Great secret to email marketing – the more times you send valuable stuff to your email list the more money you make. Duh. But I think we all hold back and that means we are not making money with email marketing as well as we could. Video below is how I learned about this.

Are you worried about Email List Unsubscribes?

Here is the trap you might fall into.

1. I don’t want to email the email list because some people might unsubscribe.
2. I don’t want to sell anything to my email list because some people might unsubscribe.
3. I cannot email my list more than once a month because they might unsubscribe.
4. I need to give incredible value in each email or my email list members will unsubscribe.

The reality is that people join a list fully knowing that you will also try to sell something.  They know that they can probably unsubscribe and they will if they get too many emails or get annoyed with your message.

However, would you rather have a email list of 100 people that buy things regularly for you, or an email list of 10,000 people that just delete your message.

I am not saying to be irresponsible with your email list.  But also do not be afraid to use it and do not take unsubscribes personally.

I don’t know about you, but I am getting way to many emails from Amazon in the past few weeks.  Obviously many retailers are hurting and after deleting several emails from Amazon today, I asked myself, “Is Amazon Desperate?”

I love email marketing and I do not mind getting emails.  However, there is a point where you start to loose people faster than the extra emails pay off.  I’d be curious to know if Amazon has had more people opt out of the lists this December.  Personally, I am just tired of people trying to sell me stuff.

If you are doing email marketing, are you noticing any changes?  As people try harder to sell and consumers cut back on purchasing, the amount of noise is going to go up, and if you are not careful, your list will shrink.  I read another eNewsletter this morning where the author said they’d dropped nearly 500 names in the last month.  She believed that it was more due to bounces because of people losing their jobs.  Makes sense.

If there is ever a time to put great quality into your email marketing, this is the time.  Your list in incredibly valuable, but if it starts shrinking more than growing, you will find that your business follows suit.

Unless you are on my email list (where you get 20 free Buzz Marketing lessons), this will not make so much sense.

Early in the week I tried an experiment with my email list. I sent out an email where I packaged 3 ebooks into one file and sold them for $9. Just for one day (Actually a day and a half) and in a more personal way.

This blog post is the details of the way I did it and the results I got.

Before I begin, let me say THANK YOU to the people that are on my list.

To Begin With

Some basic params – The list is small, under 1,000 people because I purged it a year or so ago. While my list is small now, I usually enjoy a 40% open rate. I frequently get people asking me to resend one of the Buzz Marketing courses because they keep them all saved, refer back to them and send them to clients. (Nutty, I know, but thanks)

This whole campaign took me about 2 hours. Imagine if my list was bigger, the results would have been bigger too.

Negativity Boost

Anyone studying email marketing knows that a negative subject line gets a higher open rate. But that does not take the creativity out of it. It just means you can pique someone’s interest more. So my subject line was “How to have a terrrible birthday.”

49% Open Rate - And still climbing.

Study Emails you like to read

I have also been paying attention to the emails that I like to read – very closely.

Here is what I have noticed. I do not care if you are selling something or not. I respect that people need to make money. However, it is an absolute crime if you do not make it interesting for me.

I read emails where the personality shows through.

I read emails where I feel like I know the person and I believe they know what they are talking about.

I read emails if the person has made me laugh in the past.

I read emails if the person has helped me make money in the past.

What I do not read

I have some good friends and I am on their email lists. I like them, but I do not open many of their emails. Why?

• I know they publish long articles – and I do not have time to read a random article or long newsletter.
• They only use their email to sell stuff.
• They never provide instant gratification – You know, those people that always invite you to free webinars or tease you with things you have to buy.
• They do not write in an authentic voice.
• They do not seem like real people when they write.
• They do not make me smile.

So, I am telling you this because I really do have an email strategy, and the above observations play into it.

My goal is to build a list of people that enjoy reading my emails, find value in quick tips and articles and really know me even if they have not met me.

Can email make you a Celebrity?

Since that email two days ago, I have attended two business events. In both cases, people came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed the email. Were they daffy? It was a sales letter! Emails also poured in with people saying they could not wait to find out what happened.

The Ultra-Secret Trick

I am not here to tell you I made millions off of a $9 product. I had nearly a 50% open rate, nearly 50% of those people clicked the link to look at the product and about 8% of the people that opened the email purchased the ebook. Great percentages, but small list. I made about $300.

If you did not get the email, let me tell you this was a very personal and fun email to write. I talked about how we spend money on our kids for birthdays, but not much on ourselves. (Gee, do you think that hit a cord with a couple of people) I promised to spend whatever I made on myself for my birthday. Plus, the three ebooks were worth about $40 if bought separately, so it was a great, one day deal if you were interested in them.

The Ultra-secret trick was no ultra-secret trick. I told a personal story that entertained (at least some) people. They seemed to appreciate it and want to know more. I was selling something, but not tricking them into it. People do not seem to mind that. I know I do not mind that.

So how am I spending my bonus wealth?

#1 – My kids get to buy me something with part of it. So they are taking me horseback riding. I thought it was my birthday!

#2 – A group of normal stuff like dinner, some clothing (I have lost 50lb in the last year and need some 1/2 sized clothes, replacing everything is expensive.)

#3 – I am going to set aside a portion for a new video camera I want. Video is a great way to entertain and teach – and I am committed to doing more of it. I am just not equiped properly yet.

Again thanks. I feel really privileged to have such a responsive and interested group of people signed up for my emails.

10 Internet Marketing Secrets the experts don’t want you to know

1. Free Blogs and Websites can improve your internet marketing results a lot.
2. WordPress is a great Internet Marketing tool that is free, other than hosting.
3. WordPress has great free Internet Marketing and SEO plugins.
4. The Internet Marketing Formula is simple and not an all or nothing proposition.
5. Good, regular writing is important to internet marketing success.
6. It is easier to get results with affiliates that are active instead of developing new people.
7. Employee Evangelism can super-charge your internet marketing.
8. Capturing relationships is critical – Use email marketing.
9. Use open source – It is unlikely you need big custom development projects.
10. Internet Marketing is most successful when you build an audience of people that respect you and want to hear from you.  That is hard to do with an old-style business website.

Bonus: Sure twitter seems silly, but it is generating great internet marketing results at times, and takes very little effort.  You should use it once in a while.

I am not done with this book yet, but WOW.

I have been doing email marketing for years and I am learning so much from this book. Chris Baggott has written a great book with all kinds of input from other smart people on the topic too.

What I am enjoying the most is the level of detail.  Yes, I have a pretty good idea about email marketing and we have been doing it for years with some clients, but this book is providing me with the details that make me rethink every nuance of the process.  If you want to successfully do email marketing, this is a must read.

Here is an excellent blog on email marketing.

Chris Baggott was mentioned on the Forbes Best of the Web list, which is great buzz for him, so I visited him and liked what I saw. I commented on a post where I thought I could be insightful, and he then highlighted me in a post.

Please note that I did not promote myself or the company. I always try to add value to the blog through meaningful comments.

By watching what other people are buzzing about, you can perfect your efforts. If you read the email marketing blog, you can learn a lot about how to create more buzz with email.