Part 10: They’re YOUR “Best Practices”
Everywhere I look in the email marketing universe there’s talk about “best practices.”
Some of it I agree is good advice…
- Email more
- Don’t hard-sell
- Listen to your list
Then there’s the other “best practices” advice…
- Email less (!)
- Avoid spam “trigger” words
- Follow this particular sequence for your welcome emails
And there’s PLENTY more.
A lot of “best practices” stuff falls into the “favorite-email-tactic-of-the-day” category.
I mean… email less?
Hardly a way to build a relationship with your subscribers when you’re timidly hiding from their inbox. And letting everything else crowd in.
And spam trigger words are nothing to stress about every time you email.
Sure sex-related or obscene stuff might be a good idea to leave out. But it’s possible to safely talk about topics with “tricky” words, in the context of a story.
And spam filters aren’t going to flip out and put you in spam jail because you used the word “here” once. (It being the latest word to avoid, apparently).
An engaged list… that replies to you… and clicks on your links… offers plenty of protection from an “oops” with a word.
In fact…
I don’t really think about it myself. My emails don’t get filtered into the spam folder by Gmail and it’s compadres. And I use spam trigger words all the time!
And, with your welcome sequence… while there’s certainly merit in showing your humanness and sharing more about what you offer… so a subscriber can know, like and trust you a little more….
You can do it YOUR way.
For me, I find it all becomes a bit samey out there when everyone’s welcome emails smell alike.
What writing daily email has helped me settle on is…
The only “best practices” are the ones you discover work best for YOU.
There’s room to experiment.
And perfection is definitely NOT required!
You know… it was with fear and trembling that I clicked “Send” for my first daily email.
But my newfound mentors in the business world were doing it. And they were level-headed, non-hype types who played the long-game. They showed how it worked.
So I had at least some belief that I had hitched my wagon to the right horse.
I learned from them that I don’t have to do things in any particular way.
There’s NO formula that works for everyone.
There’s just the common strategy things of…
- Showing up
- Giving people something entertaining and helpful
- Being patient
(That last one’s a biggie for ANY small-business owner who wants to reach their goals!)
Daily email is part of my business laboratory. Where I can mix funky chemicals to my heart’s content.
If something blows up in a bad way, I can chalk that up to experience and move on. And people tend to be forgiving. 😊
If something blows up in a good way, then I might be onto something that deserves repeating.
Reality is, people probably don’t remember an email I sent from 3 days ago. So it’s no problem to pick myself up. Dust myself off. And move on.
If I was emailing weekly or monthly I’d probably be playing it safe. And maybe just sticking to those “industry best practices” (whatever they are today).
But the thing I’ve learned with daily email is…
You make your OWN best practices!
Ones that suit you. And help you serve your customers well.
All part of keeping the stress out of email marketing!
Ready to build your email list? Go here…
EmailForTheWin.com
Chris Milham