Author: Jon Olson

Three types of emails

3 Types Of Emails That Generate Action

Jon Olson 7 Comments

Writing emails and content for your subscriber lists can be one of the most frustrating experiences for new email marketers. Of course, once it’s all said and done, it’s rewarding but pleasure doesn’t come with a lot of pain first.

The main reasons this is true is because, let’s be honest, most of us haven’t written a Pulitzer piece and may never. So being a ‘writer’ might not come as naturally for you as it does for others.

With that in mind, I’ve come up with 3 ‘methods’ to writing emails that has helped me over the years. These various themes of writing have helped me get much more action from subscribers when I’ve followed them. So I know it will help you as well. Let’s dig in;

educational email

 

 

 

1. The Educational Email – This is where you write with the sole purpose of educating your subscribers. An example would be that you have some tips and tricks that you know will help them. Maybe it’s a new feature you have for your website. A new blog post. Or perhaps there is something happening in your industry that you think your subscribers will benefit from learning about. Using an educational email is a great way to provide valuable content without being ‘pitchy‘. Remember, the purpose of this email is to educate! Use this as a way to build more trust with your readers. The more value you are sending them with an educational email, the more they will enjoy being on your subscriber list.

 

promotional email

 

 

 

2. The Promotional Email – While the educational email’s purpose was to educate, the promotional email is to inform your subscribers of something new, exciting and relevant to their needs. If you are in affiliate marketing, it could be a new product launch. If you are in an offline business, it could be a sale or special you are running. You can even use a promotional email to get your list to take action on something that may not require ‘a sale’. Perhaps you want them to watch a new video you did on YouTube. Or follow your new Twitter account. Promotional doesn’t always mean ‘trying to make a sale’ although that can be the case. The trick really is to always provide value. Stand behind what you are promoting and make sure you are always thinking of your subscriber’s needs first!

 

story based email

 

 

 

3. The Story Based Email – The more confident you become in sending educational and promotional emails, you can then combine them to create a story based email. This takes some effort, creativity and little bit of unique thinking. Human beings LOVE stories. Our entire society has been built on them. So when you learn how to craft a great story in your emails, you will attract action takers across your lists. A great story can inform your readers and get them engaged in what you may be offering in a promotion. Real world examples are great ‘stories’. Your own experiences can be a great story. Again, always keep in mind the needs of your readers and when you put them first, your story will develop with them naturally taking action on what you may be offering.

Please note, these are not the only ‘types‘ of emails you can create. However using these 3 as a base has helped our email marketing campaigns for over the past decade. The key is to always ask yourself, how does this benefit my subscriber? Is it a tip or trick that will help them learn more about your business? Maybe it’s a new product that you have used yourself and know how valuable it will be for them? Or maybe it’s just a story of something you have learned along the way and can be shared so that others benefit from your successes and failures.

No matter which method you choose, or if you choose to use all 3, rest assured…These are great ways to get your subscribers to know, like and trust you for years to come.

avoid email marketing pitfall

Avoid This Email Marketing Pitfall

Jon Olson Leave a comment

Email marketing has been around for a while, decades in fact and for very good reason. There is no other form of communication on the internet that has the largest ROI when it comes to building relationships and getting your subscribers to take action.

However, one major pitfall has plagued email marketers since day one. It’s so common these days, we almost ignore it. We are so concerned with ‘getting new people to join our list’ we forget the core part of that message….The people.

Don't forget the people

Crazy if you think about it…

We work our tails off to build these huge lists without remembering that behind every single new ’email address’ that we generate is…A real person!

Each person, every name on our mailing lists has unique goals, dreams and business needs. And while it’s not always a guarantee that we’ll build relationships with each name on our list, we can try!

And when we ‘try’ to get to know our subscribers, good things happen.

You see, the more we truly care for the people on our mailing lists, and do everything we can to add value to their lives and serve them, we stop seeing them as just ’email addresses’.

People are the life blood of any business, and whether you are managing a list of 50 names or 50,000…People should always come first!

People are the lifeblood of your business

Respect the names on your list. Try to reach out to them to continue the conversation. Start to ‘pull‘ then towards you rather than ‘push’ your message on them. This is a huge nugget and has helped many email marketers truly embrace the massive power of email marketing.

We don’t need a huge mailing list to be successful, we need a responsive list. And the more you genuinely care for the names on your mailing list, the more responsive they will be.

This is a major pitfall that most email marketers fall into. They are more concerned about generating more and more email addresses, they forget the real people behind each address.

1. Give value in all communication


2. Pull rather than push when sending emails


3. Genuinely care for every person that joins your list

 

Following these 3 rules of email marketing will help you build a loyal and responsive mailing list for years to come.

most important email

The Most Important Email You Send Will Be The First One

Jon Olson 1 Comment

Building your list can be a very exciting endeavor. You’ve heard countless stories about how important building ones mailing list can be, but something most new list builders face as we addressed in previous blog posts is writer’s block. Knowing what to say to your new subscribers can be a daunting task.

And remember the old saying ‘the first impression can last a lifetime’…Well in list building that can truly be the case. So while we’re excited to add new subscribers to our mailing lists, the biggest hurdle will be to get your subscribers to know, like and trust you.

Here’s the skinny, having a list of 10,000 doesn’t mean a thing if you aren’t getting any ‘action‘ from those subscribers. So we need to start the relationship off on the right foot. Let’s get people to ‘know, like and trust’ us from the start.

know like trust

And it begins…With the first email you send your subscribers!

Here’s what I recommend. Some folks in the marketing world call the first email you send an indoctrination email. Basically, you want your readers to get a feel for who you are and what they can expect.

I want to really highlight this point! Who you are matters! And if you are getting ready to give your subscribers a boat load of content and great value while subscribed, it has to be stated early on in the email series.

Follow this formula for a great ‘welcome to my list’ email! first email formula

First – Say thanks! It’s important that you let your subscribers know that you value them and are grateful for them signing up. This shows that you respect them and understand you now have to show and prove that you value their time.

 

Second – Let Them Know What To Expect! If you are going to be sending them content, let them know. If you plan on giving them more offers than content (while not always the best route…) regardless, let them know. If they can expect exclusive offers, discounts, live training, videos…Whatever you are giving them…Let them know! Be up front about what they can expect so there aren’t any surprises.

 

Third – Get Them To Take Action. This is huge! What I recommend is getting them to follow you on Twitter, Like you on Facebook, watch a video you have for them, read a blog post…Anything to get them to ‘do something’ so they get into the habit of taking action in your emails. This is also a great way to build the relationship outside of an email environment. You want to communicate with your lists, and while email is a push marketing platform, we want to PULL them into other platforms where the conversation can continue.

 

Remember…The key is this indoctrination email is to get them to know, like and eventually TRUST you.

If you put your subscribers needs first and let them know you are there for them throughout their journey, you can expect a fantastic life long relationship with your list of subscribers.

3 Strategies To Unlock Your Writer’s Block

Jon Olson 2 Comments

Sending regular emails to your contact lists can be a rewarding experience. Not only can you develop long lasting relationships with your contacts, you are able to deliver high quality content that can truly help them learn and grow.

That’s fine and dandy on paper, but sometimes KNOWING what to write about can be a massive challenge in itself.

The following 3 strategies can help you break through your writer’s block! Let’s start delivering great content to your contacts through email;

First a disclaimer – While there are hundreds of different niches that can prosper from email marketing, I will be discussing this from an affiliate marketing angle. Keep in mind though, these strategies can be used in any niche.

Learn – This is a great way to come up with your own ideas and form opinions that could help your subscribers. The more we learn, the more we grow. It’s been said that when we read more books we will be soaking up some great information that we then can use in our own messages. That doesn’t mean you should plagiarize what you are learning! However when you discover a new technique or have an epiphany, you will then combine what you have learned with your own experiences. So the more we learn from various sources, the more ‘content’ we start to form in our minds.

Ask – I learned this strategy from affiliate marketing expert Russell Brunson. He taught that the best way to get ideas on what to talk about is to ask your subscribers what they are having trouble with. If you create a survey or ask for feedback, you’ll start seeing 3-5 recurring themes that your subscribers are stuck on. This will allow you to produce email content that addresses these concerns. Imagine how powerful that can be to create an entire email series on those specific issues facing your subscribers. That’s powerful stuff and now you are not only proving regular content, but information that is adding massive value and helping them directly. This is huge!

Share – Maybe you aren’t comfortable writing your own email series or broadcasting your own words yet to your subscribers, no worries! Becoming a content curator and SHARING awesome stuff with your lists is a great way to not only build up your confidence for future writing but also give your subscribers some massive value. If you remember, the first tip is to learn more and that usually means not only reading books but also frequenting blogs and reading other emails that you are receiving. Find some fantastic content that helped you and then SHARE it with your list. It’s a win win! You get comfortable sending regular emails and your subscribers get useful information regularly by being subscribed to your list.

These 3 strategies will literally give you unlimited content to write about. Remember, while this is framed for an affiliate marketer, any niche can use these tips.

The important thing to remember, is no matter what you are always thinking about adding value first to your subscribers. Ask yourself what YOU like to receive in your inbox and then you will be able to give your subscribers the absolute best you can!

subject lines

5 Tips For Writing Better Subject Lines That Gets Your Emails Opened

Jon Olson 6 Comments

One of the most important parts of crafting a great email is having subject lines that grabs attention. Not only that, but your headline wants to not only get the readers attention, but entice them to open your email.

subject lines

Thinking about it…As much as we’d love to think our emails are so important that all our readers will stop dead in their tracks to read what we have to say, that just simply isn’t the case.

On average a person will get almost 90 emails a day.

90.

That’s a whole lot of noise for them to get through and what makes your message so important that they will give it any more than a glance?

The Subject Lines!

Your subject lines are like a Swiss army knife. It’s written to do many things, but the end goal is always…Getting your email opened.

Your subject lines can use any or all of these practices to get better open rates:

1. Create Curiosity – Don’t give away the farm when it comes to crafting your headline. Entice people to open and write something that makes them WANT to know what the answer will be. Nothing drives open rates more than curiosity.

2. Frame A Problem – This is a great technique for building rapport with your reader. If they feel like you understand their concerns, the headline can show them that you may have the perfect solution to their problem. Using headlines to frame a problem will get higher click through rates, as long as you are in tune with what your audience is experiencing.

3. Be Short & Sweet – You do not need to write War & Peace for your subject lines. Keep them short and remember to respect your readers time. If the message is clear, you will get higher open rates. Simplicity is key!

4. Use Numbers & Lists – This technique works for not only email subject lines but for blogs posts as well. Use things like “Discover 5 Tricks From Dog Training Experts That Stop Fido From Barking”, or “Are You Using These 3 Must Have Tools For New Online Businesses?” Those two short examples are combining multiple practices into one, but they all use numbers and top lists to grab attention and get opens!

5. Don’t Be Afraid Of A Little Shock & Awe – Remember, people are getting on average of about 90 emails a day. How will you stick out? By using a little bit of shock and awe, might be exactly what the doctor ordered. You don’t need to make bold claims or false statements, but this technique really works when you even add a touch of humor in the subject line. Be creative and see what works!

These are just 5 quick techniques that are proven to get better results from your email marketing. There are dozens more! Get creative and just remember…There is a lot of noise out there! As long as the body of your email provides value to your subscribers, you can have fun with your headline to get more action.