Monetizing Your Email List

Email marketing has had a bad rap in recent years, owing to the ‘spray and pray’ tactics of some online marketing cowboys.

Despite the negativity, it’s still possible to profit from your opt-in email list by using your own products or those of relevant, trusted affiliates.

Super affiliate   Matt Carter   recommends marketing to email lists in some niches, but not in others: “Classic niches are the ones where people require ongoing education, whether it be a hobby or more of a business focus where they welcome information from other people involved in the niche itself.”

Four First Steps

1. One of the best things bloggers can do for the growth of their business is to maintain an email list of active and engaged subscribers. No blog should be without one.

2. Do your emails solve a problem for the peeps on your list? In order for subscribers to remain engaged it’s vital that you’re enriching their lives in some way.

3. Either create a product of your own, such as an eBook, or find one that you believe is of value to your subscribers via a trusted affiliate program.

4. Now it’s time to promote your chosen product to your subscribers. This is likely to involve several steps including beta launch, alpha launch, surveys, feedback, automated messages, and so on. Be sure to test your messaging strategy rather than going all-in—this will help you to avoid high churn.

Number Crunching

There are loads of folks online shouting about how you too can pocket thousands of dollars in no time if you simply follow their formula (for a price). But what does that actually look like when you break down the math?

Let’s assume you’re not one of the   John Chow  ’s of the Blogosphere and you secure ten email subscribers a day. It may seem like small potatoes, but watch how it adds up. Ten multiplied by 365 equals 3,650 new subscribers annually.

If your email list is engaged—which of course it will be if you follow our tips above—you should have no trouble converting 10 percent into product sales.

Assuming you’re selling your eBook for the bargain price of $19.95, that’s (3,650 X 0.1) X $19.95 = $7,281.85. 

And remember, you need to create the eBook—or whichever digital product you choose—only once, but it can generate income for you for many years to come.