Email Myth #1: But I Don’t Need an Email List (or It Won’t Work For Me)!

(See the bottom of today’s myth for a special $20 off offer on live email list training for beginners.)

Hey there. This is the fifth post in a five post series titled ‘Top Five Email Marketing Myths’. We’re counting down and today’s myth is…
“But I Don’t Need an Email List”

True or False? —-> Only ‘internet marketers’ need email lists.

Your answer is FALSE!

If you are in business, an email list can do you good. Now let me add a caveat to this that any business can certainly get along and make a profit without an email list, but, they can always make more with a properly positioned email marketing campaign.

In today’s article I’m going to share with you some of the reasons why I believe every business, whether physical product or service provider or internet marketer, is better off WITH an email list than WITHOUT one.

So let’s get right to it.

Reason #1: Announcements

Your business does new stuff every now and then, right? Maybe it’s a new product, a new service or a new website. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to tell a lot of people all at once rather than launching something and having to one by one reach your market? Also, maybe you’ve got a free event to invite your market to, or a contest you’d like them to participate in. Having a list allows you to quickly reach your market and get a fast response, too.

Reason #2: Customer Follow-Up

Even if you don’t start a ‘freebie’ email list you should definitely have a ‘customer’ list. This is a list where you can follow up on products, add bonuses and check in with your customers on a mass level to make sure the product is exactly what they expected. The automation here will save you time AND money. You can greatly reduce or even eliminate customer service issues when you get ahead of the game by anticipating problems before they occur.

Here’s a good example: I sell many information products and coaching programs. My shopping cart process includes my new customers ‘confirming’ their customer status so they can get on my product-specific customer lists. As a way to prevent any customer from missing their download information I have an autoresponder set up to ask them if they got their download information ok. Many people think this is a personal email and respond accordingly. So the results are two-fold – 1) Customer appreciation for going above a typical marketer, 2) Preventing download issues before they happen.

Reason #3 – Less ‘Hours-For-Dollars’, More Money

Service providers work damn hard! A few years ago when my only means of income for my online business was clients I was seriously STRESSED-OUT. I worked all day long for clients and it drained my emotionally and physically. Now I’m not saying that you can’t have a rewarding service business, what I am saying is that if you are not careful it can quickly take over your life.

Enter email marketing. I knew I didn’t want the business I had created so I focused my efforts on building income that relied less on one-time labour. Instead, I started creating information products that served the same market and I started letting my clients and others know about the products that could help them build their businesses. I am still serving the same market these days, just on a bigger level because I can reach thousands (and do) with my email list. I could never work personally with thousands of clients in a week or even a month!

So there you have three very good reasons why an email list is a smart move for ANY business owner.

Before I let you go, I want to address something you might be thinking right now…

“Ok, an email list is a good idea, but I really can’t afford it right now”.

Aweber costs about $20 per month to get started. Maybe you really can’t do that. Ok, I understand. Even though my top recommended pick is Aweber there is another program I’ve actually used and it’s pretty good. It’s called Mail Chimp and you can get it for free up to 500 subscribers. Now, if you’ve got the money I say go with Aweber but if it’s down to you not starting an email list for another six months or a year I say go for Mail Chimp.

I started my very first email list on Bravehost! Bravehost is a totally free service (or it was when I started) that really isn’t a professional way to go. But you know what? Each list I started and each software I tested (I choose quite a few more before landing at Aweber) taught me something about online marketing so I really can’t say they were terrible choices.

My recommendation to you is start with the best if you can, but if you can’t don’t let that stop you from growing your business!

The Basics of Email Marketing

I created this video about the basics of email marketing:

Last month I had my very best month in business, thanks to email marketing. This year I am on track to double my income, largely in part thanks to email marketing. I’d like to share everything I know with YOU on how to use email marketing to build your business. Would you like to join me, live?

I’m hosting live email list training. They will be recorded and there will be lots of bonuses. The cost is just $97. Spaces are limited to 100 and spots are filling up. Here is where you can sign up:
http://www.EmailListMojo.com

SAVE $20 – Enter Coupon Code: email

Angela

p.s. If you missed the first four myth’s here they are:
Myth #5 – If I email too much, they’ll unsubscribe.
Myth #4 – Double Opt-Ins Are Bad For Business.
Myth #3 – Social networks are more important than email.
Myth #2 – The money is in the list.