“Why, on earth, would I need an email list?”
That was a question posed to me by a tenured executive coach. She had been working with corporate clients at Fortune 500 companies for years, but, apart from collecting contact information inside her Gmail account's address book, she had no list of any kind to call her own.
Why is an email list important?
Because an email list is among the most powerful assets you can have in the age of online business and electronic communication. In this video from 2012, the brilliant and always entertaining Derek Halpern gives his take on why you need to be building a list… NOW:
So, as Derek points out, when you compare email to other online communication platforms (like social media), there's simply nothing better. And, even though this video was recorded in 2012, the fact is that email is still the top performing tool for online communication… and getting people to take action.
What kinds of action can you expect people to take from your emails? Here are just a few possibilities…
Spending money with you
As a coach, you're in business to make a profit, right? If so, one of the best tools you can use is your list, because the people on it have expressed an interest in being there. They've raised their virtual hands and said “I want you to share information with me.” And email is the perfect way to introduce yourself and your services over several days, leading up to an eventual offer for your new subscriber to invest in you and your services.
Follow up sales (spending more money with you)
One of the smartest things you can do with your email list is to segment it between those who are already clients and those who are prospective clients. This will allow you to share different information and offers with each of these groups. And the more you are able to rack about what programs, products, or services someone has purchased from you in the past, the better you'll be able to target your messages.
That means you can invite past clients to come back for more whenever you've got something new to offer. And, frankly, it's a lot easier to sell to those who have already bought from you, than it is to get a new client to do so.
Get feedback
Email isn't only about selling, it's also about learning from your prospects and clients. Email marketing makes it possible for you to get feedback by simply asking for a reply or inviting people to fill out a survey. Not only can you find out what types of things people are looking for help with, but you can also discover what kinds of products or programs they will be willing to purchase if you create them.
A great email list starts with a great offer in exchange for your subscriber's email address. It's all about providing value to your new subscribers, and not just saying “join my newsletter.”
Offering a free download or access to a video training can be great incentive for getting someone to join your email list. Just make sure that there's some continuity between what you are offering and the reason people came to your website. For example, if a blog reader comes to your site to read a post about marathon training and you offer them a PDF with 10 things they can do to achieve total fulfillment in life, there's a good chance they won't sign up for your list.
For more on this topic, be sure to check out my post, POWERFUL LIST BUILDING STRATEGIES FOR COACHES.
Tools for Getting Your Subscribers to Opt-In
Just a few years ago, building an attractive, high-converting opt-in page or pop-up was tough. In fact, you needed to be pretty comfortable with technical coding to do it yourself. I remember spending hours fine tuning my first opt-in page, trying to make everything perfect. But now, you can do everything within minutes.
There are dozens if not hundreds of tools out there to help you build your email list from a WordPress website. I've probably tried at least fifteen or twenty myself. Many didn't work or they were just too darn confusing. But over time, I have settled on three tools I use day in and day out on multiple sites.
This is a comprehensive landing page builder which not only builds opt-in pages, but also lets you build sales pages, thank you pages, and more. Here's an example of one of the sales pages I built using InstaBuilder. So what, exactly, does Instabuilder do?
– you can choose from a number of templates that are proven to turn traffic into subscribers
– there is a built-in 2-step opt-in process to drastically increase conversion rate
– great split-testing features to squeeze out even more email addresses
– analytics to show you what is working and what needs changed
Most popups are rude and intrusive. And, beyond that, they can be pretty difficult to configure. I bought PopUp Ally about a year before I started using it regularly, but kept thinking I wanted to replace it with something with more bells and whistles. Each time I saw another PopUp WordPress plugin, I'd buy it and disable PopUp Ally… only to reverse course a few hours later. What can PopUp Ally do for you?
– create multiple popups triggered by time, when visitors scroll, or are about to exit a page on your website
– embed videos, opt-in forms, 2-step opt-ins, and polls
– set popup to not be shown if a visitor has already seen it
This opt-in option is a bit more sophisticated, because it's built on the premise of incentivizing your new subscribers to help you build your list farther and faster. You can do this by offering to unlock access to something that's highly desirable once they have gotten other people to also join your list. This kind of tools won't work in every kind of business, but if you have a highly social audience and your subject matter is something they like to discuss and share publicly, this might be a great option for you.
What's An Autoresponder And How To Choose One
When someone first joins your email list, that's the time you have the greatest opportunity to develop the new relationship further. Their request for information from you is fresh in their mind, which gives you a window of opportunity to connect with them daily (at least for a little while). That's why I love using autoresponders, which allow me to drip out an email a day (or with whatever frequency I want) after someone joins my list.
Each day, for a week or two, I suggest sending out an automated email which builds upon the initial opt-in information. It can be a quick reminder about some of the content they downloaded, or it can be additional training or insights into one particular aspect or another. The idea here is to help your new subscriber get to know you as a high quality resource to help them address their need or problem. As your automated email sequence progresses, you can start to introduce a paid option and presell them on why it will help them move forward in addressing their problem.
Now, managing a commercial email list isn't something you can do through Gmail. You need to employ a more sophisticated CRM (customer relationship management) tool. This is especially important if you plan to deliver a free gift for people when they opt-in to your list.
There are plenty of free tools (or free versions of paid platforms) out there. For instance, I really love MailChimp, but they have two shortcomings: 1) you cannot use their autoresponder feature unless you sign up for a paid plan with them., and 2) their terms-of-service doesn't allow you to promote anything apart from your own business… which means no recommendations or affiliate promotions.
So, after using MailChimp, GVO, VerticalResponse, and a few others, I've settled on two great services for my email marketing management: Aweber and GetResponse, both of which are sophisticated, and yet simple and intuitive to use… and have a greater guarantee that your messages will be delivered. They do this by white listing their IP addresses personally. This feature alone can make it well worth it to pay the nominal monthly fee (usually between $10-$70) for this service.
Here are a few basics for improving the chances of having your Internet marketing email campaign turn into a big success.
Create Urgency
An email with a subject line that creates a sense of urgency is a sure way to improve response rates. Subject line titles such as “Only One Sale day Left” or “Good Only For The First 100 People Who Respond” can result in a very high click-through rate. It is in essence the fear of loss that often motivates people to open an email.
Cause Controversy
Creating controversy is an excellent strategy for motivating people to open an email. Subject line titles such as “Why Our Product Is Banned In Four States” or “Click To Learn Why Our Product Is So Popular On Social Media” can gain conversions. Controversy excites while it also creates curiosity.
Develop Trust
Using a tagline or subject line that develops trust is a great way to get email recipients to open an email. Subject tiles like “We Have Earned The Trust Of The Community” or “We Are Approved To Work With Homeowners” will usually give the impression that a company or product is reliable and established.
I often look to tabloid headlines or even websites like BuzzFeed or UpWorthy for ideas on how to model my subject lines. And, on my Chrome browser, I've also installed an extension called Headlinr, which helps me come up with email subjects as well as blog post titles.