Newbie affiliates guide to using emails

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Belfast, Ireland.
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Warning: Long Post
Disclaimer: Before any flames are posted, this article is meant to outline to newbies like myself how emails can be used effectively.

Everyone knows that having an excellent mailing list is a great step to success in this business. I have often seen new guys like myself simply scraping the web for emails to add - this will work; but only to a certain point. I have been working on a concept for quite a bit of time (it has been done before, but I wanted to post it here anyways).


Whats the one thing that everybody wants when using a mailing list - sheer numbers. Sure this helps, but does it really increase conversions to a point that returns on time invested bringing those emails in. I see so many times in various forums "Ive got a 100k email list for sale" - the worrying thing is people actually buy this crap. Put it this way, I can create a program that generates around a million emails in five minutes. The law of averages says atleast a few percent will be used, and active.


The problem with this (and why I do not use this method to promote via email) is that its all over the place, demographically and subjectively. Now hear this fellow newboids - they key to converting with email lists is this; relevancy.


I know, I just told you the basics of marketing in general - but fuck it: theres still people doing this stuff that cannot grasp this concept. Blasting 100,000 emails with some unrelated offer will not only waste your list lifespan - but it will also fuck with your subscribers (Unless your stepping on Mr. Canspams toes, in which case fuck away).


So, before you start collecting emails like berrys from a tree. Define them, organise them and build them into meaningful mammoths. This is how I organise my lists effectively;

All Emails
This list is your keychest it has all your emails stored

Geographic (I go as deep as possible with this)
This list seperates your emails into geographic location

Topical
This list holds all emails that have been attained under the same subject (e.g Beauty, Property etc.)
Geographically Topical
This holds all emails that fall under a specific geographic location, and were attained under same topic
​
Individual Offer
I then take these details and make this list, based on a certain offer, I find out what is most likely to convert and define it according to offer location and relevancy.

Sound like babble? It probably is, but it works perfectly.

Case Study:
Geographical Property Related Affiliate offer - $38-$45 Conversion per lead

I wittled down my list for this campaign in order to get absolute clarity on how to sell the offer. I have sent out 80 emails in the past five hours (On offers with a great conversion rate I like to send individual emails to personalise the offer)

returnonportugal.jpg


Okay, so from those 80 emails I have got $128 in conversions. The beauty of this is that those conversions will keep coming, the chance of the email being forwarded has a better chance, because your being relevant and personal.

I admit, the conversion rate is fantastic and this is the main reason for the good return on time invested.

I will follow up this post with the perfect method for collecting relevant emails, and a few tricks I have learnt aswell - until then, stop collecting dummy emails, organise them or throw money away - simple as that!

(This is a new post at my blog located below)
 


meh.. this post wasn't that long. I'm actually a little disappointed that it ended so soon. also, if you don't scrape for emails anymore how do you get them? landing page + submit form?
 
Mason, I use a variety of methods. Landing pages dont instill users with alot of confidence so I dont use them, ill hopefully have the new article finished by tonight, it tells you alot more about gaining a users email and trust - and keeping it :P
 
Okay for those who wanted it, heres the post from my blog about getting great mailing lists, it doesnt list as much as I initially wanted because am still tweaking methods.

This post is a followup to Newbies Affiliates Guide to using Email Lists
Okay, so now the followup; How do I obtain these lists? I have fine tuned a few fullproof methods to get highly targeted mailing lists. I will put these in no specific order, some are useful is some cases, others are just useless!

Email Scraping with a twist (kind of)

So the aforementioned post, I mentioned scraping for emails. Alot of people frown on this in general, because of the legitimacy of it. After looking over legalities, scraping for emails in itself is of course not an illegal offence. So work away people, scrape the planet clean. So you ask, if scraping isnt illegal, whats the cuffuffle: well… heres the catch - as most of you know using these scraped emails legally is abit of mystery.

There is so much generality in the CANSPAM legislation that arguably you could define the emails you send as pitches, or cold emails - irrelevant of their content. Here is a sample email which has gotten me around a 50% opt-in rate (legally).

———————————————————————-

From: Company Name Inserted Here
Subject: Important: {fullname if possible} Account Status

Hello, Our records show that this email address is currently inactive in our database, to recieve your regular account updates please confirm your account as soon as possible by simply clicking this link: {link inserted here}.

It is important that you confirm so that we can continue our services with you.

Thank you for your time,
{Name Inserted Here}
Account Director

———————————————————————-

Okay so lets take a more indepth look through this email, What is the first thing the user will glance over? Studies suggest that the first thing people look at when browsing through an email is subject line. Making this sound relevant is vital, and keep it simple.

I know from my own experience that official looking emails catch my eye, not spammy, non-grammatical sales text. When you get the click through you must make sure there is only one link, using more than that will again look spammy and immediately turn the user off. One click, one subscribe - thats my motto with this method. Surprisingly it works very well - and is completely legal.

The disadvantages of Landing Pages, and great alternatives

 Ever wonder why landing pages take so much tweaking to be sucessful? Its because they are spammy, in essence and so using this to gain a users trust and email is abit of a lottery. People dont really want to give up their email, especially to a sales driven landing page. So what alternatives is there to a simple landing page?

City Mailing Lists

 I have used this one to great effect, its a fantastic concept which works, I will give you a small guideline how to do this but I wont give too much away because its a pretty simple concept.

Go to Google Maps and visit a city.
Type in as many general businesses genres as you want.
The majority will list an email, or atleast a webpage.

Start building an email list of as many businesses in that one city as you can.

Very Important: Build a simple, professional looking website to backup your pitch. (I personally will use a domain such as {city}emailer.com or something related to a directory and for those who cant design, outsource)

Send a pitch similar to the one above, and make sure to let them know that their site will be listed free of charge on your website (this means we can turn this thing into a full blown directory once we have loads of businesses added)

At this point I must remind everyone to organise these into the categories discussed in the earlier post. Keep emailing companies until your site has a solid base to start from. You can then start emailing them about any affiliate offers that you think would interest them (office supplies, property investments, you get the idea).

This idea can earn you a fair amount of cash, and has done for me. And dont forget to scale, who says you can only do one town or city? Do hundreds, and get the rewards!

I didnt want to give away all my methods at this moment in time because am still tweaking and learning what works, but the one mentioned above gets results, and moolah. Feel free to email me (wink, wink) if you have any questions
 
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