Most bloggers fail to realize that the true value and monetization of their blog falls within their email list. Building, maintaining and building a profitable list a gold mine for bloggers. The sooner we realize the true value of email lists, the sooner we set ourselves aside from the many bloggers who fail to realize this concept.
Building an email list is not only a good way to build a closer relationship with your readers, but also an opportunity for creating an additional revenue stream. Internet Lifestyle blogger Rob Rammuny shares how to create a profitable newsletter through email marketing.
If you’ve been a reader of Blogussion, you will have learned ways to build an audience around your blog and what it takes to run a successful blog. But what about taking your community to another level? I’m talking about taking your relationship one step further and also creating a profitable experience out of it.
Why You Need an Email List
When it comes to having a plan B, many bloggers do not have an alternative source to connect with their readers. If your blog gets shutdown today (and you have no email list) how do you expect to reach out to all your readers?
Sure, there are networks like Facebook and Twitter that can help you update them about your blog getting shutdown… but what about continuing to provide content?
Also… what about the readers that do not use networks such as Facebook and Twitter? When it comes to having a fallback option, having a healthy email list is a great way to notify your readers of the issue and also continue to provide content until you can fix the situation.
Other Reasons to Have an Email List
- Affordable: For as low as $1 your first month using Aweber, you can have a profitable email list up and running by tonight.
- Profitable: It is a proven fact that email lists convert better than blogs. That means you will be making money.
- Community: You are building a stronger relationship with your readers.
- Traffic: Email lists can drive massive traffic back to your blog. (I will be sharing this technique with you today)
- Investment: Building an email list is an investment, that will benefit you in numerous ways.
Setting up a Profitable, Unique Newsletter
I’m about to cover how not only to drive traffic to your blog and deliver quality content through your newsletter, but also how to set-up a profitable newsletter that will make you money on auto-pilot.
Creating a Valuable Newsletter
Let’s face it, not everyone is going to be so quick to give out their email address. So you have to create a unique selling point (USP) for your newsletter.
- The attention grabber: What makes your newsletter worth signing up for?
- The offer: What are you offering on your newsletter list that they cannot receive anywhere else?
- The value: How much value are you going to be adding into this list? Are you offering premium content?
Let’s focus on two out of three of these underlying concepts of the points I just stated here. (You will understand why I’m only going over two out of three)
1. The Offer: What are you providing your readers with?
They already receive content from you by reading your blog, so why sign up for your newsletter when they can get it without signing up? This is where you want to add additional value to your newsletter. Share content to your newsletter subscribers that is only for them. This content has not and will not be discussed on your blog. Doing this creates an urgency for your reader to sign up.
What we’ve just done is created our attention grabber and we’ve shown your readers the offer. But wait… while I’m at it, let me share with you something that will help you increase your opt-in rate.
Offer free stuff! People love free stuff, so why not give it to them? A great example that I see many bloggers use as their own unique selling point (USP) is by creating a simple pitch such as:
Sign up for my newsletter and receive my free 60 page eBook about creating a profitable blog” this is an example of a unique selling point.
2. The Value: Keep providing it.
Believe it or not, having a juicy offer is only half the battle. Congratulations, you have created an urgency for them to sign-up! Now… what are you going to do to keep them subscribed? You want to provide constant value to your email list. Whether it’s feeding them a new newsletter every week, sending free gifts or offering contests, etc. Whatever it may be, you need to do something to keep them reading your emails and engaging with you. What I’d recommend is sending out a weekly newsletter using a auto-responder (explained later) or maybe a monthly newsletter. Whatever works best for you.
What we’ve just done here is were building trust from our readers. By doing this, you will see a higher open rate and also higher conversion rate for affiliate sales because people see you as a credible source.
Creating a profitable newsletter
OK… we’ve accomplished setting up a valuable newsletter, but how about making money from doing this? There are several ways to make money through newsletters, but for the sake of this post (length wise) I’ll only cover two ways.
1. Email campaigns
If you’re subscribed to several email lists, probably one time in your subscription life you’ve received an email from the author promoting an affiliate product. You’re probably used to seeing some catchy sales pitch email with a couple of links pointing to the product. Believe it or not, these emails do convert well (only if done right).
By providing content to your email list you are building credibility and authority (this process is no difference than building credibility and authority through blogging).
People are going to trust you, so they will be interested in seeing what your promoting. The more people who react to the emails I send:
“Ayyy Rob sent me an email! He’s promoting a product, awesome! Let me go see what this is… *Clicks affiliate link* buys product…”
…means the more money I earn. This is what runs through the minds of your readers when they see emails like this; when you feed them valuable content.
Word of advice: Do not promote a new product every single day of the month to your list. It becomes spammy and people will unsubscribe from your list. Depending on how often you send emails, don’t send any more than two to three (three is starting to push it) email campaigns a month. So choose them wisely and make sure they are profitable campaigns!
2. Product Reviews
If you review products on your blog, take the time to send your newsletter readers an email pointing to your product review. If that review has an affiliate link, that means an opportunity for more sales and income for you. If you want to add more of a personal approach to the email, write a couple short sentences on why you recommend this product (reasons you didn’t use in the product review) and encourage them to learn more by visiting your article’s link.
Psst… This also means more traffic back to your blog!
Wrapping things up
Creating a newsletter is a profitable experience. Whether you are a blogger trying to escape the 9 – 5 or someone trying to find an additional income stream online, creating a newsletter is definitely a way to help.
Are you willing to make an investment that will help benefit you? Or do you want to be just one of the millions of bloggers that have failed to see the true value behind email list? For bloggers who do have their own email lists, what advice would you add to this discussion?
Resource discussed: Aweber email marketing ($1 for your first month)
Editor’s Note
Rob has worked with me and has been coaching me throughout the development of the soon-to-be launched From Planning to Earning course from Blogussion. He has guided me with the very techniques he mentioned here, as well as others that he includes in his private coaching, all of which were skills developed through running his own successful newsletter on his blog.
35 Discussions
Hey Rob,
WOWW.. !! Awesome Posts. I started building my mailing list in april, after reading an awesome guest post on blogussion by jonathan. I think mailchimp is another great alternative to aweber, that works great and free of cost (500subscribers).
I strongly agree with your point 2 “The Value: Keep providing it.” Providing constant value is another very important part of mailing list. I haven’t send my first mail to my list, i will begin to do so very soon. I think before sending any affiliate link to the list… we need to built trust!! Take a.. example of Glen Allsopp from viperchill (i think everyone knows him) he always write awesome long-depth post and people simply love his articles. If he starts putting affiliate link, his readers will defiantly buy that product. Why? Simply because people trust him..!!
There are may bloggers who are yet to build mailing list, it’s something that no blogger should ignore.!!
!!
Btw. What about squeeze page and landing page??
Thanks for sharing this great post bud.
Dev | Technshare´s last blog ..Weekly Roundup #5: Link Love to Blogging Friends
Dev,
I have a few clients who use MailChimp and they really like. Not used it myself but it sounds like a great alternative to Aweber (that’s what I use).
Andrew
Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Premium WordPress Themes For Free…
My recommendation Andrew: Stick with Aweber
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
I talked to a company whose sole focus was to help businesses setup and manage email lists. They recommended MailChimp and Campaign Monitor. When I asked what they thought of Aweber, they had never heard of it. I was a little shocked actually, but wondered if Aweber is really just for bloggers more so than businesses, and why?
Kikolani´s last blog ..Income Blogging Guide Course Review
Yeah – I really like Aweber – pretty easy to use and the support is excellent.
Andrew
Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..How Do You Beat Blogging Boredom?
@Kikolani: I personally believe Aweber is a service for everyone. I also believe there statistics back it up. From what I know they are the largest used email service in the world.
Aweber offers very nice tracking and they have it easily set-up so you can get as detailed as you want too.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
I have to agree it is the most used… maybe I just don’t noticed when people use the other service, but I feel like everything I sign up for is under Aweber. That is really the best proof.
Kikolani´s last blog ..Make Money Blogging
I have tried Mailchimp, and personally i just don’t find it user-friendly like I do Aweber. This could totally just be me, but I’ve been in love with Aweber since I used it. So I’d highly recommend it, even tho it does cost money.
And you’re right, continuing to provide value is going to build trust in your readers. But one thing you have to be aware of is… you need to offer something for your readers to buy. You don’t want to train them to always expect something free from you. You want them to be ready to expect both free and paid stuff. The thing is… if you do your part right, they will know no matter what you are offering it will be of value.
I think those pages are very good. If you fill the page of with urgency + telling your subscribers what their going to get, you would probably have a longer-lasting email list then you would for someone who only used a quick 2 sentence urgency builder.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Here’s why take on Aweber vs. MailChimp.
I recently just switched over to Aweber from MailChimp. At first glance it seems you can’t do much in terms of design for customizing your mailings like what MailChimp really broadcasted to us. But, what Aweber does is enhance the experience of making an effective email marketing plan for whatever your business is trying to cover. When you first sign up they guide you through everything like a tutorial. Yes, MailChimp offers very unique and helpful video posts, but they surely don’t guide you through.
MailChimp does a lot of cover up with their very beautiful interface and unique features, but Aweber has so much more power and potential at its disposal. You want to do email marketing right. I suggest you start off right. Final thought is for me I saw that Aweber I had to pay each month after the first month payment of $1, whereas MailChimp was free with 500 subscribers. This just pushes me to get the ball rolling and to starting capitalizing on my email marketing like Rob mentioned above.
Great post Rob, and I thank him to switching to Aweber.
Derek Jensen´s last blog ..Wake Up with a New Routine for the Day
Appreciate you sharing your feedback about this Derek. I can agree with you on where Mailchimp uses their appeal to make them look “top of the line” verses Aweber simplistic design. However, Aweber (in my opinion) dominates Mailchimp.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts
and anytime man, always here to help.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Great advice. Make sure your free guide / giveaway is of high quality and high value, otherwise many will unsubscribe.
Then wow them with more free guides and advice. Don’t just send what you have already have posted on your blog. Send out some advice and tips that you have not published. Make your list feel special.
Andrew
Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Premium WordPress Themes For Free…
You have a great point Andrew. And that’s something everyone building their list should know.. Because if you continue sending them content that’s already on your blog, what’s the point of signing up for the course? So making the list feel special is definitly a big thing . Good point you made there.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Great tips. There is a reason that Internet Marketers have said for years, “the money is in the list” It is about time that we bloggers see that value.
But getting opt ins on your list is easy, keeping them and converting them is the hard part.
You laid out some nice tips to adding value to your subscribers, and that si what it is about.
John Paul Aguiar´s last blog ..Breaking Into The Top 20 Internet Marketers Online With No List
It is so true, and like you said it has been so true for many years. If there is one monetization way I do not think will change (or at least anytime soon) is email marketing. Because for so long it has been proven effective.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Very informative! I use MailChimp for my e-newsletter, and I love it! The service is completely free up to 500 subscribers.
I agree with your point about providing something of value (free report, video, e-book, etc.) to those who sign up for the newsletter. I created an e-book that appeals to my readers, and I worked hard to make it a truly valuable resource. I have fun giving it away!
The only problem is that some people sign up ONLY for the free gift and then never read any more of your emails (or worse, unsubscribe).
Thanks — I’ll be sharing this with my readers!
The thing is Julie, we are going to always encounter those kind of people. People who just sign up for the gift then unsubscribe. So should we really consider that a loss? The people who actually sign up and stay are the people who are going to provide the most value to your list and bring you the most money.
So my final thought on that would be: Let them get what they came for. But let your subscribers (long-term) love what they stayed for.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Really great post!
The money is truly in the list. I recently started building my list and it has been producing great results. The response is great and it produces quality traffic.
I am yet to monetize because my list is still small, I want it to get to 5000 subscribers so I can launch my product.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
There is something that stuck out in your comment that sparked me. Your list is never to small to monetize. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 or 10,000 subscribers. Still monetize them no-matter what number.
Think of it this way… If you wait until 5,000 subscribers to monetize.. The second you monetize those 5,000 subscribers there will be a lower % that buy from you because they are not used to you promoting stuff.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Hi Rob,
I never thought of it this way.
My list is more than 100 in size and I will begin to moetize very soon.
Thanks a lot for the reply, I really appreciate it.
-Onibalusi
Hi Rob,
I never thought of it this way.
My list is more than 100 in size and I will begin to monetize very soon.
Thanks a lot for the reply, I really appreciate it.
-Onibalusi
Rob,
Great post and it is SOOOOOOOOO true about the list building. I tried to be an internet marketer, struggling with affiliate marketing, realizing I was just chasing my tail.
Awesome stuff.
Brandon
BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..My First Ever Guest Post is LIVE….Video Style
Thanks Brandon, are you still trying to chase after internet marketing?
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
This is such an awesome post Rob! I think this is putting me over to starting email lists on my blogs. I have been putting it aside for some time because I didn’t want to do all the work involved with it, but from what I am hearing from you and everyone else, it is an essential part of the money making strategy…and who doesn’t like to make a little extra money?
Thanks for your insights..I think I will hit up Aweber sometime this week and start working on a couple eBooks.
Thomas
Thomas´s last blog ..How to Add Custom Image Borders in WordPress Thesis
Glad your starting to take action Thomas. The thing is tho, there is so much more than just “money” in the list! A list is more valuable than the blog itself that’s why there just so valuable to have.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Its totally true to have email database, I feel requrement such a email database when I made new blog at wordpress, I did not have email database, due to which I count not be able to inform my friends and bloggers about my new blog.
Great post Rob. Thorough and well thought-out.
Hopefully people take your tips and provide VALUE. I’m so tired of folks getting the list-building bug, then using that list as a source for endless product promotions. I have unsubbed to lots of lists lately because the person building that list simply didn’t “get it” …
GBG´s last blog ..GBG Business Success – A Proven Path
Oh I totally get you. I’ve had some people promote product day after day after day… and never sending any content.
You need to over-deliver in content, so you can preform well with sales.
Rob´s last blog ..Content VS Marketing: Which one is Authority?
Excellent advice Rob; one of few articles I TOTALLY agree with.
Eerily timed as well. This past Friday I started my Aweber affiliate link grab contest…the winner will get me signed up under them.
Would you like to help promote? Or better, get in on it yourself if your name is not already there.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..UPDATED: Aweber Affiliate Link Contest! – This Is It!!
This was “the post”, Rob!
Awesome.
You’ve done a brilliant job of putting this all together in a place.
The money is in the list thing expalined. Well explained.
Awesome for newbies…(me included, perhaps)
Thanks!
King Sidharth´s last blog ..WTF is USP?
A long sales mail would just make your readers gone because they’re too tired to read it. Just make it as short as possible and remember, don’t insert two same links and don’t insert link more than 3 or they will just flag you as a spammer.
Reza Winandar@Nikon S210´s last blog ..Nikon S210
Rob, Alex.. yes, yes so true about having and nurturing an email list.. that’s where the moolah resides. An asset for sure. Alex, this is a wonderful blog. Everything ‘fits’ so neatly. Good job, dude. Geoff D.
Geoff Dodd@Residual Income´s last blog ..Local Business Internet Marketing
This post is really great. Regarding on building an email list, many bloggers really can’t do this thing especially those newbies.
Because, before you sign-up an account in some email marketing software (aweber or mailchimp) they still need to construct their framework is share great information through emails. So, I think email marketing for new bloggers is not advisable.
As in my situation, I used to plan having an email list but in some reasons, aweber services can’t suit in my pocket (lol). So, I’d tried mailchimp but I wander why they ignore my application.
But anyway, this post is really great. Thanks for sharing it Robb.
- Felix Albutra
Felix Albutra @ Blogging Access´s last blog ..10 Things to Do After Creating Your Blogger Blog
Email lists are valuable, and some bloggers have famously pushed Aweber hard (the lifetime recurring affilaite fee probably helps!), but I do think that making money from email lists suit some blogs better than others.
I worked for a large UK site which had a million people on the email list. We had 2 people working full time on managing and mailing out to the list. Yet it only counted for around 10% of the site’s income. Don’t get me wrong, it made enough to justify 2 full time employees, but our highest earning earning traffic sources were SEO and then PPC.
Even so, email lists are a great way to remind your readers that you still exist. The more contact points you have the more likely you are to build up a loyal readership.
I think I would prefer a pricing model that allowed me to build up a list at no cost, but then charged a small fee for sending an email out. As a beginner you could get the list going from day one but start to send mails only once the site has become established.
Thanks for revealing Effective Email marketing for successful online business.
seospidy@Seo Services Company´s last blog ..Search Engine Optimization SEO
Having a targeted email list will give your business what it needs at the same time the more bigger your email list will be the better. We just need to maintain our list by constantly updating them and giving some benefits.
Vhic | Email Marketing Blog´s last blog ..How not to become an Email Spammer
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