How do you get people to open and read your email newsletters?

One of the best ways I have found is to really engage people on the very first email If you can get them engaged and trust you then you will get better response.

Two ways I do this, when they opt in to my list, I will send them to a video so they see me and start building trust. Next, I don't sell right away. I will start out by telling a story to them about my journey. I do not make money on the first email or even try. I want to build trust over a few emails. Then I can start selling, but even then, you have to sprinkle in some additional items to get them to like you. Keep letting them get to know you.

Test, test, and test your email subject headlines.

If they are not opening your emails, all you can do on your end is to make sure you are presenting the email subject line to gain the attention of your reader.

Put yourself in the readers shoes:
when you open your email client, you see a few things.
1. the senders name and email
2. the subject line

there could be many other issues with your emailing.
You send them an email every day. The IM market is flooded with people doing the same thing. Having a visitor opt-in for free report, then getting spammed with affiliate promotion emails.

I am not saying that is what you do, promoting affiliates in every email. But from the readers perspective, and the emails not being opened seems that your mailings are appearing that way.

I am assuming that you are using an autoresponder service and that your email isn't blacklisted as spam.

If they didn't want to be on your list then they
most likely would have unsubscribed. So if
they remain on the list and open rate is very
low then there are number of possibilities:

1. Your emails are not being delivered.

2. Subscribers are using "throw away" emails to
get your offer and then not reading further follow-up
emails. (You can sometimes tell by looking at the
email addresses whether they are 'good' or not.)

3. You are not building urgency, curiosity or controversy
in your subject lines. These are the elements which get
emails at least opened.

4. You are not using the word "this" in your email subject line.
(I find that "this" is the most powerful word in an email
subject line bar none.)

5. Your ESP tracking system is not working.

-Ray Edwards

I make sure that my list is engaged from the moment they join my list and that they also get to know who I am.

That means I give them surveys, I ask them questions, I send them videos of me, I give them free products (no opt-ins).

You NEED to make sure they know who you are and know that if they don't open your email they might miss out on something.

Thanks for all the ideas. These are a list of people who opted in to my emails. I'll try adding a little about myself at the begining and maybe offering some more free bonuses. What is good for that? They already got an ebook when the signed up. Plus they knew they would be added to an email newsletter. I use simply cast for this. Not sure if the way they track the emails is working right or not. I was thinking if people are using outlook or some email program that lets them preview a message before opening it, maybe they are reading it through the preview and not actually opening so it doesn't show up as being opened. Does this sound right?

Thanks for all the advice.

I think it's all about continuity.

There needs to be an underlying continuity process between what brought them to your site, what they found there, how they opted in, the free e-book itself (which needs to be specifically written and designed to be part of that continuity process, and to serve the primary purpose of ensuring the maximum possible open rate for the subsequent emails - this is hugely important), and the subsequent emails themselves. There's more here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982

I don't do this, because my subscribers don't like it. I used to. Then I did a big "feedback process" and learned from them that many thought it made me sound a bit like an insurance salesperson, using their first names in emails. Of course, they knew it wasn't really personal: it just came from the opt-in box.

Now I don't ask for their first names, just their email addresses, and I build 12-15% bigger lists, across the board, by doing that, too. It was a real win/win.

The usual reasons for this relate to two big things, I think: expectation-setting, and continuity-process.

In my opinion, the main factors determining whether they open your emails relate to things already done (or omitted) before you even started sending them.

In discussions here of this subject, I often see people primarily discussing "subject lines" and I think this is almost completely missing the point. The primary factor that determines whether or not someone opens an email, having seen it (i.e. it has to reach their in-box first, obviously), relates to who it's from and how they feel about that person. Not to their subject-lines.

Apologies indeed if I sound argumentative, but "adding more free bonuses" is not the answer.

This. Exactly.

Well if you go back to what it says on your optin form, and why they left their email with you in the first place, then this might give you an idea. If they're just freebie seekers, then you will never make money from them. If however, you can find that they collectively have some problem or need that they're looking to satisfy that is within your niche, then you can create a product or steer them in the direction of a product that will help with said problem.

But yeah if they like you, or are part of your tribe, then they will open your emails regardless of what the subject line is. Think of writing emails like you do when you send it to your buddy, that 1 person, so you're talking to one person, not your list of people, and this will get your people to connect with you more.

Make sure your content is what they opted in for and the subject is catchy enough for them to open the email and not delete it. Also I remind them what site they filled in the opt in form and tell them the removal link is at the bottom of this email. 60% of the people that opt in won't remember where they filled in the form to get your information and subscribe to your email list. Always remind them of what site they did fill in the form and most will stay subscribed.
Blessings!