Sheesh! Whole books are written on this, but let’s give it a go. If you’ve downloaded Email Infinity and you’re wondering “What’s all this fuss about email?”… here’s a quick answer.
First, don’t believe the naysayers
Email marketing is NOT dead! It works now, and it will carry on working for as long as your customers spend hours every day inside their inbox.
Sure – privacy laws will tighten, list building will get harder, delivery rates will fall. But whatever lies ahead, it will always be the best (fastest, cheapest, most effective) way to build relationships and nudge a willing prospect closer to the sale.
Social media? Yeah it’s great and all, but it’s no substitute for email. First, because it’s filled with distractions – all those ads and videos and “inspirational” memes and corporate virtue signals, popping up on screen competing for your reader’s attention. And second (this bit’s really important), because you don’t own your followers. If your account gets binned – yes, it happens – you can’t take your followers with you.
That’s why every marketing expert agrees: use your social space to send people off to your website to join your email list.
See, the list is YOURS. No-one can take it from you. If your email provider shuts you down, they don’t get to withhold your list.
And when readers open your email, guess what? No memes… no chat… no videos… no competition! You’ve isolated them in a little box where only your message gets heard.
So yeah – email works!
BUT… it only works when you do it a certain way.
In my experience (which seems to be backed by data from people with much bigger lists!) email works when it’s WELCOMED and PERSONAL.
It has to be WELCOMED
This sounds obvious, I know. But email works when people actually want to read it! In other words:
- YOU’RE NOT mailing them out of the blue, from a list you bought from a bloke down the pub.
- YOU’RE NOT adding them to your list just because you happen to have their business card.
- YOU’RE NOT bombarding an old neglected list with a sudden burst of salesy crap.
- You’re just sending regular emails to people who gave you permission, and your emails are more about adding value than making a fast buck.
It has to be PERSONAL
You’re not up there on a stage talking to a crowd. You’re talking to one person. Like a friendly voice on the radio, there could be millions taking in the message, but it feels like a one-to-one conversation – “me to you”.
The right tone goes a long way – but it’s not the whole answer. Your visual choices will either add to the personal touch…or undermine it.
Rule of thumb: a plain text format usually works best. It’s tempting to use your email provider’s big sexy templates, I know. But think – if you were mailing a friend, you wouldn’t “style” the email, would you? An over-designed, branded message says “Hello, business here, let me sell you something”… while a plain text email says “Hey there, Bob here – how’s it going?”. (Be like Bob.)
So my advice…
Build a list and mail it at least once a week with helpful, chatty emails. Share tips and stories that show off your expertise and earn you brownie points. It’s the whole know-like-trust thing, and it goes a long… long way.
Does it work for any business?
Um, almost. There are exceptions. Like, if you’re a funeral director, people don’t want you sending regular emails because (no offence) they don’t want you in their daily lives, clanging bells of doom!
But generally, yes – build the relationship and win that “top of mind” space. It will pay dividends when the reader finally needs you. Or when they’re asked to recommend someone who does your special thing.
To put all this another way, you’re building YOUR OWN PERSONAL FAN CLUB! Every email they read gets them one step closer to loving you… putting your kids through college… and fighting to the death to protect your reputation!
And that’s a level of loyalty you’ll never build on Facebook…
Next Up: Building Your List with Lead Magnets < Back To Index
What is Email Infinity?
If you send regular emails, and you know the agony of staring at a blinking cursor, waiting for inspiration to strike…stare at this instead!
Email Infinity comes from years of geekery, of late night sessions analysing email after email.
Stuff I’d mailed to my own list. Stuff I’d written for clients. Stuff from pros and gurus. Stuff from regular SMEs.
It all went under the microscope, in a furious bid to reverse-engineer whatever “it” was that was working.
The result is 100+ proven ways to generate ideas – enough to keep anyone in emails till the end of their days.