Email marketing is a great way to reach new readers and clients. Even a small list that is built correctly can bring in more income and traffic with minimal effort.
If I can give you one piece of advice for your promoting your business I would say start an email list! Social media is great, Pinterest is a top traffic source for me and I love connecting with my readers on Facebook but I don’t own those platforms. Recently Pinterest made changes that caused some users to lose half or even more of their traffic, basically overnight!
This happens all of the time. Social media platforms and even Google change their algorithms. This can lead to a lot of stress if that is your only way to reach readers.
The thing about email marketing is you own your email list. You don’t have to always be adjusting with email. Over time you can even put it on autopilot and keep making sales and driving traffic with minimal effort.
Email marketing can seem overwhelming at first. There are so many options out there and so much advice. Take a deep breath and just get started. You can adjust your strategies as you learn more but you can’t build your list if you don’t have it started!
Getting Started with Email Marketing
The first thing to understand is it’s not about the numbers. You want a list of people that believe in what you are doing and are your target audience. These tips are designed to help you build a list of the right people not build the biggest list in the fastest way.
Sure it’s nice to look at your subscriber count and see 10,000 but if no one cares about what you are sending and they don’t click what good is that list? A smaller number of engaged subscribers is better than a cold list of thousands.
A smaller number of engaged email subscribers is better than a cold list of thousands. Create a list of people that care about what you are saying and are passionate about your topic. Click To Tweet1. Setting Up Your Email List.
The first thing you need to do is set up your actual list. You need a place for people to subscribe and a way to send those emails. There are many email service providers out there it can be tough to choose.
There are a lot of free options out there, however, if you can possibly afford to invest a bit of money I’d recommend skipping the free options and using one of the most popular options ConvertKit.
I use ConvertKit on all of my websites and love it. It’s not the cheapest option but in my research, I’ve found it’s the most complete service and can really help you build an amazing list.
>>> Get Started with ConvertKit for Free <<<
ConvertKit also has a lot of great information on how to use the site. I recommend reading Your First 4 Steps in ConvertKit to help you get started. These steps are good for helping you set up a welcome email for when people first sign up.
2. Create an Opt-In For Your Audience.
Once you have your list you need to give people a reason to sign up, this is called an opt-in. My most popular opt-in on Retro Housewife Goes Green is a 1950s cleaning routine printable.
Since my target audience is people that are interested in homemaking and vintage living this helps me get my target audience on to my list and the printable gives them a reason to give me their email.
You can give this opt-in to your audience in a few ways. You can have a blog post that is on that topic and the opt-in gives people more. You can also have a landing page with just your opt-in. You can also do a combination of these things.
There are a lot of great options for opt-ins. Here are a few you can try-
- Printables- this can be art, planners, worksheets, and more.
- E-Books- this is a popular opt-in. I have two that I offer on Retro Housewife Goes Green. They are shorter than the e-books I sell and didn’t take me long to make. You can even make them using content that is already on your blog. People like having content in book form.
- Course- I have offered a few free email courses. This is a great way to get people to sign up. Just make sure you make it worth their time but don’t give away all your secrets.
- Resource library- once you have multiple opt-ins you can also create a resource library with all of the resources so people can get them all in one place. This will be a password protected page just for your readers.
- Coupon codes- depending on your business offering a coupon code is a popular option. You will see this used by most large online stores because it works!
Once you have one good opt-in always be thinking of more you can create. Having multiple opt-ins is the best way to grow your email list fast.
3. Be Consistent.
I see people set up lists, have opt-ins, get subscribers, send a few emails and then quit or just send them randomly. This will allow your list to go cold and readers will forget why they signed up and are more likely to not open or unsubscribe.
I like to send 1-2 emails a week. I pick one day a week that I always send an email and then I will sometimes send one more if I have something to share.
You can do less but once a week is a good goal. Whatever amount you choose just make sure you stick with it. Your readers will learn when your emails usually show up and will look for them. This will help make sure your emails are being opened.
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Sell.
Something I hear all the time is people that are afraid they will upset their readers if they try to sell things to them. If that’s all you do and you offer no value then yes, they will be mad and they will leave.
However, if you offer them a lot of value and free content and only sell products that you actually love and that fit with your email niche then you can make a lot of sales without annoying your list.
The key is to be authentic and always be thinking about your readers and what can help them. And of course, be honest. Not only is this a good business practice but it’s also the law. You must disclose affiliate links and it needs to be clear if you are making money off of something. Your readers will appreciate the transparency.
Additional Resource: How to Get Started With Affiliate Marketing
5. Be Willing to Try New Things
As you learn more about your audience and email marketing you will want to adjust your strategy to find what works best for you. My strategy is a bit different for each of my email lists.
I’ve watched to see what emails get the most opens and the most clicks. I use that info to write more emails to make sure I’m giving my readers what they want.
Make it a habit to at least once a quarter, once a month if you send a lot of emails, to look at what were your top emails. Which had the highest open rate and which had the best click-through rates.
Plan to send more of these kinds of emails. The ones that bombed? Skip those or find ways to rework them to get more opens and clicks. Don’t just look at the content but also the subject lines, images, and wording for links.
With these basic steps, you can start building your email list and get your first readers. As you learn more you can do even more with your list and help increase your income.
Learn More About Email Marketing
Want to learn more? Check out these resources!
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