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Writer's pictureJohn Brandt

How I “get away” with pitching in every email

Your email marketing strategy ain’t a charity despite how many innocent (and foolish) biz owners treat their strategy just like a charity: By giving away lots of free “value,” free content, and “good will” emails as they’re called (which simply means emails that don’t try to sell). 


There are several problems with this charity strategy: 


First, it instantly devalues whatever it is you’re bribing your audience with. People don’t value free. There’s a direct inverse correlation between the cost of your products and how much others value them. 


Take, for example, a recent affiliate promotion I saw from a popular Clickbank affiliate marketer:


I forget the exact details of the offer, but he tried selling a $17 product from Clickbank and attaching an absolutely incredible bonus to it. The bonus was worth far more than the 17 bucks, and yet this still happened:


A few days after he started promoting it, I saw him post on Facebook (and then follow up via email) about how outraged he was that only 10 measly people took him up on his offer. The bonus itself was worth hundreds of dollars, mayhap even thousands of dollars. And yet, only 10 people took him up on it for a mere 17 bucks. 


Why?


Because they instantly devalued it because it only cost 17 bucks. 

Same thing happens when you try to give away stuff for free. 


Second, once you start giving away stuff for free, it offends people when you try to sell them later. They’ve been used to getting your stuff for free. Often your self-proclaimed “best stuff,” as a way to virtue signal to your audience that you also don’t like being sold to (without realizing the irony of how much you love buying shyt). 


This makes everything seem like a hard pitch even if it’s not. 


The third problem here is a combination of the first two:


Since they devalue your free stuff and get offended when you try to sell them, over time they become less and less engaged. They don’t feel like they have to open any of your emails because you’re not giving them an opportunity to buy (something every human enjoys doing). Instead you’re either sending them “value” that they secretly hate or offending them with a sales pitch. 


That’s why I recommend following a different strategy: 


One where you give your list an opportunity to buy… but you also entertain them and inform them so they don’t even realize that you’re pitching them! 


Not only does it keep your list more engaged, but it also results in more sales. 


In fact, one of my clients recently received a review that confirmed this subtle strategy works mayhap even better than I’m explaining here. 


Checky:


“Professional info. Take time to answer questions. Never rude. Don’t give sales pitch but let the info do the talking.”


When your customers say things like this about your copy, you can bet your sweet arse that they’re also buying more from your emails than from the “value bomb” type emails most business owners send. 


Some food for thought. 


If you need help creating (and implementing) an email strategy that works both in the short-term and especially over the long-term, hit reply, and let’s chat. 


JohnYour email marketing strategy ain’t a charity despite how many innocent (and foolish) biz owners treat their strategy just like a charity: By giving away lots of free “value,” free content, and “good will” emails as they’re called (which simply means emails that don’t try to sell). 


There are several problems with this charity strategy: 


First, it instantly devalues whatever it is you’re bribing your audience with. People don’t value free. There’s a direct inverse correlation between the cost of your products and how much others value them. 


Take, for example, a recent affiliate promotion I saw from a popular Clickbank affiliate marketer:


I forget the exact details of the offer, but he tried selling a $17 product from Clickbank and attaching an absolutely incredible bonus to it. The bonus was worth far more than the 17 bucks, and yet this still happened:


A few days after he started promoting it, I saw him post on Facebook (and then follow up via email) about how outraged he was that only 10 measly people took him up on his offer. The bonus itself was worth hundreds of dollars, mayhap even thousands of dollars. And yet, only 10 people took him up on it for a mere 17 bucks. 


Why?


Because they instantly devalued it because it only cost 17 bucks. 

Same thing happens when you try to give away stuff for free. 


Second, once you start giving away stuff for free, it offends people when you try to sell them later. They’ve been used to getting your stuff for free. Often your self-proclaimed “best stuff,” as a way to virtue signal to your audience that you also don’t like being sold to (without realizing the irony of how much you love buying shyt). 


This makes everything seem like a hard pitch even if it’s not. 


The third problem here is a combination of the first two:


Since they devalue your free stuff and get offended when you try to sell them, over time they become less and less engaged. They don’t feel like they have to open any of your emails because you’re not giving them an opportunity to buy (something every human enjoys doing). Instead you’re either sending them “value” that they secretly hate or offending them with a sales pitch. 


That’s why I recommend following a different strategy: 


One where you give your list an opportunity to buy… but you also entertain them and inform them so they don’t even realize that you’re pitching them! 


Not only does it keep your list more engaged, but it also results in more sales. 


In fact, one of my clients recently received a review that confirmed this subtle strategy works mayhap even better than I’m explaining here. 


Checky:


“Professional info. Take time to answer questions. Never rude. Don’t give sales pitch but let the info do the talking.”


When your customers say things like this about your copy, you can bet your sweet arse that they’re also buying more from your emails than from the “value bomb” type emails most business owners send. 


Some food for thought. 


If you need help creating (and implementing) an email strategy that works both in the short-term and especially over the long-term, hit reply, and let’s chat. 


John

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