Category: Small Businesses

write

I Don’t Know What Do I Write About & Other Excuses We Tell Ourselves Daily

Jon Olson 11 Comments

People usually roll their eyes when they hear this speech…

“You need to build your mailing list…”

We get it! The money is in the list. The fortune is in the follow up. And that’s fine and dandy for writers who can come up with words with little to no effort. But what about me? I don’t know how to write properly and to be honest, I have no idea WHAT to write about in the first place….

Sound familiar right?

Here’s a little fact about writing emails, blog posts and any kind of content online…You literally need to find inspiration daily to come up with stuff to put out there!

Speaking from my own experience, I’m nose deep in a book daily. I discover things that inspire me when reading and always find something to write about and share to my lists.

Maybe reading isn’t your thing?

You can watch videos on YouTube or Dtube from content creators that can spark and idea or two…

Maybe you find inspiration from podcasts….There are thousands to choose from!!

You see, being motivated to write and create content on blogs and emails is an ‘inside job’, meaning if you just expect someone to show you the way, you will be disappointed.

Here’s a quick action plan on how to get fired up and discover your passion for writing…

1. Find your niche – And when I say ‘niche’ I mean your PASSION! For example if you love dogs and hate cats, it’s a pretty good game plan to NOT write about cats. I know that’s an obvious solution but sadly a lot of people try to write emails about things they really have no passion for. If you LOVE something, you will get pumped up to write about it, share it and discuss it!

2. Find your inspiration – Whether it’s books, podcasts, videos, whatever…Surround yourself with fantastic content and learn from it. When I first started diving into email and writing blogs I actually read the emails that came into my inbox. I learned from the masters of email marketing and found inspiration that way. Whatever works for you…Try it 🙂

3. It’s a daily grind – Remember, inspiration comes from anywhere but the motivation to grind every day comes from within. You need a constant source of motivation and for me it’s remembering this simple truth I’ve shared in previous posts…

Remember….It’s the daily habits that start snowballing into BIG wins!

What Is The Best Time & Day To Send Emails?

Jon Olson 3 Comments

We’re about to open Pandora’s box in this blog post…

Ask any marketer or professional marketing firm and they’ll give you stats and numbers that’ll make your head spin. From the type of customers, to the segmenting of your lists, there is a lot of confusion when you type in Google…

“What is the best time & day to send emails?”

There are so many factors to consider. From what your subscriber lists are used to, to what kind of business you may be in. To weekend vs weekday broadcasts to whether or not you should send all email on Eastern time…

It’s a mess.

I can sit here and tell you that the most opens and action we get when we send broadcats at 8pm on weekdays. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes we send an email on Sundays and get huge open rates.

The biggest advice I could give you without making your head spin is…Track for yourself where you get the best results!

That’s not only a great practice to get into for business but you’ll start discovering what your lists react and act to. That truly is the best advice.

That being said, there are some fantastic resources out there that can help you and guide you in the right direction, take for example Propellor’s 2017 Email Marketing Field Guide and Infographic. This is a great guide to help you get some ideas on when the best days of the week COULD be…Could is the key word here.

Track, and find out for yourself!

Is there a perfect time and day to send?

I don’t think that question will ever get answered because each list is unique. Even the segmented lists without your Rocket Responder account will have different ‘prime times’ to get better action with your broadcasts.

The beauty of building your lists and email marketing is that you get to find out by testing…You wont upset your lists for sending an email at 4 in the morning or 4 in the afternoon, as long as you are building the relationships and proving value…

In every single broadcast!

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!

building an email list

6 Reasons Why Building An Email List Is Vital For Small Businesses

Jon Olson 5 Comments

Some people shrug off the importance of building an email list because they consider it ancient marketing technology. Or perhaps they think they can achieve more through social media and other platforms of promotion.

I get it…

I really do. It’s so old. Clunky. So 2002…

Here’s a fun little fact though, if you were to ask any marketer what their number one asset was in business, I will guarantee you that they would say…Their customer list!

Here are 6 reasons why you need to be building an email list…Today!

1.The List Is Your Business – And the business is your list. I remember years ago when I was talking to my accountant about setting up our business together, the first thing he asked me for was…My email list! They consider that one of the most important assets in business, so if an accountant thinks that way…That’s a good reason to build your list!

2. It Builds Your Brand – Everyone talks about how important it is to build a personal brand online, well guess what…Building an email list helps develop that personal brand very effectively. The more people know, like and trust you through your regular contact with them, the better your brand becomes.

3. Instant Communication With Your Most Important Customers – Sure, this could mean the importance of list segmentation, and we’ll get into that on a later date. However if you just think about how important it is to be in front of people that make decisions (aka your customers) , email marketing is a no brainer. Email allows you to communicate with your customers, instantly.

4. It’s The Top Of Your Sales Funnel – Oh yes, the popular sales and marketing funnel…Well guess what is on the top of that? Lead generation…And guess what a ‘lead’ is…It’s an email address and a name. After you capture the lead it’s your job as a marketer to provide value to that potential client so that they remain a customer…That’s the fun part, but it starts at the top!

5. It’s A Metric That Matters – If you are growing your business and things are good, guess what increases? Your subscriber count. Here’s a metric that people can’t argue and gives you a fantastic indication of the value you are putting out in the market. Is your subscriber count is going up? Great! If it’s stagnant, maybe it’s time to revisit your marketing plans…

6. And The Big Kahuna…Moolah! – Let’s be brutally honest there…The better your list, the more money you will make. Every single thing in business online comes down to this one simple fact…If you are growing your subscriber list, you WILL make more money.

It’s as simple as that, focus on building an email list and watch your income soar in 2017!

Subscribers Response Rate

Increase Your Subscribers Response Rate

Justin Ledvina Leave a comment

One of the first things people do when they get online is check their email accounts. Some do it first-thing in the morning, while others run to it whenever they need a break from work. This shows what a powerful tool email can be for reaching your customers. However, it’s one thing to get your messages into their inbox and another to get them to open them. If they’re not clicking on the links inside, your marketing strategy isn’t working.

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