Email Marketing Strategies

Email marketing is the promotion of products and services to your audience via email. Successful, long-term email marketing depends on building trust with your audience.

Your email list is vital to the success of your business because it’s the most direct way for you to communicate with your fans and future customers. As marketing expert Amy Porterfield says, “The energy of your business is directly tied to the strength of your email list.” I agree with this whole-heartedly.

When I started my first two online businesses back in 2008, I waited to start an email list. That’s right—I made this mistake twice! I had active and engaged audiences, but remember—even fans may not check your website regularly. By waiting to collect email addresses, I missed out on a huge opportunity to connect regularly with my audience, and when I was ready to sell to my audience, I didn’t have a way to let them know. I missed out on sales because I hadn’t taken the time to build a relationship over email.

My friend Nathan Barry, who built my favorite email service provider, ConvertKit, shows that when it comes to making sales, email consistently outperforms every form of social media. This is why my email list has become the #1 asset in my brand, and I’m on a mission to help others build their lists too. [Full Disclosure: FYI, I’m a compensated advisor and an affiliate for ConvertKit.]

If you want to build an online business, you must focus on starting and growing an email list—now.

If you don’t know how to start building a list, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered: check out my 72-hour 100 Email Challenge below.

Before I get too deep into the resources, I first want to share the biggest lesson I’ve learned related to email marketing: it’s not the size of your email list that matters, it’s the quality of it.

Focus on quality over quantity. A strong business solves problems—focus on finding the people who have the problems that your business solves.

I’ve seen businesses with less than 200 emails have 5-figure product launches! How? Because those business owners focuses on growing an email list with the right kind of people, and they served them with the right kind of product. Whether you’re into affiliate marketing, creating your own products, or even if you aren’t sure what you’re going to sell yet, start connecting with your audience now.

On this page, you’ll find the resources you need regardless of your list size. If you haven’t started yet, check out my free 72-hour 100 Email Challenge in the Tutorials section, which will help you get your first 100 email addresses within three days—all without spending any money on any software.

If you already have a list and need help learning what kinds of emails you can send your audience, make sure to download Email the Smart Way in the next section.

All of my tutorials, podcasts, and posts are built on the following principles:

• Your subscribers are people, not dollar signs.
• Your primary goal is to serve your audience, not sell to them.
• When your audience succeeds, they will look for ways to pay you back.

You will find that it’s much easier to write emails when you think about your audience as trusted friends. It’s also more exciting to do the work of building your list when it means that you’re building meaningful relationships.

With that in mind, scroll to the next section to find my playbook, Email the Smart Way, which walks you through ten different kinds of emails you can send to your audience. Click the green “Get Your Free Copy Now” button to download.

Email the Smart Way is designed to help you write emails that will connect with and serve your audience. It will teach you how to provide value and build a trusting relationship with your audience.

But what if you don’t have an email practice set up yet? In the next section, you’ll find two resources specifically for you—my in-depth tutorial on How to Start an Email List, which walks you through the entire process of setting up your account, as well as my 0 to 100 Email Challenge, which shows you how to find your first 100 email subscribers.

Once you have your email list established, the fun begins! This is how you get to know your audience better, and as you do, I recommend you begin a process called “segmentation,” where you identify specific needs of sub-groups of your audience. This will allow you to create content and offer resources just to the people who need them, without bothering your audience members who aren’t ready for that content yet. Read more on segmentation in the next section.

There is far more on this page than you can absorb in one sitting! Don’t worry—these resources will be here for as your business grows. I keep it current with the latest advice for improving your email marketing. Let’s get started!

I’m so excited that you’re ready to get started your email marketing practice! Email has been the most important tool for growing my business, and I want you to have that too.

I know that as you get started with email marketing, you may have questions. This is where the AskPat Podcast can help you out. Listeners just like you ask questions, and I answer them.

Here are the top questions (and my answers!) on affiliate marketing. If you don’t see your question here, apply to be on the show!

I’m so excited that you’re setting up your email program! You are going to serve a lot of people, and I’m so grateful to help you get started. Thank you for allowing me to share the lessons that I’ve learned about the power of email.

By now, you may have realized that the best way to stay connected to my advice is to join my email list! Scroll back up the page, download Email the Smart Way, and I’ll subscribe you to my series on email marketing tips, as well as stay in touch with more advice for you and your business.

I can’t wait to see the business you’ll build!