Email Newsletter Archives | Bourn Creative

Read Unsubscribe From Stuff You Don’t Want And Roll The Rest Into One Daily Digest

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Unsubscribe From Stuff You Don’t Want And Roll The Rest Into One Daily Digest

April 10, 2015 Jennifer Bourn

Do you get so many email newsletters and sales emails that you feel overwhelmed by your inbox, waste time every day clicking delete, or don’t remember where or when you even subscribed?

Heck, maybe you have all of your email newsletters and subscriptions go straight into a “read later folder” that you never get to.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could:

See a list of all of the daily email lists you are subscribed to in one place,
Unsubscribe from all the ones you no longer want or care about in one swoop, and
Roll all the ones you still do want into one daily email?

Well, your wish is granted.

Read A Brilliant Double Opt-In Email Marketing Strategy Example

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A Brilliant Double Opt-In Email Marketing Strategy Example

March 25, 2015 Jennifer Bourn

Even with the best providers, email list management is dreadful. It’s like walking a tightrope. Wobble too far in one direction and you’re toast. You don’t want to email your list too much and risk bloating their inbox and driving them to unsubscribe. But if you don’t email them enough, they’ll forget about you, or forget they subscribed and report your next email as spam.

You want a quality, responsive email list, but you also want to grow a big email list, and teeter between single opt-in and double opt-in. You’ve been doing email marketing a long time and have a big list, but your open rates are low and you’re not sure people are even paying attention.

And don’t even get me started on the poor souls who at some point need to switch email marketing providers, move their lists, and get people to re-opt-in on a new system.

Read Bored Of Email Marketing? Get 8 Ways to Spice It Up

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Bored Of Email Marketing? Get 8 Ways to Spice It Up

March 19, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

After a while, sending an email newsletter, week after week, month after month, year after year, gets boring — really boring.

Some business owners give up because they haven’t been testing their email newsletters or tracking their email marketing results — As a result, they have no idea if it is working or not, and they just stop. Other business owners keep at it, doing the same old thing, sending the same old newsletter, over and over because they were told they should by someone they follow, hired, or believe is successful — because even if the results are tiny, it is still producing results.

There is a fundamental problem with this email marketing approach. If you are bored of email marketing and of sending your email newsletter, imagine how your subscribers must feel?!

Yikes! If that made you cringe, it may be time to shake things up a bit and add some spice, some taste, and some interest to your email marketing.

Read Testing: One Email Marketing Strategy That Will Make or Break Your Success

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Testing: One Email Marketing Strategy That Will Make or Break Your Success

March 13, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

As a business owner engaging in email marketing, you must test everything — your opt-in, your purchase links, your Thank You pages, and your follow up sequences, and every piece of email marketing you send out, including every email newsletter you send out to your list.

Most business owners remember to test their newsletter before they send it out — but some don’t. I’ve been guilty of hitting “Send” by accident instead of hitting “Send Test” and the feeling is immediate dread because you know the trolls will come out from hiding and get nasty.

If you don’t test your email newsletter or email marketing blast first, be sure that you do! Sending out a weekly newsletter or an important sales solo blast with broken links, typos, and other errors can tarnish your brand and frustrate recipients.

Read Setting An Email Newsletter Publishing Schedule That You Can Stick With

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Setting An Email Newsletter Publishing Schedule That You Can Stick With

March 4, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

So you’ve decided to publish an email newsletter and capitalize on the number one electronic marketing tool available to you today other than your website and blog, email marketing. Now you need to decide how often you are going to publish your newsletter.

Your email newsletter is an integral part of your overall marketing calendar or marketing schedule. It is used for follow up, continuity, education, positioning, sales, branding, and more. Not only does it need to stand on it’s own, but it also needs to support all of your other marketing efforts too.

Plus, an email newsletter is a great place to include announcements, opportunities, and reminders for your subscribers to sign up, opt-in, register, click, or buy your teleclasses, webinars, events, products, programs, and more. These quick announcements and reminders provide support for your overall marketing and launch strategy.

Read Avoid Email Marketing Death by The Lazy Subscriber’s Unsubscribe

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Avoid Email Marketing Death by The Lazy Subscriber’s Unsubscribe

February 22, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — you want people to unsubscribe from your email marketing list! You may be reading this, thinking I’m crazy, and it’s okay. Most people do at first, but let me explain.

Those people who are no longer reading your emails, who are on your list but not paying attention, who are skewing your measurement and tracking figures, need to leave your list. Your content is, for one reason or another, no longer a good fit for them — and that is okay! It’s in their best interest to unsubscribe and reduce the number of emails they get. And, it is in your best interest because it will help you maintain a higher quality list.

There are two main reasons you want people to unsubscribe and leave your list:

Read Help Subscribers Recognize Your Brand, Remember Why They Subscribed

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Help Subscribers Recognize Your Brand, Remember Why They Subscribed

February 19, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

Do you subscribe to a lot of email newsletters? I do! I get them from other business owners I respect and follow, from my favorite stores, from my clients, from mentors and coaches, from companies I have purchased items from, and unfortunately from random businesses who are sending me spam I never asked for.

My inbox is often full, as I am sure yours is, and one of my favorite ezine features is super simple to implement — it’s just a reminder of why I am receiving the email.

It’s important to remind subscribers why they are receiving email from you. Many of your email marketing list members probably also subscribe to a lot of different email newsletters, which means their inbox is full too! And they may not remember ever opt-ing in even if you use a . So do them a favor when sending your email marketing broadcasts or your email newsletter — remind them why you are emailing them — and, if you really want to be helpful, remind them how or why they signed up in the first place.

Read Email Marketing Template Design Tips To Elevate Your Brand

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Email Marketing Template Design Tips To Elevate Your Brand

February 14, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

A lot of email marketing providers have free email templates preloaded and ready for you to use — and many of them pretty good as they are designed by professional designers. But a free email marketing template isn’t going to get the job done to help you stand out from your competition and the sea of other business owners using the exact same free templates.

Think about it: If your leads can’t distinguish your email marketing template from your competitor’s because you’re using the same free template, they more than likely won’t remember you when they are ready to make a purchase. Investing in professional email marketing template design will have an impact on the success of your email campaigns because every message you send will reinforce your brand through the design, colors, logo, and more.

Email marketing consists of much more than just an email newsletter. While most business owners focus on their email newsletter, and invest in a custom, branded ezine template design — they forget about the other types of email marketing messages they will need to send and then end up scrambling at the last minute to create something in alignment with their brand.

When working with a designer, also consider creating branded templates for:

Read Ask For The Unsubscribe: Why You Must Make Opting-Out Easy

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Ask For The Unsubscribe: Why You Must Make Opting-Out Easy

January 21, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

Publishing a quality email newsletter regularly is a lot of work, and ideally we would love for each person who opts-in to stay forever and open all of our emails, but that is simply not reality. It is inevitable that at some point a subscriber is going to want to leave your list and unsubscribe. At this point the question becomes, “How will you handle it?”

Will you make it easy for email subscribers who no longer want to receive your emails to opt-out or unsubscribe? Or will you make it difficult and uncomfortable, forcing them to hunt and work to remove their name from your email marketing list — while they get frustrated and irritated, and more likely to just hit delete or mark it as spam? (Please don’t choose the latter!)

Providing an easy, clear unsubscribe option and a commitment to permission will help build trust with your subscribers. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of articles online about growing your email list and building your database. But only a few actually address WANTING people to unsubscribe.

Read 10 Ways Email Marketing Can Help Your Business Grow

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10 Ways Email Marketing Can Help Your Business Grow

January 14, 2014 Jennifer Bourn

Email marketing is using email to get your marketing message in front of your audience. It is an essential tool to growing your business in the fast paced world of internet business because it offers open, conversational, and interactive communications.

The most popular form of email marketing is the email newsletter or ezine. Permission-based email marketing also includes special email promotions, daily deals emails, solo blasts, advertising, follow up sequences and auto responders, email courses, and more.

Email marketing is popular because it is relatively easy, quick to get started, and inexpensive. When done right it can also generate quite a bit of profit. The premise behind email marketing is that you as a business owner build a list of clients, customers, prospects, and subscribers who want to hear from you. You then market to them by email regularly to stay top of mind and make more sales.

You may be reading this thinking that email marketing has already hit its peak, that everyone’s doing it, and that maybe you shouldn’t even bother because all people seem to complain about these days is their overcrowded inboxes. But rest assured, email marketing is one strategy you shouldn’t ignore. Email newsletters that deliver real value still get read, saved, shared, and clicked. Plus, email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your audience, increase brand exposure, continue to deliver value, and cement your authority status.

Read Single Opt-In or Double Opt-In, Which Email Marketing Approach Is Right For You

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Single Opt-In or Double Opt-In, Which Email Marketing Approach Is Right For You

December 17, 2013 Jennifer Bourn

Email marketing is permission-based marketing, which means you must have permission to add people to your marketing list, and permission to email them information. Every email newsletter, ezine, or email marketing communication should have a clear, straight-forward unsubscribe or opt-out link, and opt-out or unsubscribe requests should be handled immediately.

Email addresses should be obtained only by legitimate means like through opt-in boxes or subscribe boxes on your website, or by specific request. This is why email marketing lists are often called opt-in lists. Valid contact information should be included in every piece of email marketing and a privacy policy should be provided.

Read Stand Out From The Inbox Crowd of Boring, Free Templates

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Stand Out From The Inbox Crowd of Boring, Free Templates

May 1, 2012 Jennifer Bourn

One of the worst marketing decisions a business owner can make is to go with the free, unbranded, lame, ezine templates provided by your email marketing service provider with a smaller version of your website header slapped on it.

Why? The majority of all account holders also use the free templates, meaning it’s highly likely that another person who does exactly the same thing you do is using the exact same ezine template … and that’s really bad for branding and brand recognition.

If you approach your ezine the right way, your ezine will create profits, credibility, and opportunity for you and your business. Your email newsletter will help position you as an expert in your industry. It will also help you establish credibility and trust in your market, build relationships with your audience, and stay top of mind with your prospects and referral sources.

Read Track Your Email Newsletter Links in Google Analytics

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Track Your Email Newsletter Links in Google Analytics

April 6, 2011 Jennifer Bourn

You have Google Analytics added to your website and you’re tracking your website traffic, new visitors versus repeat visitors, goal conversions, and more. But would it be nice to be able to see in Google Analytics exactly how much of your website traffic comes from the links you include in your email newsletter?

You can track this easily with one small piece of code!

Read 5 Ways to Use Social Media for Email Marketing

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5 Ways to Use Social Media for Email Marketing

December 11, 2010 Jennifer Bourn

Almost every website I visit is talking about how to make money with social media, but surprisingly not many talk about how to integrate social media with your email marketing efforts.

Blending your social media marketing strategies with your email marketing strategies may sound difficult, but honestly, some of the strategies are pretty simple.

In fact, I’ll bet you can implement most of the strategies listed below in your next email newsletter! It’s time to integrate social media with email marketing! Here are your strategies:

Read Email Marketing is Outdated! Just FYI!

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Email Marketing is Outdated! Just FYI!

August 4, 2010 Jennifer Bourn

Ok. I woke up this morning, grabbed my phone to do a quick scan of my email, and check in on Facebook and Twitter. Last night I posted the Infusionsoft’s Biggest Fan article and I shared it on my social networks. When I checked in with Facebook this morning I saw that a friend of mine commented on the post (Don’t go looking to see who posted it, I deleted the comment), and here’s what he said:

“Email Marketing is Outdated! Just FYI!”

I couldn’t believe I was actually reading this statement. I actually laughed at the ridiculousness of this comment. Was he serious? There was no way he could really think that right? I was a bit more than surprised and had to tell Brian what I just read. His response to my question, “Can you believe that statement?” was interesting. He said, “Yes I can.”

Read Oops! My Marketing Mistake

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Oops! My Marketing Mistake

June 16, 2010 Jennifer Bourn

Have you ever thought: “Oops I made a marketing mistake!” I sure have, although my private Oops tends to sound a bit more colorful and shouldn’t be repeated in front of kids! If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably had the same experience more than you care to admit. Sometimes $H!T HAPPENS, you make a mistake, and there is nothing you can do about it but learn from the experience and move on.

Once I read that a mistake is only a mistake if it is done twice — otherwise it’s just a lesson to be learned. I absolutely love this because everyone, even the big gurus, make mistakes with their business and their marketing.

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