Learn Internet Marketing Strategies For Your Business

Did you get your opt-in form up on your website yesterday? If not, definitely go back and review Day 3 of the autoresponder challenge so you can activate your list. You’ll also see how to plan out your messages to make the most sense for your subscribers.

Now for Day 4!

Today we’re going to write Message #2 that all our subscribers are going to see as they go down the path we’re setting up from Day 3’s plan.

So our tasks today are to:

• Determine a product or service to recommend
• Get the link to be used in the email
• Write Message #2
• Test the link in the message

Let’s get started…

Get People To Your #1 Solution For Their #1 Problem

Message 1 was your welcome message, and it gave them what they initially asked for, but not necessarily the biggest thing they really need.

You’ve likely heard that idea of sell them what they want, then give them what they need, right?

The same is true here, although what they’ve paid you with is their attention, not their money.

In any case, message 2 is the perfect time for you to be very clear about the top recommendation that you have for their situation, based on your customer avatar you’ve set up in Day 1.

For me, the #1 issue faced by my audience is lack of time and productivity with their busy lives. Remember, I’m focusing on helping work at home moms who are running a home (with teenagers!) and a business at the same time. Others will join my list, too, but that’s who I’m focused on helping.

So the biggest thing I can help them with is recommending the Freemind mindmapping software to them. You’ve probably been seeing how effective it can be at simplifying tasks and keeping things organized, right? I’ve been using it throughout this challenge so far.

The reality is I use it daily and have for years… even when I was still teaching.

So I have a blog post about turning to-do lists into mindmaps, and how that one thing gives me several extra hours each week in productivity.

So my message #2 is geared towards pointing to the pain of no time, and providing the solution in the form of this software. I give the software away for free from my website, which also makes it easier for them to get it instead of navigating through the Sourceforge website where most people find it.

I also happen to have created a tutorial video on the software, which I sell.

Now at this point, you may be wondering if you should wait to sell something until you’ve built up more of a relationship with your subscribers. I heard this concern all the time.

Here’s my answer: you are in business, and you have solutions to offer people that they should buy. There’s nothing wrong with giving them free content, freemium versions of what you offer, etc., but don’t be shy or coy about asking for a sale.

The reason: people who buy from you and like what they get will stick around for a long time.

People who get free stuff from you and never buy may stick around, but they’re unlikely to increase your profits.

So as long as your stuff is great, you have an obligation to get it to them as soon as possible.

Write A Message They’ll Enjoy Reading And Compel Them To Take Action

For the subject line, I encourage you to ask a question or make an open ended statement that causes people to eagerly open your email and read what you have to say.

My subject line for message 2 currently reads: know how to get more done in less time?

Since I know time management is one of my audiences top concerns, I think this will get a good open rate. I’ll pay attention to Aweber’s reporting features later down the road to see if it’s in fact a dud or really effective.

For my message, I’m writing in both the HTML and text boxes as I mentioned in Day 2. But this time I’m not using any templates. Just simple text with active HTML links that open in a new window. For message 2 I have 1 link, and it’s going to this blog post about mindmaps and to-do lists. I kept the message nice and short, so she can quickly scan it, and click over to the blog.

All my emails will have a link to click on, as I’m forming habits here that I think you should use, too.

By the way, I’m not including the {!signature} tag in this particular email because I don’t want any distractions from my readers getting to my blog for this particular message.

Send Your Follow Up #2 A Few Days After #1

After you’ve finished writing your message, you then need to decide when your message will get sent out to your readers.

Message 1 goes out immediately after they’ve confirmed. I like to send Message 2 two to three days later. Overall, I’ll be sending my follow ups 6-8 days apart, but this first one should be sooner because you want to build a habit for your readers.

So I set mine to 3 days later.

Aweber has a nifty feature of setting exactly when in the day and which day(s) of the week your message will be sent, and basing that time on your subscribers time zone. Since my audience is usually checking their mail in the early morning through the early evening, I set mine to go out Monday – Saturday from 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. At some point in the future, I may change that to 6-9 a.m., and 6-9 p.m. to test it out, but that will come later.

Test Your Emails For Accurate Linking And Spelling

Once you have your message “good enough” for now, go ahead and preview it and click any links you have in the message. Make sure they go where they’re supposed to, and then save your message.

Remember, you can always edit your message for any new subscribers that come through. And when you have more messages, you can even change their order. Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend you including a lesson number in your series unless you’re darn certain that’s the way it’s going to stay or you like the hassle of changing each subject line separately.

That’s it for today! Tomorrow, we’ll work on a bonafide squeeze page for you to get your list popping!

Do me a favor before you forget – post a comment below and let me know how you’re doing so far!

Bob Jenkins

p.s. Reminder: if you like to learn visually, you can still get the video version of the 30 Day Autoresponder Challenge inside the members area at DiscoverAutoresponders.com.

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