Category: Viral Marketing, List Building
Summary & Overview
Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email, e.mail or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use. E-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model in which e-mail computer server systems accept, forward, deliver and store messages on behalf of users, who only need to connect to the e-mail infrastructure, typically an e-mail server, with a network-enabled device (e.g., a personal computer) for the duration of message submission or retrieval. Originally, e-mail was always transmitted directly from one user's device to another's; nowadays this is rarely the case.
An electronic mail message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field.
Setup Time
Less than 1 Hour.
Ongoing Maintenance
None.
Cost
Free.
Speed of Results
Immediate.
Basic Use
Most likely you’re familiar with My Space and Facebook, two of the fastest growing websites in the world. Both of these websites went from total obscurity to being a global phenomenon in record time because of one force at play: word-of-mouth marketing. In other words, the power of one guy or gal sharing these cool new websites with their five closest friends and then each of those five friends passed that same information along and the word spread exponentially. Today you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t at least heard of MySpace or Facebook.
At the end of the day, that is all marketing really is: word-of-mouth, in one form or another. One of the easiest ways to market your business is through sharing it, word-of-mouth, with your existing email contact list.
Basic Action Steps
Step One: Log into your email account. We recommend setting up a Google Mail account for your business use.
www.gmail.com
Step Two: Click to compose a new message and enter the following details:
To: Enter your own email address (johndoe@gmail.com)
Cc: Leave this blank
Bcc: Enter the email address for all your contacts, separated with commas
(“Bcc” stands for “blind carbon copy”. Be sure you use this option rather than “Cc” as this will keep all the email addresses on your distribution private from the rest of the distribution list.
Subject: Read This
Message:
You might want to look at this:
www.michaelwyrosdick.com
After getting a zillion emails about it from my
FRIENDS, I took a look and joined a professional leader.
Amazing.
Talk soon.
John Doe
Basic Tips & Tricks
• Remember, the intent of your email is simply to share the link to your marketing page with your email contact list. You’re not selling, you’re simply sharing information. Craft your email accordingly.
• Consider dividing your email contacts up in to separate groups (i.e. friends, family, business contacts, etc.) and personalize your email slightly to reflect your relationship with each group.
Advanced Marketer
I use a professional email service provider to produce over 1000 opt in leads in a single given month. I do it sending what are considered “cold emails” to a list most vendors would consider long dead… The best part is that once it is set up, the campaign is practically automated.
The 4 Crucial Ingredients.
1) Ask Permission
Keep your initial email short, sweet, respectful and don’t over hype anything. It is important to remember that they did not request information about your business and at first your email can seem intrusive. You need to ask for permission first, then lead them down the trail otherwise you will be perceived as spam and that’s exactly what you are doing.
- Make it Personal
Make certain to use their name, email address, physical address. You email service provider should be able to set up your campaign so the emails going out use these global variables because your prospect will feel as if the email was hand sent and written just for them. Notice in my example below I also mentioned a time frame. If you don't do that then there would be little reason for them to act immediately, and we want them to act now.
- Do Something Visual.
Include an image, and on the image have a “play button” so it looks just like a video. You can do this in photo shop, or use Jing Project to capture a shot of the actual video and save the image. Link the image to your landing page so your prospect is taken there to watch the video and read your copy to decide if they would like to opt in.
- Present the Path of Least Resistance
Since you already have their name and email address you can ask your email service provider to have that information already populated in the name and email fields when your prospect gets to your landing page. Now all your visitor has to do is click “submit.”
- Bonus Step!
Take your original mailing list and reference it against your opt in list. Find the physical addresses of your opt ins and use it as a targeted direct mail list. I recommend doing a small test run to insure the accuracy of the list because postage is not cheap. Also if you have over 2000 contacts use a mail house to send them out for you otherwise you end up picking up pennies while dollars fly overhead.. TIP: send it “Bulk Mail” it about half the price of first class.
________________________________________
EXAMPLE:
Hi «NAME»,
Your Name here; I want to take this opportunity to personally
Introduce myself. In the next week or so I am looking to partner with
like-minded individuals in the «CITY» and surrounding area to work
we expand this Internet business model.
«NAME» I've seen every kind of multi level company out there
and the truth is… all of the old school models being used are simply
garbage – those kind of businesses just don't work anymore. I've
been involved with my current Internet business for almost 3 years and
have seen nothing but steady growth, even in our so called “down
economy”.
I want to keep this email short; so if you think you are
interested in a partnership… check out my video:
Click to play or see video here: yourlink.com
Respectfully,
Your Name
Phone Number with recorded message.
Get free Internet phone # w/ voicemail http://.K7.net
________________________________________
You can do this on a small or large scale. When trying to get into high volume finding a reliable email mailer is actually the toughest part. Most providers (in my experience) cannot do what they say they can do and prey on those who do not track. They have to be able to keep you out of hot water, and never use your own domain, or anything to do with your hosting accounts for that matter. .
Disclaimer: Michael Wyrosdick is committed to providing you with the highest quality tools and resources to support your business. You should, however, conduct your own due diligence before purchasing any products or outsourcing any projects as Michael Wyrosdick cannot guarantee the services or products as provided by third party vendors.
Related Marketing Strategies
• Facebook
• MySpace
Questions, Comments, Feedback & Suggestions
For questions about Email Invitations, please send an email to resources@michaelwyrosdick.com with “Email Invitations” in your subject line.
