Seven Elements of E-Mails that Sell By Abbie Drew Jan 18, 2006

Are you dissatisfied with your current Internet business income?

I have to admit I’ve been feeling a bit stuck in the mud of late. So I decided it was time to act. I’ll share with you the 2 great resources I’ve found that I know will change my results. And yours too!

The first is an outstanding book I just finished by Maria Veloso. If your online sales aren’t at the level you want – Maria’s book, Web Copy That Sells, has answers and I’ll share a few of them with you today. Maria was a copywriter for Mark Joyner and she gives away incredible secrets about creating copy that sells.

I’ll review one chapter from her section on email marketing. You can immediately put these tips into action when you write your next email and boost your response.

“Seven Elements of E-Mails that Sell”

1. The Subject Line

Yes, I know, you know, how important the subject line is to getting your email opened. But Maria has some insight you’ll want to apply to the next email subject line you write.

Do this quick exercise. Go back to your email inbox, check your email. Look over the messages.

What message do you want to open? How did you decide on that message?

Most likely you scanned the subject lines and picked out the one’s that looked interesting. Next, I’ll bet you glanced at the “From” address to see if it looked like it was from a person you recognized or a spammer. If it looked legite, than that was the message you clicked.

So what subject line grabbed your attention?

I’ll bet it sounded personal.

Maria explains the key to getting emails opened is to be personal. No this does not mean personalizing the subject line with the receipent’s first name.

Rather it means writing a subject line you might write to a friend, colleauge, relative. Emails that look to be personal rather than commercial, get opened first.

Maria, makes the point that regular permission emails like ezines shouldn’t put the company name in the subject. She says don’t use the all important subject line to say “who you are” let the “From” field do that.

Instead you should give your subject lines a personal friendly tone. Here are some examples from her book –
This finally came . . .
Here’s what I promised . . .
This makes sense . . .

You’ll note all of the subject lines include the dot, dot, dot at the end. This technique is one of Maria’s tips for getting email opened. She also encourages the use of the words, This , Here and About as they arouse curiosity.

2. The Intro

Now that you’ve gotten the reader to open your email. You have to get them to read the rest of your message. And it’s the first sentence that makes or breaks you.

The key again is to be personal. When you write your email, write it to a friend. Have a picture of the friend in mind and write as though you’re talking to her and only her. Don’t think about any of the others who’ll read the message.

A good strategy is to start by saying hello and mention what’s going on with you. Remember email is a relationship building marketing tool. So use it to build relationships. When you talk briefly about yourself, your readers come to know and like you. When your readers like you they’ll read your emails and they’’ll be more likely to buy from you.

3. Be Focused

You’re busy and so are your readers. So keep your messages brief. Put the most important information at the beginning of your emails. Keep the notices about subscribing /leaving, etc at the bottom.

Remember, EmailLabs found that readers spend only 15-20 seconds on each email they open so you want the first screen of your email to count. Put your most important marketing message there or list powerful benefits that will entice the reader to read more.

4. Single Goal

Your email should have only one message with one goal. What is the one end result you want to achieve from the recipient? Is it to click on a link? Send for a free report?

Make sure your message sticks to achieving that one goal. Leave out multiple links to various offerings. Don’t include multiple messages and/or articles. The more you put into your email the more distracted the reader will become. Stay focused on your one goal and you’ll achieve the best results.

Maria provides a great tactic on how to have only one message in your email. She recommends before you begin, write out 3 words that summerize your message. Keep your message focused on conveying the meaning of those 3 words and don’t stray!


5. Give Back

You have to be sure to thank your reader for opening up and reading your message.

How do you do this?

Provide a valuable commodity to the reader in exchange for the attention she paid to your email. You could provide a free report, ebook or whitepaper. You could include a discount or coupon or special offer. Give back value to the reader and they’ll reward you with their business.

6. What’s In It For Me!

Don’t forget to write about the benefits of taking advatage of your offer. Yes, you’re providing a valuable offer and the reasons for taking advantage of the offer may seem obvious to you. But remember it’s benefits that sell. You have to demonstrate to the reader why the offer will be so helpful to her. So tell the reader what’s in it for her.

7. Act Now

You’ve shared your great offer and explained how the offer will make her life so much more enjoyable. Now you need to tell her exactly what to do next to get the offer. Don’t just assume she’ll click the link or send an email to the email address you’ve listed.

Spell it out. Tell her to click on the link below today to take advantage of the deal!

Put these 7 tips to work in the next email you write and I’ll bet they work for you. If you want more terrific information on how to improve your online sales, I encourage you to get and read Maria’s book, Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time.

In additions to the quality resource Maria’s book will be for you, I’d like to highly recommend another book I’ve just begun reading. Loral Langemeier’s book “The Millionaire Maker” is excellent.

In fact in today’s issue you’ll find an article from Loral you’ll want to read as it gives you a good taste of the great information in her book. So click over to read : The BIG Reason People Remain Poor (When They Don't Have Too).

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Abbie Drew
DEMC Editor

Check out other articles in this week's issue: