Email marketing can be an extremely profitable way to earn money online, but only if it is done properly. There are many ways to do email marketing wrong, either deliberately, or accidentally, and it is important that you know the differences before you try it.
Email marketing is also sometimes called permission marketing as it should always involve the willing permission of the recipient of any emails you send out. If you send out emails to a large number of people, and you do not gain their permission to do so first, it is usually called spam, or more kindly, unsolicited email.
In the physical world we are all familiar with direct mail pieces we receive from the postman. We may call it junk mail, but by and large we tolerate it. In the online world, the email equivalent of junk mail is not tolerated, and is in fact illegal. You can get into serious trouble with the law if you send out emails in bulk without permission.
You may be wondering by now how it is possible to get the permission of people you can't even contact! That is a fair point, and you do it by letting them come to you, and not the other way around. You build a list of people who all agree to receive occasional emails from you.
There are many ways to build a list. The easiest way is probably to include a sign up form on your website for a free newsletter. The newsletter doesn't have to be news, strictly speaking. It could be the occasional update on your product range, or just a helpful tip or two sent out regularly that is relevant to the topic of your website.
It is also usual to offer your visitors a free gift for signing up to your newsletter. This can be an ebook or something similar, but something of value that the visitor wants to have. When they submit their name and email address, they will receive the free gift by return email through an autoresponder system that you set up previously.
An autoresponder system is not essential for email marketing, but it is strongly advised. Most people use an autoresponder service, rather than install their own server software. Two of the most popular and most reliable autoresponder services are
Aweber and
Get Response.
The problem of possibly being accused of sending spam is largely overcome by using double optin when capturing email addresses. This means that people who submit their name and email address are asked again if they really want to sign up.
They receive an email from the autoresponder service asking them to click a link embedded in the email if they agree to receive emails from you. When they do this they opt in twice, or double optin.
If they subsequently accuse you of sending out spam, as people sometimes forget they signed up in the first place, you will have the evidence to prove that they gave their express permission twice to receive your emails.
Once you have built up a list of several hundred, or several thousand people, you can send them the occasional email promoting a product, either as an affiliate, or with one of your own products. Not everyone will buy from you, but a percentage can be expected to.
In this way, and over time, you can build up a close relationship with your list of people who are all willing to receive your emails, and you can make a good living doing so. Proper email marketing isn't usually a success overnight, but it can be extremely lucrative with a bit of time and patience.
