Email Marketing is something that most businesses overlook. They’ll work on building their Website, Facebook, Twitter and all other forms for social media handldes but do nothing about email. Most businesses don’t even have an email list and yet, this is the biggest factor separating the big money making business from all the little guys – we have a mailing list. And if you truly want to make the big bucks in business, you absolutely need a mailing list.
You Email List Is Your Foundation
Many businesses think their website is their foundation and everything else (twitter, facebook, RSS, etc.) builds around that. This might be true if you’re just an NGO or a business with no profit orientation. However, if you’re a business looking to make a pile of cash, your foundation is your email list and everything else builds around the list.
When you have a big email list, you have a foundation that is so strong that not even Google can break you. Take for instance, one of the main purpose of this blog you’re reading right now is to capture the leads coming to it. This is why new readers are hit with a pop up to sign up the first time they visit. We are building our foundation.
Email Marketing Makes The Most Money
Email marketing may seem very old school and not as glamorous as the latest social media craze. However, email marketing has one huge advantage over social media channels like Twitter and Facebook – Email marketing makes the most money.
Email is still the most responsive medium for getting your offers in front of your readers. I know that if an offer does well with a blog post, it will do three to five times better when I send out an email about it.
Don’t let all those social media marketing experts fool you. Email is still where it’s at. Hell, most of those social media gurus use Email marketing to sell you their social media course!
Start Your List From Day 1
From the inception of your business website, it is advisable to start building your email list from the get-go! Create a subscription box where visitors to your website blog enter their details to get more tips from you for free or get alerted when you publish new stuff. Everybody wants freebies.
You Must Choose The Right Email Provider
Choosing the right email marketing solution is even more important than choosing your blogging or website software. When you switch blog software, say from Blogspot to WordPress, you can port over all your post without losing any.
However, switch email host providers and you’ll stand to lose up 80% of your subscribers. This is because the provider will require your subscribers to opt in again because of the Canspam rule. So make sure you get the right email solutions provider from the get go.
Don’t Be Penny Wise and Pound Foolish
This is a mistake I see people make all the time. They try to save some money by hosting their own list on some free software with the hopes of moving to email provider at a later date “after they’ve made some money.” This is just being penny wise and pound foolish. You can build a list for free but the instance you try to import that list to another email software service, you just might loose those subscribers because they won’t opt back in.
Big money earners via email marketing treat their their list building seriously, like a business. And businesses have expenses. Hosting the email list is one of them.
If your business doesn’t have an email marketing list yet, RIGHT NOW would be the time to start one. Everyday you wait is money flying out the window.