Look on many sites and you will find out about the benefits of using newsletters and lot’s of ‘The money’s in the list’ generally a lot of generic information.
Rather than waste your time with the same old info; I thought I would share with you 5 tasty strategies to grow you profits with newsletters.
I will say however Probloggers The Money’s Not In the List, it’s In the Connection is definitely worth a read.
A CURE for newsletters
Attract Convert Up-sell Relationship Engage
Attract
Got to fill the top of that funnel. The way you do this is by bringing traffic to your form wither on your website, a squeeze page or somewhere else and giving them a compelling reason to join. (I offer a 4 part video series all about time and productivity. See the bar along the top of the page^^^) It’s great but it takes effort particularly when all your current clients are registered and you have to draw people in.
How to turn this into a leverage point:
How would it effect your business if you didn’t have to be the only person bringing potential customers into your mailing list with no need for ‘grey hat’ marketing, buying fans, buying traffic or hiring workers?
Your initial mailing list holds the key to easy expansion. No mailing list? let your current customers know you have one.
Use a newsletter to deliver value to your list and look to enhance their lives. The aim is not only to inform an engage but create something that is worthy of sharing and give them the opportunity to share it. (Clicktotweet.com) This promotion doesn’t cost you money, doesn’t cost you time and increases your credibility within their social circles where you will find more people just like them!
You can use your mailing list reports to see the people who are engaging with the content and clicking the links A.K.A. promoting your brand. Every so often give a gift to your top sharers such as a small product or upgraded service. This shows your appreciation, gives them a reason to talk about you AND if you congratulate your top sharer in the next newsletters it encourages other subscribers to share your content. More reach, more newsletter subscribers, more customers, more profit.
No need for ‘grey hat’ marketing, buying fans, traffic or hiring workers. [tweet this]
Convert
I’m yet to hear a story of Staples accepting payment in Facebook Fans or British Gas accepting newsletter subscribers. For this reason you need to convert them into customers often people need to know you more or they have unanswered questions that they may or may not ask.
How to turn this into a leverage point:
One tool in your newsletter armory is autoresponders but so many people use them the wrong way! Many use them as a series of time limited offers that are clearly automated and bombard them with sales pitches. There is another way
Up-sell
Up-selling is my absolute favourite kind of selling because it is so easy. You cut out all the hard work of getting people to know like and trust you because the people who have opted into your newsletter already do and you can provide them with a better product or service so it’s win-win all round.
How to turn this into a leverage point:
Segmented lists are fabulous things. You can group members of your mailing list by what they are interested in and past purchases. Instead of bombarding them with everything you have to offer or them never seeing the things they are interested in; you can pick and choose the mail they receive and tailor it to language suited to them.
E.g – weight loss products
On your sign-up form have a drop down box for their key weight issue.
- yo-yo dieting
- last 10 lbs
- never been able to lose weight
- want to lose the baby weight
Relationship
The key to sustainable success is building long-term relationships. Customer acquisition is an expensive part of doing business. Advertising, marketing, negotiation, meetings etc all cost time and money but if you aren’t building long-term relationships with customers then it is something you will constantly need to do in order to survive let alone thrive. Your newsletter is a perfect platform to create relationships.
How to turn this into a leverage point:
As I said in the up-sell section. Segmenting your list to send the right message to the right people is a great place to start. This way you can speak to their individual stresses and dreams. The next step is sharing your appreciation for those who are members of your mailing list and invite them to contact you with their input or questions. This not only helps you build content for future articles but it prompts pre-qualified leads to come to you.
Pre-qualified leads coming direct to you = spending your time on people who are most likely to buy [tweet this]
Engage
The key to marketing your business online is engagement and social proof. It’s what keeps the social world turning and your credibility rising. Your newsletter can help you grow your social capital ready for you to turn social capital into profit.
How to turn this into a leverage point:
Your mailing list is full of people who love what you have to offer. these are your greatest fans so give them a chance to show how much they love you. Use your newsletter to bring your customers to your website and social networks not just for sales but instead to join in the conversation. People don’t like to be sold to all the time so don’t treat your list like your personal cash machine (I’ve actually seen people call it that!). You could use these ‘non-sales’ messages to talk about general company news but every piece of information you send out needs to be ‘on brand’ and ‘on purpose’. Use these e-mails to spark online conversations, sharing of articles and strengthening of your brand.
All marketing needs a purpose but that purpose shouldn’t always be sales. [tweet this]
Ready to learn how to put all these profit increasing methods into one simple marketing system?Marketing #SOS shows you how!
Rules of Leverage Applied -
- If there’s a low-cost/no cost way for you to avoid a task, spend your time on other things.
- Why have one sale when you can have 10.
- There are right and wrong ways to use automation.
- Make small changes that have a big impact.
- Spend your time on maximum impact tasks.
- Get your customers to market your business.
[...] Increasing profit with newsletters [...]
[...] have massive impact. Social media and e-mail marketing takes weeks, sometimes months, to convert potential customers into buyers. They have to get to know [...]
I decided to have an Accountability sign up instead of a newsletter. Accounts are something that most people are a bit scared of – and to be honest they have reason to be. So I have a free email where whatever your goals for the week are, it’s an encouragement and a reminder.
As you say, it’s about giving your target market what they need, and that’s what newsletters are for.
That’s great and love your brownie idea plus it’s totally authentic. You say you love brownies, you say you love cake and you give people chocolate cake. Stamping your unique brand all over it!