How long "should" an email message be?

You can quote a relevant section and put the full text of that piece up as a blog post on a private blog that they gain access to when the join the list.

You can create a nice looking PDF of the section and link to that from the email.

Or you can just make your "official" course subject emails long and meaty and condition the readers to expect it.

Think TalkBiz. I'm kinda bummed when Paul sends a short one! : )

Best,

Brian

Hi Kirk,

If you build them long enough to create desire and curiosity to read more,
then you can also get data on the click-throughs...

If you use the whole message, you won't as easily know how many are
actually reading through what you provide.

Another option is to follow up later on with short-sweet emails linking
to the full article (or a pdf of it).

If you really want to go to town, you could split test by switching the
signups between 2 lists: 1 using the full message, the other with the
[click to continue] option.

Best,
Adam

Hi Kirk,

Generally (in my opinion) your messages should be short teaser messages designed to get people to click over to your site where you have the full email formatted as an HTML page along with some way to monetize that content. Adsense, affiliate links, etc. I remember a time when people would sit and read long emails but now more than ever people tend to check their emails with external devices like cell phones.

Because of that (and other time pressures) people tend not to read long emails as readily as they once did. Short messages would work well because they would get people to look forward to getting your full message. Anticipation is ALWAYS good to build into any message.

An example would be three short emails I wrote recently as a followup to a product. The first email set the stage for what the following emails would be referring to so they could be a little more generic to get the click.

----------

EMAIL #1

Subject: Have you seen this video yet?

Hi,

This is YOUR NAME from http://www.YOURSITE.com

Can I ask you something?

How long have you been studying Internet marketing?

You may not realize it yet but you probably already know
enough to become a well paid consultant for millions of
business owners across the United States and abroad.

I know it's hard for you to imagine but the average, everyday
business owner (who doesn't study Internet marketing like you
do) most likely doesn't know 1/100th of what YOU know about
putting a business on the web to attract new leads.

And the thing that really blows MY mind is...

Most of them couldn't care less about learning what you know.
They'd rather pay YOU to do what they want done for them.

Watch the video and see how easy it can be:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/easymoney.html

Hundreds of other marketers have already seen this and they
all pretty much went wild when they realized just how easy
this kind of business model is compared to working their
fingers to the bone selling ebooks and affiliate products.

Here's a much easier way to get paid. Watch the video:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/easymoney.html

Take care,

YOUR NAME
http://www.YOURSITE.com

----------

EMAIL #2

Subject: Did you watch the video I sent yesterday?

This is YOUR NAME from http://www.YOURSITE.com

Did you get a chance to check out the funny video I sent you
yesterday? The video is funny because it's so easy to follow
and make money with that it's almost like getting paid to
sit down. Now that's a job even I can do well. ;-)

Here's the video again:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/easymoney.html

Before I saw that video for the first time, I never imagined
getting paid for doing something so easy.

Take care,

YOUR NAME
http://www.YOURSITE.com

----------

EMAIL #3

Subject: Did you know some restaurants will pay you to eat there?

Hi,

This is YOUR NAME from http://www.YOURSITE.com

How often do you eat out?

Probably not as much as you used to because of the economy but
what if you could get restaurants to pay you and your family
to eat there? Would you go more often?

If you're in a hurry, check out the report written in blue:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/easymoney.html

It really makes me laugh when I think about the things we
marketers come up with. I mean who would have ever thought
about getting paid to eat? Learning as much as you can about
marketing allows you to do SO much.

This is just one of those perks. Enjoy.

Make sure you check out the report written in the blue box:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/easymoney.html

Take care,

YOUR NAME
http://www.YOURSITE.com

----------

For this email series, the first email told what the product is about and the following emails picked out specific areas of interest in the sales letter that would make people curious to find out more. What I've found is that when you give away too much in any one email, people tend to think they already know what you're trying to show them and they won't bother to come and see.

What you want is traffic to an HTML page using email to generate it.

Also, I've found that emails where I include the subscriber's name and a question in the subject line got triple the open rate as previous emails about the same product that did not. I ask a question in the subject (which gets people to open the email) and then don't fully answer it in the email itself which gets people to click to find out what the email is about.

----------

While I'm sure some may disagree, I suggest you summarize what your email course will be about in the first short email then in each following email, pick out something specific people will learn how to do and use that to get them curious enough to click for the full lesson.

IMPORTANT: Please use tracking links in your emails so you know how many people are clicking through. Also use HTML emails that look just like plain text emails so you can track the open rates as well. Know how many people open and clickthrough to the full lessons. When you know the numbers, it's easy to see how any changes you make affect them.

Got a video that addresses that very question, Kirk (along with a bunch of others)

YouTube - EmailCopyMadeEasy's Channel

Have at 'em!

JW

Kirk,

I agree with Anthony. You want people conditioned to click on your links. In fact, I would even say that his emails are too long.

Either way you do it, be consistent, so you know how to write when you do throw in the sales email. It shouldn't be any different from your content emails.

When I use e-mail, I make them short and to the point. I try to make them as personal as possible, so that it connect to readers.

The best way to do this is to engage the reader and make conversation with them.

Kirk,

Here's my thinking...

A 12-month course could work but it seems to me that people are more concerned with how fast they can achieve X result than they are with getting a prolonged amount of content.

You may consider...

Creating 3-7 follow ups for each course you have and selling each course instead of giving away all the content in a long email series. You could create short follow up emails that lead to more detailed information on a web page then sell the complete course that way. Or you can use a service like TrialPay Solutions: Get It Free to give away the complete course and still get paid for it.

This way you aren't directly asking people to pay for the complete course but you are still getting paid for it. This may be more effective than asking people to pay for it outright or hoping they buy related affiliate products. Since you'd be preselling your complete course in your emails, it would only be natural for people to want more information on the topic you're preselling and it would be better (in their eyes) if they didn't have to pay for it. With this option, people are getting the info they want for free and you're getting paid for your efforts as well.

Just something to think about.

Anthony

I think a few people actually beat me to it ... and nothing can replace the actual results from real world testing ... but if it were me ...

A list of all heads and subheads with a teaser ... likely the introductory sentence? ... of each section.

The point? Your subscribers can scan through the email to see if there is anything in the current course that they want or need ... (maybe a reminder that they need the whole thing in order to have a viable foundation on which they can build their career and/or virtual online empire) then have it set up as an interior section of your website, (preserving perceived value for your subscribers) while still being able to get them to your site. Monetize the online version some, but not bombarding them with ads, and offer links back to your main pages allowing them to "discover more about this" on your regular web pages ...

Just my two cents