Hooooly moly. I think I just took the longest blogging hiatus of my life. Thanks for not attackingme with virtual pitchforks or anything, you guys are the best. đ
Lately, Iâve been focusing on teaching people how to utilize their email lists because I know thata personâs email listisone of their biggest assetsâŠand I want you to see that, too! Iâve also seen the swift change that growing and nurturing my own list has had on my business. An active email list is often the cure to many business and blogging woes.
No oneâs reading your blog posts? Use your email list to create more engagement.
No oneâs buying your products?Use an email sequence.
Want to build a stronger brand? Share tons of value with your email subscribers.
Your list is kind of your holy grail of business tools. Not only will it increase engagement and a sense of community, but it will also help you increase sales. Now,of course, you canât just send a half-hearted email and expect the community and cash to roll right in. No. You need to be a little more savvy, strategic, and value-centered to achieve the results youâre aiming for.
In todayâs post, weâre talking about six different ways that you can use your email list to bring home the bacon (do people still say that?). So, if you want to increase your sales, help people see your value, and build a stronger business, then I hope youâre ready to party. Letâs do this.
First of all, Iâve got a little cheatsheet to help you implement some of the things weâre about to talk about in this post. Just click the button below to grab it. Itâs free, yo.
Dude.If you want to starta profitable business, you need to pick a niche. I know, I know. I can see your pitchforks and torches already. Donât hate me, k? I just want you to succeed, thatâs all. If youâre unconvinced, then read this post about selecting a focus (and why itâs muy importante).
In terms of creating an online business, youâll be stunting your growthdramatically if you try to please everyone or talk about too many subjects. Iâm not being a hater, I actually speak from experience! During the first year or two of my blogâs life, I experimented with tons of topics. Self development. Creativity. Fashion in Japan (?!?!). And Iâll admit, I was able to grow a devoted little audience while talking about a zillion different things.But one day I decided to start talking more and more about business and pro blogging.
And BAM.
It was like my email list, traffic, and income had a private meeting where they decided to start giving a crap.âWeâre stoked that you finallypicked a niche, so weâre just going to rock out over here for the rest of eternity. Cool?â
Aside from making it easier to grow your business with a more specific niche, youâre also making it easier for people to want to sign up for your list. Without a niche, your audience may be wonderingwhy they should sign up for your list in the first place or what you would even send them.
One word of caution: while selecting your niche, make sure youâre focusing on your ideal customers or clients, not your peers.The mistake I see a lot of people make is that they create blog posts and content that aredirected toward people just like them, rather than the people that they want to attract and can sell their products to.
Bottom line: Pick a niche. Be free.
Actually, it should probably be more like value value value value value value value value pitch.
The people who donot make much revenue through their email lists are the ones who send emails that go a little something like this:
Subject line: Announcing my new super awesome product!
Email: Hey subscriber! I just created this new super awesome product that I think you would like! Hereâs the sales page! Go buy it!
Okay, so maaaaybe more people arenât quite that blatant, but theyâre saying the same thing, just in a few more words. Rather than simply telling people to go buy your product, you need toconvince people that your product is right for them in the first place. Many people will see your product and barely give it a second glance, simply because they donât know how it will benefit themandbecause they donât know howyou will benefit them. How can they understand your worth and knowledge if all you do is tell them to buy your crap?
Instead, use your email list as almostâŠa second blog. Send vulnerable emails that inspire your audience. Give them new tips and strategies youâve never mentioned elsewhere. Tell them about an upcoming workshop youâre teaching foâ free. Give them a free workbook or cheatsheet, just because.
Basically,you want your subscribers tolook forward to opening your emails because they know theyâll always get something good out of them. So, send free downloads, free knowledge, and free inspiration well before you ask them to open their wallets.
Hereâs a secret: most online entrepreneurs donât publish blog posts or other content just for the heck of it. They might do that sometimes, especially when theyâre just getting started, but typically if they are writing a blog post, itâs the entrance point for a specificpath.
Let me explain.
Like we talked about in #2 above, giving value is insanely important if you want to build a business that people care about. Also, many people in your audience are probablynot on your email list yet, but theydo read your blog or consume your content. So, the best thing to do is to create a path, starting on the outskirts of your brand (like your blog or social media) and leading them to the inner circle. Like this:
So, the idea is to write a blog post or create a piece of content about your productâs topic. This isnot simply to talk about your product. This is primarily meant to provide value to your audience. Then, use an opt-in incentive in order to encourage them to sign up for your email list. An opt-in incentive is something you give away for free, in addition to your blog post. It could be a worksheet, cheatsheet, ebook, etc. Now that theyâre on your email list, you could invite them to a related webinar or pitch your product. Hereâs what this process looks like:
As you can see, every piece of content you produce nowhas a purpose. Youâre sharing value with your audience by producing killer content, sothe people whomight be interested in your product will sign up for your list and get to hear more about your related, paid offering.
The reason why you wouldnât just create a blog post or piece of content introducing your new product is because, like we talked about in point #2 above, people need totrust you and feel like youâre knowledgeable before they will buy from you.
Hereâs the difference between promoting something on your blog, social media, and to your email list: in order to see apromotion on your blog or social media, someone would have togo to your blog or social media.They donât get a notification.That puts a lot of weight on your audience to check your accounts regularly or happen to see your Instagram post in a feed of others, which they simply will not do.
On the other hand, if you send someone an email, then you can be pretty darn certain that they will see it. People check their email several times a day, but they may not check social media at the specific time you publish your social media post. And they may not visit your blog because then theyâd have to type your link into their browser and who in the world is going to remember to do that, especially at the specific time you need to reach them?Nah, bro.
This is a big reason why an email list is vital. It allows you to reach your audienceeffectivelyandwhen you want to,which is especially important for time-sensitive offerings, like launches or webinars.
So, whenever youâre planning a new webinar, your email list should be the first place you send the registration page to. Not only will you get more sign-ups for your webinar (where you can pitch and sell your product), simply because youâre reaching your subscribers in their inbox (which they check frequently), but youâre also giving free value to your subscribers (a 60 minute class?! Heck yeah!). Sometimes, when Iâm busy (or lazy, letâs be real here), I donât even promote my webinars on social media. Ionly send them to my email subscribers. Thatâs how valuable your list is!
**Disclaimer: While I do think your email list is crazy important, I donât think that social media isunimportant. Some people will tell you that social media is a waste of time, and youâre welcome to believe whoever you want, but I actually think social media is a phenomenal place to build your authority, be personable, and grow an engaged community around your brand. But for making sales and reaching your audience with time sensitive offers? Your email list is the way to go.
If you want to make sales of your products through your email list, then a sales funnel or email sequence is the way to go. I feel like some of these terms, like âsales funnel,â get a bad rap because certain online marketers over the years have been really spammy or pushy in their emails. But in reality, a sales funnel is just a chain of emails that tell people about your products or services. You probably get them everyday without even realizing it, from online business owners to Taco Bell.
There are nearly endless ways for you to create a sales funnel, but the main gist is to provide value, while showing people why your product can benefit them. Think of your sales funnel as a sales page spread out over several emails. On a sales page, you donât just slap a âbuy nowâ button onto it and expect people to buy your thing. You first need to help them go through necessary mindset shiftsand show themwhy your thing will help them with whatever problem theyâre having.
The same thing goes for your sales funnel, so try breaking it down into the different sections of your sales page. One email may be about breaking down the stereotypes or myths they believe about your topic. Another email may talk about your personal turning point or the results youâve seen with your strategies. Another email may share a case study from one of your clients or students. Even though these emails are selling your products, your main objective is to provide value to your subscribers, so you should position your sales funnel emails to make sure they are still useful, even for people who never buy.
For example, if youâre sending a case study about the incredible results you got for one of your students, you could position it as something like âCheck out how Miranda lost 23 pounds in 3 months (with strategies you can use!).â Then, your email would talk about Mirandaâs success story, but will also tell peoplewhat Miranda did to achieve such success. So, youâre giving people actionable tips they can use. Finally, youâll let people know that if they want to kick up their own weight loss regime, your e-course/personal training/coaching/whatever is designed to help peopleachieve the kinds of results Miranda did. So, even when youâre âpitching,â youâre being useful.
Of course, youâll want to add some âstraight valueâ emails into your sales funnel, too. In these emails, youâre essentially just providing new tips and advice for people who are interested in your productâs topic. This will remind people of your vast knowledge of this topic and also help them with the problem theyâre having.
How do you get someone into your sales funnel? Typically, theyâll âenterâ it by opting in toreceive some sort of freebie or content upgrade on your website. After they opt-in for that freebie, theyâll receive a âtagâ in your email service provider (ESP). Then, youâll make sure that you have set up your ESP so that anyone with that tag automatically receives your sales funnel sequence. Now, youâll be able to sell your products and services on autopilot!
For a simple (and free!) sales funnel cheatsheet, just click the image below and it will be emailed to you rightaway.
I donât really like the word âtripwireâ because it sounds kind of aggressive and evil, but hey I donât invent the words over here, I just tell you about them. đ Anywho, a tripwire is an inexpensive offer you pitch to someone immediately after they sign up for your list. Usually it costs $7 or $9. Cheap-o.
The reasoning behind doing this is that, psychologically, someone is more likely to remember you and buy from youagain than they are likely to become a customer in the first place. So, if the first offer they see from you is something really valuable for only 7 bucks, then they are likely to purchase it, turning them into a customer right away. Think about it: Are you more likely to open someoneâs future emails if youâve already purchased one of their products (which was uber helpful and awesome) or are you more likely to open someoneâs emails who youâve never really interacted with before? Bingo.
Also,when you pitch them your higher-priced offerings in the future, theyâll already be a customer of yours(more likely to buy again), so theyâll have had the chance to see what your paid stuff is like. Kind of like a teaser into your paid products and services.
Most people who use tripwires also put tripwire buyers into special email sequences, which provide value, thank them for their purchase, and eventually pitch one of your more expensive offerings. Think of it this way: manycoaches offer free âdiscovery callsâ to help potential clients get acquainted with them, which is likely to lead to more sales of their coaching services. Tripwires are similar. An inexpensive way to get to knowyou as well as to get to know the kind of value you bring to the table, which will increase the number of buyers of your premium products.
In order to set up a tripwire, you will need to create a product that you can sell for $7 or $9. Even though itâs cheap, it should still be very valuable! Then, create a sales page for that product and a way for people to pay for it (you could easily do this in Teachable). Lastly, you need to set up your opt-in form or landing page so that after someone subscribes, they are sent to the tripwire sales page. The sales page should start with something like, âCheck your email to confirm your subscription. While youâre waiting, check THIS outâŠâ And then it will go into the sales page for your tripwire offer.
The key to tripwires is to have a plan for after someone buys it. Will they get an email sequence that tells them about one of your larger products? Will you reach out to them individually to say hello and see if they want to schedule a free discovery call? Have a plan, otherwise your tripwire is basically just a $7 product with no path (as we talked about in #3!).
Woo! You freakinâ rock for making it to the end. As a free little bonus, I put together a cheatsheet that you can download, which includes exactly what to include in a basic sales funnel for your business (including the different emails to write). Click here or the image below to download it!
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