Do you think my title is nuts? Most marketing experts actually think I’m a little crazy when I start talking about email marketing, but I’ve been saying the same thing for years and I have 72,000,000 more reasons to pay attention to my advice this time.
The fact is my clients, students and I keep on having these crazy $10,000+ sales days because we do email marketing the RIGHT WAY while using Facebook and Twitter as merely supporting players (social media is NEVER the focus).
Why is there so much hype in marketing circles about “social media marketing”? There’s one simple reason. Most marketing “experts” are seriously cashing in on the trend by selling and endorsing Facebook and Twitter courses (I’m not & never have).
Trivia Question:
How many Facebook or Twitter Marketing products have I created and/or endorsed in the last 10 years?
Answer: None that I can recall because none have impressed me or created sufficient success stories to get my attention. I’m approached literally weekly with new courses…but I don’t pay attention to any of them because they all have one thing in common; There aren’t any success stories.
To prove that the title of this blog post isn’t crazy talk I’ll be showing you proof based on a survey of 72,000,000 online shoppers (link below).
First let me remind you of something. How many times have I told you that EMAIL is the way to go if you want to SELL STUFF online?
The answer?
I’ve written about it hundreds of times. It’s so important for you to understand email marketing that I keep the price of my email marketing training course at only $7 (it really should be priced at $500).
Another reminder: I teach 3 methods of success online in my best seller “Silent Sales Machine“, and all three require the use of proper email marketing tactics to truly succeed.
If I did create a $997.00 course on how to use Facebook and Twitter it would teach you these basic concepts:
When using Twitter and Facebook be HELPFUL and never use HYPE. Give away great value in your posts and be genuine. Share very short stories, fun/useful pictures and other useful info that support your message and brand. Don’t try to sell stuff there, but instead build a community & be fun. Be “shareable”. As your audience grows be sure to give your “tribe” a good reasons from time to time to join your email list by giving away value (special reports, special offers etc.). Email is where stuff is sold…not Facebook and Twitter.
A bit of proof I’m not crazy:
Recent “Wired” article: “Email is Crushing Facebook, Twitter for Selling Stuff Online”
Great article, Jim. Who ever would have thought e-mail was better than Facebook or Twitter? By the way I’m currently rereading your Free Marketing with 101 Ideas book. There’s SO MUCH in it that one reading wasn’t enough!
I’m a small Christian Bookstore. I have a small e-mail list of current customers and a Facebook page. Naturally, I would have thought FB was the better way go to, but not after reading that article. Thanks for the article tie in.
By the way I haven’t read Silent Sales Machine yet. Don’t have an e-reader, but my mother does, and she let me put it on her reader. Eventually I’ll get to it. When you’re a one woman show like I am, well things don’t get done as fast as I’d like!
Thanks Wendy – you can’t go wrong building that email list! Keep up the great work-
Jim
Hi Jim: Great post and great insight! I’ve recently acquired both “The Silent Sales Machine” and your list building course. The value in both is incredible! I’ve paid a lot more many times for a small fraction of the valuable content you deliver with just those 2 products! I would like to ask a question that pertains to one of the principles you discuss in the list building course. One of the modules discusses building a list using eBay. I saw your recent post about new tools to use for that which was excellent. In the course you talk about using the “About Me” page to essentially have an Opt In form tied to a service like AWeber. I’m an eBay seller and have been able to achieve the level of “Power Seller” in less than 8 months with more than 2000 sales. I haven’t tried to create an Opt In there but when I looked at the eBay link policies it looked as if that may now not be allowed. I would love to know if you could add some clarification on this. I know that eBay’s policies have changed many times. Is it still possible to put an Opt In link to an auto-responder directly on your eBay page or listing? Thanks!
Thanks for the great feedback! About your eBay question….”is an opt-in box allowed on the eBay about me page”. The answer is probably not, but maybe. There are sellers who’ve had an opt-in box on their active eBay account “about me” page for years. The risk you take is that eBay MIGHT at some point ask you to remove it…but they might be OK with it as well. I’ve yet to hear of an account being shut down as the first line of response to an opt-in box on the about me page. That being said, the rules are not clear, and they do change all the time, and only you can decide if it’s worth the risk. I have such a high profile ebay account that I stopped doing it myself. To be completely safe about your email marketing efforts on eBay I suggest you check out the video you mentioned in your comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM165MxO9hc
By inviting ONLY your buying customers to your list (giving them the option) you’ll avoid any issues with eBay…but the rewards outweigh the risks in many cases to “go for it” on your “about me” page as well!