Chapter 6: Create an E-mail Message That Gets Orders

The success of your e-mail marketing project depends on these three aspects of the sales process:

1. Who you are selling to;
2. What you are selling; and
3. How you are selling it.

1. Who are you selling to?

You are aware by now that if you want to make money selling anything, you have to know who you are selling to. In short, you need to know your list. You need to know what kind of people belong to your list and what their wants are. This is where targeting comes in. This is where you realize that everything depends on the list.

2. What are you selling?

When you take the time out to analyze your mailing list, you will have a good idea of what to sell to this list. Obviously, you want to sell them what that they "want."

If you have built your list by giving away a free report on fishing tips, common sense will tell you that most of the people on your list will be very interested in fishing and fishing related products. Some good products to sell to this list would be fishing rods, bait, hooks, lures, and other related products. (Maybe even cellular phones!)

3. How effectively are you selling it? Okay, let's say that you have a "targeted" prospect list and a product that would interest the members of this list. To be able to sell your product to this list, you would need to create an effective sales message in order to convince the buyers that they "need" your product, that they "can't do without it." If you don't do this, your competitors will! And they will get the sale.

The remainder of this chapter will show you how to create a sales message that gets the order.

Just like the rest of the steps that we have discussed so far, creating a successful sales message requires a series of simple steps to be followed in the right order. There is no magic involved. Creating an effective sales message is as easy as following the steps that I outline in this chapter.

Creating an e-mail sales message is very similar to creating any other type of sales message (such as a sales letter or an order-pulling web site.)

If you don't have much experience creating sales letters, I have an amazing free ebook which you can use to create killer sales letters (or web pages.) It's called Magic Letters. This ebook reveals everything you need to know about creating powerful sales messages. I have made the ebook available to you as part of your bonus package. Be sure to read and follow the tips given in this bonus book!

Here are the basic steps to creating an effective e-mail sales message:

1. Use an attention-grabbing 'subject' line.
2. Personalize the e-mail message to each individual.
3. Quickly remind them of who you are.
4. Use a benefit-packed first line and/or paragraph.
5. Keep the message short and to the point.
6. Tell the reader how to respond!

1. Use an attention-grabbing subject line

When you're writing a sales letter, the headline (or title) of the message is the most important part of the letter. Your headline acts as an "ad" for the rest of your sales letter. If your headline doesn't grab your reader, he will never get to the rest of the letter. Therefore, your headline has to grab their attention or arouse their curiosity!

In an e-mail message, your "subject line" is your headline. Therefore, to get people to open your e-mail message, your subject line has to grab their attention and arouse their curiosity. If you fail to do this, your e-mail message will never get read.

Use a subject line that is benefit-packed, that informs the reader of a great benefit waiting for him in the message, or reveals to him how to solve a problem.

You can also use the method of arousing curiousity by using a subject line that is a little vague, that tempts the reader to find out more about the subject if he opens the e-mail and reads the message.

Whether you use the 'benefit' method or the 'curiosity' method, the main idea here is to get the reader to open the e-mail. That's all.

I'll repeat: Your main goal right now is to get the reader to open the e-mail. Period!

Be honest. Don't exaggerate on your statements, and never lie. E-mail marketing is based on trust and building a long-lasting relationship with your customers. If you begin by making false statements, you will not go very far before you lose your customers.

Sometimes, even when your statement is honest and real, you may have to water it down a little if it sounds too good to be true. For example, just because you caught 100 fish the first day out with your new "magic lure" does not necessarily mean you should state that in your subject line. It doesn't sound "believable" despite the fact that it actually happened.

Do not to use "symbols" on any part of your email message, especially your subject line. The symbols I'm referrring to are asterisks (*), exclamation points (!), pound signs or dollar signs (#, $) and other such marks. Messages that use these characters are usually the first ones to get deleted since they are seen as "spam."

The same goes for your email address. Use a valid and professional email address. I get a ton of emails every day as do many others. When I scan through my email messages, I look at the subject line, and then the sender's email address. If the sender's email address looks anything like "jhgfrtk@mypad.com" it gets deleted immediately. Why? The "jhgfrtk" tells me that it's a bogus email address and is probably spam.

Many people process their email in a similar fashion, so choose your subject line and email address carefully or else your message will not get opened.

2. Personalize the e-mail message to each individual

I have mentioned this one before. Whenever possible, use the recipient's full name (or at least his first name) so he will feel singled out, important, and thus more open to receiving the rest of your sales message.

3. Quickly remind the reader of who you are

You are also familiar with this one but let me quickly add one important point here:

If you're sending an e-mail "sales" message to your "prospect" list for the very first time, you absolutely must remind them of who you are and how they got on your list.

If you are sending a sales message to your "customer" list, you can very quickly remind them of your most recent transaction.

You can use something along the lines of:

"Thank you for your recent purchase of the Magnum Fishing Rod."

Then continue on with the next step.

4. Use a benefit-packed first line and/or paragraph

Your subject line should be supported, and elaborated on with, by a benefit-packed first sentence / paragraph. Remember, once you've gotten the reader to open your email message, you want to keep that momentum going. The best way to do this is to tell him what he will get out of this message. Therefore, the first line, and first paragraph of your e-mail sales message (after the reminder) has to be benefit-packed!

People don't want to go through "half a page of text" in order to find out what the note is about. All they want to know is "What's in it for me?" And they want to know this "now." That's it. Once they find that out, they will decide whether they want to continue reading the message or delete it.

You only have a few seconds to get their attention. If you fail to do this, you will probably lose them. That is why you need to use an attention-grabbing subject line and a benefit-packed first sentence & paragraph.

After writing that first paragraph, put it to the test on yourself. Pretend that someone else has sent this e-mail message to you. If you got this message, would you read it past the first line? If the answer is no, then you need to come up with a better, more enticing first line.

As with the subject line, don't make any false statements. The only way to succeed with e-mail marketing is to build trust and rapport with the people in your mailing list.

You want to be able to sell to this list again and again. The only way you can do that is to be upfront and honest to these customers. That is the only way you will make money with your mailing list.

If you lie, you will get caught very quickly and you will render a good mailing list useless. All your efforts to creating the list will go to waste.

5. Keep the message short and to the point

This is self-explanatory. Don't go on and on for a few pages. A few short paragraphs, sometimes even one, will do the trick.

Keep your note short, to the point, and pack it with benefits. Just let the reader know "what's in it for him."

Again, people don't want to read a long e-mail message. If they find it of interest, they will seek more information.

You only have a few seconds to get the reader interested, so keep the note short and pick your words very carefully. Avoid using words and sentences that are just "filler."

It is also important to note that when you have a short e-mail message, you can send more messages out in a shorter period of time since shorter messages get sent out quicker. This can be very helpful when you have a list containing several thousand names. Remember, time is money.

6. Tell the reader how to respond

This is a very important part of the message yet most people either forget to or simply choose not to use it.

Whether you're creating a classified ad, a sales letter, a web page, or an e-mail sales message, you "have" to tell the reader to "take action!" You have to take the reader by the hand and guide him through the entire process. Don't assume that he will know what to do. Whatever it is you want the reader to do to get him to buy your product, tell him to do it! Tell him to take the next step.

Never ask them for money in an e-mail. That should not be part of your e-mail message. It doesn't work. Just get them to take the next step. Show them how to get more information about your product.

You know that the sole purpose of your "subject" line is to get the reader to open your e-mail. Similarly, your e-mail "message" is designed to get them to find out more about your product. Tell them what they should do to get more information.

There are a few ways to provide more information to the reader.

A Web Site

The best way to do this is to direct them to your web site where you can better inform them about your product and offer.

Here's why:

• A website is open 24 hours a day. The person interested in your product can visit the site whenever he wants.
• A web page can be as long or as short as you need it to be. If you need a few pages of information to sell your product more effectively, you can do just that very easily.
• You can use colors, different font sizes, formatting and even graphics to make a web page more presentable, appealing to the eye, and easier to follow. You can't do this with an e-mail.
• You can easily add a link at the end of the web page and lead the readers to the order page. If you're set up to accept credit cards, you can process orders 24 hours a day from your website.

If you're selling an informational product, you can automate most of the tasks and save a lot of time. My web page was able to give you more information about the product, ask you to order it, process the order online, and show you how to get the product within a few minutes. The system is simple...and it works! You know that it works. You've experienced it first hand.

This is why I love selling informational products in electronic form. It makes life a whole lot easier since I'm able to automate most of the tasks.

E-Mail

If you don't have a web site yet, you can ask the reader to reply to your e-mail for more information. You can then send more information to him via e-mail and ask for his order at this point. You are simply sending him the information that he would have found on your website, had you set one up.

Telephone

Depending on the type of business you have and the type of products you sell, you can also have the readers call you on the phone. This will take up more of your time, but with some products, especially high-ticket items, it is necessary to close the sale over the phone. It all depends on what you have available and what business you're in. For example, if you sell cars, you may not be able to sell the prospect effectively using a web site and may have to do it over the phone, and sometimes face to face.

Whatever method you use to close the sale, be sure to "clearly explain" to the readers what they need to do. Tell them to take action, to click on your weblink, reply to the e-mail, or pick up the phone and call you.

Note: The easier you make it for people to order your product, the more orders you will get.

You can entice them further by offering them something for free if they respond, if they take action. For example, you can tell them that the first 100 inquiries will receive a free report, or discount coupon, etc. This will always increase your response rate.

As with the rest of the chapters, each step outlined in this chapter has to be followed in the "right order."

The "list" comes first. Then, the product. And then comes the sales letter. If you don't match the right product to the right list, your sales message will not do very well.

It's "people" first, then the "product," and then the "offer." Find the right group of people, create products that they want, and then sell it to them.

All throughout this course, you will have to remember to follow each step in the right sequence. This is true for each chapter and for the manual as a whole.

You have to execute each step in the right order. Don't make the same mistakes that have been made before. You're smart. Simply follow the steps in the right order, as presented to you here.

If you fail to do this, you will waste a lot of time on trial and error. Follow the steps given to you in the correct order and you will be successful. You will spend less time on trial & error and more time on making a profit.

The next chapter will show you how to intergrate each piece of the e-mailing process into a synergistic marketing system. It will save you a lot of time and guesswork, and maybe even some money.

So...let's see how this entire system works like a finely-tuned machine when executed the right way.

The next chapter: Chapter 7: Putting it All Together