Establishing My Business – Email List (Newsletter) Part Deux

In my previous July 16th post – Email List and Plotting My Platforms, I talked about getting people to join my Voyager Newsletter and connecting (plotting) my platforms to the link to join my Newsletter. However, one thing still bothered me about that, and has been bothering me for a couple months. What, exactly do I put in my Newsletter and how do I structure it? Admittedly this has been a source of frustration and a bit of stress.

I went back to one of Dean’s training videos in the Beginner’s Advantage and rewatched it. Aha, a lightbulb moment! 💡 My Newsletter is simply sending emails to my email list telling them about my latest Blog post, providing a link to that post, and also letting them know what I have been doing and/or upcoming events. I am building a following so it’s only natural that my followers would like to know what’s happening with me. I follow several people on social media and I too enjoy getting updates on what they are doing. I also follow several people in our Beginner’s Advantage group and get inspiration from their posts and success.

Unfortunately, given my Type A perfectionist nature (which I am working on), I was thinking I had to create a formal newsletter with columns and articles and the like. No. I am not running a newspaper or gossip column, I am creating a business to help others launch their affiliate marketing career with fewer mistakes and setbacks than I’ve had, but with all the successes I’ve achieved. K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid. Sometimes I have to re-read a passage or re-watch a video in order for it to truly sink in for me to “get it.”

Now that I am clear on that expectation, my next question was – how often should I send those newsletter emails? Some people are comfortable sending daily updates and if you have the time and want to, then do so. Dean recommended at a bare minimum once a week. Since I do weekly posts, I decided to send my Newsletter updates once a week. It is also recommended to set expectations with your audience so I will let them know I’ll be emailing them at least once a week when I have something to share. However, if I can send an update twice a week, even better. The key is to make your updates frequent enough so your followers do not forget who you are.

The last thing I had a concern about, was tracking my email list. The great thing about Affiliate System is that is helps me create one-off (single) broadcast email campaigns for my Newsletter. I can select who my recipients will be, which will only be for the double opt-in contacts because they are the ones who want to be on my Newsletter email list. I will of course have a welcome email for those just joining and then each week I will be sending updates (possibly two).

Hopefully I will receive replies to my emails, as it is always good to engage with your audience (followers). Being a beginner, I won’t have the problem of hundreds or thousands of email replies to respond to, so I can make it more personalized. For this to occur, it is critical I have a process to check for and timely respond to any replies I receive on an on-going basis. Affiliate Systems makes this easy as it has a Conversations section that allows me to keep track of my email correspondence. I will not use this functions to cold message strangers; rather, I will use it to have a one-on-one conversation with those who have communicated back to me. Pretty simple. 🙂 Replying will also help improve my sender reputation under the new rules. Also, having a conversation with engaged subscribers can open opportunities to connect them with an offer of value to them through my affiliate link. On the other hand, if you ignore people, you will lose them and lose the attention of the subscriber.

Now that I have answered my concerns by re-watching the training, I have a much higher confidence level in engaging with my Newsletter followers. The lesson learned here was, I should have asked for help earlier to understand it, but I did the next best thing – go back to the training and review it again in depth. That made everything click. If I was still stuck then I would have asked for help. Speaking of asking for help, in the book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, the horse said that asking for help isn’t giving up, it is refusing to give up.

I am getting much better at asking for help so I can move forward and not stay stuck, though I still have a long way to go. Now that I un-stuck myself, I am continuing forward in my Voyage. Let’s continue this voyage together.