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Are you stuck in the Cycle of STUPID?

You just might be, let me ask you this, have you been building an email list with no sales offer in mind? Are you writing great content day after day and have no idea if you are even going to try to sell anything to your list?

If you answered yes, then you are in the Cycle of STUPID.

Back Story

Recently, I was invited to attend a Jeff Walker Product Launch Formula event in Scottsdale Arizona. It was possibly one of the best events in the Internet Marketing space I have ever attended.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Jeff Walker event, do it! I get no commission for saying that, the man just knows how to pack 3 days full of great content and great presenters with absolutely zero pitches. If you have ever attended an Internet Marketing event, you know most of them are nothing but pitchfests anyway.

Bottom line, Jeff Walker is the real deal, buy his stuff and attend his events!

Anyhow, at some point during this event, Jeff began to ask us, what exactly were we doing with our lists. Were we making offers? If not, why not?

In an event were everyone in attendance was interested in launching a product, a surprising number of people had yet to make any offer at all to their list.

What is the Cycle of STUPID?

Simply put, its a variation of the old saying:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.”

Similar, the Cycle of STUPID as it relates to email marketing and product launches is to keep collecting people on your email list and never make them an offer but yet hoping that somehow you will earn some cash.

It’s rather brilliant when you think about it, especially when the entire reason you started collecting email addresses was to do email marketing and eventually create income selling your own products or through affiliate marketing.

Are you in the Cycle of STUPID?

You might be right in the middle of it or just on the outside, the good news is that there is a way out. Here is what you need to do:

• The Offer: Decide what you are going to sell. Could be your product or someone else’s. The point is you make an offer. Find a good deal for your subscribers or better yet create something with extraordinary value and offer it to your list.
• Schedule It: Break out the old calendar and commit to doing it. Don’t listen to that voice in your head that says “Yea yea, it will get done. Pffft, no reason to write it down, I got this.” Ignore that voice at all costs and start planning what you need to write and or create in order to have a great offer.
• Do It!: What’s the point of going thru all of this if in the end you just get cold feet. If you feel you are not ready to make the giant leap into having your own product, then find out if one of your favorite services or products has an affiliate program. If you believe in the product or service, why not share it with your list and in the process make some cash?

I realize I am over simplifying the product launch process and email marketing in general. But if you are stuck in the Cycle of STUPID and need a way out, the three steps above should help you get out.

You want to build an email list like the Pro’s? Then you need aWeber!

Whether you run a small business or a small blog, you need a reliable, professional email list service.

Without consistent contact with your potential customers, there is no way you will be able to compete for your customers attention very long.

What do the Pro’s use?

There is a huge range of service providers out there, but for me the best tool I have used is aWeber. Sure other services have tons of bells and whistles, but here is what you need to focus on:

• Double Opt-In
• List Segmenting
• Auto Follow-Up
• Delivery
• Analytics

Let’s break down each of these and see why they are important.

Double Opt-In

So what is it? Double opt-in means that when a user attempts to subscribe to your newsletter, they are required to confirm their subscription “double opt-in”. If they do not confirm the subscription then nothing happens, they never make it on your list. Once they confirm, they are ready to receive emails from you.

aWeber pretty much requires you to use double opt-in, here is why:

• It protects the user: You can’t just randomly add people to your list with double opt-in. The user must explicitly request to be added and then confirm by clicking a link in a confirmation email they receive.
• It protect YOU: That’s right, you get a layer of protection from people who forget they subscribed and claim you are spamming them. aWeber keeps records of when they double opted-in adding a layer of protection that helps you sleep better at night.

List Segmenting

List segmenting is the ability to group subscribers, aWeber makes available several options for creating groups, such as:

• Region
• City
• Country
• Web Page Visited
• Sales
• And many more, including custom types you can define

Segmenting really comes in handy when you want to make a special offer to subscribers in a specific city or who have purchased a product from you before.

Auto Follow-Up

aWeber does a great job of enabling you to setup automatic messages to be sent to each new subscriber in a certain order. So for example, instead of having to welcome each new subscriber to your list and helping them catch up to what’s been going on, you can setup an auto follow-up sequence that can introduce your new subscribers to your site, product or service.

You can ensure that each new subscribers receives the exact same great experience and adjust as needed if statistics provided by aWeber show users do not open certain emails or open rates drop off completely.

One obvious way Internet Markets have used aWeber and it’s auto follow-up sequence is for information product launches and affiliate marketing. You can setup up an endless amount of auto follow-up emails to promote your own products or affiliate products.

Delivery Rates

Do you know what an Email Whitelist is and why its important when it comes to email list services? aWeber has a good standing with service providers like AOL, Yahoo, Google and MSN as well as other services. These services create what is called a Whitelist of trusted email list services and allow emails to be delivered into millions of inboxes bypassing the SPAM filter. That means your wonderful copywriting skills have a better chance of getting read and have a better chance of making a sale!

Analytics

aWeber has recently improved their tracking and analytics system for the better. With what seems to be an endless amount of reports that could keep any stats junkie happy, the best analytics tool is also new.

aWeber calls it QuickStats and it is a cool graph showing you open rates and clicks on links contained within your email. It also shows who clicked on what link and how many times. Now ready for the really cool part? You can generate segments based on the subscribers who clicked on a specific link. Why is this cool? Here are two examples:

• Pre-Sale: What if you asked your list to check out something that was going to be released in the near future, if they want to know more then click on the link in the email. When a subscriber clicks on the link, you can now include that subscriber in a segmented list. Once you have a nice pool of users in your segmented list, you can market directly to them, as they would be the most likely to buy and spare the rest of your list who showed little to no interest.
• They Did Not Buy: How dare they! Yep, it happens, subscribers click on links, get to a the purchase page and don’t buy. Now you can do something about it! You can create a segment on users who clicked on the link in the email and visited the sales page but recorded no purchase. Then follow up with them as to why they did not buy, maybe offer them an incentive to purchase or re-enforce the no risk money back guarantee.

Pretty cool right?

If you are looking for a great email list provider, check out aWeber. I think they have a special going on right now where they only charge $1 for your first month.

You want your reader to take action, that’s what!

I am going to show you how to get people to take immediate action and click on your email links by shortening your intro and giving a strong call to action.

It’s called a HEADLINE not an Short Story!

Your reader is stressed out of his mind, has tons of things to get done, people yakking in his ear and hasn’t even taken a lunch yet even though it’s 4pm. Along comes your email with a snappy email subject line that get’s their attention and they open it.

You starting to see the picture here? You got seconds pal, not minutes or hours. Unless you have a readership of wealthy retired millionaires who can take all day to read your story, you need to get to the point as quickly as possible.

Tell Your Reader What To Do

Your opening headline should answer the following questions:

1.) Why are you writing me?
2.) What’s in it for me?
3.) What do you want me to do next?
4.) When do you want me to do it?

This should take no more than two lines, at most! It takes a bit of practice, but after a few emails you will start to form the habit and your readers will thank you for it.

Example Headlines

Let’s take a quick a look at some example headlines, that with a bit of modification, you can use in your next email.

Just posted a free download on email marketing, just click on the link below and download it now!

Quickly, click the link below to download your free PDF report before I pull it down later today.

New blog post for you today on email marketing, click the link below to read it now.

Make The Link Obvious

Get a bit creative and make the link you want clicked on SUPER obvious to the reader.

For example:

=> Click Here: http://www.soxialize.com/ <=

> > http://www.soxialize.com < <

=============================
Download: http://www.soxialize.com/
=============================

*********************************************
Click => http://www.soxialize.com
*********************************************

You starting to get the point? Don’t waste your readers time by having them scan around in your email trying to figure out what they need to click on. Make it SUPER obvious and you will get better results.

Putting It All Together

So at the top of your email, once you have come up with a solid headline and got a bit creative with your call to action, it should begin to look something like this:

Hey Frank,

Just posted a sweet new PDF for you, full of email marketing tips, you can download it and save it for later by clicking the link below:

==> Download: http://www.soxialize.com/

So what the hell does that mean right? Well I am going to show you.

I am giving you, my up till now, super secret template for writing killer emails that drive click-thru response.

You will need a killer email subject line and lucky for you I have already given you five methods on how to write one with plenty of examples here which you should read first:

http://www.soxialize.com/email-subject-lines/

Ready? Let’s get started…

The Opening Sentence

This is were 99% of people blow it. Most email marketers go on all about themselves and forget that the reader has to get back to work and or catch up on other emails already stuffing their inbox.

Tell your reader why you are writing them, then tell your reader what you want them to do.

For example:

Hi Bob,
I am writing you because I just posted a new “how to make a widget” guide on my blog that I know you will like, it’s a quick read, click the link below to read it:

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

There is a lot going on in that sentence, so let’s break it down:

• Greeting – Use the first name of the person you are writing, people love seeing their name and tests have shown people react strongly to seeing their name.
• Because - The word “because” triggers a psychological reasoning or justification and helps the reader be open to why they should continue reading.
• Guide – Sure I could have used the word article, report or something else but the word guide seems to produce better results.
• Blog – Blogging is more common place now and it has more of a personal touch to it versus, go to my website or webpage.
• Quick Read – People don’t have time, so if you tell them it’s quick you have a better chance of them checking your stuff out.
• Click The Link – Seems simple but you gotta tell the reader what you want them to do.

The Middle Part

The second place email marketers blow it is in the middle, right after the opening sentence. I have seen emails that go off on tangents and cause the reader to lose interest.

Here is quick example of how to do it nice and simple:

You are gonna love all the free step-by-step pictures I put up for you, plus I included a movie of the whole project and a free bonus downloadable version of the guide.

**OPTIONAL**
Just click here to go read the guide now:

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

The middle part is used to provide more insight and re-enforce the value the reader will gain by clicking on the link. Let’s take a deeper look:

• Love & Free – Reassuring the reader that I know they are going to love what they see and reminding them that it’s completely free just for them.
• Free Download – To cover the reader who is on the fence, offering a downloadable copy of the guide gives them the option to save it for later and read it when they have time.
• Optional Link – You can test this, in some cases I have received higher click throughs with a second link in the middle

The Signature

Short and sweet is the way to go. Stuffing your signature with a ton of social media links in the hopes that you get more followers is simply missing the point. Do not confuse your reader by giving them more options to click on. Keep it simple and just say something like:

Have a great day!
Joe

Seriously, do not over think this. The less, the better because you have one more piece of the puzzle to include…

The P.S.

Never send an email without a P.S. as some people will actually skip to the bottom of the email to read that first. Weird, I know, but it happens so prepare for it. The P.S. should be used to re-enforce the entire reason why you are writing. It’s a combination of the opening sentence and the middle part:

P.S. Don’t forget that you can download a complete free guide to making widgets, plus watch an awesome video. Just click on the link below to get it all free!

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

That’s It

Let’s take a look at the entire email:

Hi Bob,

I am writing you because I just posted a new “how to make a widget” guide on my blog that I know you will like, it’s a quick read, click the link below to read it:

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

You are gonna love all the free step-by-step pictures I put up for you, plus I included a movie of the whole project and a free bonus downloadable version of the guide.

Just click here to go read the guide now:

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

Have a great day!
Joe

P.S. Don’t forget that you can download a complete free guide to making widgets, plus watch an awesome video. Just click on the link below to get it all free!

http://www.yoursite.com/article.php

Not rocket science, I know, but yet everyday I get email in my inbox that fails to:

• Tell me why they are writing me
• What’s in it for me
• What do I have to do to get what I want
• Why should I do it right now

Four simple questions that you can now answer using the super secret template above. If you got further suggestions, post them below and share with us.

Rather than try to explain what grabs the attention, I figured I would give you five of the greatest eye grabbing, must click and open to find out what this email is about subject line methods in the world!

You are welcome… Now let’s get started.

The Bracket Method

If creativity is not your thing, a simple way to get noticed and set a familiar email message pattern is using the bracket symbol. By using the bracket symbol, you are telling your reader what the email is about and it’s from you, a trusted source.

Here are some examples of the bracket method:

1. [BLOG] – 5 Great Subject Lines
2. [NEW] – 5 Great Subject Lines
3. [UPDATE] – 5 Great Subject Lines

The Warning!! Method

Ok, this one you gotta be careful with. You can really only use this when it really matters. When the warning method is abused, future messages will probably be ignored. Use the warning method wisely.

A few examples of the warning method:

1. WARNING: You Have To See This…
2. ATTENTION: Don’t Make This Mistake!
3. UPDATE: Are You Protected?

The So-Cal Method

This only works if you are cool and the people on your list are cool. If you have to wonder about it, then you are probably not cool, so don’t use it.

The So-Cal method is a fun way to connect with readers without all the stuffy corporate speak. Without a doubt the KING of the So-Cal method is Frank Kern. If you can get on any of his email lists, you will know why. Plus, he is a really cool dude.

Examples of the So-Cal method:

1. Dude, check this out…
2. Watch this…
3. What do you think?

The First Name Method

Who doesn’t like the sound of their own name? Tests have shown that people react strongly when they see their names on things. So it should be no surprise that using your readers first name in the subject line works like magic. If you are not already collecting your readers first name, you better get on it.

Examples of the First Name method:

1. Bob, check this out…
2. For Bob’s eyes only…
3. Sorry Bob, you missed out…

The RE: Method

Let it be known that I Cesar Serna am taking full credit for the RE: method. I have been using it for some time now and getting great results. It’s simple and yet highly effective because readers associate the RE: as an existing or ongoing email discussion. Try not to over use it, much like the warning method, readers will become less likely to open it if used too often.

Examples of the RE: method:

1. RE: Stuff you asked for…
2. RE: Videos…
3. RE: PDF Reports…

What Methods Do You Use?

I am sure there are tons of other methods used in email subject lines. I have shared 5 great ones with you, if you got one or several you can share, post them below in the comment area.

Email has been a part of internet marketing from the beginning and continues to deliver just as well if not better than before.

The problem is, most people do not have the mental bandwidth to stay tuned long enough to tie their shoes let alone master the art of email marketing. Is it tough? No, but just like everything it requires you to stay tuned in long enough to actually learn and put a few skills to use.

Rookies, Read This…

Email marketing requires you to master a few things that are as old as dirt. Here they are:

1. Trust – Without it, you have nothing! Doesn’t matter how many followers you got or how great you think you are. If people don’t trust you, they won’t read your emails.

2. Plan – Map out what your message is going to be, at least for the first month, until you find your groove and develop your writing style.

3. Deliver – Forget about trying to get people to buy your stuff. Even you get sick and tired of getting email spam asking you to buy something you don’t need. Instead deliver value beyond expectation to your readers. For example, send them some cool links, helpful content or a PDF download. Stuff you would like to receive in your inbox for free.

Dabblers, This Is For You

Knowing is not enough, you have to take action and put the knowledge you have into use. The world is full of people who tried and it “didn’t work out for them.” Stick with email marketing and build a loyal trusted following. Deliver consistent value and you will see trust skyrocket.

1. Don’t Sell Out – Once you start building a list you will be asked to cross promote or even be tempted to cash in on a quick deal. Remember trust is hard to gain and super easy to lose. Guard your list from those who have less integrity and don’t deliver the level of value you have established.

2. Stick To The Plan – Your plan is the key to your success, stick with it in order to measure your success and failures. No less than 30 days or you will not have good enough information to base a course correction on. This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t make minor adjustments like headline changes or calls to action. What it does mean is to stick with a campaign to really determine what works and what doesn’t.

3. Don’t Compare – You can’t mail out once and expect to get the same results as a Frank Kern. It takes time to build a solid list from different sources like PPC, Squeeze Pages, Sidebar Forms or even Lightboxes. Set aside the comparisons for now and focus on building your solid email list that, in time, will bring in the sales.

How Email Marketing Works

It’s a pretty simple concept that has been used since the birth of salesmanship. Many variations of the list below exist, this is just a very basic outline for you to get started on the right path towards email marketing:

1. The Gift – What are you gonna give for my attention? That’s right forget about what you are trying to sell me and focus on what will get my attention. Shocker? You ever hear of the old saying “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”… Think about it…

2. Under Promise Over Deliver – You promised the gift and someone trusted you enough to give you their email address. Now it’s time to blow their socks off with extra “un-announced” free bonus stuff. Make them feel great for trusting you and re-enforce that you are someone they can trust for future cool stuff.

3. Results In Advanced – Show them how they will benefit from using your product or service. Don’t confuse this with selling them your product or service. Make this process as much a conversation or tutorial, so it is as comfortable and non-sales like as possible.

4. Feedback – Enable your readers to give you feedback or testimonials. Envolve your readers by encouraging them to leave comments on your blog or use a service like QuickVouch to get user feedback and testimonials.

5. The Sale – The sale is actually the easiest part, if you followed the outline above. After establishing trust, and only after establishing trust should you attempt the sale. Rush this part and you will stand to lose everything you have been working hard to establish up until now. Make it a great deal, give it a hard deadline and offer an unmatched guarantee.

Use the simple outline above to develop your own style of Email Marketing. Know that nothing is set in stone and nobody has said the final word on how to definitively be successful using email to market your products or services.

Spammers have left a negative cloud over Email Marketing, but when done correctly Email Marketing can lead to HUGE returns and happy customers. Plus collecting emails is so much easier, especially when using a lightbox.

I Give You Permission…

When your customers or website visitors hand over their email address, they are basically saying that they give you permission to email them about your product or service. They are trusting you and it’s up to you to maintain that trust.

Trust is something really hard to earn but so easy to lose. Maintain a great relationship with your email list subscribers and deliver consistent value. You will reap the rewards when you eventually send out last minute offers, specials or affiliate offers.

Let Me Tell You How This Works…

When setting up your email marketing plan, always have a welcome email that explains to the new subscriber what to expect and more importantly how often to expect emails from you.

If you are going to email more than once a day, you may want to mention that in the welcome message. If you need your new subscribers to take certain actions like follow you on Twitter or Facebook, it would probably be a great idea to do that up front.

Remember to make the experience of receiving email from you as comfortable and familiar as possible. Develop your own style and begin to separate yourself from the daily junk your subscribers received. Let them know when and how you will be sending them value via email.

Making The Money…

You want to make some money with your email marketing? Ok, listen up, here is a few things you should know.

First, if you don’t have the people’s trust, then you are not going to make money. Earning your subscribers trust should be your first priority, not making money. You do this by not only delivering what you said you would, but by going the extra mile and giving a bit more. Do not sell anything to them at this point. Earning trust is your first goal and you do that by delivering what you said you would.

Secondly, give your subscribers unexpected value in the form of free stuff like PDF downloads, free trials or other free stuff. Make the free stuff you are giving out relevant to your business. For example, if you are in the computer business you may give away free mouse pads or an online course. Don’t give away poor quality items like rubber combs or stickers, who really needs a sticker? Give something that you can afford and that earns you some trust points.

Last, but not least, after you have earned your subscribers trust and given them way more value than they expected, make an offer they can’t refuse for your product or service. Create a deadline so your subscribers know it really is a special offer. Let them know it’s a “subscribers only” deal and make them feel like they are getting the insider deal.

Patience Grasshopper…

Patience is the key here, if you fired off a “BUY NOW” email just after I became a subscriber, you end up looking like every other spammer online.

But if you follow the outline above and go out of your way to build trust and give value, your list will be much more responsive when it comes time to make sales.

Looking for new Twitter friends or need to hit a new target market? Many Twitter users are making the exact same mistake, but not us!

Below we talk about what is probably one of the least utilized methods of Twitter Marketing. It’s so simple you will wonder why you haven’t done it yet. Seriously, you can do this in less than an hour!

Thinking Global

The one simple concept Twitter users seem to forget is that Twitter reaches a global market. More simply, when you sleep people on the other side of the world are logging on to Twitter. Guess what? They all need your product and services as well. But since you are off sleeping what can you do?

Automation Is Awesome

Some of you may be thinking that I am talking about spamming Twitter. Forget about it, what I am talking about is simply re-posting earlier messages to reach friends across the pond and other regions of the world who may have missed my earlier messages due to timezones.

Everyone Is Doing It

Well not everyone, but those who are in the know and are savvy enough to tap into new markets are doing it. With a simple script you can automate the re-posting of your earlier twitter messages. Many services online offer the feature of scheduling Twitter messages as well.

Are You Thinking Global

In all honesty, are you taking advantage of the global market via Twitter?

So you want to sell your own products? Or maybe you are marketing someone else’s product with an affiliate offer? Here’s the secret… Always offer more value than you are comfortable giving!

Offer More Value Than You Are Comfortable Giving

You want to make money, you want someone to take their credit card out of their wallet and pay you. Getting paid should be the very last thing you think about though, so let’s get into the mindset of the customer.

The customer is looking for the best value for their hard earned dollar. Your site, was in most cases, not the first they visited. The art of the Landing Page is to make your site the last place a customer visits and makes a purchase. Let’s think about what motivates a customer to buy:

• Nice looking site – maybe
• Awesome features – not really
• Perceived Value of Purchase – YES!!!

Think of when you buy something, you have an idea of what you are looking for. Several sites seem to offer almost identical products with the only difference being the price range.

Then you visit a site that sells you the same product, but then offers more! Now you almost instantly forget the others as you start to focus in on the new bonuses that will help you even more. Maybe the price is a little more or a little less than the others but you don’t care anymore. You feel that you are getting way more value from this new site.

Visit The Market Place

Let’s put it another way and go into offline mode for a second. Most everyone has been to a market place at one point or another. If you have not visited a market place, GO TO ONE IMMEDIATELY! They are some of the best places to learn how to sell.

So you and I are at a Marketplace and looking for new socks. At the market place you see several vendors and they all sell almost identical socks. Several vendors offer the same deal 3 pairs for $5 or 9 pairs for $10.

As I am getting ready to make my purchase I notice one vendor who offers 9 pairs for $10, plus he is including 3 pairs of shoe inserts for running and a free gym towel with his logo and phone number on it.

Now that vendor has got my attention! Why? First of all I don’t need that many new socks, so if I were offered more I would say 9 pairs is more than enough. The shoe inserts on the other hand compliment the socks and offer me immediate comfort. After walking around the market place I can use the right away and get instant foot relief. In fact he sizes them all up to my shoe size for free and puts the first set into my shoe without me asking. The gym towel is a nice to have, I don’t need it right away but I know that I could always use an extra towel in the gym bag.

The last vendor offered more perceived value for my $10 than the other vendors. For all I know he got the shoe inserts and towels for pennies. What he is doing is giving his customers the feeling of making a great decision. Everyone likes getting the deal, especially when they feel they are getting the better end of the deal.

Offer value to your potential customers and give them more value than anyone else is giving. Forget the fancy bells and whistles of the individual product, that almost becomes secondary. Let your customers receive satisfaction by feeling that they received the heighest value for spending money with you.