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The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing

Welcome to my Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing!

If you’re looking for in-depth guidance on what email marketing is, why it’s important, and how to go about it in the smartest way possible, then you’re in the right place.

I’ve made plenty of email marketing mistakes in my decade-plus as an online business owner. I’ve also done a lot of things right. And of course, I’ve learned a ton in the process.

This ultimate guide is my way of sharing that knowledge and experience directly with you, for free. Why? Because I know how important email marketing is to any business. And I want you to get email marketing right, for your sake and the sake of the people your business is trying to serve.

I want to pay forward what I’ve learned. So put on your email marketing cap (mine’s a beanie with a propeller on it) because we have an exciting ride ahead!

But before we get into all of it, we have to answer a simple question, which is . . .

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is the promotion of products and services to your audience via email. And 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 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 wholeheartedly.

Starting an online business today almost always means starting an email list, but when I started my first two online businesses in 2008 I did NOT start building an email list until a year and a half later.

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.

Big mistake.

I missed out on a ton of marketing and advertising opportunities, and I didn’t even know how powerful an email list was for things like validation and data extraction. Plus, it’s an amazing relationship building tool for you and your audience—not to mention a safety net if you lose access to the audience you’ve built on another platform.

That’s why my biggest rule if you want to build an online business is that you must focus on starting and growing an email list—now.

With Email Marketing, Focus on Quality over Quantity

Another huge lesson I’ve learned about email marketing is this: it’s not the size of your email list that matters. It’s the quality of that email list.

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 five-figure product launches! How? Because those business owners focuses on growing an email list with the right kind of people and serving them with the right kind of product. Email marketing is an incredibly effective form of marketing, no matter what type of business you have. Whether you’re into affiliate marketing, creating your own products, or even if you aren’t sure what you’re going to sell yet, email marketing lets you start connecting with your audience now.

Despite the Hype of Social Media Marketing, Email Is as Important as Ever