counts are less than a few thousand, don't bother -- it's not a large enough sample to see a scientifically valid difference.

 

This is called "throttling".

You have a few options:

1) Get dedicated or semi-dedicated hosting
If you're hosting with a shared account, you're restricted and can only send hundreds of email per hour. With dedicated hosting, you're typically not restricted. (If you are restricted, find a dedicated host that doesn't restrict).

2) Use email marketing software that throttles
Again, I just discovered phplist this weekend, and it appears to offer automated throttling... and since it's web based, it can run literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while you sleep.

3) Hire an email service provider
Big email service providers like Aweber have the capacity to handle virtually any size list. By the way, there's a new email service provider that internet marketers are excited about... it's called ImnicaMail (not an affiliate link): http://www.imnicamail.com -- it's a lot cheaper than the big email service providers and seems to be quite reliable.

 

From where should I start this, and which script is the best?

 

Years ago, setting up an email autoresponder was a chore. But today, it's a cinch because many companies make it easy to get started. Just about everything is automated. You set it up once, and then forget it. It's like having putting your internet marketing on autopilot.

Based on your question, I'm guessing you've never tried email marketing before. If this is the case, I think it's smarter to invest less than $10 a month with an email service provider than trying your hand at setting up email software on your own website.

You can always move your mailing list from an email service provider to your own site... trying to move your own mailing list to an email service provider is messy (because most require that you get permission from each and every subscriber). That's a surefire way to disaster because most won't give permission no matter how hard you try.

Imnica Mail currently has a way to get started for just $1 during your first 30 days. Once you signup, answer a few setup questions and you're ready to capture leads from your website. If you want something more "corporate", Aweber Communications might be for you at less than $20 a month to get started.

Speaking of capturing leads, I don't recommend using the standard web form page. The typical lead capture form is designed by web designers, not internet marketers.

Embedding these standard web forms into your site might generate one subscriber per 100 visitors. You can do much better than that... instead, I suggest using proven copywriting formulas to convince your visitors to subscribe to your online mailing list. I've seen some of my subscribers generate over 40% conversion rates with just a few tweaks. My personal best lead capture form generates 72% conversions today.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I suggest you look at various web form templates found at other sites and use their elements to create your own web form.

Take a look at some of these optin webforms I've collected over the years from my swipe file. Be inspired. Write down headlines that would convince you to subscribe... headlines you can tweak and use for your own site.

While you're at it, create a throwaway email account and subscribe to as many mailing lists as you can... doing so gives you an endless parade of email blasts -- collecting for you an awesome swipe file (again for inspiration for ideas you can use within your own email marketing messages).

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of most of these self-proclaimed "gurus"... but I do get some nifty ideas from their lead capture forms.

Take notice of each headline... the lead-in copy... the privacy policy... the free offer... even the submit button:

Art Sobczak:
http://www.businessbyphone.com

Bum Marketing Method:
http://bummarketingmethod.com

Michel Fortin:
http://www.michelfortin.com

Gary Bencivenga:
http://www.marketingbullets.com

Cool Site of the Day:
http://coolsiteoftheday.com

Perry Marshall:
http://www.perrymarshall.com

Stephen Covey:
https://www.stephencovey.com

Willie Crawford:
http://www.williecrawford.com

Jack Canfield:
http://www.jackcanfield.com

Dani Johnson:
http://www.danijohnson.com

Bottom Line Business:
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/el/eletters.html

Yanik Silver:
http://www.yaniksilver.com
http://www.surefiremarketing.com
http://www.undergroundonlineseminar.com
http://www.publicdomainriches.com
http://www.instantsalesletters.com
http://www.ultimatecopywritingworkshop.com

Rich Schefren:
http://www.strategicprofits.com

Mark Victor Hansen:
http://www.markvictorhansen.com

Ralph Wilson:
http://www.wilsonweb.com

Ryan Lee (recurring revenue):
http://www.ryanlee.com

Eben Pagan:
http://www.getaltitude.com

Ryan Deiss:
http://drivingtraffic.com

Shawn Casey:
http://www.listbuilding.com
http://www.listbuilding.com/socialdeal/main.cfm

Jerry West:
http://www.webmarketingnow.com/tips/cpa-marketing.html

Jay Abraham:
http://www.abraham.com

Tellman Knudson:
http://www.listbuildingblog.com

Gauher Chaudhry:
http://www.cpahotspot.com

Traffic Geyser:
http://www.trafficgeyser.com

Commission Blueprint:
http://commissionblueprint.com

Internet Business Manifesto:
http://www.strategicprofits.com/newrules/man/index1.html

Jimmy D. Brown:
http://www.123webmarketing.com/

The Ultimate System:
http://www.seriousonlinemoney.co.uk

Ebook Vending Machine:
http://www.ebookvendingmachine.com

Affiliate Whiteboard:
http://www.affiliatewhiteboard.com

Stephanie Frank:
http://stephaniefrank.com/makeover

Rosiland Gardner:
http://superaffiliatehandbook.com

Kindle Profits Exposed:
http://www.kindleprofitsexposed.com

SEO Code Breaker:
http://www.seocodebreaker.com

ClickBank Reaper:
http://clickbankreaper.com

Project Payday:
http://www.projectpayday.com

Affiliate Payload:
http://www.affiliatepayload.com

Gideon Salwick and Yaro Starak:
http://becomeablogger.com/signup/

Ryan Ringold:
http://www.lazyassinternetmarketing.com

Google Nemisis:
http://www.djknemesis.com

Money Siphon System:
http://www.MoneySiphonSystem.com/grabthis.html

StomperNet:
http://www.stomperblog.com

Marcia Yudkin:
http://www.yudkin.com/mmakeover.htm

Ray Edwards:
http://rayedwards.com

Jonny Andrews:
http://www.jonnyandrewsblog.com/x/

NicheBlueprint:
http://www.nicheblueprint.com/special.htm?id=infomil

Top Secret Magic Code:
http://www.topsecretmagiccode.com

The Arbitrage Conspiracy:
http://www.arbitrageconspiracy.com

John Carlton:
http://www.marketingrebel.com/intro

Site Tuners:
http://SiteTuners.com

SearchEngineWatch:
http://SearchEngineWatch.com

Affiliate Project X:
http://www.affiliateprojectx.com

Jim Rohn:
http://www.jimrohn.com

 

hi, any idea of this?
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1574056

 

i Think plain text email is better thank html emails... some people hate html emails send to their email.. by the way.. html email looks more beautifull than plain text email.. so.. its about you.. or you must take a survey for this problem

 

Ah, one of the most-asked questions I get. Which email service provider do you recommend?

There are literally thousands and thousands of email service providers to choose from... I'll offer my thoughts on those used by the majority of internet marketers I personally know:

I never liked GetResponse (http://www.getresponse.com) because the thank you page (that your subscriber sees) is a bank of co-registration offers -- up to 10 check-the-box ads that forces your subscriber to someone else's mailing list. Not cool. And most GetReponse customers have NO idea about this. Your subscription thank you page should redirect to YOUR site (or to an affiliate-linked site), not your competition's offers.

And as of the last few months, GetResponse has been a mess. Ever since it upgraded a lot of bugs have surfaced. It's stunning how many bugs the latest version has in fact... it's like it was rushed out without any testing.

Aweber Communications (http://www.aweber.com) has been in the email service provider business for a LONG time. And that's good. Their system works as promised and their support is good. They have a team of people who constantly battle to get your email delivered.

With that said, a lot of internet marketers don't like how they've gone "Fortune 500" and tiered their pricing. I supposed they can get away with it as Aweber lands a new customer every 7 minutes! I remember the days when you could email to any list size for under $20 via Aweber. But today, It gets mighty expensive once you're emailing to more than 500 subscribers. For example, if you email to over 10,000 subscribers, you're charged $149.00 a month. This is REALLY, REALLY expensive.

The "new kid on the block" is Imnica Mail (http://www.imnicamail.com). Internet marketers I talk to are quite impressed with it... emailing up to 10,000 subscribers is about 1/10th the price of Aweber -- just $15 monthly. And they currently let you test drive the system for a full 30 days for just $1. If Imnica Mail offers the ability to split test emails (it was supposed to be available in October), then Imnica Mail is a flat out bargain. Today, I'd rank it a fantastic value.

Finally, if you're not technically savvy and can't afford to pay to have your emails sent out, I highly recommend FreeAutobot. While there are a few free email service providers to choose from, this one works... is never down... and does exactly what it promises.

FreeAutobot is able to offer its service free by hitching a ride on each email you send... placing ads at the bottom of your emails. No problem, I simply put a bunch of blank lines after my email messages to force the ads WAY down to the bottom. It also monetizes the site by forcing very annoying popup ads on the configuration pages. That's okay... once you create your autoresponder messages and close these annoying popups, just set it and forget it and never worry about it again. I've used FreeAutobot for almost two years and it's great... especially for the price (free).

If on the other hand you are technically savvy, you might look into hosting an email sending script on your own website. It's totally free and you control the mailing list.

 

Would you mind giving a 3-4 followup templates to pursue the subscribers to buy a product? I have studied a few of them from what I receive but it amazes me to see really hypee (kind of make 1 million $$ in a day thing) pitches even from the top marketers too.

 

Which company do you recommend I use to send targeted email blasts to a Canadian and US market?

Looking for the company to do the blast and send back a report. Double opt-in prefered.

 

If you insist on double optin, then you'll love AWeber Communications. They've been around for a long, long time (well before I got started online in November of 1997).

I say "insist" because double optin is WAY overrated. Yes, the CANSPAM laws here in the States require it, so it is what it is.

One UK email service provider gets around the CANSPAM double optin laws because they're outside the US. And many big-time internet marketing companies rave about this single optin email service provider -- they also rave because they're a fraction of the price of AWeber.

I wrote a review about Imnica Mail here... if you're looking for a solid company to send out your mass emails, you might want to consider them.

One more thing... while there are literally thousands of email service providers, most have horrible customer service (don't know exactly why). AWeber and Imnica Mail are the opposite -- very, very good customer service. Very willing to help answer any of your questions.

 

I can give you templates, but I don't know what industry you're in...

... Instead, here's a better idea -- subscribe to as many of your competitor's ezines. Use gmail (my personal favorite) to remain anonymous. Check your email account monthly and you'll have an AMAZING swipe file of templates to be inspired by.

Note emails that get you juiced to take action. Pay close attention to the subject lines... keep a swipe file of the best.