But first of all, you have to have a list of people to send your emails to. But how do you go about that? It’s one thing finding the addresses of physical homes, but finding personal emails is a different game entirely. You could buy a list from another company, or rent one out for a price. But this can be expensive and there is a huge flaw in that you have no idea how many of the prospects will be interested, and your emails may go straight into their junk mail.
The only real way to go about starting off an email marketing campaign is to compile your own list. Here are some tips on building an email list for your online business:

Home Page Sign-up – have an area on the home page of your website dedicated solely to enticing people to sign up for something. Having a regular newsletter to send is always a good idea, but you can also ask people to sign up for information on new products, promotions or special offers. Whatever it is, it needs to be of value to your customers, not just to you.

Ask to Add – when you attend networking events, meetings or trade shows, wherever you are likely to meet potential new customers or are gathering business cards, ask those you meet if you can add them to your mailing list, to send them a newsletter or special offers.

Association Lists – if you are a member of any trade or community organizations, ask if you can have access to their membership list. Many offer membership lists to members for free; some are available for a fee.

Sign-up after the Sale – if you have an ecommerce site, add a check-off box that encourages customers to sign up for your newsletter or special offers as part of the online checkout process. If you take telephone orders, provide guidelines for employees to solicit email subscriptions after the sale.

Reciprocal plugs – find other newsletters that you think your customers would enjoy and ask if they’ll promote your newsletter if you do the same for them.

Buy a List – there are quite a few online resources that offer lists for sale sorted by postal code, demographics, income, lifestyle interests, buying behaviour, etc. You can purchase a really targeted list based on your products or services and use it to test a variety of promotions or special offers.

Does it Work?
Like all things in internet marketing, it depends how well you do it. Email marketing is such a great technique because you end up with a list full of hot prospects. These are people who have shown an interest in your niche area, and they are therefore much more likely to pay for something.
But here’s the most important factor: they will only pay for something if the free report or information that they signed up for was really of a high quality. If it wasn’t then you can hardly expect them to pay for more of the same. With email marketing you need to start them off with something really great, and then offer them even more for a price.

Building an email list that will help you drive traffic and sales is an integral part of a well-rounded online marketing program, one of the many helpful tools you’ll find in Pathways. Check it out!

This is a guest post written by Dave Crew, if you would like to be considered for a guest post contact me.

Unfortunately, most marketers seem to think it’s ok to promote product after product on a daily basis and use a churn and burn approach when it comes to email marketing, each day promoting something different and hyping things up. The end result is your subscribers end up confused and usually end up hitting the unsubscribe button.

What I try to do is offer value but also educate my subscribers when I send out a promo. If your subscribers feel you are educating them about the product you are promoting then they are more likely to check it out and possibly make a purchase. I also think it’s better to be honest when you promote something and avoid hype. We have all seen the hyped up emails promising that this latest product getting promoted is ‘the one’ only to repeat the process tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

I mean why would anyone think that telling their subscribers every single day the product they are promoting is the next big thing is beyond me. Keep that sort of promo for when something really big does come along and you’ll get much better results and respect from your subscribers.

Now we have that out of the way let me tell you about the ‘Triple Threat’ method that I have perfected. I find it works really well and usually results in me getting at least triple the sales that I would receive from 3 average promotions.

By the way, I just came up with the name ‘Triple Threat’, I hope you like it

This method involves sending 3 promotional emails in a 36 – 48 hour period. It is crucial with any email promotion that you follow up, this is something a lot of marketers fail to do. I tend to find that I receive more sales from my second email than my first. I then send a third and final email to complete the promotion and this usually results in even more sales again.

You will also have much better results using this method if you can secure a 48 hour discount or run your promotion at the end of a launch. Let’s say someone has a 7 day launch going on, if you used this method in the final 48 hours you would smash it.

This is how I tend to do it, I am using a recent promo for PLR Monthly as an example. This was a 7 day promo and I only got on board in the final 48 hours, the result was I generated over $2000 in recurring monthly commissions.

Email 1. The initial email introduces the product and educates the reader about the product I am promoting. Here’s the first email.

Subject: Amazing PLR Deal (Sorry I’m Late)

Hi {!firstname_fix},

Every so often Dave Nicholson and Dan Sumner host a special
mega sale for PLR monthly and it’s that time once more.

However, as I am late telling you about this there are only
48 hours remaining of the 7 day sale.

So for the next 48 hours Dave and Dan are offering with every
new sign up a mega bonus of 48 super quality PLR products
worth over $800.

Check it out here: http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

This bonus PLR can be used for anything you want. You can
flip the content for articles, eBooks, websites, sell the
material stand alone with the sales pages, sell them on
auction sites, the kindle market place and much much more.

They even provide you with full training on how to profit
from this amazing PLR Special.

Take a look at just some of the bonus PLR you will get:

Affiliate Marketing Know How
Facebook The Essential Guide
Twitter – A How to Tips and Tricks Guide
Ezine Marketing
Home Based Business Ideas
Interview Techniques
Drop Shipping and eBay
Digital Cameras for Beginners
Becoming The Perfect Chef
Resale Rights Products
Healthy Dating Techniques
Selling Your Products
Pay Per Click and Adwords
Creating a Membership Site
Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Website Traffic Secrets

And over 30 more profit pulling niches to earn you a fast income.

Just remember, you have less than 48 hours left to grab this
amazing discount and huge $800 bonus.

http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

Until next time,

John Thornhill

Email 2. Around 12 – 18 hours later I send out a second email, this is a reminder email that basically reinforces the message I sent in my first email. I also try to bring some urgency into my email. Here’s the second email I sent in this particular promo.

Subject: Get in Before it’s Gone

Hi {!firstname_fix},

You have until tomorrow to get in on this amazing offer from Dave
Nicholson and Daniel Sumner.

http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

If you missed my email yesterday there is an amazing PLR
lifetime opportunity up for grabs with an $800 bonus.

This really is a top offer. I have been a member of PLR monthly
since it began in 2008 and it’s grown in leaps and bounds ever
since.

Take a look {!firstname_fix} you wont be disappointed in the
quality these guys provide.

http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

Until next time,

John Thornhill

Email 3. I really build up on the urgency in my third and final email, I may have some sort of ‘final notice’ in my email, I also usually say this is the last time I will be talking about the product I am promoting. If done right this final email will bring in the most results.

Subject: You Have Till Midnight

Hi {!firstname_fix},

I just want to let you know that you have until midnight TONIGHT
to grab the latest exclusive offer from the guys at PLR Monthly.

Go check it out.

http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

You need to be fast on this one as it’s ending at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

http://www.plrmonthly.com/mega_bonus

Until next time,

John Thornhill

Obviously, the type of emails you send depends on the product you are promoting but for the best results try to educate your subscribers, try to get good deals, try to offer bonuses and above all have your subscribers interests at heart.

This promotion was so successful that we have now added a script to the page to only show the offer for 48 hours and I am now promoting it via autoresponder sequence on autopilot.

If you do try this ‘Triple Threat’ method please let me know how you get on as I’d love to know how it works for you and as always, your comments are welcome.