What's the secret to email marketing success?

Using a free email service is probably part of the problem, here, Sylvia.

Ouch! (That was a very sympathetic and supportive "ouch", by the way ).

Others will be along, and will say loads more (some of it perhaps conflicting, but that's just the way with forums) ... but meanwhile, does this help? http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982

And a couple of other suggestions ...

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5300985

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7647187 (ignore the thread title - that isn't what the post linked to is about!)

On the grounds that it's very much easier to give birth than it is to raise the dead, I think that to all practical intents and purposes, what happens with the next 300 subscribers may be the real issue, here, especially if 97% of the current crop are apparently not opening emails ... ? ...

300 subscribers? This number is little.

Add more.... hundreds... thousands...

You must think about how to get traffic that converted to leads.

I am awful at list management so this is just speculation: people are suffering from email fatigue. As someone with 4 active email addresses I am just emailed-out. With the un-recovered economy, people are still doing their own job plus the job of a laid-off coworker. Then there is "Reply-all syndrome." I think people don't have 2 hours to manage email traffic. I only open email with a compelling subject line on a topic that interests me in the moment. I write about mobile commerce. A lot of people are talking about the 98 percent mobile text response rate and I tell them to watch that plummet as people get more push messaging. I know that didn't answer your question but I hope it starts a discussion.

The key to getting your emails opened is making it easy to know who
it's from, by using the same "From" field all the time, AND promising
them some benefit for opening the email, in our subject line.

People like me glance at the from field first, then the subject in
deciding which emails to open and read.

After you get them to open the email, then your next battle is to
engage them and make them want to click through to your site. I
often just "talk to" my subscribers... even imagining one of them
sitting across the table from me, as I write an issue. That makes
the message feel more personal.

Give them content, but don't be afraid to make offers to them,
and when you do, TELL THEM what to do... for example "Click
here now to read the rest of this issue" or "Go get this special now
before the price goes back up in 2 days!"

Finally, look at what expectation you set when you first enticed
them to join your list. What did you promise them? Are you
fulfilling those promises?

I hope that helps.

Willie

Willie Crawford, who is a major or lieutenant colonel retired (I forget), can probably tell you better than I can.

On your first engagement, you may have not conquered enough mental real estate for a strong foothold to leverage future campaigns.

The battle is won or lost in the mind before it's ever fought on the battlefield.

The emails I open is directly proportional to the mental real estate the sender owns in my mind.

I only open emails that have non hyped Subjects. I guess most non IM market opens hyped subject lines. E.g. How to make $$$$$ in XX Days won't intrigue me but will attract non IM or new IM crowd.

I was in my mid-teens when I once overheard my big sister talking
to her girlfriend. She was complaining about a guy she was going
out with to my sister. I was shocked to hear her say, "He wouldn't even
ask me for a kiss!"

I was shocked out of my teen mind. You mean that girls really
want boys to ask them for a kiss?

-Ray Edwards

Sylvia i would continue to keep building up your list. Instead of emailing once a week, email every 3 days. Test your price point also. Make sure your email subject lines are enticing enough to make people want to click on them and open up your emails.

Since you stopped doing the email newsletter about 8 months ago, i imagine that your list of 300 people would be totally unresponsive to you. I know some people say dont promote your product in every email... but i beg to differ. Doing "soft sells" in every email that i send out are pretty good for me.

Have you taken a proper course in Email Marketing?

I don't mean a $7 WSO. I mean one taught by a professional with some actual credentials.

It sounds like you just need proper training in the fundamentals. Then you'll be able to answer questions like:
Who is my ideal newsletter subscriber?
What are their fears, frustrations, angers, desires, needs, wants?
Where are they online, how can I reach my IDEAL prospects?

Okay now that you know where they are (the websites).....what traffic method will you use to get them to your squeeze page?

Other questions you'll need to answer...
How do I craft a squeeze page message to repel the wrong subscribers (hint those who don't want to spend money) and attract the right ones (hint, those that are non price sensitive and shop based on value)?

How do I build trust and relationship with them - what are the X number of things that each email should have?

Ninja subject lines won't get your emails opened time and time again - a relationship will. After all, if your closest friend or relative sent you an email with no subject line, or say a 1 word subject (ex. "hey...") - you'd open it right?

If a trusted friend said in a one sentence "click on this link and read the article" - you'd do it right?

There are 7 psychological "triggers" you can employ to build trust and engagement with your audience.

Once you build trust and create content that is of interest to your subscribers:
-emails get opened
-links get clicked
-sales get made

The biggest mistake people make is not building trust and relationship with their audience (most don't know how).

The second biggest is not emailing often enough. Instead of "being afraid to email too often" a better question is "how can I build the kind of trust, relationship and content that have people dying to get my emails and open them everyday?"

The 3rd biggest mistakes is not knowing simple "email marketing" metrics like revenue per subscriber, roi, cost per subscriber, average open rates, average conversion rates, etc

Yes this does work. Ignore what most people say about email marketing because they are clueless.

My advice would be to invest in some proper training and stick to it until you get results.

Don't get overwhelmed. Start at the beginning, learn the fundamentals and take it from there.

I hope that helps!

PS
I'm not sure there is an "Email Marketing for Dummies" but their books are usually a great way to learn the basics. You may be able to get a hard copy or ebook copy from Amazon.com

if you don't promote anything how are you suppose to make any money?

I email my list every single day, the email both provides value but also sells...

I'd also focus more on traffic, 300 subs in a year is really bad.

They reason nobody opens and clicks, is because your content isn't compelling enough...

Here are the best email marketing tips I found here at the Warrior Forum:


1. Write with enthusiasm to cause excitement.

2. People like to be entertained.

3. Write catchy titles.

4. Tell a story.

5. Create expectation.

6. Write your messages as if you were talking to a friend. Talk about your family and your life.

7. Promote your offers in every message along with content if you want to sell every time, without waiting.

A lot of people have mentioned several great tips to help.. I will expand on one more thing and that is building a relationship with your subscribers.

People normally only buy from people they trust. The only way they will trust you is if they like you. They will only like you, if they get to know you.

So in essence you need to add "your own voice" and personalize each email to let your subscribers get to know you better.

The sooner they get to know you, and you are helping them by providing massive value in your email -- they will begin to like and trust you, which is when the sales start to come.

Here is one simple thing that you can tweak that will transform everything you do...

Make sure your content solves a problem. Give them content that they can go use and apply and get a result.

If a person knows that every time you create content you give them something that can change whatever they may dealing with then they will open and even ask you for more information.

Don't use the voice of the "push marketer" and try to trick them into clicking or any of that stuff. Just be yourself!

In closing I want reinforce this...Make sure your content solves a problem.