by Suellen | Email Marketing, Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
Email automation. What a gift!
With automation, we can set up emails to go out when we are sleeping – or on vacation. And we can set up as many as we want to go out when people sign up for different products or offers.
These are often referred to as automation flows or autoresponder flows. Sets of emails sent automatically to subscribers to streamline and enhance our email marketing process. Automation can be set based on time or on a certain set of events – such as signing up for a newsletter.
Automation can send them a welcome email. It will also ensure they receive the other emails in the series consistently.
What’s more, automation can better segment our lists to target and refine our communication. Thus, better results and better conversions.
Automation can do what would be impossible for us to do.
Let’s look at five common email flows you should implement in your email marketing plan:
Welcome Email Series
First, establish each new connection with a welcome email. If someone subscribes to your list, you should never neglect the opportunity to say hello and thank you for joining the community. They need to know at first contact what to expect and when to expect it.
Abandoned Cart Email Series
When a possible customer starts to purchase and then doesn’t follow through, an email series can be quite effective. That person was interested, but decided for some reason not to buy.
This is a straightforward reminder crucial for e-commerce businesses. This email reminds the customer that they left items in their cart to purchase.
Often times this is a great opportunity to offer a small discount and help your customer follow through with the purchase.
Personalized Discounts
Some marketers ask for a birthday, anniversary, or other personal information when a customer signs up. Then when the customer’s birthday or anniversary comes around, they can be recognized, making them feel special.
Post-Purchase Series
This is a set of emails sent after a subscriber makes a purchase or follows a certain call to action. This shows that you appreciate their business and hope to continue to provide value to them. It also ensures they use the products or services correctly to maximize their usefulness.
This is a great time to ask questions and give feedback to establish your trustworthiness and credibility.
This series can be a tremendous boost to your business.
Educational Email Series
Also known as lead nurturing content, this is a very valuable series of emails. This series can build a connection with your subscribers to keep their interest and understanding about your business, products, or services.
The more education and value you provide your subscribers, the more likely they are to become loyal customers.
Remember, automation is there to keep you consistent and help reduce tedious and mundane work.
Never approach this as something you can set up and ignore completely.
If you want to crush your email marketing goals, always keep track of the results and test new automated series. Design and tweak your automation to get the best results.
Your customers will love you for it!
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Vision and Goals
Do you pray over your business? I do.
In fact, I often start my morning with an hour or more of spending time with God. Praying, listening, and reading the Bible.
I consider him to be the CEO of my business. I’m the COO. He’s the boss. I just carry out His plans.
So what difference does this make?
First, spending this time helps me stay focused on the right priorities. My number one priority is to serve my customers – helping them to achieve their goals. I want to offer products and services which bless them abundantly.
Second, this special time helps me gain clarity. Often as I pray, the Holy Spirit gives me new ideas and shows me where I’m not being as productive. What to pick up and what to put down. With clarity, I can approach the day with a clear picture of what I want to accomplish.
Third, praying gives me confidence. I know that I have God’s hand on my business and He is empowering me to achieve His goals. So I know that I will be successful in what I am doing because He is with me in the process.
So how about you? Do you pray over your business?
I would love to hear your thoughts about this.
by Suellen | Email Marketing, Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
As you know, I’m a writer, and love to write about inspirational topics.
So when I first started writing blog posts and emails, I would write – and that would be it. I had a sidebar with some offers – just a few – because I definitely didn’t want to be “spammy,”
And even though I spent quite a bit on training, my endeavor was costing me. Big time. Certainly not making much money.
Then one day i came to my senses and realized that I wasn’t going to ever make much money with my blog if I didn’t have anything to sell. (What was I expecting? Donations?)…
So I timidly dipped my toe into a few things. Bundle sales. A few offers. A little cash rolled in, but still not a lot.
Well several years have passed and I am much bolder now. In fact, this year my goal is to increase my boldness even more.
I would like to make money through several streams so that I can still offer a lot of free inspirational content. I want to impact lives.
And make money.
And help others do the same. Impact lives and make money.
So here’s the start.
Email marketing is the foundation of every successful online business I know. By mastering the art and the science of email mastery, you and I can increase our income many times over.
The key is learning to create effective email funnels, which will inspire our audiences enough for them to purchase or sign up for our products. (If you don’t exactly understand the concept, just hang on. We will explain).
In the next few blog posts, we are going to dig down deep into these funnels so that we can master them and optimize their effectiveness.
So here we go. How does this work? Just as a funnel can add oil to your car engine, online funnels can add people to your email list or cash to your bank account.
The first funnel we deal with is the sign up for your email. There is an opt-in which promises something in exchange for the email address. Once you have their information, you move to the next type of funnel. Through well-timed and targeted emails, you can offer products, courses, and affiliate sales.
These emails should be full of information to establish your authority and trust further.
Next you can lead your readers right out of the funnel to your landing page, and hopefully turn them into brand-new customers. Lastly, the funnel repeats, or the reader is thrown into a new funnel to further continue the process in the hopes of a repeat purchase.
The email marketing funnel never truly ends, as you should always be nurturing your readers and create new and interesting sequences to establish their loyalty.
So how can you make your email funnels powerful?
1. They Promise a Solution to a Problem
Your audience reads your emails because you provide some value for them. You solve a problem in the form of entertainment, education, comedy, or more. It all depends on your niche and why you are starting an email funnel campaign in the first place.
2. They Are Personal
While you may be sending the same email to many readers, that is not how they see it. It goes directly into their personal email, and frequently they are reading it alone. Even better, it is personalized to them. Making them feel special, important, and connected with your brand. Allowing you to provide more value and then more easily convert them into paying customers.
3. They Create Brand Awareness, Trust, and Credibility
Emails are another great way to provide your audience education and resources, further increasing your brand awareness, trust, and credibility. The more you communicate to your audience, the more they get to know you and trust your authority, especially through quality content that solves a problem.
As you can see, if you want to build a loyal audience while turning them into paying customers, then email marketing funnels are a must. In fact, if you are not convinced yet, then it’s important to let you know that many businesses often see a return of forty-eight dollars for every one dollar they spend on email marketing — making it by far one of the most affordable and easiest ways to market and boost your sales.
For a few weeks we will be taking steps to master email funnels, I hope that you will join us.
The next post will include Four Keys to Mastering Funnels.
In the meantime, Forever Upward!
P.S. If you want to participate in our 30 Day List Building Challenge, you can sign up Here.
P.S. If you want an Email provider which is affordable, and which has great service, and great training, go Here: Get Response is my preference.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
Most entrepreneurs know that planning is essential for a successful business. If you have a brick and mortar store or if you have a professional business, the need for planning is obvious. Ordering the inventory and promoting it. Generating client appointments. And so forth.
Somehow, home businesses can start sliding in this area. The relaxed atmosphere can hinder the intentional aspect of business. Then before you know it, you find yourself not accomplishing what you wish for.
Remember the saying, If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up some place else.
So this year I plan to change that. I want to set really solid goals, and then make a plan to see them through. Finally I want to accomplish much more than ever. Inspire more people. And make more money.
Do you set aside time regularly to plan what you want to do in your business? If it’s not something you currently do, I strongly encourage you to embrace it this year.
Let’s start off by taking a look at why business planning is “the secret” to success. There are a few different factors that come into play here.
The first is efficiency. When you have a clear plan, you can focus on what’s most important. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what you should be working on, what pieces of the puzzle are missing from your product funnel, or what you need to do to break through to the next income level, you know exactly what needs to come next.
You’ve thought it through – and you’ve made your plans.
With a clear goal in mind and a plan for the year, it becomes easy to step back to create effective and efficient daily to-do lists. Work on what needs to get done each day and you will reach your goals.
Next, set big a goal for yourself, and work from there.This helps you to think outside the box.
If you don’t believe me, try it. Decide on a big income goal for the coming month. Write it down. Keep it in front of you.
Then get to work and start to notice what happens next.
You start to think of things that didn’t occur to you before.
You come up with creative ways to get more traffic.
You decide to run a fun promo that adds dollars to your bank account.
And when an important deadline comes up unexpectedly, your get-it-done attitude kicks in. Think back on that time in college when finals rolled around, or the last time your in-laws told you they would stop by later in the day. You got very creative about studying and cleaning respectively.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the subconscious. So far we’ve been focused on what we are actively doing to make progress by making a plan, setting goals and following through.
There’s another dimension to all this and that’s what’s going on in our subconscious mind. While we are busy plowing through our to-do list, cooking dinner for the family, and even sleeping, our subconscious mind is working towards those goals as well.
In short, setting goals and making a plan to reach them are real keys to the success you want so much. That means you end up with more money for yourself and your loved ones while spending less time slaving away at your desk.
So my goal is to reach many more people this year. There are many who need help with their blogs, their books, and their speaking engagements, and I want to help them.
I also want to supplement my writing income so that I can share my Christian messages freely.
My first plan is to take time analyzing and implementing my email practices. I want to grow my list and to increase my email effectiveness.
I would love to have you join me. It’s free.
You can sign up Here.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
Is email still important?
Every now and then this question comes up again. Is email still important to your business?
And the answer is always the same. A resounding ‘Yes!‘ It is one of the most important aspects of your business.
Whether you are an author, blogger, tech person, or store owner, your email list and your emailing habits are a major thrust of your effectiveness. And your profit.
I know that you are inundated with thousands of emails which go into the trash. However, some emails stand out and you open them. Especially if the sender is someone you trust and if you think this will be helpful.
In fact, your email list is still one of the most valuable assets of your business. These people are your customers. They are on your list because they signed up for something. And though they may not open their mail for many days, when the time is right, they will.
They may wind up being your very best customers in the long run.
So starting January 10, I am sponsoring a challenge to optimize our email effectiveness. We will be looking at how we monetize them. Making the most of our efforts.
There are several actions we can take. One of the major ones is to always have a good, productive funnel in place. A funnel which will offer something special to our list.
(And often pour some moolah into our bank accounts).
So get ready to join me in optimizing our businesses.
Let’s make 2022 the most productive – and the most lucrative ever.
You can sign up Here for the challenge.
See you there! Let’s do this.
by Suellen | Join the Mission, Meeting the Challenges, Vision and Goals
There are people out there right now that need your skills and your advice. They want to learn from you and they’d be happy to join your community, if only it existed. Don’t let your fears keep you from creating a community.
When I first came online, I was overwhelmed by all of the “experts” I saw. Perhaps it was because the first summit I attended was an extensive weeks-long training from the leading experts in Social Media.
It was as if I had been thrown into an advanced calculus class before I had learned how to multiply!
So much new jargon! I didn’t know the difference between SEO and a CTA. These elite professionals would throw out jargon which the moderators understood perfectly. I had no idea what they were talking about.
Surprisingly, I learned a lot during that training.
Yet unsurprisingly, I established myself in my own mind as an outsider in this complicated world. From then on, when I went to conferences or engaged in online chats, I always felt that everyone knew so much more than I did. And that they were more successful.
I have been blogging – and learning – for several years now, and I have a clearer understanding of what was happening.
Slowly my eyes were opened to the fact that many of those people didn’t know as much as I did. And I began to realize that i could do this. I could be successful online.
So if you are one of those who feels like an outsider looking in, I have some great news for you.
You have unique gifts which will benefit others. You also have a personal mission which may be similar, but it won’t be just like anyone else’s. Have faith in who you are – and know that there are many others who need what you have to offer.
They also need your encouragement.
That’s why we need community.
Your community may be those who listen to your podcast, or read your blog, or those who read your emails. Or you could want to start a membership community. Or a Facebook Group.
With any of these communities, you will have more impact if you consider a few things.
Decide on the goal of your community.
The first thing you want to do when building your community is deciding what the goal will be. It’s a good idea to look at the end result your ideal client wants. For example, if your ideal client wants to start a blog, then creating great blogs can be the goal for your community. Other communities could focus on speaking or podcasting. Some could focus on all of these things.
Interestingly, within your community, there will be smaller topics of interest. Best tools for the job. Best practices. Creativity. Mindset.
You can see that the list could be endless.
Who are your people?
Every community has its own culture that’s shaped by the creator and members. When you’re thinking about culture, you might want to consider your personal values. For example, if you’re building a Christian community then you may stress the importance of Biblical principles while on the job. Obviously in this case, good character would be important to implement in your group.
Walk alongside your members.
The most effective teaching is walking alongside your members or friends.
What do I mean by that? Let people learn from your mistakes as well as their own. When people see you as authentic, they can relate – and they can learn better. Let them see your journey, and let them see where you are at the moment.
When their guard is down, people learn a lot more from a peer than they do from a school marm. So be real and be honest.
Your community will be delighted to find someone who understands their struggles.
Find a partner
If you’re nervous about building a community, look for a partner. This is someone that runs a business or brand that complements your skills. For example, if you’re an excellent writer, team up with someone who is a great internet marketer.
This set up benefits you by cutting your responsibilities in half and it benefits your group by allowing them to receive support from two people, instead of one. Keep in mind that you’ll want to build your community with a partner that you already know and like. You should also have a plan in place for what happens if one of you becomes too busy to participate or if one of you wants out of the community.
The bottom line is this. We need each other, and if you can answer that need in your business or blog, your effectiveness will increase many times over.
