How to Write an Email – Part 1

It’s very important to build a long-lasting relationship with your fans, customers, visitors, and tribe.  One of the biggest challenges a new marketer faces is finding ways to write excellent emails.

The first thing you need is an autoresponder system.  This is a piece of software that handles sending out mass emails on a specific schedule and it’s one of the most important early investments in your online business.  It can be very tempting to start with a company that lets you have a free list.  Some of the companies will let you have a list of up to 500 subscribers for free.

What you won’t realize until it is too late is that it is VERY hard to change companies down the line.  They all will force you to send out new invite emails when you move your list to the new company.  Most people won’t respond to this strange, new “invitation” email and you will lose 40-80% of your customer list.  Who wants to wipe out the majority of their business in a flash?

Once you start with a mailing list company you will probably stay with them forever because changing is so hard.  That makes this early decision really important to the destiny of your business.

UPDATE – ConvertKit Changed Everything

Since initially writing this blog post, a lot has changed. I have discovered a new, superior email provider called ConvertKit.  Unlike other companies, importing your lists to ConvertKit is simple and painless.  You don’t lose a single follower.  You can read all about my transition experience here – ConvertKit Changed My Business

I have worked with all the big players and a few of the smaller companies in the space and ConverKit is the only company I believe in now.  Nobody else is in the same league.

There are two ways of emailing your list of people – you can send out a message out to everyone at the same time or you can send out individual messages based on time and actions.  So you might send a message to someone as soon as they sign up to welcome them to your family.  Then the next day you send an automatic follow-up message pointing them to your main blog post.

This is a way of establishing a relationship with many people at the same time.

Whatever your delivery method is, you want to have a consistent system for how you write emails.  You want your customers to enjoy reading your emails and to click any links you send to them.

The process starts with the subject line.  You want as many people as possible to read each message, so the better the subject the more people will actually see the message.  If nobody opens your email then the message doesn’t really matter.

You want to write something that is engaging and points out the main benefit of the email.  Imagine that you are the person receiving the email and think of the BEST reason that the email helps or improves your life.  That’s the kind of subject you want to start with.

Here are some examples:

DO NOT Commit These Instagram Atrocities

10 Engagement Tips to Gobble Over Thanksgiving

Lose Weight While You Sleep.

Earn $90,000 a Year Repairing Cracked Windshields.

Write a Blockbuster in 30 Days.

The best practice is to write out ten different subject lines and see if one speaks to you.  It’s much better to make a list and then choose a winner.  A common beginner move is to just write a subject line and then move on.  You want to invest time in your subject line because it is the most important part of your email.

The opening sentence to your email is your chance to really get people excited.  You want the opening to be two to three sentences that get people excited and then immediately give them a link to click on.

Here are a few examples to wet your whistle:

If goals are so great, how come they’re so hard to stick to? It’s not your lack of willpower. It’s much more counter-intuitive. Find out why in today’s blog post:

Think you just “have” to get sick? Think again. This simple, natural, home remedy kicks the common cold. And it does it for less than 6 bucks.

Think back workouts have to be boring? Think again. Join Chris for a challenging yet achievable back workout that gets you results. Follow Chris’ custom back workouts in our Elite Program.

Each of these openings is engaging and lets the reader know right away why they should consume the entire email.  Some people are so motivated by the opening sentence that they just click on the link right away.  You want to send people to your social media accounts, your blog posts and eventually to your products as well.  Before you try and sell anything to people, you want to develop a relationship.  The more they feel like they know and trust you, the more likely they are to buy from you or to trust your recommendations.

Take a little time to practice writing subjects and email openers and I will show you some more tricks in “How to Write an Email – Part 2″