|
What really works when trying to sell
by email?
© 2003
by Joe Vitale
I've been online over ten years now. I wrote one of the
first books on Internet marketing back in 1995. While I
started as an Internet skeptic, I now make 95% of my income
from email alone. I've used email to sell well over one
million dollars in e-books in the last 3 years.
I've also used email to --
-
make
$175,000 in one year teaching e-classes,
-
drive
one of my books to the number one best-seller spot at
Amazon,
-
sell
high-ticket, membership-only teleconferences,
-
raise
$50,000 in one day for e-consulting,
-
make
$2,000 in less than 12 hours selling an e-book I didn't
write,
-
make
one man a millionaire (with just one email), and
-
find
the love of my life.
Visitor only for $0.01. Try our pay per click search engine.
The cheapest on the market.
Start here.. |
So, what have I learned from how to sell by email?
1. Long copy sells.
Anything sold with a short letter is either not going to
sell or is going to lead people to a longer letter on a
website.
2. Subject lines that are personal, curious or newsworthy
work better than ones that convey a sales message.
"From Joe" will get more people opening my email
than "New software removes wrinkles while you
sleep." (Well, THAT latter headline might work, but I
just made it up.)
3. Margin width is more important than paragraph length.
I keep my messages to 60 characters a line max. People are
reading email on their phones and palmtops. The email needs
to be visibly attractive on all screens to get read.
4. Freebies increase sales.
The more people can get for free when they buy the main
offer, the more they'll buy. Since the Internet began as a
free service, most users have a "gift culture"
mentality hardwired into them. They expect freebies. It's
the old "psychology of the second interest"
working triple time online.
5. Text rules.
HTML in email doesn't work. The vast majority of users
prefer their email in text-only format.
Visitor only for $0.01. Try our pay per click search engine.
The cheapest on the market.
Start here.. |
6. Repetition works.
Repeating the main offer in the email gets more sales. Far
more people skim email than read it word for word. Repeating
key points assures the skimmers will get the message.
7. Testimonials sell.
I've sent out email that was entirely made up of
endorsements. Real people conveying their own benefits
encourages real people to part with their money. An example
is at http://www.mrfire.com/hypnostories.html
8. Hidden selling works better than direct selling.
Due to all the spam filters and the amount of spam, period,
direct selling in email will often be impotent compared to
an email containing a story or "teaching tale"
that does a soft sell.
This is where Hypnotic Writing comes in handy. See a quick
example at http://www.mrfire.com/0057.html
9. Unusual openings work better than headlines.
I'd rather start an email with a story already in progress
than with a traditional hard-hitting headline. I may weave a
headline into the body copy later, after I've fully engaged
the reader, but not right up front. Headline openings tend
to turn off readers. See an example at http://www.mrfire.com/seedmoney.html
I struggled to come up with one more point so I could have a
"10 tips" article for you. But the truth is, no
one knows for sure what will work online, and I'm still
learning, too.
So I'll let *you* supply the missing last insight.
Go for it!
-----------------------------------------
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Joe Vitale's newest book is "The Greatest
Money-Making Secret in History," available in late May.
He's author of many books, including the international #1
best-seller, "Spiritual Marketing," the
best-selling e-book, "Hypnotic Writing," and the
best-selling Nightingale-Conant audioprogram, "The
Power of Outrageous Marketing." Sign up for his famous
free newsletter at http://www.mrfire.com
|
Adlandpro
Toolbar gives you instant access to your
Free Email Account, Free Website, submission to
over 8,900 sites, learning tools, free discussion
list on marketing and promotion with 26,000
subscribers, Free 5 day Website Success course by
email, plus instant search. Click
Here. |
|