Don't Make These 5 Mistakes with your Email
Oops! Are you making any of these email mistakes? If you want to take your email game to the next level and start making money and increasing your traffic from your list, tune in! Amy Katz joins us to share her brilliant email tips, you don't want to skip this one!
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LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
"We think so much about these numbers, but we forget that these numbers are actually people and they want to hear from us! That's why they signed up in the first place."
Not making it easy or desirable for people to sign up for their lists.
When you go to someone's blog, no matter the niche, there has to be an easy way for people to sign up for their email list. Whether you have something on your homepage, sidebar, maybe a pop-up, or a form within your content (ideally, you'd have a combination of these things) it has to be obvious! You want everyone visiting your site to see quickly how they can sign up.
Now, along with that, you also have to give them a reason for signing up! Gone are the days when people would sign up for the latest blog posts. We're all inundated with so many emails in our inbox that we're pretty thoughtful about what email lists we join! If you offer something of value in exchange for their email address, that can go a long way! It doesn't have to be anything big or elaborate, just something appealing. A few ideas could include:
- Downloadable ebook or guide
- A mini-course delivered via email series
- An email a day with a tip or a recipe
Google Analytics is a great place to start when coming up with ideas for your opt-in. What are your most popular blog posts? What do people know you for? You can also look at your social media data. What are your top-performing posts? What content gets the most interaction? If you can make it as specific as possible for your audience, that helps a lot!
Not actually sending emails.
You would be amazed at how many people forget about this! We all get caught up in creating opt-ins, and building up our subscriber list, and think so much about these numbers, but forget that these numbers are actually people that want to hear from us! That's why they signed up in the first place! Put together a regular schedule for sending your emails out. Maybe it's once a week, maybe it's multiple times a week, whenever it is though you want to have it consistent so that people learn to expect you in their inboxes. You want people excited when they see your name in their inbox! That's how you get those high open rates!
Not writing in their own voice.
Your loyal fans are the ones who signed up for your email list, and they want to get to know you more! It's important for you to use language that you normally use, and to sound like yourself! You also want to sound like you're talking to that one person. Most email service providers have tools that allow you to add personalization and address your readers by their first names. Most people, deep down, know that you are using an email service provider, but it still makes them feel special.
If you are someone who uses pop culture references or talks about current events, then include that in your emails! If using a fun GIF or an NSYNC lyric fits your personality and is authentic, then go for it! Or maybe that would feel ridiculous coming from you. Can you talk about your family or hobbies? A sentence or two to help you feel more like a real person and give your readers a sense that they're getting to know you.
A quick note along those lines; if you've got email templates from somebody, make sure that you change up the language so that it sounds like it's coming from you!
Not reusing/repurposing content.
Just because you write an email once doesn't mean that that's it! You can actually reuse that content. For social media, especially on platforms like Instagram, it works great! You can either use the entire email if it's short, or you can take out parts of the email and use that as a caption. You can also resend the emails themselves!
So for example, if you're writing an email that is seasonal to July, there's no reason why you can't take that same email, clean it up or tweak it a little bit, and send it again next July. Especially if you find that an email really resonated with people, it had a great open and click-through rate, or maybe people responded back to the email (that's always a great sign that that was a really good email). Why not use that again? We want to save ourselves time while nurturing our audience, and there is absolutely no reason why you can only use that content once!
Not making money from emails.
There are SO many ways you can make money from email! This is good to keep in mind if writing emails feels like a useless chore. Don't forget, these can make you money!
First, if the email is sending your readers to a blog post, and you have ads on your site, you are going to make money from those clicks. Most ad network dashboards have a section where you can see what the earnings are from your different traffic sources. Most likely, you'll find that direct traffic (which includes email) pays higher than traffic from social media. And if you're not running ads yet, emails that direct readers to your blog will increase your pageviews and help you get onto an ad platform!
Another great way, that can work for anyone no matter what stage of blogging they're in, is to offer some kind of product. This could be an ebook, a course, or even physical products. Whatever it is, a great way to make money from those products more quickly is to set up a "tripwire". A tripwire is when someone goes to your site and signs up for your email list because of your opt-in, and then they are immediately offered a limited-time discount on the product that you sell.
Additional Topics Discussed:
- How to easily set up a tripwire
- What is a nurture sequence?
- Creative ideas for low-cost or free opt-ins
- How to use emails for affiliate income
Resources Mentioned
- The Profitable Blogger Society
- Shift
- Thrive Blogging Community FB Group
- Amy's Instant Flavor Guide
- veggiessavetheday.com
More about Amy:
Amy Katz is the creator of Veggies Save The Day where she shares easy vegan recipes inspired by a Mediterranean diet. After sharing her meals on Instagram, she started her blog as a hobby in August 2015. She quickly realized she could monetize it, and in March 2017 she left her job to pursue blogging full-time. Amy is a native of Southern California and enjoys hydroponic gardening, traveling with her partner Brad, and spending time with her black cat, Ozzy.
