Email Marketing Kickstart

Welcome Back!

Hopefully, at this point,  you’ve breezed through the first two Modules of the Email Marketing Kickstart... And you understand what this whole Email Marketing thing is all about now.

You’ve got your AutoResponder. It’s all configured and ready to go.

Maybe you’ve even taken the “bull by the horns” and you already have an opt-in form on your blog, or you’ve built a landing page. Awesome!

Or...

Maybe you already already had all this stuff, and you skipped the first two Modules since you are a little more advanced, and here you are.

Whatever the case... we’re glad you’re back and we hope you’re ready.

Because this Module is where we start to dig deep into the Kickstart method, and show you exactly how to write really awesome, really fun, really effective emails.

Want some good news? 

The Three Types of Email

There's really only three types of Emails you ever need to write and send out.

Understanding these different types will make it easier for you to quickly crank out great stuff...

And will also also enable you (as you become more advanced) to create crossover pieces that accomplish more than one goal.

More on that in a little bit.

First, here are the three types of Emails:

Type #1: The Consumption Email

No matter what you're selling, It's critically important that you capture (and keep) the attention of your audience.

Ease up too much or get really lazy and stop emailing them regularly...

And they'll find someone else to listen to instead.

Remember, the only way you can solidify your authority and build a profitable long-term (lifetime) relationship with your audience is by keeping them engaged -- you always want them to be thinking about and USING what you’ve sold them, told them, or otherwise given to them.

You do that by sending them Consumption Emails.

Consumption Emails are emails specifically created to get (and keep) people focused on you.

Here's an example:

1. You give away an audio or an ebook.

2. You send several follow-up emails encouraging your audience to actually read (or listen to) what you just gave them.

Essentially, you're reminding them to consume your material.

These followup Consumption Emails add value to what you’ve given them and communicate that value more clearly.

Here’s another Consumption Email example...

You send your audience a pre-written series of informative emails – each hinting at what's to come in your NEXT email.

All the emails in the series combine to present a much more clear picture of what you want them to understand,. And the “serialized” delivery, one email leading the next, powerfully reinforces your importance in the mind of the reader. Anyone can shrug off missing some random email, but a series of email “episodes”... no one wants to miss one of those!

It’s pretty obvious why Consumption Emails are so important - they help your prospects and customers receive maximum value from you. They make you more VALUABLE to your readers.

Type #2: The BFF Email

Erik used to call these types of emails "Trust" Emails, but since he has an incredibly cute and funny 10-year old daughter, he’s changed the name 

Either way, what we’re talking about is TRUST.

These are Emails that are specifically designed to turn your readers into your "Best Friends Forever" by melting away their resistance and building a powerful bond with you.

These BFF Emails don’t sell anything. They should be purely 100% free and totally informative awesomeness that helps your reader.

There's a bunch of different ways to do this, and we’ll discuss several of them...

But for now, here's some ideas for BFF Emails:

1. Send your subscribers emails with personal stories in them.
2. Sprinkle relevant current events or funny anecdotes throughout your Emails.
3. Post personal videos (you on camera) on YouTube and your blog, and link to them from your emails.

As we mentioned earlier, you can blur the lines and combine these types of emails. For example, An email sent out that contains a funny story and then links readers to a blog post where you continue the story...

And then provide the reader with a downloadable worksheet...

Well, that’s really kind of a Consumption/BFF email, isn’t it?

Type #3: The Money Email

Ahhh, yes...

We finally get to the type of Email that brings I'm the bucks, right?

Wrong!

Over time, you'll find that the first two types of Emails (Consumption and BFF) are the types that actually make you the money...

But yes, in order to make money, you first need to ask for it. And that's what this type of Email is all about.

Money Emails are Emails that tell people how they can buy your valuable products and services...

Or tell them why they need to take you up on your recommendations for other related products that will help them solve their problems and achieve their goals/dreams.

Typically, Money Emails are going to fall into two categories:

1. Selling your own product or service.
2. Promoting someone else’s product or service.

In either case, the goal with Money Emails is to pre-sell the reader on the product or service (either your own product, or someone else’s that you promote through a referral link)...

And then to cause them to take an affirmative ACTION by calling a phone number, or clicking an order link.

How To Write Great Emails

Have you ever heard of The Zeigarnik Effect?

It's mega important, and we will get to it in a minute. But first...

Welcome back!

Now that you know what kinds of emails you need to write, it’s time to get into exactly how to write them.

Good emails always try to sell the next step.

• The goal of an email subject line is to get the email opened.
• The goal of the email itself isn't to sell a product... It's to get the click.

And so on, and so forth.

If your email is trying to do too much, it's not going to do much at all.

So let’s start with the first step: Subject Lines.

Subject Lines

The Subject Line of your emails is critically important.

Most people get way too many emails. I know I do. The Subject Line of your emails is your only way to stand out against this sea of nonsense.

It's the first thing people see.

As you write Subject Lines, it's important that you remember one simple rule:

The single, solitary goal of your subject line is to GET YOUR EMAIL OPENED.

That's it.

People won't read your email unless they see it and it sparks an interest, or they recognize it as coming from you. If they don't see it, they won't read it.

So you need to write Subject Lines that get attention. The kind that stand out like a sore thumb.

You can achieve this in a couple different ways:

1. Be consistent. 

Have you noticed that the Subject Line of every single email we send you,  starts with "EMKCK?"

It's not an accident.

Consistency breeds familiarity. And familiarity breeds trust!

2. Be mysterious, enticing, fun, or borderline inappropriate.

Believe it or not, but one of my best converting emails had this Subject Line:

"Pickle Juice"

Another friend and coaching client named Dani used this Subject Line:

"Finding the G-Spot"

Her email was about gratitude... learning to be grateful.

She sells personal development stuff 

My "Pickle Juice" email was about not sweating the small stuff. (My son had spilled a jar of pickles in the car)

See what I mean?

3. Use personalization fields!

With personalization fields, it's possible to include the recipient's first name or last name in your Subject Lines.

Like this:

"Important Webinar Update: Open ASAP, {FIRSTNAME}"

In our experience, this does improve open rates… But not as much as you would think. Including localization fields though, or time/date fields, helps improve open rates drastically. One of my best performing emails had this Subject Line:

"Sleepless in {GEO_CITY}"

For readers, this tag was replaced with the city they lived in… And when sent late at night, this email had a massive open rate.

In the email, I went on to explain that I couldn't sleep because I had found something cool I was investigating.

Body Copy

Now that you have the first step taken care of, and have a good Subject Line that is going to get your email opened...

Now you need to focus on the second step: Getting the email read, and getting the click.

And believe it or not, but the emails that convert the best look like poems.

They are shorter, punchier, and more broken up. Paragraphs aren’t too long. The language is simple.

Think of it like this...

You want to make it easy for the consumer to read.

You want their eyes to sort of drag along each line, and down to the next one...

Effortlessly.

And without fail, always remember to tell the reader to take action!

Don’t assume that just because there’s a link there, people will click it. TELL THEM TO CLICK IT!

Be confident. Be clear.

And let them know what to expect.

If you’re linking to a page with a video on it, for example, tell them to click the play button.

If you’re selling something, tell them how to buy it.

Like this:

Just click the Join Now link below, and you’ll instantly be taken to our secure order form...

Enter a couple details, and as soon as you’ve completed you’re order, you’ll be taken to our private members area where you can immediately download your files and get started.

You’ll also get a confirmation email within a couple minutes containing our telephone number and support information, just in case there’s any problems.

You also want to use clear, simple language.

Don’t overcomplicate things.

A good soup isn't a GREAT soup without a careful sprinkling of spices, and emails are no different.

Only instead of spices, we use words.

And like a good recipe, the more simple the ingredients, the better the email.

Here's 5 power words you should make sure you are using through out your email copy:

• You: You're so vain, I bet you think this email is about you. We all have the vanity streak. We all care mostly about ourselves... And we want to hear about ourselves.
• Free: Free stuff is almost mesmerizing. Even if it's something we don’t want or need, we'll often take it just because it's free!
• Because: The word because gives a reason. Even if it's a stupid reason, you'll respond to it just because you were given a reason. It's shocking how powerful this word is.
• New: Who doesn't like new stuff? We all want the newest, latest, greatest stuff.
• Easy: People are inherently lazy. We want things that make our lives easier.

Action Triggers!

We almost always have a call to action in every email we send.

Like, 99% of the time.

It might be something as simple as asking people to click a link to continue reading a particularly long email.

Or maybe a link to a page where they can take a survey, or provide feedback, or comment on what you’ve shared.

Or even a link to watch a video on YouTube.

Whatever it is, if you don’t have something to sell, always try to include a clickable link, and a firm, clear call to action.

This will help train your readers.

Eventually, they’ll know that when they receive an email you expect them to open it, read it, and then act on it.

Advanced Tactics

The Zeigarnik Effect is the act of creating suspense by bringing something up, and leaving it hanging. 

Like we did at the beginning of this Module.

Maybe you're not old enough to remember... But when I was a kid, I watched Batman almost every afternoon.

Not the cartoon.

This was live-action, and was cheesy as hell.

Remember that show?

When Batman would punch out a bad guy, big animated "Whack!" or "Blammo!" text would appear on the screen.

Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZQ3OLEJWE

Anyways, here's my point:

Each show ended with Batman and Robin in a terribly dire situation.

They would be tied to a rope, hanging over a pit of acid...

Slowly sinking to their doom...

And the announcer would jump in with: "Is this the end of the dynamic duo? Tune in tomorrow to did out!"

Then the show would be over.

And I would sit there and agonize over it for an entire day until the next show.

Human nature is to remember those sort of things.

When someone brings something up and doesn’t resolve it, it always sort of bounces around in your head like a pinball.

It keeps people reading!

So go through your emails and write in a couple of cliffhangers.

Numbered lists (or steps) are great for this.

Learn more about The Zeigarnik Effect here:
http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/02/the-zeigarnik-effect.php

Email Sequences

Sequences: These are emails that you write ahead of time and load up into your Auto Responder in a sequential order - to be delivered to every new subscriber over time. If someone subscribes on Tuesday, they get the first email in your sequence immediately and the rest as you've set them to be sent out. If someone else subscribes on Thursday, that same process begins all over again for them.

Sequences are great for delivering structured, pre-planned content, training, information or sales messages designed to work over time.

We love email sequences!

Broadcasts are awesome... But there’s one little problem with them:

Say you send a broadcast email to your list right now... Anyone who subscribes to your list after your broadcast was sent will NEVER get it.

Broadcasts only go to your current subscribers! 

Sequences, however, continue to go out no matter what.

We created a two week sequence for you, our valued Email Marketing Kickstart customers. You’re probably still getting those emails as you read this.

If someone buys Email Marketing Kickstart on a Monday, for example, they’ll get the first email in that sequence. Automatically.

A couple days later (on Wednesday), they’ll get the second email... Automatically.

And at the same time that's going out, someone who joins on Wednesday will just get the first email in that sequence!

Make sense?

Sequences are incredibly valuable

Imagine: You could write a sequence of “prospects” emails 2 weeks (or even two months) long...

And people can signup, day or night...

And when they do, they'll automatically start receiving those emails. And they'll keep getting 'em until they unsubscribe, or buy your product, or reach the end of your sequence.

They'll start getting to know you, your products, your services...

Maybe even buy them... They’ll get a ton of extra value...

Without you lifting a finger!

You could also write a really thoughtful, helpful sequence for your product owners only (as we’ve done for you)...

Or even deliver an entire training course...

Completely via an email sequence!

This is that whole “system leverage” thing we were talking about in the introduction to this course. This is what the 4% does.

Once you plan and write a sequence, it's done.

Cool, right?

You can write sequences for your new leads...

Sequences for your buyers...

The possibilities are endless.

Start With The Story

Creating email sequences is all about telling stories.

While each email can almost be viewed as a chapter, they must all tie together to tell a bigger story.

So the first thing you need to decide when writing a sequence is what story you want to tell.

Writing a sequence to send to people who just bought one of your products?

Your story is how effective and easy it is to use your product.

You might include an email with some user tips. Maybe another couple reminders to people to actually use the product.

Another email with information on an upgrade or related add-on that helps them use what they bought.

And of course, they all tie together to tell the bigger story:

Why your product is great, and why they should use it.

Here is a list of common stories that can be told via a sequence:

• A sequence reminding people to use something you gave them or sold them. We call this a consumption sequence.
• A sequence containing a special offer every week or month. Perhaps a weekly cigar review or wine review.
• A series of step-by-step emails that provide a solution. The ten simple steps to building a Facebook fan page, for example.
• A series of emails motivating your affiliates to promote your products.
• A series of case studies to establish your expertise or the value of your products.

How We Write Sequences

When we write sequences, the first thing we do is create a folder for our new sequence.

We never write emails directly into our AutoResponder. (More on this on a minute.)

We then create a blank text file for the first email.

Once we've got our blank canvas, we start with some broad strokes.

1) First, we write a global footer that will appear at the bottom of all emails.

In it, we put a reminder of why and when the subscriber signed up, and information on how to unsubscribe.

Depending on the sequence, we might also add our bios, or links to our websites, products, or support systems.

This can be something as simple as:

+++++++

Want to stop receiving these emails? As always, you can 

permanently and instantly unsubscribe by using the link below:

UNSUB LINK

Or something more complex, like this:

+++++++

This newsletter is never sent unsolicited.

Our records indicate that {!name} at {!email} requested information 

by email from our company on {!signdate long}.

Have a question? You can ask it here:

LINK

Want to stop receiving these emails? As always, you can 

permanently and instantly unsubscribe by using the link below:

UNSUB LINK

Either way, both of these options are better than putting nothing, and simply having an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your emails.

Put some thought into it. You only have to write it once.

See "Email Footers" in the supplemental materials inside Module 2 for more ideas.

2) Once we've copied this to every email, we move on to the introductions and closing statements.

We always start and end each email the same way.

As we've said, consistency breeds familiarity...

And familiarity breeds trust.

If you run an antiquing newsletter, for example, you might end every email with:

"Happy hunting!"

See the supplemental "Sample Signoffs" document for more ideas.

Now that you’ve got a consistent intro and sign off, and a well-written footer in every email...

You should have a pretty good looking blank template to write in...

We need to finish off our template by adding an area for our Subject Line and our Subject Starter... And then you can use this template to create the entire blank sequence.

3) Subject Lines and Subject Starters.

For sequences, we always begin each email Subject Line with the same name or abbreviation...

Often we will include a number, and sometimes even the word "Issue" like this:

"Kickstart Issue #1:"

It's crazy how effective this is.

It reinforces the fact that time and energy has gone into these emails, and also let's people know subconsciously that if they don't pay attention, they might miss something!

Believe it or not, but we've had many people email us and ask us to send an older email AGAIN because they have emails #1-6, and #8-12... But can't find email #7.

That's important so I'll repeat it:

While most email marketers are struggling to get emails opened and read...

We actually have our subscribers reaching out to us if they feel they've missed something!

How awesome is that?!?

It all comes down to being consistent, being memorable, and providing value.

So we add our Subject Starters, with a line under them to make it easier to distinguish the Subject from the body copy.

This comes in handy when we are ready to copy and paste the emails into our AutoResponder.

Awesome!

Now, you should have a really strong email template that you can use across your entire sequence.

It should look something like this:

Copy your template, and paste it in the same folder a bunch of times.

Create 3-5 copies for each week you have planned for your sequence.

So for a 2 week sequence, you’ll want 5-10 blank templates or so.

For a 4 week sequence, you’ll want 10-20 of them. It all depends on how many emails you plan on sending each week.

Now, rename them in a numbered fashion.

It should look like this:

All right! Everything’s ready to go and it’s time to start writing.

Your sequence should be a great mix of three types of emails we taught you in Module #3. Head back and review that Module if you need a refresher.

And you should know how to write great emails now. If you need a refresher on that, go back and read through Module #4 again.

Here’s some advanced tactics to keep in mind:

Ninja Tricks

When writing your emails, don’t forget to hint at what’s next. It keeps people interested and looking forward to the next email.

You don’t have to do it in every email, but you should sprinkle these “hints” throughout your sequence.

Loops are very similar, only a little more advanced.

We will talk more about loops in the next Module, but basically they involve opening a thought (topic, idea, concept) and then leaving it hanging until later in the sequence.

It creates suspense and helps tie your bigger story together 

Scheduling Sequences

When it comes to scheduling sequences, it works a little differently than scheduling broadcasts.

You can pick a certain day or even time that you want to send your broadcasts.

With sequences, the day an email is sent will often change depending on when that person subscribed to your list, and where they are in your sequence.

You’ll want to pay close attention to the three types of emails you are going to be sending...

And schedule your emails appropriately (in order) based on the type of sequence you’re building.

For prospects: If you gave them something to watch or read (when they subscribed) you should start your sequence heavy on the Consumption emails. Remind them to get in there and consume that material.

It helps position you as an expert.

Gets them interested in you, your products, your style.

Sprinkle in some BFF emails so they understand that you value them and won’t just try to sell them. Don’t do this for more than a week or two.

Then, over time, begin sending occasional Money emails. Slim down the Consumption emails, or stop them all together. If they haven’t bought yet, they aren’t going to.

After they’ve been on your list for awhile, send even more Money emails.

Mix them with occasional BFF emails...

But sell hard!

The worst they can do is unsubscribe...

And the fact of the matter is that they are getting value from you. They can put up with an occasional pitch.

For customers: You’ll need to treat your customers even better. As you should!

The same concepts apply...

Only make sure your Consumption emails go for longer, and are focused on getting them to use what they bought.

Also, make sure your BFF emails are heavy from the start. Really show your customers the love by providing a ton of value.

As you build, you may find that you need to create additional links, pages, videos, blog posts, or other material that is going to appear on the other side of your clicks.

Wrapping Everything Up

Once you’ve created your sequence, it’s ready to insert into your AutoResponder! It probably looks like a work of art now!

Put your emails in, scheduling the appropriate number of days between each email. Then, test every single email by sending them to yourself, and carefully reading through them...

And then grab a pad of paper and get ready...

Because in the next Module, we’re going to share all of our deepest, darkest Email Marketing secrets with you!

#1. Personalization

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language...”

-- Dale Carnegie in How To Win Friends & Influence People

Personalization means to insert dynamic data fields (sometimes called 'tokens' or 'merge fields') that are personalized to each reader. You're probably familiar with the concept if you've ever done a Mail Merge function in your word processor.

For example, inserting the subscriber's first name in the salutation:

Hey {!firstname}

or...

I just grabbed this and immediately thought of you, {!firstname}

One clever way of using personalization that's totally underutilized is Geo-Location, dynamically inserting the subscribers location into your email.

NOTE: Not all Autoresponders support Geo-Location.

For example, you might use it in a Subject Line like, "Sleepless in (Reader's City)..."

If you live in Austin, Texas and get an email with the subject line "Sleepless in Austin..." you're WAY more likely to become curious and open it up... because just based on the subject line, that email is obviously and directly relevant to you, as the reader.

For some extra personalization mojo, you can add Geo-Location tokens inside the body of your email in some pretty subtle yet devastatingly effective ways.

Here's an example:

"You've probably seen these amazing devices in action while driving around {Reader's City}, {!firstname} - you just didn't realize that's what you were looking at!"

Or...

"If I could, I'd just fly into {Reader's City} and do this FOR you, {!firstname}... but we both know that's simply not possible."

When you get this right, it flies completely under the radar - the reader doesn't consciously take notice of it. The email just reads as powerfully relevant to them (and thus, more effective!)

Another hot tip: Use personalization to customize the time and date references in your emails...

Think about how much more personal it is to tell someone to "look for my next email on Thursday" than just to "keep an eye out for my next email..." It's as simple as pasting a {!dayname+2} token inside your email copy. 

In Module 2, we talk about another place where personalization can be really helpful - setting up customized footers for all of your emails inside your Autoresponder to help people remember how and when they subscribed to your list originally.

#2. Email StorySelling

The most powerful skill you could ever posses is the ability to tell stories.

Stories engage people. Make them laugh. Cry. Identify with you.

And when your stories are sprinkled with power words, and formatted correctly so they relate to the reader...

They become absolutely irresistible. Nuclear.

You need to start turning personal experiences into stories for your audience.

It may seem overwhelming at first. You might be thinking "My stories are boring. My life is boring!"but we can assure you, nothing is further from the truth.

Your stories are GOOD... They just need to be framed right.

The trick is to realize that your experiences won't automatically turn themselves into good stories. It's how you RELATE THEM that makes them good stories.

A great place to begin this process is by LISTENING to more stories.

Try attending a storytelling event. Or try to meet a professional storyteller. Observe how teachers tell stories to the kids in their class.

Or listen to Snap Judgement or This American Life. Both are free podcasts hosted by amazing storytellers:

http://www.snapjudgment.org

http://www.thisamericanlife.org

Each time you listen to someone other than yourself tell a story, pay attention not just to what they say - but also to how they say it.

All great stories share these three characteristics:

• They have a single theme, that's clearly defined.
• They have a well developed plot.
• They have style. They paint a mental picture with words.

This is the one tactic we’ve shared with you that’s going to take real work...

But it’s so worth it in the end!

#3. Facts Versus Benefits

The biggest mistake we see people make when trying to write emails is they mistake FACTS for BENEFITS.

This is something that every world-class copywriter I've ever worked with has really drilled home...

Because benefits are what sell, plain and simple.

Not facts. Not features.

Facts and features are easy to write...

Benefits, however, are a real pain in the ass.

You need to train yourself to look for them.

This short explanation will help you:

A fact is simply that: A fact about your product, service, or offer.

A benefit is the end result the fact translates into.

A benefit answers the question “What’s in it for me?"

For example:

FACT: The new Chevy Godzilla SUV weighs 28,000 pounds and is the heaviest vehicle on the road.

BENEFIT: Your family will be safer.

------------

FACT: The Minolta EZ Click 9000 has a light-adjusting automatic triple-action lens.

BENEFITS: It takes perfect images from dawn till dusk.

------------

FACT: The new NIKE Para-Glider XL has a heel that's filled with ass feathers from the Australian Mongoose.

BENEFITS: You're going to run faster. Jump higher. Migrate south for the winter.

Make sense?

So rewrite your facts as benefits. Either that, or at least include them.

#4. Segmenting

Segmenting is what separates the serious email earner from the hobbyist. Plus, it's so easy... and yet most marketers never do it, because it takes just a WEE bit of extra effort.

Segmenting is the process of splitting your subscribers into smaller, more focused lists and it's incredibly powerful.

Say for example, you have a list of people who are interested in NASCAR.

Imagine how powerful it would be to have a sub-list of Kyle Busch fans... and a separate list of Dale Earnhardt fans!

Let's say you're selling NASCAR clothing and posters - you could email the Bush fans just Kyle Bush stuff, and email the Earnhardt fans just Dale Earnhardt stuff...

You'll never bother one set of fans with promotions for the other guy... and also you won't bother the entire list with such specific stuff.

List Automation

With nearly all decent Auto Responders, you can unsubscribe someone from one list when they join another list.

So when someone buys one of your products, for example... You can automatically add them to your customers list...

And have your AutoResponder automatically remove them from your prospects list.

Pretty handy...

But we like to dig even deeper and segment even further.

Imagine again that you have a list of NASCAR fans.

Rather than send Formula One information to the entire list over and over again... and lose subscribers every single time (because they really just want NASCAR information...)

You could slot just one F1 email into the followup sequence instead. Something like this:

Awesome F1 Interview 

=============================================

Hey {!firstname_fix}:

Recently I had the great pleasure of interviewing Fernando Alonso for my subscribers. 

In 2005, Fernando Alonso became the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion ever to hold the title. 

After retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion in history.

On the call we discussed Ferrari Motors, the current state of Formula One racing, and his inspirations in general... 

You can check the interview out for free...

But you need to head over to a private page I’ve created, and enter your name and email address to get the interview:

LINK TO SQUEEZE

I don't want to clog up your inbox with emails about F1 if you're not interested.

Enjoy!

NAME

Now, whenever you want to send out Formula One information, guess which list you send it to?

That’s right! Your new Formula One list.

The Squeeze Page doesn’t even need to be fancy... Remember, these are people who know you!

#5. Measuring Your Results

You cannot improve what you do not measure.

Metrics. Analytics. Stats... That's what every good direct marketer lives for.

Marketing legend, Gary Halbert famously said, "Whatever business it is you THINK you're in, you're wrong... You're in the ARITHMETIC business"

Of course, what he meant was that smart marketers always rely on their "numbers", the empirical evidence... to drive their marketing decisions.

So what's the best stuff to track and measure?

Obviously, the end results are what you're after, so the ultimate question always comes down to whether or not your sales are improving. But to get to that ultimate goal, you've got to break things down to smaller, more manageable measurements and milestones.

When it comes to Email Marketing, you always want to be keeping tabs on the following:

Open Rates - This is the measurement of how many people clicked on your email in their inbox to open it.

It's important to realize that this number will never be 100% accurate because lots of people can read the the preview of a short email. Plus, this kind of tracking is generally done by your Autoresponder inserting a small 1-pixel tracking image into the email, and LOTS of people have images turned off in their email by default. Unless they specifically accept images in your message, they won't count as an "open", even if they read every word.

Improving your Open Rates is all about improving your Subject Lines. But you can also test changing your From Name to increase opens. A personal name is generally better received than the name of a business in the From section.

Click-Through Rates (CTR) - This is the metric for how many people are clicking on the links inside your emails.

While no one will ever click on a link inside an email they never open... your CTR is arguably the more important number. Getting readers to take an action (clicking through) is where the rubber meets the road.

Improving your CTR comes down to effective Body Copy and how well you're doing at getting people to READ your emails, in general.

You can test changing the length of your emails - if yours are long try short emails and vice-versa. You can test how soon you present your links. You can test the number of links you put inside each message, and how you present those links. You can test placing text arrows before the link like this: ==> LINK

Earnings Per Click (EPC) - This is how you measure the overall dollar value of each click - by dividing the amount of money you've earned by the number of clicks you received. For example, if you earned $1,000 from 430 clicks, you'd have an EPC of $2.30. Earnings in the range of $1-$2 per click are not at all uncommon. But remember, some Email Marketing super-studs can get their EPC's as high as hundreds of dollars per click!

If you're promoting products and services created by others, there's only so much you can do to improve EPC's. You can do a better job pre-selling in your emails. You can make sure you're only sending targeted offers that are perfectly aligned with your list's interests.

However, if you're in control of the end product/service as well as the emails going out to promote it, your only limitation in terms of EPC's is your creativity. Basically, what you're trying to do is get more people to buy, more frequently, and for more money. Test different campaigns and time-sensitive event-based promotions. Frank Kern is famous for his "4-Day Cash Machine" email sequence which is simply a 4-day 50% Off Sale for current subscribers.

Surveying Your Readers

One not so obvious way to measure the effectiveness of your Email Marketing is to... wait for it... ASK YOUR READERS.

Survey your list every so often and "take their temperature".

Are you delivering real, tangible value to them? How so?

Are there things they wish you'd talk about more often?

Things you've forgotten (or never knew) that they want?

Your list will tell you everything you could ever need to know if you'll simply ask them and make it worth their while to answer.

Try offering some cool incentives for completing the survey (free reports, audio interviews, webinars, discounts, etc).

You can even try running a contest for "best question" or "most valuable feedback" - who wouldn't love to win something cool just for sharing their honest opinion with you?

Do or Do Not... There Is No Try...

Well, that's going to wrap up this module, and the course as well.

We hope you've had as much fun going through the training as we've had preparing it for you.

As you move forward with your Email Marketing, please try to keep this in mind:

There is no such thing as failure - it's ALL DATA.

Give yourself permission to do stuff, to try new approaches and experiment with new things. The absolute worst that can happen is NOTHING!

We love you and wish you all the success in the world with your Email Marketing.

Please keep us posted on your progress,

Brian McLeod & Erik Stafford
Co-Creators, Email Marketing Kickstart