Email marketing

Hi,

Rather than go to the trouble of writing a FULL blown campaign right
off the bat first.

I would start sending out broadcast emails maybe 3, 4, 5 times per week.

Or as you say........you could do this once a week in the form of a newsletter.

Just write the newsletter as you go so to speak.

Then after 30 - 60 days or so you can PICK out from your stats/results etc
the BEST performing emails/newsletters etc.

This way you're allowing your subscribers to decide what is HOT and what
is NOT.

Plus it takes the pressure off having to write a shed load of emails right off the
bat.

I think you should register on clickbank and browse the marketplace. You will see lots of products to sell through affiliate links.

Just check for a niche you like and go with a product.

And theres no need to create a year's worth of emails upfront.

You can write around 10 e-mails first, schedule them to send about every 2-3 days and then as they're being sent out you could constantly add new ones.

But I definately agree on the fact that you should build a list.

Good luck,

MeelisM

Hi Tom,

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm new to IM although I've been interested in affiliate marketing for close to ten years! I invested in a coach recently and he highly suggests building an email list before doing anything else. He also says creating a basic 3-5 day email sequence is where you should get started. I hope this helps!

Email marketing threads live here: http://www.warriorforum.com/email-marketing/

People need to hear from you on the day they subscribe, and again on either the next day or the day after, and then at whatever regular intervals they expect (but you get to set their expectations, according to how often you tell them they'll hear from you).

It's a process. It's about continuity.

You don't need a lot of content ready, when you start (certainly nothing like a year's worth!) as long as you can add to it when you need to. How much you'll need "ready in advance" depends on how easily you can do that.

You need an "autoresponder service" which automates the building of the list and sending of the emails, so that everyone gets your series of emails in the right order, on the right days, starting on the day they subscribe, without you needing to do more than write each email once and load it into the autoresponder. All automated. It would be a nightmare to try to do it without that. (Such services aren't expensive at all: "GetResponse" is a good one, from $15 per month.)

Here are six posts/threads which cover all the basics of email marketing, Tom. Between them, they'll perhaps get you oriented.

What are the essential things to know about list building?

Lists: How Long to Presell - Averages

Website or squeeze page

Where to get reports to give away on opt in page?

Autoresponders vs. Broadcasts

Sick of Emails Not Being Opened?

.

Big question.

There are literally dozens of ways to approach this business model. Due to your lack of experience, and don't take offense, I'll outline a basic model for you. To implement it, I encourage you to use it as a jumping off point, because even though I'm keeping things simple, I won't be explaining every minute detail. (I would if there was more time in the day!)

The basic idea:

You want to promote products to a list of subscribers. In theory, the more subscribers you have, the more money you should make. So! You want subscribers. Lots of 'em! One way to do so is this:

- Target a Market
- Offer a Free Product
- Grow your List

The free product can be an e-book, a 4-day course, or a piece of software. In your shoes, I'd recommend treating each new subscriber to a 4-day course. But what course? Give them something they really want to know. If you want to see it done pretty well, Google Bum Marketing. (The information is outdated, I would imagine, unless he's updated, but it's a killer example of how to grow a list.) You give your target market what they want. They sign up. Your list grows. Should you give them something really awesome? YES! The more awesome, the better. Years ago Bum Marketing took off and the subscriber list grew rapidly because it was actually a pretty decent free product.

So that's your first hurdle.

Monetizing?

If you monetize, DO NOT do this:

"You got the free info, but to use it you need to buy this product."

Unethical, in a word.

Do this:

You give killer free information. Whatever other information you give should either enhance that information OR be something different or related, but the subscriber shouldn't have to buy anything to use the free information.

Monetization In Practice:

Many ways to do this. I'd personally keep things simple when you're starting out. Use affiliate links in your free product. Let that be your monetization for now. Later on you can integrate sales copy upon registration, promote your own products in your list, promote others, etc.

Running Your Newsletter:

Let's say your free course is about basic techniques to train a dog. (Not my niche so bear with me.) Your free course could be 10 simple techniques to train your new dog or puppy. They receive the 4-day course. They're happy. But the list offers so much more. You'll offer regular tips, case studies, videos, and whatever else you can think of that will help your subscribers to own happy and well-behaved dogs. Look at search engine keyword tools. What terms do dog owners put in about their dogs? Can you answer these questions in your newsletter? Do so. In amongst the helpful information, you can sometimes sprinkle affiliate links, but sometimes a new dog training product will be released, or maybe cute Christmas outfits for puppies or whatever.

Messaging your list should be a regular thing. Set it in stone. You're grow engagement that way and they'll come to expect it and go looking and it shows that you're professional and organized. But also feel free to blast out the odd surprise newsletter.

So!

Grab yourself:

1 Domain
2. Hosting
3. aWeber or Get Response
4 Create your free product
5. Drive traffic.

But don't do any of the above until you have a firm business plan. Bit rushed here but I hope the above helps.

GRM

I completely agree for what you have been advised. I f you do not have your own product affiliate promotion is the best and the most secure option in order to make sales online but you need to do a proper product research before you become an affiliate or a re-seller.

Hey Tom,

No, a year is not necessary right off the bat.

I advise that you create 10 Follow Ups. That is what I do.


And then take it from there.

You work up to about 30 or so then you can start to 'Recycle', picking out the ones that performed best.

Take your time with those first 30. They will be the backbone for your business


- Robert Andrew

After you have found your product I suggest creating your sales funnel. A simple sales funnel could (but is not limited) look like this:

Squeeze page - free offer - follow up emails - promotional emails.

You would then drive traffic to this funnel. Remember it is about the responsiveness of your list that counts not the amount. You can build up your email series as you go, but having one already setup for 10-20 days would be better, then you can build it along as you go. Taking a high quality PLR product and splitting it up into a course can be a good idea for a email series which offers good content and provides engagement.

All advice, do what you want.

Cheers

Well there's many ways to go about this, but if you're just getting started i think it's best to just build an initial funnel (5-7 days) which promotes 1 particular product.

This will help you learn how to increase your conversions, which is the hardest part in email marketing.

When you have that funnel it's just a matter of testing traffic and trying to increase your conversions to make it profitable.