Business Growth Strategies » Email

Stop Daily Emails: Get Updates Once Per Week

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:11:39 +0000

At the beginning of the year, I began publishing five days a week on my blog. I plan to continue publishing daily, Monday through Friday, for the remainder of this year.

I also plan to send out short email notifications to let you know when new blog posts are published.

I began doing this January 1st, which triggered a higher-than-normal unsubscribe rate. This is because historically I’ve only sent out a couple emails each week. So five emails a week — even if they’re brief — is a big increase.

How to Decrease the Number of Emails You Get from Me

After about a week of the new schedule, a friend and subscriber sent me this brief note:

I love your stuff but I’m getting too much too fast, friend.

Is there a sub-list that slows it down? I hate to just unsubscribe.

Up until now I’ve not had a sub-list. I thought it was a good idea, so I’ve now created one.

When you subscribe using the form below, two things will happen:

You will be automatically unsubscribed from my primary email list.
You will be added to my “once per week” email list. This means you will get no more than one email per week.

So… want to decrease how often you hear from me? Just subscribe to my “slow it down” list below.

“Slow It Down, Ryan! I’d Prefer 1 Email a Week or Less…”

As always, thank you for being a subscriber. I value my relationship with you.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Is It Spam or Is It Something Else?

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:00:45 +0000

It really bugs me when people misapply the term “spam” to something that is not spam at all.

In my vernacular (which is English, by the way), spam is bulk unsolicited email sent indiscriminately, regardless of whether it is commercial or not.

If I send an email to my friends and family members — and they did not ask to receive it — it is not spam because it has been discriminately sent.

(And trust me, I’ve never asked to get all those email forwards from my mom, but I’ve never reported her as a “spammer.”)

But if I send a broadcast email to a bunch of people I have no relationship with… and they’ve never given me permission to email them… then that’s spam.

Unfortunately, I see a growing trend to label as “spam” any email you don’t want or didn’t find useful enough.

Example: Mr. Smith opts in to an email list about a topic he’s interested in. He likes the free report he gets, but quickly discovers he already knows the information in the other follow up emails.

He gets mad.

And then, simply because he doesn’t find the information useful enough, he calls it “spam.”

But wait — he already requested the information. He explicitly asked the publisher to send information by email. Therefore, by definition, it cannot be spam.

Here are a few scenarios I’ve seen and experienced that do not meet the criteria for spam, but often get reported as spam:

If you asked a publisher to send you email, and you don’t like the style of writing, it’s NOT spam.

If you asked a publisher to send you email, and you don’t find the information useful enough, it’s NOT spam.

If you asked a publisher to send you email, and you don’t like the product recommendations he makes, it’s NOT spam.

If you asked a publisher to send you email, and — God forbid — he suggests you buy a product, it’s still NOT spam.

Remember: It is a misapplication of terms to call somebody a spammer for sending you information you requested.

Don’t like the emails you’re getting? The solution is simple…

Take responsibility for your own inbox, click the unsubscribe button, and you won’t get any more emails.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Amazon Introduces Broadcast Email Service

Ryan M. Healy — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:46:38 +0000

Amazon just introduced a new service under their Amazon Web Services (AWS) umbrella.

It’s a broadcast email service called Simple Email Service, or Amazon SES for short.

In their own words:

Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) is a highly scalable and cost-effective bulk and transactional email-sending service for businesses and developers. Amazon SES eliminates the complexity and expense of building an in-house email solution or licensing, installing, and operating a third-party email service. The service integrates with other AWS services, making it easy to send emails from applications being hosted on services such as Amazon EC2. With Amazon SES there is no long-term commitment, minimum spend or negotiation required – businesses can utilize a free usage tier and after that enjoy low fees for the number of emails sent plus data transfer fees.

The pricing seems fairly affordable.

It’s free to send up to 2,000 emails a day. Most online entrepreneurs would fall into this category.

After that, it’s just $0.10 per thousand emails sent.

If you have a list of 10,000 subscribers, and you mail them three times a week (12 times a month), your cost would be $9.60 since the first 2,000 emails sent per day are free.

And if you’ve ever shopped for third party autoresponder and email services, then you know that’s really cheap.

I have no idea if Amazon SES will be a threat to Aweber and similar autoresponder services, but it seems unlikely Amazon’s new broadcast email service will go unnoticed.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Gmail Priority Inbox – Solving Email Clutter

Ryan M. Healy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:12:02 +0000

Gmail recently introduced a powerful new feature called Priority Inbox.

The whole goal of Priority Inbox is to help you see your urgent and important emails first — so they don’t get buried in an avalanche of less important offers, newsletters, and subscriptions.

I’ve just activated Priority Inbox in my own Gmail account and I already love it. It’s a big improvement over the “single inbox” concept. Here’s a screen shot of what my inbox looks like now (last names are blacked out to protect privacy).

And here’s a quick little video (only 1:54) that shows you how activating Priority Inbox can help solve email clutter.

If you’re a heavy Gmail user and get a lot of email (like me), then Priority Inbox may help you quite a bit.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

They Sent This Email Not Once, But Twice…

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:13:41 +0000

Just about all practitioners of direct response marketing know: When a piece is mailed twice, it’s most likely profitable.

Well, the same thing is true for email. When you see the same email — with the same subject line — sent out twice, it’s probably a winner.

What’s interesting is that almost NOBODY does this. The thinking is, “I’ve already sent this email once. Surely I can’t send it a second time because my subscribers will notice.”

True, some may notice. But chances are most of them won’t notice… because… they ignored the first email anyway.

Perfect example.

I wrote an email for a client with the following subject line:

“What If…”

We’ve now sent it out five times, with similar results every time. It is the best-performing email we’ve ever used for this particular market and product.

Here’s another example:

The Oxford Club sent me an email on June 16. They sent the same email with the same subject line again on June 21. (The only change was a short intro paragraph at the top of the 2nd email.) Here’s the subject line they used:

“Why August 12 Starts Phase Two of the Euro’s Meltdown”

Pretty compelling, wouldn’t you say? When I saw this, I literally HAD to open it.

Sometimes you can find great email subject lines just by “farming” your email inbox. Here are four recent examples (and one older example) that caught my attention:

The best advice I never received…
-AWAI

The Info-Marketer’s Most Precious Business Asset…
-Daniel Levis for The Makepeace Total Package

uh-oh. he’s naming names.
-Ray Edwards

Your copy bombed – now what?
-Carline Anglade-Cole

How to Break Into Financial Copywriting
-Doug D’Anna

Notice that most of these have to do with copywriting or direct response advertising. That’s because these subjects are major interests of mine.

Looking through my own inbox can be fun, but tedious. It takes time to find the gold.

But just imagine how easy it would be to come up with great subject lines if you had 527 of the best ones all compiled into an easy-to-use PDF?

That’s exactly what Lawrence Bernstein has done with “Made You Look: 527 Subject Lines that Dare You to Look Away.”

He and his partner, Art Crowley, reviewed 18,000 subject lines mailed over a three-year period to come up with the 527 that stood head and shoulders above the rest.

They then broke these down even further into 12 separate categories for easy reference.

This little gem normally sells for $97, but Lawrence is giving it away free when you join The Ultimate Online Swipe File through this link:

http://clickora.com/swipefile

Not to mention, I’ll also give you a free membership to Copywriting Code — my private web site where I share some of my best how-to copywriting info.

But please act quickly.

This offer expires on Friday evening, June 25. Please sign up now to claim your free gifts…

http://clickora.com/swipefile

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Which Subject Line Won?

Ryan M. Healy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:08:49 +0000

Email is a funny thing.

You can spend hours writing a well-thought out sales email… only to see it flop. And you can kick out something in minutes that creates a buying frenzy.

Naturally, your subject line plays a huge role in whether your email even gets opened. And, in theory, this also affects your sales.

With that in mind, let’s play a little game. You read the two subject lines below, and then see if you can pick which subject line won. Got it? Okay…

Subject Line #1: Long-Shot Leads to Unexpected Win

Subject Line #2: China tells U.S. to “go straight to hell.”

Just to give you a little bit more background on these emails, both were sent to a house list of folks interested in trading. Both sold the same product at the same price. And both “piggy-backed” on news events.

The first email piggy-backed on the 2009 Superbowl. The second email piggy-backed on China’s move to unload the fraudulent derivative products sold to them by U.S. banks.

So both had tie-ins to events that would have been top of mind for most traders.

Alright, have you made your decision?

Good, let’s move forward.

Here are the open rates for each email:

Subject Line #1: 741 opens

Subject Line #2: 1,434 opens

Did you guess right?

Well, maybe you did and maybe you didn’t — but you actually don’t know yet.

That’s because open rates are a relatively meaningless metric. Think of print advertisements. You don’t care how many people read your headline; you care about how many people actually buy.

Fortunately, this particular client took my recommendation to buy some simple (and affordable) ad tracking software.

We use this software program to track the open rates and sales of every email we send out. (We also track ads by source so we know when our advertising dollars are working and when they’re not.)

Because we track emails like this, I can tell you that the real winner was Subject Line #1 — and NOT Subject Line #2 as you probably guessed.

Here are the numbers:

Subject Line #1: Long-Shot Leads to Unexpected Win – 741 opens, 17 sales

Subject Line #2: China tells U.S. to “go straight to hell.” – 1,434 opens, 9 sales

If you’re paying close attention, the first email got about half as many opens… but… almost double the sales!

This real-life example proves that while your subject line matters — and you should always aim to get your emails opened — a high open rate does not necessarily guarantee a greater number of sales.

And while this example may be appear to be an anomaly, I promise you: it isn’t. I’ve seen this same story played out a number of times.

I have a theory about this.

There are people on every email list who will never buy. They’re either freebie seekers or they’re just not interested in what you have to offer. This is a fact.

Unfortunately, we tend to think that everybody on a list is a potential buyer… and so we try to write for the list.

This is a mistake because “the list” doesn’t buy. Individual people on the list do.

So when you write emails, try to imagine your ideal buyer. Write to that guy. And don’t worry about all the non-buyers — they’re never going to buy anything anyway.

Said another way, don’t focus on maximizing attention; focus on maximizing sales. Don’t write to the list; write to the latent buyers on the list.

Making this simple mindset shift could make a massive difference in the results you get from your email marketing.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. How do you know which emails are really working and which ones aren’t? And how do you know which ads are worth running again? Well, you can’t really know — unless you track your ads by source.Similar Posts:

7 Ways to Get Your Email Opened

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:21:54 +0000

It’s rare that I receive any kind of new or noteworthy email. Most of them all look and sound the same. I imagine your inbox looks the same as mine.

That’s why one of the biggest challenges in email marketing (just like direct mail) is figuring out

How to Get Your Email Opened!

You have two snippets of text to work with: your name and your subject line.

Personally, I believe the most valuable of the two is your name.

Here’s why…

If you deliver valuable content to your readers… and you develop a relationship with them… they will actually WANT to read everything you send them.

They will open your emails and read them because they know you, like you, and trust you. And they trust you will continue to deliver the kinds of content you’ve developed a REPUTATION for delivering.

Now, a name can be an asset or a liability. If you abuse your reader’s trust… and you abuse it repeatedly… she will unsubscribe. Or worse, she will bad-mouth you in public forums whenever the subject of email marketing comes up!

So, as much as possible, build trust. Become known for delivering value. Treat your name as an asset. Build relationship equity. If you are in this for the long-term (and you’re not just “churning and burning” your prospects), then this strategy will be very effective for you.

And this brings me to

Email Subject Lines

What subject lines work best? What should you avoid?

Well, I can’t speak for all markets, but I can tell you some things that have worked well for me.

1. Be provocative.

Whenever I put some emotion into my subject lines or write something unexpected, my emails get more attention.

Example: “3 Signs You Should NOT Be a Copywriter”

Since I am a copywriter… and I have an ebook about how to get clients as a copywriter… this is definitely an unexpected subject line. As a result, it got a high open rate.

2. Make it look personal.

A quick caveat: Deceptive subject lines are illegal. So do not try to trick your readers. That’s a no-no.

Still, I think making email look personal is a good strategy for getting emails opened — so long as the strategy is not over-used.

Example: “re: copywriting clients”

When I used this subject line, a reader told me re: means “reply,” and as such was deceptive because the email wasn’t a reply.

I’d never heard this before. I always thought re: meant “regarding.” It is used all the time in print letters. “Re: Your Recent Purchase” or whatever.

No matter whether you choose to use Re: or not, the principle still holds. Personal emails get opened more often. You could just use lower case letters and that might be enough. Or you might say something like “hey, need your advice” if you’re conducting a survey.

3. Use the word “Download.”

This may sound weird, but in test after test, anytime I start a subject line with the word “Download,” I get a ton of opens.

Example: “Download Ben Settle & Ryan Healy Interview”

If you have a PDF report, audio recording, or video to offer your list, use the word Download. If your experience is anything like mine, it will improve your open rates.

4. Mix things up.

In #2, I suggest making your emails look personal. The trick is to avoid over-using this strategy.

Most of the time, I like to use clear subject lines with Initial Caps.

Example: “How to Write with Authority”

Simple. Straightforward. And it works.

But over time using the same subject line format can cause your readers to become blinded by familiarity. Which is why I like to change things up every now and again.

That’s when I will use lower case letters or ask a question or throw in some symbols.

Example: “am I crazy for doing this?”

If I’ve been sending out emails such as the first example (How to…) and then I send out something like this, it will get much more attention.

5. Issue a command.

Instead of trying to gain your reader’s interest, it’s good to occasionally issue a command. Again, this works well only if you don’t over-use it.

Example: “urgent message (open immediately)”

Obviously, I can only say something like this a few times a year. Not everything is urgent. But when something is genuinely urgent, issuing a command is often better than using a promise-based subject line.

And if you don’t have something urgent, you can still issue a command. For instance, one of my most-read blog posts simply said, “You Have to Read This Now.”

I gave no indication as to WHY my reader needed to read this… or even WHAT he was going to read about. And yet it still commands (demands?) the reader to take the action you request.

6. Tell a story about yourself.

Anytime I use a story about myself, I get higher open rates. Of course, it has to be interesting and relevant to my readers.

Example 1: “33 Things I Learned in 2006″

Example 2: “How I Achieved a 7.14% Conversion Rate”

Everybody loves a good story.

By inserting yourself into the subject line with the word “I” you naturally tap into your reader’s curiosity — and his desire to read a good story.

Notice that there are two things at work here. I’m promising a story and a learning opporunity at the same time.

7. Make a compelling offer.

Back in May 2008, I ran a special offer centered around my birthday. I sold a copy of a physical book for $7. And that price included shipping.

This offer sold 85 books and generated a couple upsells on the back end. The two subject lines I used were:

Example 1: “My Birthday Is This Week — Here’s a Gift for You”

Example 2: “Save a Back: Buy a Book”

The trick is to make your offer compelling. That’s the first goal. Then, if possible, make it fun. Give a reason WHY you’re making the offer (i.e., it’s your birthday).

Win 1,000 Gallons of Gas?

Now, most corporate email is boring and completely fails as a direct response medium. But today I was pleasantly surprised by an email USAA sent to me.

Subject: Enter the 1,000 Gallons of Gas Sweepstakes.

Here they have combined two of the elements I discussed above. They are issuing a command (“Enter”) and making a compelling offer (a chance to win 1,000 gallons of gas).

Here’s a screenshot of the email:

As far as corporate emails go, this one is really good.

They’ve got a clear, compelling offer. They’ve got a deadline. And they’ve got a call to action.

What’s more, they’re tapping into the internal conversation many Americans have had about high gas prices.

Not bad!

The bottom line: Email marketing can be both powerful and profitable if you do it right.

What tips and advice do you have?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts: