3 Rules For Successful Email Marketing

If your email marketing isn’t making you money… you’re doing it wrong! 

Seriously, don’t blame email. When you do email marketing the right way, it is insanely profitable. The problem is most online entrepreneurs are doing it wrong. They think they can just send a bunch of emails whenever they want to sell something. But that’s not the way this works. #SorryNotSorry

Now, you might be saying, “But Bobby, I heard you were the email guy. I thought you were gonna teach me how to sell with email.”

You’re right. I am the email guy. 

That’s why you should listen when I tell you that you aren’t going to make money with email if all you’re doing is sending promo emails all the time… or if you “save” your best stuff for those promo emails. 

Want to know the secret to successful email marketing?

It’s simple. You’ve gotta connect with your audience.

I’m guessing this probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I want to be clear… if you’re not willing to put in the work of connecting with the people on your email list, good luck getting them to buy.

If you act like most online entrepreneurs, you sure as hell won’t be a person they know, like, and trust. Instead, you’ll be just another self-serving salesperson cluttering their inbox.

No wonder internet marketers get a bad rap…

If you’re ready to learn how to master email marketing, you can get FREE access to my email marketing course inside my FREE program BADA$$ Online Marketing University. This course will walk you step by step through creating the 5 essential email sequences you need in your online business.

Social Media Is Not A Replacement For Your Email List

Maybe you’re thinking something like: “Screw email, I’ll just focus on my social media channels since instead.” 

I get it… social media is a great place to be, well, social. But you sure as hell shouldn’t be relying on it to build your business.

Don’t get me wrong. I love social media. The problem is it’s way easier to throw up a promo or fake authenticity post instead of putting in the effort to email your list. But avoiding email isn’t going to help you build a business that’s successful in the long term.

Do you know HOW many social media trends have come and gone in the past five years alone? 

Periscope came… and went. 

People built huge followings on Facebook in the days when everyone saw every post… only to see the algorithms make those followers worthless. 

Then it was Facebook Messenger with the promise of higher open rates… only for Facebook to prohibit the widespread use of messenger for free. 

And we could go on and on…

The core problem with social media is that you don’t own the platform, and you don’t control how they show content to other users. If you’re relying on social media, you’re relying on rented land that can be snatched away from you at any moment. 

Your email list is different. 

You own it. 

No one can take it away from you. You can ALWAYS open conversations with your audience through email. And, unlike social media, you are in their private space. That means more meaningful interaction with your people.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying to NOT use social media. I’m just saying you probably don’t want to rely on social media. 

Email and social media aren’t an either/or situation… they’re a both/and.

The Wrong Way To Do Email Marketing

Since you’re still here, I’m gonna assume you’re convinced that email marketing is pretty stinking important to the success of your business. That’s good news.

Now for the bad news… there’s no “easy” button for email marketing. It’s going to take some hard work… and you’ve got to commit for the long haul. Successful email marketing doesn’t happen overnight.

Not sure about you, but my inbox is full of bad marketing emails. 

Some are in your face salesy…

Some try to trick or manipulate you…

Some try to play up negative emotions to make you feel bad about yourself…

Nearly all of them are trying to get me to buy something. 

The absolute crap that is filling people’s inbox is actually good news for you as an email marketer. 

It really doesn’t take much to truly stand out with email. 

When you shift away from constantly selling, you’ll be headed for success. Sure, they might make some money upfront, but they’re not going to build a raving fan base if all they do is sell. And because they aren’t creating loyal customers, they’ll always be looking for new buyers rather than focusing on serving the ones they have.

Some people who teach email will tell you that you need to sell something with every email. Let me bust that myth: you don’t have to sell something in every email. 

You’re not Macy’s or BestBuy or some other behemoth company. You’re a person writing to people. That means you should act like a human in your emails.

So how do you use email marketing the right way? I’m glad you asked. I’ve got 3 simple rules that will help you get started.

Rule #1: Start A Two-Way Conversation With Your Audience

The first step toward using email the right way is to start thinking of it as a two-way conversation instead of a megaphone. That means you need to stop talking at your subscribers and focus on building relationships.

A megaphone doesn’t allow you to hear from your audience. If you want to learn more about them, what their problems are, and how you can better serve them, stop shouting. Instead, try sending emails that encourage conversation.

If you haven’t been sending conversational emails, it might take time for people to get used to this new approach. But keep at it. Ask questions and encourage your subscribers to respond, cause you’d really love to hear from them.

Rule #2: Build Connections With Your Audience

The second rule builds on the first rule. First you open up a conversation. Then you build connections. 

Newsflash… It’s hard to know whether your products and programs are the right fit if you’re not actually connected with the people you’re trying to help. 

That’s why most of your emails should focus on building connection with your audience. 

This second rule requires you to ignore most of the conventional email marketing advice cause conversion copywriters have ruined email marketing. 

Yeah, I said it. Get over it. 

Contrary to what they say, you should NOT be fixated on click rates in most emails because the goal of your emails should not be about conversion. 

A conversion focus feels transactional. 

When you focus on conversions, the only way to get people to buy is by being the cheapest option on the market or your service/product is available at the time they want it. 

A conversion focus builds the “know, like, and trust” factor with your audience, which primes people to buy. 

When you’ve built real connections with your subscribers, they’ll be willing to buy from you even if your service/product is more expensive and they have to wait.

Now, if you’re ready to start sending connection emails, you’ve got to get comfortable with being more open about your life and experiences. 

This doesn’t mean oversharing. 

This doesn’t mean picking a few “humble brag” stories that you recycle over and over. 

It means choosing stories from different areas of your life and connecting them to themes that your audience can relate to.

Connection comes from you letting people into your life… so use your emails as a way to let people in.

Rule #3 Use Plain Text Email

You might be scratching your head about this one. “Bobby, what does plain text have to do with mastering email marketing?” 

A lot, actually. 

If you have a fancy “newsletter” format in your email, you’re basically shouting, “This is a promotional email!” 

Guess where your email is likely to land? Squarely in the promotions tab of your subscriber’s inbox. You don’t want that.

If you skip the styled email templates, your email has a much better chance of bypassing the spam filter and promotions tab and actually going to the inbox. I know it’s tempting to send slick emails. They can look cool. But they don’t give off the conversational vibe that fosters connection. 

Think about the emails you send to friends. Do you use a newsletter-style format? Of course, not! You use plain text. So, unless you’ve tested this and have data to show that your emails have better open rates when they’re heavily styled, stick to plain text.

Be A Real Online Marketer

If you want to grow the meaningful metrics in your business (i.e., profit and impact), your main focus should be on building your email list and rocking it with email marketing. 

Maybe you’re sitting here wondering whether all this connection is going to make you money. Cause, after all, as a business owner, you’re in this to make money. Welp, it is. The weird thing is that the best way to make money with email is NOT to focus on making money with most of your emails.

When you’ve shown your subscribers that you’re relatable, that you get them, and that you know what they need, you’ll be able to create the right product or program to serve them. 

Because you’ve created what they need and have built up the “know, like, trust” factor, they’ll be primed to buy from you. It’s much easier to sell when you’ve put in the upfront work. You won’t need all the fancy gimmicks and tactics that give salespeople a bad reputation.

I know this is counterintuitive, but it works. I’ve built a multiple six-figure business this way, and I’ve helped others transform their businesses by doing email marketing the right way. 

If you want to learn how to implement this in your online business, you don’t have to buy yet another expensive course. You can learn for FREE inside BADA$$ Online Marketing University. Just click here to enroll for FREE. No strings attached. Seriously.