YouTube is a great tool for marketing your business – if you can avoid the pitfalls…

Mistake #1 – Thinking all you need to do is upload a video and traffic will flood your website. No less than 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, so the competition to get your video seen by viewers is insane. There are tons of high-quality videos that never get more than a few thousand views, and no doubt many more that get even fewer eyeballs.

What to do? First, tailor your video content to what your viewers want and not necessarily to what you want to show them. Always keep the viewer in mind every step of the video making process and put their needs and desires ahead of yours. Next, you’ve got to vigorously promote your video. Social sites are often the best way to get the word out. And third, realize that it takes time, resources and a good idea to make a video people want to watch and pass on to others. It also takes time and resources to properly promote your video. Don’t expect to slap up any old video and watch the sales role in.

Mistake #2 – Thinking you’re too small or new to make video work for you and your business. Just because you need to keep your expectations realistic doesn’t mean placing and promoting videos on YouTube can’t have an impact on your business. Any business, large or small, can use video to its advantage.

Think about what you like to share with friends and tailor your video accordingly. Even a few thousand views can increase your business, and if you get lucky, you might even create the next viral video sensation.

Mistake #3 – Creating a commercial. Online video is about engagement with others, not slapping out another “buy my product” commercial.

Think of your video as doing much more than simply selling a product or service. People on YouTube want to consume and share engaging and fun content, so don’t give them a 30 minute speech on why your product rocks, because odds are they won’t watch it.

Instead, inject fun, personality and pizzazz into your videos. Make them emotional, or thought provoking, or funny, or all three. Ask yourself: If I saw this video, would I send it to my friends? If the answer is no, then keep working on your concept.

Another test to see if you’re on the right track: If you are with friends, would you show them the video? If not, then you might want to start over. A video should grab attention and keep the viewer entranced. It should be short – usually less than 10 minutes and preferably less than 5 minutes. And it should leave the viewer feeling GLAD they saw it, not glad it’s over.

Mistake #4 – Trying too hard. You might think you need to spend thousands of dollars to get a professional video created, when the fact is an amateur type of video might do just as well, if not better.

People generally don’t like “slick” unless it’s of a “Hollywood” caliber – and that’s expensive. People prefer to watch videos of real people doing real things. To illustrate slick versus real, think of an overly smooth sales person trying to sell you a car – isn’t he or she an instant turn off? Now think of an average nice person with a car for sale. She tells you it’s a good car, but the heater takes 10 minutes to warm up and the ride’s not super smooth. Who do you trust?

Or think about the person trying desperately to impress you with how professional he is and how he knows everything about everything, compared again with the average sincere person who readily admits she makes bone-headed mistakes and sometimes says or does the wrong thing. Who do you like better?

Bottom line: Do create videos to market your business on YouTube, but don’t expect your videos to get a gazillion views overnight without promotion. Be yourself when making videos, and always keep the viewer in mind through each step of the process.

…regardless of whether they’re written blog posts or video blog posts. And this can even work on pre-launch videos for your new product launch.

You’ve got traffic, you create great blog posts – and yet only a handful of people bother to comment. Frustrating, isn’t it? You work hard to make a great blog post with lots of information your readers can use, but it feels like nobody cares. Worse yet, your blog has the appearance of a ghost town. After all, the more comments your posts receive, the more popular your blog appears. And let’s face it, everyone wants to be part of something BIG, something that others are involved with.

So how do you get more replies to your blog posts? And for that matter, how do you get people to reply to your pre-product-launch posts and videos? Here are 5 methods I’ve found that work…

1. Ask them. That’s right – sometimes it can be as simple as asking them to take the action. Ask them to respond to your post or to a specific question you place at the end of the post. Don’t make it a difficult question; Asking whether they prefer chunky peanut butter or smooth peanut butter will pull far more responses than asking how to achieve world peace. (I’m exaggerating the point here, but you get my meaning.)

2. Bribe them. Offer them one of your paid products for free when they leave a comment. You can either give the product to everyone who comments, or to the best comment, or 5 comments chosen at random, etc. Choose a product that your readers are likely to want, and if you’re awarding the bribe to everyone, be sure to send it within 24 hours of their posted comment. If you’re awarding it to the best comment(s) or to several comments at random, post the winners on your site so that a) your readers know you really gave away the prize and b) it becomes an incentive for them to post a reply to your next blog entry. After all, if someone else won last time, they’ll be thinking they’ve got a shot at winning this time.

3. Make it a contest. Again, you’re offering a bribe, only this time it’s monetary. For example, offer $100 to the poster who provides the most innovative answer to your question, or to the one who gives the funniest response, etc. Either you can choose the winner, or you can let your readers vote and choose the winner for you. (HINT: This method is also a great way to find out what your reader’s biggest challenges are – thus giving you great ideas for new products your readers WANT to purchase.)

4. Give away the launch. If you’re launching a new product, give away copies of your new product to the best replies to your post and videos, as well as to random posters. This way you get both the posts that take an effort, and the quickie posts from those who don’t want to take a lot of time posting a well thought out answer. This will increase the excitement, increase the exposure of your launch, and can result in some pre-launch testimonials from those who won the product.

5. Be controversial. Taking on topics that hold any kind of controversy will almost always get people talking. People love to take sides, express their opinions, and even get into a discussion. Watch for topics in your niche that spark definite opinions and blog about those – and the replies will naturally come.

6. BONUS Method: While you’re giving rewards out, don’t limit yourself to replies to your posts and videos. Also reward your readers for re-tweeting your content, telling others, referring others, etc. People will jump through hoops for you if you…

a) Are offering great content
b) Make it easy to jump through hoops for you and
c) You reward them for jumping!

Bottom Line: It’s a matter of training your readers to reply to your posts. The more you work to encourage their participation, the more it will become a habit for them to reply. Also take note of which threads tend to get the most response – these are topics that hit hot buttons, and you might want to blog about them more often.

You already know how important content is for communicating your message, getting traffic and making sales. But you might be overlooking a few things that make your content truly great…

Write for your readers, NOT for the search engines. Sometimes we get so caught up in optimizing our content for SEO that we forget we’re really writing for our readers and not Google. Create content that is useful for people, that helps them, educates them and entertains them. Make SEO your second priority in writing your content, not your first. Otherwise your traffic isn’t going to get past your second paragraph before they’re closing your site and moving on to someone else’s.

Write for your readers, NOT for a certain platform. Today all we hear about is social media and everyone wants to know what to put on Facebook, or what to Tweet and so forth to make money. Again, this is the wrong approach and if taken it will cost you. Instead, identify what your users want, and THEN consider which platforms are best for delivering your content. It’s not about Facebook, YouTube, your blog and etc., it’s about giving people what they want.

Don’t be a control freak. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that all of your content must be published on your website so you can stay in control of it, but that thinking will only limit the number of people you reach. Instead, build your content to travel so that it can be downloaded, embedded or shared – thus capturing many more eyeballs and driving those eyeballs back to your site. Think of your content as ambassadors traveling the world to tell others about you, and sending those people to your site. The more your content travels, the more people it will reach, and the more traffic it can then send back to you.

Be fruitful. Are you writing one article or one blogpost a week? Try stepping it up to one a day, or even more. Release as much great content as you can, and don’t get stuck in one rigid rut, either. Develop a range of different content and see what garners both the most eyeballs and the most response. Pay attention to user feedback – they’ll tell you what’s working, what they love, and what they want more of.

Be open. So you planned a series of videos on topic A, and during the second video you mentioned topic B, and people went nuts asking for more information. What to do? Simple – give them what they want. You can finish your series later if you like, but right now you’ve struck gold and you need to mine it for all it’s worth. Give them great content on Topic B, interview an expert or two on that topic, offer them affiliate products on that topic, and so forth. Sometimes we hit pay dirt when we least expect it, and the most foolish thing you can do is NOT jump on it immediately. Money loves speed, and customers love to have their desires satisfied NOW.

Don’t create your content and run. When you make a blog post, go back and ANSWER the replies you get. When you Tweet, stay on Twitter to respond to the responses you get, and so forth. Your follow-up interaction says as much about you as your content, and if you do it right, it says that you’re not just looking to make a fast buck and you DO care about your readers. Which is not only the classy thing to do – it’s also the most profitable in the end.

There are many resources available to enable people to make money on a part-time basis, online as well as offline, and many of those can be done while working from home.

While some positions may require specialized training, most can be performed with little or none. For example, the field of data entry is open as many companies are outsourcing the inputting of information to outside companies.

Most of the data input opportunities are available to be worked at home from your own computer. A similar field is in transcription services, medical as well as legal, among others, where clients will submit via email or file transfer digital sound recordings and you transcribe them into a text document. This field is continuing to grow. Despite the ability to digitally record and maintain files, there’s still a need to have written documentation.

Another method of earning part time cash is through online auctions. You can make some money by cleaning out your basement and garage and putting them up for sale in an online auction and if someone wants your stuff, you can make money off what might normally be trash. Many times you can make more than having a garage sale if you list your items for sale professionally on sites like eBay.

That said, if you are looking to make a steady income from online auctions there are some online drop shipping companies with whom you can connect to list items from them into your auction sites. If the item sells, you pay your price for that item and the company ships the merchandise to the customer.

There are also some sites offering paid surveys that can be filled out online at home at your convenience. You will be notified of available surveys and how much it pays to fill them out. You then pick and choose which ones you want to do. There are also sites looking for people to write short advertising copy for internet ads, along with articles and ebooks as well. Some experience may be required, but for those accepted in this part-time, work-from-home position, it can provide a substantial income.

Many search providers are always looking for researchers to develop and provide content for internet search sites. While having basic knowledge of a subject is helpful, a little time on research can provide you with enough knowledge to be considered an expert on some information search sites. Additionally, some people are willing to pay for expert advice on niche subjects. If you maintain a web log you may try to provide expert advice on specific areas in which you are almost an expert, looking up any information you don’t know and slowly becoming a real expert.

These are only a few of the legitimate ways that you can start earning money part-time. Invest some research and due diligence into some of these different opportunities on your favorite search engine and you will soon find many possibilities for you to explore and begin developing a real, honest and sustainable income from home.

With a computer and high speed Internet access, the potential for the home worker to make money online is virtually limitless. When it comes to finding the right home based business opportunity, there are several things to consider. Here are the top five:

1. Are You a Salesperson?

Some people have a natural talent for sales, while others couldn’t sell water to someone stranded in the desert. For the home based worker who has the ability to sell, network marketing may be the perfect home based business. Network marketing typically involves selling products in one or more niche markets, as well as selling the opportunity. Also known as multi-level marketing, network marketing pays commissions based on a percentage of your sales and on the sales of your “downline,” or those you have recruited to sell the product. Each opportunity has its own commission plan, and many pay bonuses on top of commissions.

2. Are You Experienced?

If you have years of experience being a home worker, you probably have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, if you’re new to being an entrepreneur, you probably need training. Look for a company that offers the tools and training you need in order to succeed. The type of training you receive can encompass everything from weekly conference calls or webinars (Internet-based seminars), to one-on-one coaching from your upline, to training manuals and other written materials.

3. Are You Internet Savvy?

If you know your way around the Internet and know something about setting up and hosting websites, the possibilities are endless. You can create your own websites, for example, and start generating affiliate revenue and Google AdSense revenue.

If you haven’t the foggiest idea of how to set up and host a website, be sure to find a company you can partner with who will do the heavy lifting. There are many Internet-based opportunities for the home based worker from companies that provide what are called “replicated sites.” They’ll design and host your websites for you, so that all you have to do is work on marketing in order to drive traffic to your site.

4. How Much do You Want to Work?

Before selecting a home based business opportunity, honestly assess how much you want to work. If a stay-at-home mom needs extra money, she may only want to work two or three hours a day. If someone wants to quit the rat race and work full time as a home worker, it will normally require a greater investment of time and possibly money to grow your business and level of income to that level. Sometimes a single home based business will provide all of the revenue a person needs, while other times you have to embark on several opportunities to diversify and multiply your revenue streams.

5. How Hands-On do You Want to Be?

Some home based business opportunities require that you be actively involved on a day-to-day basis, either in order fulfillment and customer service or in marketing your websites or businesses. Other opportunities are more passive in nature, in that you have to spend a lot of time initially, but they become self-perpetuating. If you’re a home worker who enjoys being an ongoing active participant, choose an opportunity that requires you to interact with other people. If you prefer to be hands-off, select a business that will basically run itself.

As you can see, there are several factors to consider when exploring opportunities to work from home and make money online. That said, there is an abundance of legitimate ways to earn if you are a truly serious home worker.

Have you been building email lists for more than six months?

Then you’ve got some ‘dead’ subscribers on your list.

They’re not opening your emails.

They’re not paying attention to you.

Frankly, they don’t even remember who you are.

So now you’ve got two choices…

…either remove them from your autoresponder…

…or win them back.

I don’t advocate removing subscribers until you’ve done everything in your power to get them back in your fold, opening your emails and hopefully buying your offers.

After all, getting subscribers isn’t all that easy. It takes either work, money or both. So why not put a little effort into winning those subscribers back?

Done correctly, it can pay off BIG time.

First, we’re going to start off by re-engaging them.

If that doesn’t work, we’ll try winning them back.

And finally when they act on one of our emails, we’ll send them a welcome back email.

Let’s get started:

Your Re-Engagement Email Series

You decide when to initiate this series – after they haven’t opened an email from you in 30 days? 60? 90? 180? It’s up to you. For the purposes of our example, we’ll use 30 days.

Re-Engagement Email #1

This email is subtle and doesn’t harp on the fact that they haven’t opened an email from you in over 30 days.

And we’ll place something in the P.S. to encourage their re-engagement.

Subject Line: Knock, knock… [Hello… are you there?]

Did you know it’s been awhile since you opened or clicked on one of my emails?

I thought I’d better check in on you because you’ve sadly missed some really cool stuff in the last 30 days.

It’s okay, I made you a list of what’s been happening…

Check it out:

[Insert your bulleted list of blog posts, videos and so forth from the past 30 days. Make it ENTICING, with bullets that raise plenty of curiosity.]

I know how busy you are. It’s hard to stay on top of things, but you subscribed to this newsletter to get the latest news and updates on…

[Insert known benefits, desired end results, etc.]

…so you will please forgive me if I give you the occasional “poke” just to make sure you haven’t somehow slipped through the cracks. 🙂

I don’t want to leave anyone behind, especially you.

Talk soon,

[NAME]

P.S. I know that [problem, challenge, etc.] is something you and I struggle with, so as an added gift I thought you’d like to see my favorite [problem, challenge, etc.] resources of all time: [LINK TO RESOURCES]

I think you’ll find #4 especially surprising – I know it did [benefit] for me.

What’s going on in this email?

You’re letting them know they are MISSING OUT. Then you go on to use some really enticing bullets that make them think, “Holy crap, I’ve missed some good stuff!”

You can add links to each item in your bullets, or add a single link to your blog, or… It’s up to you.

The goal here is to show them that they need to OPEN your emails or they will be missing out.

In the P.S., we’re giving them another reason to click (freebie time!) and we’re enticing them even further with that last sentence. Raise enough curiosity and they HAVE to click it.

[NOTE: I like to send the above email TWICE to those who did not open it the first time. Send it the first time, wait 12 to 48 hours (your choice) and then send it again to everyone who didn’t open it the first time.]

[Second NOTE: This brings up a good point… if you’re not sending out emails a second time to people who didn’t open your email the first time, you are, in my opinion, BLOWING IT. People are busy. They don’t see the email the first time, or they don’t have time right then to look at it. 12 hours later, 24 hours later, that email is so far down in their inbox that they don’t even see it anymore. So go ahead, send an email a second time if they don’t open it the first time. This tip alone can substantially increase your income – bank on it.]

Re-Engagement Email #2

Send this one about 2 days after the previous email but only if they didn’t open the previous email.

Subject Line: Wait… Did I goof?…

It’s me again and I gotta know…

…is this your best email address?

It’s been over 30 days since you’ve opened or clicked on a link in one of my emails, and I’m starting to think that you’ve moved on…

Or I’ve got the wrong address…

Or maybe I goofed up…

I’ve created a BUNCH of awesomeness for you over the last month.

In fact, I’ve been thinking about you nearly every day, and how you want to [insert reason they’re on list]

And I’ve been gathering the latest news, tips, breaking announcements, etc., for you, and now I feel bad…

Because you haven’t seen any of it.

Either this isn’t your best email address, in which case, please take a second to update your contact info to the best and most current address…

…you know, the one you actually check every day. 🙂

[LINK TO UPDATE CONTACT RECORD PAGE]

Or you’ve simply been too busy to notice what’s happened in the last 30 days…

[List of enticing bullets with links]

Talk soon,

[NAME]

P.S. Do me a favor… please?

Just click on at least one of these links above to show me you’re alive and that you still want to [insert goal]

Thanks!

What’s going on in this email?

Guilt. Lots of guilt, because we are thinking about them and their problem and we’ve done all this work to help them and they aren’t even opening our emails! 😉

Re-Engagement Email #3

Send this one about 2 days after the previous email but only if they didn’t open the previous email.

Subject Line: Are you….. stuck?

There are lots of things in this [industry/business/world] that can get us stuck…

So what has you stuck?

Tell me here:

[LINK TO SURVEY]

…so I know that I’m delivering the right kind of content to you.

Seriously, it’ll take less than 30 seconds and it will truly help me to help you.

It’s literally just one question (one!)…

…and if you help me out, I’ll reward you with something cool on the other side.

So cool. So ULTRA COOL but I can’t tell you what it is, because it is ONLY for people smart enough to click the link and answer the question.

People like you.

Here’s that link again:

[LINK TO SURVEY]

Thanks in advance,

[NAME]

What’s going on in this email?

We’ve switched from guilt to a survey to encourage interaction. Don’t get stressed about what question you’re going to ask.

What’s important here is they engage, so please ask them something fun or interesting or both. Keep it short and simple and easy.

On the thank you page following the survey, you can give them a product discount (make it a SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNT) or anything else you like.

I like to give them a choice of 3-5 free reports. They are all on different topics, they all have great headlines, and the subscriber can only choose ONE.

This shows me what else they’re interested in, and puts them on a new mailing list for that topic.

Re-Engagement Email #4

Send this one about 2 days after the previous email but only if they didn’t open the previous email.

Subject line: I need your help…please

I’m burning the midnight oil to produce a new series for you, but I want to make sure I’m covering the topics that YOU are most interested in.

Will you go here and let me know if I’m on the right track?

[LINK TO SURVEY]

If you do, you’ll not only help shape the content I send you each week… I’ll also have a little “thank you gift” waiting for you on the other side.

I’m hoping you will do it now while it’s fresh on your mind.

[LINK TO SURVEY]

It’ll take less than 30 seconds (literally!!) and I will be forever grateful.

Thanks much,

[NAME]

What’s going on in this email?

This is the second email in the survey campaign. As you can see it’s essentially the same offer, just positioned more as an “I need help” message than the first email.

<<<<<>>>>>

All subscribers that haven’t clicked on a link through your entire Re-Engagement Series should be placed in the following Win-Back email series.

<<<<<>>>>>

Your Win-Back Email Series

At this point the re-engagement series has ended, so if your subscriber still hasn’t responded, then it’s time to turn up the heat.

This first email offers a “mystery gift” if they click on the link. You could also tell them what the gift is, if it’s perceived as being highly valuable and sought after.

Your “gift” can be anything… a video… a special report… a product… anything your prospect will see as valuable.

[NOTE: At this point you don’t want to simply offer a discount or a free trial offer, because it’s not seen as highly valuable. There should be no strings attached to the gift you’re offering, or it will lose its power.]

Also, you’ll want to setup a special page where you will deliver this gift. Don’t send them to some random download page, it’s not personal enough.

You want to acknowledge the fact that they took this step. Show them appreciation for re-engaging with you after being “gone” for so long.

When they arrive on the “free gift” page, make them feel loved and appreciated, like they were truly missed.

It might sound cheesy but it really works.

NOTE: In the emails below, wherever it says “Click this link” or “click the link”, those words should be clickable.

Win-Back Email #1

Send this email about 3 days after the previous email (but only if they didn’t open the previous email.)

Subject Line: Whoops! …Was it something I said?

There’s just no easy way to say this…

…so I’m going to just come right out with it…

I miss your smiling face, and I loved it when you clicked “open” on my emails.

But that hasn’t happened in a while, and I want you back…

So here’s what I’m willing to do…

If you click on the link below:

This one –> LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE …

I’ll give you a mystery gift worth [INSERT RETAIL VALUE OF GIFT].

More importantly, by clicking on this link you’ll be telling me that you’re still alive and interested in receiving juicy news and hot tips from me. 🙂

And just so you’re aware, I have setup my email system to automatically remove you if I don’t see any activity from your email account in the next few days.

I know that sounds a little harsh, but I just don’t want to send breaking [niche] news out to folks who aren’t reading or getting value from it.

So again… CLICK THIS LINK: LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE

Not only will you have a cool gift waiting for you on the other side…

…you’ll also reactivate your subscription.

That means even more great stuff will be coming to you in the weeks and months to come.

See you on the other side,

[NAME]

Win-Back Email #2

Send one day after previous email – we’re picking up the pace.

Remember, the gift can be a mystery or you can specify what it is. I’ve found that if it’s a truly high value gift, then telling them gets a better response than saying “mystery gift.” But of course, your results could vary. (Hint: That means you might want to test it 😊)

Subject Line: Re: Claiming your “mystery gift”…

Did you get the email I sent yesterday about your “mystery gift?”

[LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE]

Here’s the deal…

It’s been A WHILE since you’ve clicked on any of my emails (those are real tears, by the way.)

Because I want to see if the email address I have for you is still a valid email address, I’m attempting something a bit odd…

…Bribery.

I’m offering you something extremely valuable for literally just clicking on this link:

[LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE]

That’s it…just click the link!

If this is still an active email address (and you’re still interested in [niche]) then I have every hope that you will click the link.

If you’re no longer interested, just keep doing nothing and I’ll sadly send your gift to someone else.

But I hope that’s not the case…

…because I kind of like having you around. 😊

So let’s stay together…

…just click this link: CLICK HERE –> [LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE]

And I’ll happily see you on the other side.

(I’m the one holding the great big gift wrapped package with your name on it!)

All the best,

[NAME]

Win-Back Email #3

Send 1 Day After Previous Mail

This is more of the same, but note how we’re starting to countdown to unsubscribe in the P.S.

Subject Line: Am I still welcome in your inbox?

I’ve noticed you haven’t opened any of my emails in a while. This makes me wonder… Am I bothering you? Are you not getting the value you expected? Or are you receiving too few messages? Or maybe too many?

Whatever it is, I hope you still want to hear from me… If you want to keep receiving these updates, you need to click the link below:

LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE

It will lead you to a special mystery gift. No purchase, registration or anything like that required. I hope you click it. 😊

All the best,

[NAME]

P.S. If your account doesn’t register a click in the next 48 hours, I’m going to go ahead and unsubscribe you from this list.

It’s not that I don’t want you here, but it’s been almost 6 weeks since you’ve shown any interest in the emails I’m sending you.

Sooo…. The ball is in your court – click the link and I’ll happily see you on the other side.

LINK

Win-Back Email #4

Send 1 Days After Previous Mail

We’re still offering the mystery bonus, but it’s no longer the emphasis of the email. At this point it’s all about “click or unsubscribe”.

Subject Line: oh-oh… Should we unsubscribe you?

I don’t want to keep bothering you with emails, but I don’t want to completely cut you off, either…

CLICK THIS LINK to let me know you want to keep hearing from me… …or click the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom

No hard feelings, either way…I know that interests can change over time.

The last thing I want to do, though, is be another gal cluttering up your inbox, so if you don’t click on this link:

LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE …I’ll assume you are no longer interested in hearing from me and remove you from our list.

(Selfishly, I hope you click the link.)

Talk soon,

[NAME]

P.S. I almost forgot… If you do click the link you’ll find something pretty cool waiting for you on the other side. Just sayin’ 😊

Win-Back Email #5

Send 1 Day After Previous Mail

This is the final email in this win-back series.

Subject Line: Is this goodbye?

Unfortunately, today is the day…

I need you to confirm that you still want to receive emails from me by clicking this link: LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE

…or you will be removed from our mailing list in 24 hours.

(Sorry if that comes off sounding harsh, but I really only want to mail people who actually want to hear from me.)

Originally you subscribed to my newsletter because you wanted [insert known benefits and desired end results], but if that’s no longer the case I understand.

Interests change… Priorities change… People change…

If your interests and priorities have changed, no hard feelings.

Just unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this email and I won’t bug you anymore.

But if you are still interested in [insert known benefits and desired end results] and I simply slipped through the cracks somehow, you need to TAKE ACTION TODAY.

It’s simple… Just CLICK HERE and your subscription will automatically be re-activated.

(There may also be a little gift waiting for you on the other side, but you’ll have to click to see what it is.) 😊

Talk soon (hopefully),

[NAME]

Welcome Back Email

Send this mail when someone is re-engaged or won back.

Subject Line: Welcome back!

Thank you for updating your information…I’m thrilled to have you as an active member again! Here’s a link to some of the content you missed while you were on your “hiatus”:

[Insert bulleted list of most popular blog posts, reports, videos, infographics, etc from the past 30 days…]

…and here’s a “mystery gift” I want you to have to further welcome you back into the fold:

LINK TO MYSTERY GIFT PAGE

Finally, since email is less than perfect, make sure you’re also following us on Facebook and Twitter just to be sure you never miss out again:

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Again, it’s good to have you back. 🙂

Talk soon,

[NAME]

A couple of last points about this series…

MODIFY it to suit your needs.

Your emails should reflect you, and your personality and that of your company and products, so don’t be afraid to modify these as you see fit.

We used 30 days as an example, but you can use this series anytime you like. Personally, I use a similar series after 60 days of someone not opening my emails.

Despite what some marketers will tell you, there are no hard and fast rules of how to word an email. I’ve given you a good start here, but again you should make these uniquely yours.

Or just copy and paste and fill in the blanks – that should work, too.

One last thing – if you win back just 1,000 subscribers a year with this series, and just 5% of those go on to make purchases totaling $100 each, that’s $5,000 a year.

Not bad for copying and pasting a handful of emails into your autoresponder.

1,000 prospects come to your site or sales page. 1% of them buy a $50 product. You’ve made $500.

You invest 2 days trying a few different ways to increase your conversions, and 3 are successful. You only increased your conversions by 1%, yet you’ve doubled your income, selling 2% of the prospects who come to your sales page.

Now for every 1,000 prospects, you make $1,000.

And you send 1,000 prospects a day, meaning…

Well, I’ll let you play with the numbers. The point is, even a 1% bump in conversions can mean a significant pay raise for you.

Yet so many marketers never bother to do any of the things I’m about to suggest.

Why? I suppose it’s one of those things they’ll “get around to” but they never do.

So here’s what I recommend: If you don’t want to do any of the following, then OUTSOURCE it.

Let’s get started on boosting your conversions:

1: Create a compelling and clear value proposition.

Your value proposition can be the #1 element that determines if people will bother to read more on your page.

And it’s also the main thing you need to test.

The less known your company is, the better your value proposition needs to be.

In a nutshell, your value proposition clearly states:

• How your product solves the customers’ problem or improves their situation (relevancy)
• Delivers specific benefits (quantified value)

Tell why they should buy from you instead of your competition (unique differentiation).

2: Do A/B testing

You create two alternative versions of your page, each with a different headline / color scheme / call to action, etc.

You do a split test to see which one works better. When you find out what converts better, then you test something else.

Generally you only want to test one element at a time – otherwise, it just gets confusing.

The more elements you test, the higher you can boost your conversions.

Things to test: Headline, page layout and navigation, the offer itself, using different media (such as a video) and even a radical change if you think you might want to start over.

You can use Google Optimize if you’re looking for a free A/B tester, or Optimizely if you want more options.

3: Set up a Proper Sales Funnel

Sometimes your conversions are taking a hit because you’re asking for the signup or the sale too soon in the process.

If people are still in ‘browsing’ mode, they might not be psychologically ready to subscribe or buy.

The general rule is, the more expensive or complicated the product is, the more time people need before they are ready to commit.

If you’re looking to improve conversions on a squeeze page that only asks for their email address, your focus should be on improving the reason why they would want to sign up. Making your offer more compelling – something that will immediately spark their desire – should do it.

But if you’re selling a product, it’s possible that you need to do more to build trust, develop a relationship and prove your expertise.

Remember, the longer and deeper the relationship with the prospect, the more likely they are to buy from you.

4: Address Objections before They Arise

No matter what you’re selling or how much you’re selling it for, there will be objections.

If I tried to sell $100 bills for $1, there would be objections (and you know what they are.)

Of course, since you can’t hear prospects speak their objections, you’ve got to know in advance what can kill your sale so you can make what you might call, ‘preemptive strikes’ on the objections.

Make a list of all the possible concerns your prospects might have.

And then address each one of those in your presentation / webpage / sales funnel.

5: Build Trust

People won’t buy from you if they have no need for your product, if they have no money to buy your product, if they’re not in a hurry, and if they don’t trust you.

There’s not a lot you can do about the first 2 items on that list.

You can create urgency by limiting the number of products to be sold or the duration of your sale.

But trust is a big factor you can definitely use to increase conversions.

So what makes people trust your website?

Several things:

• You’ve got citations and testimonials clearly visible.
• You’re endorsed by well-known people in your niche.
• You’ve got a physical address and maybe even a photo of your office.
• If you or your business has relevant credentials, you’ve got them displayed.
• You’ve got clear, easy to find contact information that includes a phone number.
• Your site looks professional – not something a kid whipped up on his Intel 486 in the 1990’s.
• Your site contains plenty of useful information.
• You update your site’s content often. If your latest blogpost is from 2016, you’ve got a problem.
• You show restraint with hype, blinking banners (please don’t!) ads, popups and such.
• You have zero or nearly zero errors (when it comes to trustworthiness, one error is forgivable, two aren’t.)

6: Stop Trying to Sound Smart

If I were to give you a value proposition that reads like this…

“Revenue-focused sales automation and marketing effectiveness solutions unleash collaboration throughout the revenue cycle,”

…would you have a clue what I was talking about?

Because I sure don’t. It’s not useful to the person reading it, unless your goal is to chase them off of your page. Then I suspect it’s highly effective.

Don’t use fancy or complicated language – instead, write the way people speak.

Just remember, clarity is key. If they don’t understand exactly what you’re saying, they’re not going to convert.

7: Remove Distraction

Your goal is to get people to focus solely on the action you want them to take and nothing else.

Take a look at your page for anything that might divert the visitor away from what you want them to do.

Minimize distraction, unnecessary product options, links and extraneous information.

Get rid of sidebars and big headers if they’re not helping your prospect take the desired action.

Remove irrelevant images, or replace them with images that help you make the sale.

And ask yourself if there is anything else you can remove that is not contributing to the conversion.

Increasing your conversion rate isn’t hard, but it does take effort…

Effort that will be well-rewarded in increased sales and revenues long after you’re done making the necessary changes.

I received an email the other day from someone who asked, “It’s so hard to get influencers to take notice of what I’m doing – got any tips?” Yes.

First, change your thinking. Online influencers have a constant need for interesting content to share with their readers.

Create the right content, send it to influencers and I guarantee some of them will take notice and send you traffic.

Here are 9 tips to make that happen:

1: Build Relationships with Influencers – This is the old school method, and frankly also the best method of all.

Rather than trying to find a ‘back door’ route to their audience, you might take the long-term approach of building a relationship.

You can start by supporting the influencer in what they’re currently doing by mentioning them on social media and your blog.

Do round-ups, where you send an interview question to several different influencers and then include them all in a featured post.

Quote them in your blog posts – this is hugely flattering and will get you noticed, especially when you call their attention to it.

Support them and their brand, and you’re well on your way to building a two-way relationship in which they reciprocate and mention you to their audience as well.

2: Actually MEET Them at an Event – Again, this is an old school method that works really, really well.

If you think about it – who are you more likely to support: The stranger who sends you a few emails, or the person you had lunch with at your last conference?

This is the number one reason to attend networking events and look for influencers that you can help, and that can potentially help you.

Always approach them with the attitude of what YOU can do for them and not the other way around.

I say this because 95% of people who approach them at these events are asking for favors.

So, when you offer to HELP them, they will be relieved to have finally encountered a true professional and not someone who is just out to use them.

3: Provide Free Samples – First, you find the industry influencers in your target market.

Next, you reach out and offer them a free product in exchange for their review.

In the beginning, target mid-level influencers. They don’t get approached as often and will likely be more willing to try your product and write a review for you.

And make sure your influencers are following the FTC guidelines for disclosing they received a free product in exchange for their review.

4: Give Free Products to the Influencer’s Audience – Once your influencer shares their review, they can host a product giveaway on their post.

How this works is up to you and your influencer. It could be a contest where people have to enter, such as joining your list, publicizing your contest on social media or submitting a reason why they should get the product for free.

The influencer can be responsible for picking winners and you send out the free products.

Personally, I like to simply ask for their email address to enter the contest, and then I give them the option of sharing the contest on social media to gain themselves several more entries.

This builds my list and makes the influencer happy, especially if I’m giving away several prizes to their readers.

5: Publish Unique Research – According to Sumo, only 20% of visitors will read your entire article.

Worse yet, the average visitor will only read 25% of an article.

Ouch.

Which is why you’ve got to stand apart from the crowd. What’s trending or new in your industry? Can you create a study or poll around it?

You might take polls on social media or your email list, creating unique content for your readers. This will make influencers take notice and possibly even create a viral effect of getting mentioned by others.

6: Niche it Down and Go Deep – Anyone can post about broad topics like, “How to be a better gardener.”

But “How to Grow Miniature Roses indoors in Northern Climates” will stand apart from all the other info in your niche because of its specificity.

Find ways to go beyond the basics and create several pieces of content that cover different angles in depth.

7: Be the Devil’s Advocate – Somewhere inside your niche or industry are controversial topics. This is your chance to find unique perspectives that no one else has covered before.

Tips on how to do this without alienating your core audience:

• Write from an angle that resonates with your readers
• Back up what you say with data
• Write in the tone of, “Have you thought about this…” rather than, “This is how it is, period.”
• Be open to different views while standing by your own. In other words, believe in what you’re saying and be prepared to defend your stance without acting like a jerk.

8: Sponsor a Post – Some blogs will accept a ‘paid-for’ post that’s written either by you or the influencer herself.

You might do a walk-through of your product, showcasing the value to the audience.

A great way to do this is to explain how to do something step-by-step, and then offer your product as the easy, ‘done-for-you’ solution.

9: Be a Blog Sponsor – Some influencers also accept sponsorships for their website.

You can negotiate what this covers, but it could be a sidebar ad, mentions on specific pages, or even mentions on social media and through email.

As a sponsor you have an easy ‘in’ to talk to the influencer about additional ways your products or website might be featured, as well as potentially doing joint ventures.

No matter which methods you choose, consistent action is key.

Not every blog owner you contact will be open to your proposals, but when you…

• contact enough of them
• remain consistent in your efforts
• always think in terms of what you can do for the influencer first

…then you will get the results you seek.

You can take an awful lot of those “how to market online” courses and sometimes still not learn the truly groundbreaking stuff.

I’m talking about the seemingly unimportant things that turn out to be so important, it’s like a scene in one of those adventure movies:

The hero fights through obstacle after obstacle to get to this secret cave that hasn’t been entered in a century.

He pries open the heavy door, sweeps away several inches of cobwebs, and by the light of his torch he sees something shiny. He picks it up… it’s a gold coin! Nice, but not that earth-shattering, right? It’s just one coin…

Taking a step forward, he sees a small chest. Opening it, he sees a couple hundred gold coins. Yeah! This is pretty cool.

But then he catches just a glimmer of something deeper in the cave. Opening the door wider to let light in, he sees more gold. And priceless statues. And gemstones. And… the treasures go back as far as the eye can see.

Holy cow. That one gold coin turned out to be the beginning of more wealth than the GDP of most countries.

Well that’s how I feel about what I’m going to teach you here. To the uninitiated eye, these three lessons might seem small, like a single coin.

And they might almost appear trivial. But I promise you, if you follow this advice, your online income can become almost limitless.

And by the way, some people have paid literally thousands of dollars to discover what I’m about to show you:

Marketing Lesson #1: Make an irresistible offer

You’ve heard the term irresistible offer before, but what does it mean?

First, it’s an offer that’s better than anything your competition has.

Second, it’s so good that it’s truly hard to pass up.

For example, if I were to sell you a brand new car for $1,000, that’s an irresistible offer.

Most marketers have trouble getting their marketing to convert because they’re offering the same stuff as everyone else. Yes, they try to make it sexy, but it isn’t.

You can dress a pig up in a lovely, low-cut evening gown, or even a tiny bikini and high heels. But it’s still a pig.

(Not trying to pick on pigs here, btw – I think they’re kinda cute and definitely smart.)

You can have weak marketing and a great offer and make it work.

But great marketing will never compensate for a weak offer.

If you don’t have the right offer, then it doesn’t matter how great the copy is, what the headline is, who is promoting it and so forth.

If you want to make sales, you’ve got to have an absolutely superior, irresistible offer that the prospect simply cannot turn down.

And you’ve got to back the offer up with a product that delivers, too. I’ve seen offers that blew me away, but once I got into the product, I realized it was 80% hype and 20% substance.

As you might have guessed, I asked for a refund – as did close to 50% of their purchasers.

So make them an offer they cannot refuse, and then deliver on every promise you make.

Do this and you cannot help but make a fortune.

Marketing Lesson #2: You’ve got to have a big marketing idea.

Just having a bigger promise or using a hyped headline isn’t going to work anymore.

If you’re going to be seen and heard by your prospects, you’ve got to cut right through all the shouting online and present something brand new.

Think of it this way: A regular marketing idea is doing what’s already been done, except maybe it’s 10% bigger or 10% better.

That used to work, but these days it just blends with everything else.

But a big marketing idea is something new, something revolutionary. It could be an entirely new approach, a new way of looking at something or a new way of doing something.

Take cars for example. A regular marketing idea is to make a car 10% more gas efficient, or 10% sleeker/bigger/smaller/curvier/boxier etc.

If you think about it, most of the cars today just sort of blend. They look a lot alike, work a lot alike… it’s always been like that.

Then there’s Tesla. Put a Tesla side by side with any other car, and you’ll notice a difference. Talk about how a Tesla runs, and it’s revolutionary.

Don’t let your idea be the latest model of Ford or Chevy.

Make it a Tesla.

Give your prospects a feeling of discovery, of something completely new that gives them an AHA! Moment.

Offer them hope that this is finally THE solution they have been searching for.

It’s powerful, indeed.

Marketing Lesson #3: Customer acquisition is simply about good math.

I know you keep hearing about free traffic. But free traffic isn’t free; it costs you time and work. And more time. And more work.

If you want to make serious money, then you’ve got to learn some math and be willing to invest some money to make that money.

Online marketing in the six and seven figure range is all about buying new customers – not hoping they eventually find you on their own.

Buying new customers is how you grow big and fast.

Think of customer acquisition as an investment.

You’re investing in the acquisition of assets — customers.

And to do this wisely… like the best marketers in the world… you need to know some numbers.

For example, one of the absolute most valuable marketing numbers for you to understand and use is the Maximum Allowable Acquisition Cost (MAAC).

MAAC tells you the most you can pay to get a new customer.

And to know your MAAC, you also need to know the lifetime value of your customer. Which in the beginning is hard, so do this instead – know the 3 month value of your customers.

How much do they spend with you in 3 months? Whatever that number is, you need to spend less than that to get a new customer.

Most entrepreneurs and marketers don’t know their MAAC or their customer’s lifetime value.

Of if they do know the numbers, they don’t use them to determine their traffic generation budgets.

But if you want to earn six or seven figures a year, you’ve got to know and USE this stuff.

Once you know these numbers, you’ve got to focus on increasing the value of your customer, so you can increase your MAAC, so you can get more customers.

Very few average entrepreneurs and marketers understand this, but now you do.

So, did I just hand you three gold coins?

Or a vast and unending treasure trove?

That’s up to you and what you do with this information.