Many websites, blogs and courses give advice on email marketing but most assume you
already have a list. The problem is, there are many people out there (possibly you) who
haven’t started a list yet. You may be still trying to decide HOW to get started and what
program to use. If that’s you, keep reading to learn the fundamentals of starting an email
list.

One of the most important decisions you will make in building your email list is the ESP or
Email Service Provider. Your email service provider is the company you choose to host your
email list. Having a company host your mailing list provides you with many advantages.
The thing that stalls most people in their tracks is they don’t really know what they should
be looking for in an ESP. Here is a list of my must-have features:

• High deliverability of emails – There’s no point in building a list if your emails won’t
get delivered. Make sure the program you choose has a very high deliverability rate.

• Both broadcast and autoresponder options – Broadcast is when you set up a
message to be sent out immediately or at a certain day/time. A broadcast is going to go
out to your full email list and won’t be resent. Autoresponders are emails that are set up
to be delivered automatically after someone signs up to your list. So it works like this: Sally
signs up to your cake decorating email list and on the first day she gets autoresponder #1,
then four days later she gets #2, then four days later she gets #3, etc. As an email
marketer, you want both options as they’ll be useful to you in many ways while you work
to reach your market.

• Top notch customer service – When you need help it should be there, period.

• Personalization of emails – Adding personalization to your emails is a great way to
increase interest and conversions. You can personalize emails with first name but you can
also use functions like where they live, what hobbies they have or other categories to call
out your prospects.

• Multiple email lists hosting – Some programs only allow you to host one email list.
You will likely want to keep separate email lists for different websites, topics or even to
separate customers from potential customers.

• HTML and Text email creation – Some people prefer to send plain text emails
while others like to add images and hyperlinks through an HTML email. This is a preference
here but I would always choose an ESP with both so if you change your mind down the
road it’s easy to do the switch from one to the other.

• Easy and flexible sign up form creation – Once you’ve done the initial list setup
you need to get people signing up! Having a user friendly signup form from the perspective
of the business owner and the subscriber is important.

• Statistics tracking – If you’re sending out emails without knowing the results then
it’s very difficult to be successful. Proper tracking will allow you to see how many people
opened your emails, how many clicked, how many signed up per day, etc.

Bonuses:

• Templates – Sign up form and email templates will be helpful to you if you don’t
have design skills. There are some companies that make it very quick and easy to get a
professional looking email campaign going.

The best way to figure out if a program is the right one for you is to do your research first,
then see if you can take a trial of the program.

Your email list is one of the biggest assets you will ever have in your online business. Take some time to set it up right and that initial investment of time and effort will pay of in multiples for years and years to come.’

Check out Autorespond.com which is one Email Marketing service that I found trustworthy!

Ewen

 

Filed under: Email Marketing by admin