The Basics of Email Marketing | Business With Bordeaux| Audio Blog| @jasonbordeaux1 @trackstarz

We are coming to a close with our social media and email marketing four week series. Here is what we have covered so far:

1. Early promotion on new social media platforms (Here we shared a few networks to take a look at and about how promoting on early stage social media platforms can be advantageous) As a sidenote, with The Marketing Heaven you don’t have to worry about youtube likes ever again because the likes that these guys offer are there to stay.
2. Freemium- The Power of Giving (Here we discussed the power that giving content way free as it can build brand loyalty and gain a strong following)
3. The Great Exchange (Here we discussed a few ways of obtaining email addresses to build up a list which should be one of the first goals for online business owners as well as physical business owners)

All of these post can podcasts can be found at businesswithbordeaux.com.

Email marketing is important because you need to have an effective way to break-through the current flutter of emails hitting people’s inbox. Im going to give you just a few important steps that you can use to keep your audience focused on your message.

1. Be sure to personalize your email. Autoresponders have their place, but when you are trying to make a connection, it is important to be as personal as possible. Be willing to answer questions when people respond. We are in a person to person economy and without that personal connection, you will lose people’s interest.
2. Make the goal of the email and the call to action very clear. When a person opens an email, don’t leave them in question at the end of the email. Just like any other kind of speech or presentation, make sure they understand the purpose of the email. This is normally done in the subject line of emails. If you cannot get the clear message in the subject line, then you should make it clear in the opening sentences of the email. The call to action is the request you are asking your reader to do. This could include visiting your website, signing up for a class or webinar, listening to a song, etc. This call to action needs to be as clear as possible so they do not accidentally miss the purpose of the email.
3. Asking a question in the subject line could entice your open rate. With social media on the rise in the past decade, we know that people want their opinions known. It can be beneficial to get feedback from your subscribers and let them state their opinions. Some authors will ask for a review on a book and it is easier to get them to do it though an email than waiting for them to go to a website to leave one. It is also smart to respond on a personal level thanking the reviewer for their feedback. Just showing a little appreciation can go a long way. It will also make it more likely for them to open the next email you send. Do not overuse CAPS or !!!!! This will turn away subscribers.
4. Like everything else, Content is Key!!! Since email opening rates have taken a dive in the past 15 years, you need to make sure whatever it is you are sending people consist of great quality. If the reader feels you have wasted even 15 seconds of their time, they will likely not open up future emails. You should keep people updated with what you have going on and always give away free content. A great example is when recording artist, Lecrae, used his email list to give away the first chapter of his book for free. This was a great move in many ways. The chapter gave a foundation for the rest of the book and had the reader wanting more. Email subscribers will probably open up more emails hoping to receive more great free content. You should think about what quality content you can send your subscribers to keep their attention.

If you are not convinced that email lists are important to have and utilize, go to almost any website, and you will find an email sign up link. At most events, people will have email address on the list of info asked. Listen to any leaders in the online business world and they will say how they wish they would have started collecting email addresses much sooner. Do not ignore this business strategy. Study up some more on it and I hope you put it to good use.

Thanks for reading this weeks Business With Bordeaux blog. You can visit businesswithbordeaux.com for a complete list of my blog and podcasts. If you are a business owner, please visit the website and contact me for consideration for a podcast feature.

Thanks and God Bless