This is the last of a 7-part series on email marketing. If you’ve just tuned in, you can catch all of the previous episodes of the Underdog Millionaire Tip Sheet on the blog here.

 

 

…on with the show.

 

So, this morning I had to finish up getting some blood-work done for my annual physical. To make sure that all of my parts work and to ensure that my strict diet of cheese and hot dogs has not somehow tinkered with my ticker.

 

Since I’m ALWAYS daydreaming about business, one of the things I was thinking about while going through with my annual blood letting, is “why isn’t email more successful for more small business owners?”

 

I mean, I’m on a TON of lists and I see this stuff every day.

 

…then, with a needle in my arm and blood gushing everywhere, I figured it out!

 

Drum roll please….

 

The answer is that most people just don’t care enough about what they’re writing and it shows through like x-ray glasses on prom night.

 

If you want your customers to be passionate enough about opening your emails, reading them, absorbing the content, and eventually taking some kind of action, then you, my friend, must be even more passionate.

 

Your emails must ooooooze passion, just like my bloody arm.

 

Every word that you type must be from the heart, honest, and PASSIONATE about the work that you’re doing.

 

I don’t care if you sell shoe polish, car tires, bathroom spray, accounting services, or million dollar homes. If you’re not passionate about it, then your email will read about as dry as a guy trying to whistle with 10 saltine crackers in his mouth (try it, it’s not possible).

 

If you’re not passionate about what you’re pitching, then find something you are passionate about. Your customers will see right through it and your business will suffer in the process.

 

If you want to know even more about persuasive writing in print and the power of being passionate about your product, then click on over to my VERY inexpensive course on writing sales letters, which is guaranteed to improve the power of your emails as well.

 

Here’s the link: http://www.sales-letter-system.com

 

 

In your service and with less blood than I started,

 

Joshua Black

 

P.S.  One last tip is to write each email LIVE. This is what I do. I don’t fill my autoresponder with 100 emails and then just let ‘er rip. I write and then send immediately, sometimes the night before, but that’s about it. If you learn to write live, you’ll add more passion to your emails as well.  www.sales-letter-system.com

We’re quickly wrapping up the email mastery series in the near future. In case you’re just tuning in, you can get all of the issues here, on the blog.

 

 

Today’s issue of the Tip Sheet is all about the flow of your emails.

 

Specifically, there’s a great way that you can design them so that your product or service will shine by the time you get to the end.

 

This is a copywriting technique that I share in my sales letter course:

 

A famous copywriter named Gary Halbert mastered this formula for his own sales letters, but since emails are, in the end, designed to sell just as much as a sales letter, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share it with you here:

 

Here’s the formula:

 

A star, a story, a solution.

 

…that’s it.

 

Simple, I know, so let’s break it down a little.

 

Your star is the protagonist of the email. This person has the same problem that the customer has and she is facing a huge loss of some kind. (After all, fear of loss is a much bigger motivator that the possibility of gaining pleasure).

 

The story is the explanation of the problem, how the star got into the mess and all of the things the star tried (and failed) to do before NOW.

 

The solution is just as it sounds.

 

The solution is when the spotlight flips on and you showcase your product as THE ONLY perfect solution to the star’s problem.

 

You’ll show how your product can solve the problem and how the customer’s life will be much better off once the product has been purchased.

 

That’s all there is to it.

 

If you can place the product in the hands of the customer, by explaining how his life will be better, then you’re home free.

 

It’s all selling in print.

 

It’s all about learning to use as much human emotion and honest experience into the equation so that the customer will make a purchase decision.

 

If you want to become a copywriting expert the easy way and stop floundering around with ho-hum emails for your small business, check out the Sales Letter System here:

 

 

In your service,

 

 

Joshua Black

Welcome to the fifth installment of email marketing. In case you

haven’t read the first four parts, here they are:

 

Part one: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/email-marketing-part-one-of-seven

 

Part two: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/how-to-kill-it-with-email-marketing-part-2-of-7

 

Part three: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/create-your-email-voice-and-dump-freeloaders-part-3-of-7

 

Part four: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/a-late-christmas-gift-and-email-marketing-part-4-of-7

 

 

Now that we’ve developed your voice, we know how to get

your emails opened, and we know why email is so important

to growing your business, let’s chat about the importance of

a call to action.

 

The call to action is sheer copywriting prowess at its best.

 

Remember that every email you send must ask the customer

to perform some sort of action.

 

You don’t have to pitch your list to death, but simple suggestions

for more information work very well.

 

Your customers know that you have to make money in

order to keep your business going, so they will appreciate

the free, valuable information that you’re giving them in

your emails, but won’t flame you for including calls to

action that may lead to a product.

 

Calls to action put you in the driver’s seat as the marketer.

 

Calls to action allow you to ask your prospect a series of

questions in their mind and get them to show you a series

of “yes’s” that will (hopefully) eventually lead to a sale.

 

Every email that you send out is a small piece of a sales

letter for your business.

 

If you’re sending out emails that DON’T ask your customers

to perform some sort of call to action, then you’re missing out

on a huge pile of money.

 

Also, if you haven’t been using a call to action in each of  your

current emails, you might receive a little backlash before you

see the positive results.

 

If you train your customers to expect zero offers in your emails

and all of a sudden you start recommending additional products,

then you will probable get a negative reaction.

 

However, if you’ve build your list on the back of a bunch of

freebie-seekers, then you probably don’t want those people

around you anyway.

 

So, make sure that you send a call to action in every email.

 

It doesn’t just have to be a product.

 

You can ask people to take a survey, send you testimonials,

or just give you feedback.

 

It’s all based on a sales letter format where you’ll show your

prospect a problem and then show her how your product

is the only way that can solve the problem.

 

Whether you’re writing a sales letter for print, for a website,

or your using the same techniques in your email, the

principles are ALL the same.

 

Get people to open the letter.

 

Show them the problem.

 

Show them the solution.

 

Show them how YOUR product is the perfect solution.

 

If you’d like to know a lot MORE about how to use the

power of sales letter copywriting to make your emails

turn into a cash-generating machine, then please click

here:

 

 

 

 

In your service,

 

Joshua Black

 

__________________________________________

If you’re new to the Underdog Millionaire Tip Sheet, welcome aboard! If you’ve been a subscriber for awhile, you’ll know that I took a little break over the holidays.

My wife and I had our first child on December 21st, so I put the business on hold for a bit while I figured out how to change diapers and get 2 hours of sleep per night.

…now that I have all that figured out I wanted to get back on the horse and get on with the show.

First and foremost, I want to GIVE you a belated Christmas gift as my thanks for being a loyal subscriber. I know that you have MANY choices of email newsletters and I thank you for sticking with me and waiting to see what hair-brained thing I’ll say next.

The gift is a series of recordings done by Jay Abraham, interviewing 6 of the greatest minds in current marketing, including Harvey Mackay. There is a huge pdf book and 4+ hours of audio.

I wanted to pass it over to you because I think you’re awesome.

here’s the link, thanks again for your purchases and your eyeballs:

Now for part 4 of a 7 part email series that I’ve been doing:

In case you missed the past 3, here they are

Part 3: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/create-your-email-voice-and-dump-freeloaders-part-3-of-7

Part 2: http://www.underdogmillionaire.com/blog/how-to-kill-it-with-email-marketing-part-2-of-7

Part 4 is all about getting your email opened.

Without getting your prospect to open your email, there is little reason to work very hard on the content, building your voice, or offering anything of value.

In order to get your email as far from the trash can as possible, you MUST have a good subject line.

In copywriting we call this the headline, because it’s almost the same thing as the headline of a sales letter. You want to create an interest in your customer’s mind that causes them to click to find out more.

We ALL get a ton of email everyday.

The ones we don’t open are the BORING ones that don’t offer us anything, such as new product offerings, lame sales,and the same, re-hashed subject lines that we’ve all seen a thousand times (such as “you’ve gotta check this out”).

In that last edition of the Tip Sheet, I introduced this email series. In case you missed that issue, here it is: Email Marketing-Part One fo Seven

 

In today’s Tip Sheet, I want to go over lead generation. After all, you’ve got to have a list to contact if you want you use email marketing, right?

 

You must start with an autoresponder service. There are a ton of them out there, so you’ll have to shop around to find your fav. I do NOT recommend a self-hosted, software-based autoresponder.

 

I tried self-hosting a long time ago, because it looked like a great deal and I wanted more control over my list, but my list got too big and eventually my hosting company shut all of my websites down in a single day… and I had 15 of them at the time.

 

This was NOT a good day and it took me a LONG time to mop up the bloody carnage… so take it from me, if you’re serious about your business, don’t self-host your autoresponder.

 

Ok, now that you have the service, you’ll need to create an email capture box to place on every page fo your site. This is easy if you use a blog platform, but will take a bit longer if you have a standard HTML site.

 

 

Yes, I said it right. You’ve got to sell free nowadays too. Everyone and their Aunt Tilly has an email newsletter, so the only way you’re gonna be able to get your prospect to part with her well-guarded personal email, is to give her something of value for free.

 

The best free things are valuable information products that you create yourself. Remember, that if someone isn’t willing to pay money for the free product, they probably won’t want it for free either.

 

Use copywriting in a personal voice, carefully selling the prospect on your offer to sign up, listing all of the benefits for joining.

 

Once you’ve got the prospect on your list, the hard part begins… in the next issue, I’ll go over how you can use your own voice and experience to help your customers know, like, and trust you.

 

The whole process starts with great copywriting, and I’ve got just the course for you here:

 

 

In your service,

 

 

Joshua Black

 

_________________________________________

(Part one of seven)

 

This is going to be a series of Tip Sheets about email marketing. No matter what business you’re in, if you don’t have a website by now, you should just stop reading and go get one.

 

The days of interruption (traditional) advertising are in the sundown phase and if you want to stay competitive, you’ve got to start building relationships with your customers and prospects.

 

Whether or not you’re using social media, email is still the best way to get a PAYING customer online.

 

It doesn’t matter how many ”likes” or “friends” you have… it’s all about converting those people into buyers, and that’s where email comes in. Email is the next best thing we have to snail mail. It soles a lot of the problems about interruptions and allows the user to file it and KEEP it for later.

 

You get an uninterrupted person-to-person conversation with your prospect, with little distraction. No chats blinking, no farms growing, or other stupid mob games challenging their short attention span.

 

…it’s just you and them having a basic conversation in print, just like you’re talking over a cup of coffee. No hype. No stupid cat jokes. No famous people quotes. You just keep the conversation going and allow the customer to learn to trust you, and perhaps eventually buy from you.

 

…just a little entertainment, a little about your business, and something for them to look forward to a few days a week… but it’s ALL about building a trusting relationship in the end. When someone doesn’t trust that your motives are sincere, that you REALLY want to help them, then they won’t buy. Period.

 

In the next few days I’m going to share with you most of what I know about email marketing. It all starts with subtle selling in print and the way that you become a master of selling in print is to learn the art of copywriting.

 

Copywriting takes a lifetime to master, but you can get just enough of the basics to make your business profitable without having to waste a lot of time learning about it.

 

If you’re interested, I’ve created a course about copywriting that you can use to help turn your customers into buyers, using the power of email…. or print if you wish. The principles are the same. Click here to check it out: www.sales-letter-system.com

 

See you in a few days with installment number 2. I’m sure you’re gonna like it.

 

 

 

In your service,

 

 

Joshua Black

 

___________________________________________

That’s right I said it… broccoli hot dogs!

 

There was a news special a few years ago, with actor Alan Alda. He was making a comment about the creator of the show “60 Minutes,” who had recently passed away. Alda said that the show was broccoli disguised as a hot dog.

 

What we’re talking about is info-tainment.

 

If you want to get your customers to read your emails, one of the best ways is NOT to cram a bunch of teaching into their heads, but to give them something to look forward to each day, something that might make them think twice for a second.

 

Email is just like direct mail in that your first job is to get the damn thing opened.  If you customer is bored by your subject line then it goes straight to the trash… or worse, the spam.

 

So, next time you need to get an email opened, try a little info-tainment instead of just hard, salesy delivery. You end up adding a personality to your emails, and you might just develop a loyal fan base along the way.

 

Now of course, the other trick to using email effectively is to turn each email into a selling opportunity. Hard selling sucks. People hate to be sold, but if you can show them how your product will add value, and your product has something to do with your email, then it’s your duty to serve your customers as much as possible.

 

If you want to become a copywriting “expert” in as little time as possible, I’ve developed a course especially for busy small business owners. It will help you get your emails opened, get you selling more stuff, and multiplying your efforts wherever you’re selling in print.

 

Check it out if you’re interested:

 

 

In your service,

Joshua Black

 

 

 

P.S. For the first 3 people that purchase the course TODAY, I will give you one free copywriting critique on a sales letter that you create with this course. That’s a $350 value and these critiques take a lot of my personal time.

 

__________________________________________

If there is anything that you do for the rest of this year to help your business, print out this email and tape it to your fridge or desk for future reference. That being said, I wanted to give you a few handy-dandy tips to avoid more than touching doorknobs in hospitals.

 

Since Halloween is coming up, I though I’d give you a few DEADLY mistakes to avoid, and how avoiding those things can mean some serious dinero in return for your biz.

 

This is a long one, so you might want to come back to it a few times in order to absorb everything.

 

So here we go…

 

 

1. Not having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your business. If you ignore everything else on this list (and I double you will), you can’t ignore this one.  There is so much noise out there, you have to show your prospect how you are the ONLY one that can solve his/her problem. 

 

Your USP will explain EXACTLY what you’ll do for the customer and how you’re the ONLY person around that can solve their problem with very little pain. There is WAAAAAY too much that goes into creating a USP, so I won’t go into that here, but if you want to find out more, you can check out the huge course that I’ve made (the only one of its kind in the world) just on USP creation.

 

Check it out here: www.ultimateUSPcreator.com

 

2. Only having one thing to sell. It is your DUTY as a business owner to provide as much of your product or service as possible to the customer, as long as you have something that can improve his condition. If you are holding back products or services from him, you’re actually doing him a disservice.

 

I’ve got three words for you if you think you’re completely out of ideas: Repackage, Re-purpose, Re-brand.

 

Some business owners really do have a single product that the entire business is wrapped around. If that’s your case (which is a little dangerous, I might add) you can create information products that you can sell or give away as bonuses to enhance ANY product, physical or digital.  Here’s more information on creating powerful information products in just a few hours: www.information-product-report.com

 

3. Not keeping a database. You need to capture the name and address of every person that’s interested in doing business with you as well as people that are already doing business with you. You have to keep the conversation going. You customers are not sitting at home thinking about your business. You have to CONSTANTLY remind them (in a useful, positive way) that you are still here to serve them.

 

4. Not contacting old customers. People that have purchased from you in the past are 8% more likely to buy from you than a new prospect. Even if it’s been awhile, stay in touch. You never know where the next purchase will come from.

 

5. Not practicing what you preach. This is especially true if you’re in a service business… and I will be the first to admit that I even do this from time to time.  If you’re going to give your customer advice, make sure that you are already practicing that behavior or using the product that you’re recommending. Otherwise it makes you look non-credible.

 

6. Not following up AFTER the sale. This is a powerful tip called “locking up the sale.” This really works well with high ticket items and professional services. Although you may not use it if you sell a two dollar widget, you will highly benefit from following up with large sales.

 

You get these benefits from locking up the sale:

 

7. Trading hours for dollars. There is no rule in business that you have to work yourself to death. Look to places in your business where you can automate the process. One of the best place to do this, is through lead generation.  Cold calling sucks. Everyone hates doing it and everyone hates receiving it. So instead, multiple your sales efforts through direct marketing.

 

Direct marketing can take MANY forms, be it through social media, your email list, direct mail, and print advertising.  It all starts with getting your sales message out there in print, using solid copywriting.  If you want to quickly become a copywriting genius, you can start with my quick start copywriting course. Check it out here: www.sales-letter-system.com  and stop trading hours for dollars.

 

 

I hope that this list will help you increase your bottom line and make your business life just a little bit easier. Let me know if you need anything.

 

 

In your service,

 

 

Joshua Black

 

__________________________________

It’s time to grab your dart gun and your giant net, because we’re about to catch some customers and hold onto them longer than your competition EVER will.

 

In today’s little installment of the Underdog Millionaire Tip Sheet I want to introduce you to something called preemptive marketing.

 

This is a technique that was pioneered by a famous old-timer named Claude Hopkins. He was the father of the current direct marketing techniques we use today… which is why I gave you one of his books when you signed up to become an Underdog Millionaire.

 

Hmmmmm… maybe you should go dig that one out the archives and open it. There are some real gems in there if you can get past the dated language.

 

Anyhow, preemptive marketing is the art of telling the story behind your product and locking your position in the market with a ninja-like grip, before your competition knows what hit ‘em.

 

This works even if everyone in your market is doing the same thing!

 

As long as you’re the first one to tell the story of your product- how you only use spring-fed water, or you only use wool from tiny sheep, or you run your website from a wind-powered generator…

 

It’s all about EDUCATING the customer for them.

 

They won’t come to you to find out more. You need to be the one to extend the hand and give them the tools they need to make a purchase decision.

 

If you’re the first one to tell them that you’re product or service is created a certain way, then that technique is going to be burned into your customer’s brain as your and only yours… even if everyone else is doing it.

 

If you can be “preemptive” and be the first one to tell the customer your story, or the product’s story (old granny’s recipe etc.) then you’re in. You have them for life if they need a solution from your business.

 

Copycats????  What about all those stinkin’ copycats out there? You say.

 

Well, copycats don’t matter at all with preemptive marketing, because you were there FIRST. The rest of the schmos will just look like an also-ran.

 

So how do you deliver this preeminent message to your customers?

 

One way is in your sales letters, through some serious copywriting.  If you want to quickly earn your junior G-man(or woman) badge in copywriting, I have just the thing for you.

 

You’ll learn all about the best ways to craft a sales letter QUICKLY, and how you can incorporate preemptive marketing in such a way that it will practically pull those shifty prospects off the street and into your business, or onto your web site.

 

Hop on over to: www.sales-letter-system.com

 

 

In your service,

 

Joshua Black

 

 

P.S. Speaking of “web copy” …there is no such thing. Don’t let anyone else fool you. Marketing is marketing and copywriting is salesmanship in print. It doesn’t matter if your message is printed on a website or an eggshell.

 

If you can learn to write copy, you can create a way to sell your services automatically without you having to be there every time to make the pitch.  Sounds pretty good eh?

 

Check it out: www.sales-letter-system.com

 

____________________________________________

 

 

Got a really quick Tip Sheet for you today.