The Guru Hub

Archive for the ‘Email Marketing’ Category

Writing a good call to action takes guts! After putting all your efforts into writing a great sales letter, make sure you ask for the sale! A “call to action” is what creates customer action and that is what the entire sales process is about. Don’t make the horrible mistake of thinking your readers will recognize what to do next. Map it out for them step by step. Tell them exactly where to go or what to do next!

I don’t have exact figures on how many sales are lost due to a missing “call to action” but I am certain the streets would be littered with them if we had an accurate count. Unfortunately, after everything is complete some people make the dreaded mistake of second guessing themselves and the value of their product.

Thus, they are “afraid” to ask for the order or a proper price for their product or service. This is a surefire way to kill sales or never even get them off the ground.

A call to action can be as simple as giving them a link and telling them to click it. While they KNOW you want them to click the link, the chances of them actually doing it will improve if you give them instruction to do so. You set off a mental trigger when you actually tell them what to do and this leads to more action. Without that communication they are left to figure out what to do next and that always leads to fewer sales almost without fail.

Your email or sales page should flow like a story and good stories always lead you in the direction they want you to go. Could you imagine a story that sucks you in and then doesn’t give you an ending? (that is a topic all by itself) There is no doubt where they want to take you, that is stated right up front, but as they take you through the story the author tells you exactly what to do.

This is the same principal that you must use in your email and sales text. Ask for the order or tell them what to do next! Don’t be shy about it, just come right out and say it. Something like” After all this I am sure you would agree this product is worth its weight in gold. But since we don’t accept gold it will only cost you $$$. If you do this it will dramatically improve your sales.

I was going to wait to write this as a tip to increase your email open rates to your list, however, having just received over 40 of them today I felt this would be a good time let the cat out of the bag.

Let’s start from the top with a question to suck you right in to the subject matter. Have you ever received an email that had RE: in the subject line? I am sure most of you had at one time or another so I will assume the overwhelming answer is yes.

This is the way the email subject line begins when someone responds to your email. The subject line always starts with RE: and we have been conditioned to recognize this as a response to an email we had sent out.

Recently I was struggling with my email open rate with one of my lists and pretty much came to a dead end. I had tried everything, including praying to the gugu gods of email (it wasn’t pretty let me tell ya -J). Still nothing worked. It didn’t matter what super ninja tactic I tried, my open rate just stunk!

Then one morning while considering my latest email I can up with the idea to start a new email to the list with RE:. I hit “send” and held my breath. Soon I began to check my Aweber open results and Wala! I had struck solid Gold! The email open rate sky rocketed and people were responding to my email as if I had emailed them personally! Perfect!

Being that I had effectively “tricked” my list into opening the email I have used this technique sparingly and only when I really need them to open an email.

So fast forward to today and someone must have beat me to the punch and put it out there that The RE: subject line gets Mega open results when inserted into an email because emails with this attached to them are laying all over my email. OK already, it works….but not from 40 people on the same day.

My point is simple; this is a great technique to use “sparingly” to temporarily boost your results. Use it as a bridge to build more trust with your list and offer them more value (the ultimate fix) and they will be waiting for your email with mouse in hand.

It’s one thing to create great content; it is a totally different thing to create buzz or interaction. If you want to take your business to the next level and “really” drive traffic to your site you need to interact with your customers. Provoke discussion if you have to but make them interact. Once you unveil this super ninja technique its lights out, “bolt the door Katie” cause here comes the flood of traffic!

Seriously, you can really increase the interest level and engagement of your visitors or email list when you ask for their opinions or input and involve them in conversation. This conversation, or feedback, can even be used to guide, tweak, or even create your product or marketing.

It is amazing what people will tell you when you ask them their opinion. It just opens the door to many different areas of information sharing and gathering. Using this information in your marketing can make it seem like shooting fish in a barrel.

Many times we think of the time we take to interact as “wasted”. Nothing could be further from the truth! Interaction does three things, at minimum.

They are:

• Creates Trust
• Builds Credibility
• Makes Price Less Relevant

People trust people they know more about and talk with on a regular basis. The more you have a two way conversation rather than a one way conversation the better off you will be.

Credibility is something you earn and you can’t earn it unless you are engaged. Every email, video, letter, and ad builds your credibility so take it seriously.

Another benefit of interaction is you reduce the relevance of price. People are willing to pay more for a product if they know you and are comfortable with you.

Some of the interactive tools you can use are polls, blogs or a forum. These are the most common but use your imagination to create interactive tools. You can use a whole host of other ideas to get people to interact with you. The key takeaway, interaction creates trust and credibility which in turn boosts sales. People would much rather buy from someone they have talked with (or emailed) and trust than a complete stranger.

Did you ever sign up for an email list and in the sales page it says they will deliver (what ever they are promising you) to your email instantly….. “yes, even if it is 3 am in the morning”. Well, they are using an email autoresponder to automate their business.

Once you get the feel for what your customers are looking for you can continually tweak your messages and keep on adding more email content to them. I have seen some autoresponders set up outside a year long. Imagine the messaging you can send on a consistent basis not to mention the cash you can generate on a regular basis.

In my opinion a mailing list is your most valuable asset. The larger the list the more money it is possible to make. I have made up to $1,000 for one mailing in a very narrow niche with a list of only 1,800 people. But your list is only valuable if handled with care and respect. The important part is that you know how to use it to its greatest potential. Don’t over use it and keep jamming sales letters and affiliate links down their throats. Make sure to send top content on a regular basis and they will be ready to by your product when it comes out.

If I knew how valuable my lists would prove to be I would have started to build them much sooner. It is hard to believe the feeling when you need some cash and you put out an email to your list offering a great deal on some of your e-products and the cash starts rolling in. Once this happens, you will never look at list building the same ever again. I guarantee it!

Before we get into the actual marketing to your list, let’s go over some basics about autoresponders and the steps you need to take before you ever send that first email.

How to Find the Right Autoresponder for YOU

Don’t just sign up for the first autoresponder system you come across. Make sure you compare several companies and see what they have to offer. Do your research and find out which autoresponder has which features and benefits. You want to find the one that best matches your situation.

There are quite a few systems out there to choose from so I’ll tell you which system I use and some of the other top names. Don’t limit yourself to this list. If you have heard good things about a company then check them out. I actually looked at the companies that were used by the guru’s sending me email and started my search from there. That might not be a bad idea for you as well.

I use Aweber because it fits my system perfectly. It is easily scalable and you can start off small and for very little money. This worked great for me and the most of the people I learned the business off of where using Aweber so I gave it a try and have been with them ever since. It may or may not be right for you so compare it to others to see if it is right for you.

Here are some links to other popular autoresponder systems.

Aweber

iContact

Get Response

Email Aces

Making a wise decision before starting a marketing campaign can and will make a difference. Yes, you can change to a new autoresponder later, but why go through the hassle if it’s not necessary. Choose wisely.

Know The Programs Available

Educate yourself on your autoresponder before beginning any marketing campaign. Take the time to learn how all the bells and whistles work. Once you know what you’re working with, you’ll be unstoppable. Don’t leave anything on the table that will keep you from utilizing this powerful tool to its fullest potential.

If your autoresponder can do all that you need it to do, and you know how to use it to your advantage, your marketing campaign will flourish.

Now let’s take a look at some do’s and don’ts. This is where an autoresponder will make or break your business. If done right, you’ll discover why everyone and their brothers say, “The money is in the list.”

Did you ever think it was possible to work less and make more money? I had trouble with that concept too as my family (especially my Dad) always said the harder you work the more you will make. This is not necessarily true in the online world in which we now live. Because of tools such as autoresponders that can be programmed to do much of the work for us the direct opposite is true in a lot of cases.

An autoresponder is just as the name implies. It is a program that automatically responds to a request for information. The most common use is sending a response email to someone who has signed up for your email list. The customer receives a response immediately and, if they are not familiar with autoresponders, may think you are typing them a response at all hours of the day or night. I can’t tell you how many times people have responded to one of my emails from an autoresponder, thinking that I was on the other end pecking away on my computer. If you would like more information on autoresponders click here . I use and recommend Aweber.

The reality is, you do the work once and you are done. The autoresponder repeats the process each time another person signs up. You can just send a welcome or courtesy email or you can attach a file to the email and send them a special report or ebook. Everything is automated. Talk about beautiful, this is the way to get things done.

Let’s assume for a second that you are selling an ebook. On the sales page you have a “add to cart” or “buy now” button with a link to your merchant account or PayPal (I recommend Paypal but that is for another section). The customer purchases your product and your shopping cart automatically sends them the ebook link plus sends a request to your autoresponder add them to your email list.

Your autoresponder then sends an email with a “Thank You” note and a link to an upsell. They decide not to take you up on the upsell this time; however, you programed the autoresponder to send an email every other day for the next 30 days containing some kind words and the same upsell link. Nothing, nothing, nothing, and then….. Bam! On day 22 they purchase the upsell!

This is real life and this is how you triple your profits with less work.

Did you ever sign up for an email list and in the sales page it says they will deliver (what ever they are promising you) to your email instantly….. “yes, even if it is 3 am in the morning”. Well, they are using an email autoresponder to automate their business.

Once you get the feel for what your customers are looking for you can continually tweak your messages and keep on adding more email content to them. I have seen some autoresponders set up outside a year long. Imagine the messaging you can send on a consistent basis not to mention the cash you can generate on a regular basis.

In my opinion a mailing list is your most valuable asset. The larger the list the more money possible. Your list is only valuable if handled with care and respect. The important part is that you know how to use it to its greatest potential. Don’t over use it and keep jamming sales letters and affiliate links down their throats. Make sure to send top content on a regular basis and they will be ready to by your product when it comes out.