This section will take up a bit of your time. It will outline the limitations of your email marketing campaign and explain how to create attention grabbing emails that will result in conversions to sales of your product or service and the advantages of personalising your email messages.

Take plenty of Notes

So... You've now selected the Autoresponder of your choice. What happens next?

First and foremost, don't ever confuse PERMISSION EMAIL MARKETING with SPAM. The difference has nothing to do with the quantity of emails you send - it is purely that one word - 'PERMISSION'.

Responsible email marketers gain the permission of their subscribers to send out emails. Spammers do not!
DO NOT SPAM
DO NOT SPAM
DO NOT SPAM

The Whole Wide World HATES Spammers.

The whole topic of permission email marketing is quite extensive. However, here are the two main points you should keep in mind...

HOOK THEM WITH YOUR SUBJECT LINE

1. Why should they 'open' your mail?

Whether you realize it or not, we all go through the same mental process with our emails. Our eyes scan the 'Subject' lines, our brains make an instant (often subconscious) decision, and we delete anything that screams 'Spam' at us... even if it's not!

So please understand this vital lesson now...

YOUR 'SUBJECT' IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR EMAIL because your entire campaign will bomb if people delete your message without ever reading it!

An effective subject line will not "YELL" at you.

It will address you personally, and
It will offer a clear benefit that makes you want to read the email.

Does your subject line force the reader to open and read your message?

Is it impossible to ignore?
Does the recipient think, "I've just got to read this?"
Does your subject line answer the question, "What's in it for me?"

There is a fairly simple 'set of rules' that will almost 'guarantee' a meteoric increase in the number of emails that get opened...

2. Where you can, use your subscribers' real name,

Personalized emails are 65% more likely to be opened that those that aren't. There is no other single technique that will boost your response rate as much as this, and that's why every e-mail campaign you send should include a personalized subject line whenever possible.

Use the name occasionally in the body of the email, too. Using someone's name makes them feel as though they have a relationship with you. And nothing gets a person's attention faster than 'hearing' their own name!

3. Keep the subject short

Don't be tempted to be verbose in your subject line. Remember, you have but a split second to catch your reader's attention, so KEEP IT SHORT.

As well as that, most e-mail clients have a maximum length of about 50 characters, and even the greatest subject line on earth will be wasted if it gets cut off!

4. Don't use CAPITALS!!

In addition to non-personalization, there are three sure signs that an e-mail is commercial or even spam...
A SUBJECT LINE THAT'S ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
A Subject Line With Capitalized First Letters
A Subject Line With Lots Of Exclamation Marks!!

Spammers 'love' capital letters and exclamation points. If you do the same, I can guarantee that (rightly or wrongly) people will assume your message is spam...

As Donald Sutherland would have said in 'Kelly's Heroes', "You're giving out bad vibes, brother!"

5. The four sure-fire attention grabbers

There are Three major ways in which you can make your subject line grab your reader's attention...

Make the reader curious
You can write subject lines that arouse the readers curiosity, but the first paragraph of your email MUST make it clear what the connection is between the subject and the body text. Otherwise your reader will feel cheated and will not respond to your mail the way you want him or her to do.

The easiest way to make a reader curious is to suggest that they are missing out on something important...

[[first name]], this one's my favourite
[[first name]], are you making this common mistake?
[[first name]], did you miss out before?
[[first name]], rattle my cage and see what happens
[[first name]], here's my response

It's important when using this technique to leave something to the imagination by posing a question (real or imaginary) that the reader simply can't answer.

Create a sense of urgency
You'd better believe this.... URGENCY is the best way to get people to react spontaneously.

And you can create urgency in your subject lines either by limiting time or quantity.

[[first name]], only 24 hours left
[[first name]], it's now or never
[[first name]], there are just 20 copies left
[[first name]], I'm only releasing 10 copies
[[first name]], only for the next 5 people to read this email

Share some news or make an announcement
People are intrigued by new things, and generally want to have something before anybody else.

[[first name]], see it first
[[first name]], a new program just launched
[[first name]], important news just in
[[first name]], here's a new income-generator
[[first name]], be the first to see this

Clearly demonstrate a benefit to the reader
Please note the difference between a 'feature' and a 'benefit'

"Our grasscutter is twice the size" is a feature
"Our grasscutter will save you time" is a benefit

"This car uses less gas" is a feature
"This car saves you money" is a benefit

A benefit is something very specific that is good for the reader... save money, save time, make their life easier, etc.

The key when writing subject lines that emphasize benefits is to consider your product or service from your customers' point of view...

How will they benefit from taking the time to read your e-mail?
What will they learn?
What will be their gain?


WRITE A "MUST HAVE" PROMOTION
A "must have that" promotion is one where the reader of your e-mail smacks his/her head and says something like, "Jeez - I must have that!"

Most people don't even know how to start writing such an advertisement. Yet there's a relatively simple process that anybody can follow, and achieve far better results than 95% of all other e-mail "marketers". Because writing a great e-mail promotion is 90% rules, and 10% creativity, and here are a few simple rules...

What single product or service are you offering?
Don't fall into the trap of trying to promote more than one product or service in any e-mail promotion. When you do this, you water down the effect of your promotion for ALL of them. Focus on just ONE product or service and your readers will focus, too.

Who is your target audience?
This question only applies if you have more than one mailing list. If, for example, you have a newsletter mailing list plus a separate mailing list containing the names of the purchasers of each of your products (for example), then it's important to decide who you are going to target beforehand. The more personal and the more relevant you can make your message the more chances you will have of making a sale.

The first sentence of any promotion should ideally include a reference to the relationship you have with the reader. This immediately establishes your credibility and increases the probability that they will at least read your message.

How will you create urgency in your offer?
Do you have limited supplies?
Is the price going up soon?
Is it a time-critical promotion?
Is it a test-marketing - available only to the first x people who respond?

Urgency is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL because it's what compels your readers to act NOW rather than put it off with the intention of "coming back another time." (Which they never do!)
How will readers BENEFIT from responding to your call to action?

You should not be selling the product, you should be selling what it will do for the reader...

YOU SELL THE BENEFITS.

Describing your product will do nothing for your reader. Describing how your product is going to help the reader will draw their attention straight away.

Use benefits to create excitement, so that readers will act without hesitation when required to do so.
Benefits SELL: Features COMPARE

If your offer includes NUMEROUS benefits, you should consider using bullet points. These allow you to cover information quickly in a limited space.

If your e-mail promotion focuses on ONE outstanding benefit, you should write a really strong personal letter, since this usually generates better results with a "one benefit" promo.

How long should your copy be?
First of all, you should make sure that your pages are formatted with a maximum of 60 characters per line. Personally, I never use more than 55.

Generally you should try to limit your offer to one full page of text (that's an imaginary sheet of paper with your text in a single column 60 characters wide!). Much more than that and you risk 'the boredom factor' setting in.

You can keep your copy short by remembering that you are not trying to 'sell' your subscribers anything at this stage. You simply want them to take a particular action like... Click through to your web site and buy your product or - Subscribe to your newsletter or - Request more information about your product or service

What links will be included and where should they appear?
Your call to action (i.e., "Click here now" or "Visit my site") with your link should appear AFTER you've presented your benefits and created urgency -- NEVER BEFORE!

The only exception to this is where you are offering something free, in which case you can place your link almost anywhere.

What contact information will you provide? The final paragraph of your ad should include a contact name and e-mail address. Including this information creates credibility! Don't be afraid to remind your readers that you're a real person living in the real world. They'll be far more comfortable with your offer if they're comfortable with you.

What "extra" benefit will you include in your P.S.?
The first and the last sentences of any email are the most important -- people naturally skim the first line, then scroll to the bottom and read the last line, before deciding whether or not they'll read your entire e-mail.

For that reason, an effective P.S. should either restate the biggest benefit of your offer or should offer a "bonus" that isn't mentioned in the body of the e-mail. And of course, your P.S. should also restate your call to action.

If you're serious about using permission email marketing as a tool to build your business (and you should be serious about it), consider whether understanding the subject fully will help you towards your income goals.

Let's do a re-cap:
You have got the PERMISSION of the person you are sending to email to.
You have personalised the email.
You have created a nice punchy subject line
You have made the customer curious
You have laid out all of the BENEFITS.
You have formatted the lines so they do not exceed 60 characters
You have created a sense of urgency
You have included your signature file
You have added a great p.s.

I told you this would take up quite a bit of your time!

Copywriting skills will obviously determine the more successful marketers, but, once again... If you are struggling... Step into the FORUM and raise your question.

There are no daft questions. The daftest question is the one you never asked.

OK... Now Click Here and let's see about creating some great Headlines for you...