Category: Email Marketing

  • Hitting 2,000 Email Subscribers Is A Milestone. Here’s What To Do Next

    Hitting 2,000 Email Subscribers Is A Milestone. Here’s What To Do Next

    We all love MailChimp Forever Free plan, don’t we? MailChimp’s Forever Free Plan allows you to keep up to 2,000 subscribers and send up to 12,000 emails per month. What happens when your MailChimp account has more than 2,000 subscribers?

    Here’s what I can guarantee you: Headache.

    Most of us love anything that doesn’t require us to pay for it (for whatever it is). But when we hit 2,000 email subscribers on MailChimp, we panic. We understand that we would need to start forking out money monthly just to maintain the email list.

     

    Read this before you go down that rabbit hole …

    The first thing is you should do right now is start cleaning up your email list. This means that you should remove all your email subscribers who have not interacted with you for some time.

    You need to start identifying those inactive subscribers by creating a segment on MailChimp (fastest way).

    Creating Segments MailChimp

    Once that is done, you need to add conditions to further discover email subscribers who are low in ‘value’.

    Adding Conditions MailChimp

    Due to MailChimp’s limitation, you can only choose a small portion of options as seen above. I use the last five campaigns as that would give me better stats and results.

    Once that is done, the second step is to re-engage with them for one last time before you ultimately remove them from your list. I often send a super personalized message with an urgent email title to ensure that the open rate is high. Don’t be afraid as it is common for them to unsubscribe themselves!

    If they fail to open the email within three days, you can proceed to remove them from your list. By now, you would have a smaller list and probably save you some space.

    IMPORTANT: I recommend you to continue reading the below as it will come in handy real soon!

     

    You should be making money using your email list and here’s why

    When you have more than 2,000 email subscribers, you should already be monetizing your email list. Wait, what?

    Yes, you heard me right. 2,000 email subscribers is not a small number and this means that you can be doing a lot more to generate revenue from your email list.

    Let’s say you take an example of promotion WP Engine on your email newsletter.

    • Revenue per successful WP Engine affiliate sale: $200
    • Open rate for your email: 50% (2,000 email subscriber x 50% = 1,000 email subscribers)
    • Click through rate for your email: 20% (1,000 email subscribers x 20% = 200 email subscribers)
    • Successful conversion (buying): 2% (200 email subscribers x 2% = 4)

    Total revenue earned: 4 x $200 = $800 per email campaign

    No, I’m not kidding you.

    You see, I’m putting a super low figure in all the calculation above and the reason is simple. I want you to understand that even with the lowest count, you can make a lot more money through email marketing.

    And yes, you can start making money NOW.

     

    Wait, I still have 2,000 email subscribers on MailChimp and I am not sure what to do!

    I’m glad you asked. I have gone through that road before and I was puzzled. I have no idea what I should do and my geeky brain told me to do the calculation (see above).

    I understood that I could earn a lot more money in a long run if I continue building my email subscribers. Thus, growing beyond the 2,000 email subscribers limit on MailChimp.

    What you need to do now (which we are going to discuss below) is this:

    Decide on an email marketing software to proceed with your email marketing.

    Before moving forward, take a quick moment to ask yourself this question.

     

    How much is the lifetime value of your email subscribers?

    Take a look at this infographic done by KISSmetrics.

    How To Calculate Customer Lifetime Value

    In short, lifetime value of your email subscriber is often determined if they are going to repurchase in the future.

     

    How to decide the best email marketing software once your MailChimp has more than 2,000 subscribers?

    1. Upgrade your MailChimp account

    You should go for MailChimp if:

    • You have a low lifetime value of an email subscriber (under $5)
    • You are not actively selling anything of high value to your email subscribers
    • Lead generation isn’t a top priority for you at this point in time
    • Segmenting your audience is not important for now

    On average, you are going to pay anywhere between $25 to $30 a month with 2,000 email subscribers on paid MailChimp plan.

    MailChimp is best when you are a small business or blogger which email marketing isn’t the most important thing for your business. Therefore, sticking to MailChimp is not going to hurt you in any way since you will be making more than enough to sustain.

     

    2. Move to ConvertKit

    ConvertKit is a good MailChimp alternative because of its pricing model. ConvertKit thrives ahead of MailChimp, especially with their subscriber’s centric model.

    Using ConvertKit, you will not be charged multiple times if the same subscriber subscribes to multiple lists. Compared to MailChimp, subscribers can be calculated multiple times which is based on the number of lists they are following. Not so good.

    You should go for ConvertKit if:

    • You are looking for a robust email marketing automation but as easy as MailChimp
    • You want to increase conversions with automated emails that feel personal
    • You need to organize and understand your subscribers
    • You need landing pages (this is a killer, ladies and gentlemen!)

    ConvertKit’s pricing is very flexible and it is one of the best deals in the marketplace. You can check out the ConvertKit pricing and the pricing starts at $29 per month.

     

    3. Move to Drip

    Drip is dope and I’m using it for my business (including this blog). Drip is really powerful because it allows you to take automation to whole new levels.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”If you are using email to sell online products and courses, you need to consider Drip today!” quote=”If you are using email to sell online products and courses, Drip does it better than any other email marketing solution. Period.”]

    Drip is also the main reason how I can sell thousands of dollars worth of affiliate marketing products every month!

    BONUS: Want to know how to make MASSIVE money through affiliate marketing? Learn more for free.

    You should go for Drip if:

    • Automate anything and everything (tagging, list cleaning etc.)
    • Selling online courses or products
    • Inbuilt different types of forms (slider, pop up, exit-intent)
    • Workflow technology (that brings automation to whole new level)

    I would say Drip works as powerful as Infusionsoft but just at a cheaper and lower pricing scale. If you are an advanced marketer, consider using Drip as it is guaranteed to grow your list. Don’t take my word for it. Click here to head over to Drip’s demo!

     

    Summary: What do you do when you hit 2,000 MailChimp email subscribers?

    You have three options right now; upgrade to MailChimp’s paid plan which will save you more money, migrate to ConvertKit if you want to start segmenting your email subscribers, or upgrade to Drip to take email marketing to whole new level and ultimately, make your email subscribers fall in love with you.

    Do you have more than 2,000 subscribers on MailChimp? What do you do? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

  • Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster – Which Plugin Is The Best Plugin For Building An Email List?

    Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster – Which Plugin Is The Best Plugin For Building An Email List?

    Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster.

    There are many plugins for email list building but nothing comes close to what Thrive Leads and OptinMonster can provide.

    Let me share with you a simple fact:

    Email has 2.6 billion unique users worldwide. Moreover, that number is expected to exceed 2.9 billion by the end of 2019. 

    ExactTarget had quoted, “Email is not only alive – it’s the number one direct channel in terms of daily use and consumer preference for both personal and marketing communications.”

    Building an email list is no longer an option. It is a necessity for business survival. Regardless it is for affiliate marketing, blogging or business, email marketing is a very powerful tool if you use it right.

    The first step in building an email list is to select an email marketing service provider, which I’m sure you already had.

    The second and most crucial step is to find a WordPress plugin that will drive your subscription rate off the roof. After all, having the best email marketing service provider isn’t going to give you much assistance if you aren’t converting visitors into subscribers.

    To help you on this step, I’ve compared two of the best list building plugins on the market so that you can build your list in the most efficient way possible.

     

    Thrive Leads

    Introduction: Thrive Leads is the complete list building plugin for WordPress. It has every type of opt-in form including Sticky Ribbon, Popup Lightbox, Slide-In, Opt-in Widget, and Screen Filler.

    Summary: Thrive Leads is a good choice if you want to have complete control on how the plugin works. It allows you to tweak everything under the roof, without any coding skills.

    Thrive Leads is one of the most popular list building plugins for bloggers nowadays because there is just so much hype around this plugin. What I love about Thrive Leads are:

    • Multiple opt-in forms which can be set to trigger and appear in multiple places
    • Perform numerous A/B testing (split test)
    • Availability of shortcodes
    • One click sign up links
    • Sign up subscribers directly to webinar
    • Ready made templates and boxes to choose from

    What makes Thrive Leads an awesome plugin for list building is the ability to do anything with just one plugin. As for the record, ThriveBoxes is one feature that no other list building plugin had ever integrated and it works like LeadPages’s Leadboxes feature (sorry LeadPages).

    For the record, Thrive Leads is included in the Thrive Membership and no separate purchase is required.

    1. Configuring Thrive Leads

    Love the basic setup? No worries. Here’s the common setup you can choose with Thrive Leads:

    opt in types thrive leads vs optinmonster

    There are many ready-made templates you can choose from when you use Thrive Leads. Here are some examples:

    Thrive Leads ready made templates

    Now, that’s really a lot of templates, right?

    The guys over at Thrive Leads understand the challenges faced by bloggers and marketers. Not many of us are design-driven and therefore, having different types of ready-made templates and drag and drop builder helps us to create better forms to build an email list.

    Disclaimer: My favorite is still ‘Scroll Mat’. Just saying 🙂

     

    2. A/B testing with Thrive Leads

    Apart from that, Thrive Leads comes with the awesome A/B testing which is godly. With this feature, you can literally any testing such as:

    • Different Form Types: A lightbox popup vs. a slide-in form or a widget vs. a ribbon.
    • Different Triggers: Show a popup after 3 seconds, once the visitor scrolls 50% down the page or when the visitor is about to exit your site.
    • Different Design & Content: Change the headline, add a new image or switch colors.
    • Different Offers: Download a checklist vs. Participate in a webinar

    You can start and stop the A/B testing at any time, as well as the ability to select the winner (either manually or automatically).

    split testing feature with thrive leads

     

    3. Precise targeting using Thrive Leads

    Advancement of technology allows us to do a lot of things and one of them is to show relevant popups to the right type of audience. With Thrive Leads, you can display specific forms with just a few clicks:

    customizing thrive leads

    4. Powerful features that made Thrive Leads super powerful

    Want to know why Thrive Leads is powerful? Here are four things you should know (if you are dead serious in list building using Thrive Leads):

    • Exit Trigger: Show your opt-in the moment a visitor is thinking about leaving your website.
    • Time Trigger: Choose between showing your opt-in form instantly or after a certain amount of time (in seconds) has passed.
    • Scroll Trigger: Choose between showing your opt-in form when a user scrolls to a specific part of the content, after passing a defined percentage of the content, or after reaching the end of your content.
    • Click Trigger: Show your opt-in when a user clicks an element (like a button or link) in your content.

     

    5. What didn’t I like about Thrive Leads?

    Apart of all the goodies that Thrive Leads can offer, there are still things I wished they could be improved.

    Thrive Leads doesn’t play well with CloudFlare: I use CloudFlare to speed up my website and I have specific Page Rules to make my website blazing fast. The problem is Thrive Leads visual builder (WYSIWYG) doesn’t work well when those options are turned on. Of course, there isn’t much Thrive Leads could do but if you want to use Thrive Leads with CloudFlare, make sure you turn off the ‘Rocket Loader‘ on CloudFlare (temporary) while setting up forms using Thrive Leads.

    What is Rocket Loader?

    Rocket Loader improves page load times by:

    • Decreasing the number of network requests by bundling JavaScript files, even third party resources, to avoid slowing down page rendering
    • Asynchronously loading scripts, including third party scripts, so that they do not block the content of your page from loading immediately
    • Caching scripts locally (using LocalStorage, available on most browsers and smart phones) so they aren’t refetched unless necessary

    Just too many customizations and made it confusing: Thrive Leads comes with so many customizations which it is really tricky for beginners. Sure, they have videos but let’s be honest. Who views the videos unless you are desperate, right? The options aren’t really direct and idiot-proof if you know what I mean.

     

    6. How much is Thrive Leads?

    There are three different pricing structures you can choose from (each comes with one year support):

    • 1 Site: $67
    • 5 Sites: $97
    • 15 Sites: $147

    Alternatively, you can choose Thrive Membership which costs $19 per month (with all plugins included for unlimited sites) when you pay annually.

    When it comes to pricing, I would say that it is definitely worth the money because of the features that Thrive Leads provide.

     

    7. Is Thrive Leads worth it?

    Here’s the biggest question. I’ve been using Thrive Leads since the beta stage and I would say that it is pretty well done. If I would comment, I would say that their finishing isn’t as smooth as OptinMonster but apart from that, they are pretty much awesome to say the very least.

     

    8. My verdict for Thrive Leads

    Thrive Leads is best for advanced users who want to double their email list in just a short period of time. Plus, it is also a great tool because you get everything you need under one roof.

    With the amount of features that comes packing with Thrive Leads, this is definitely one of the best list building plugins I had used for a long time. Highly recommend anyone to use this!

    Click here to try Thrive Leads today!

     

    OptinMonster

    Introduction: OptinMonster is not just a WordPress plugin. It’s a complete web-based app that’s available for different platforms including WordPress.

    Summary: OptinMonster is very smooth and easy to use. An absolutely beast that helps you build an email list fast, minus all the challenging configuration and hassle.

    Just like Thrive Leads, OptinMonster had evolved a lot … from a humble beginning to a massive email list building for WordPress users.

    OptinMonster comes packing with a huge list of features which include:

    • Lightbox
    • Sidebar
    • Floating Bar
    • After post / In-Line
    • Slide-in
    • Mobile
    • Full Screen

    The best part? Each of these forms can be customized according to your liking through drag and drop.

     

    1. Display rules on OptinMonster

    OptinMonster display rules

    Anyone who is serious about email list building knows that display rules feature is critical. For the record, OptinMonster is the first WordPress email list building plugin that offers Exit-Intent feature.

    Let me give you a quick example.

    If you configure your campaign to load after a 7-second delay and set a 50% scroll value, then your visitors will have to be on your site for 7 seconds AND scroll the page 50% or more to trigger the campaign.

    The next step is to choose your intended audience who will see the form.

    OptinMonster comparison versus Thrive Leads

    Note: You can easily setup more display rules to further customize your forms on OptinMonster. This gives you more control on what your forms can and cannot do, thus giving you more precise audience targeting.

     

    2. MonsterLinks

    What is MonsterLinks?

    MonsterLinks is the name of the 2-Step Opt-in technology from OptinMonster. MonsterLinks can turn any link or image into a 2-step opt-in process. When a user clicks on the link or an image, a popup opens up asking them to subscribe.

    Brian Dean from Backlink uses MonsterLinks on the site to boost email subscriptions. Here’s how it looks like in action.

    Monsterlinks

    The concept of Content Upgrades is based on a psychology principle known as the Zeigarnik Effect, which states that those who initiate are more likely to finish the process.

     

    3. OptinMonster’s Success Themes

    In short, OptinMonster comes with a list of ready-made templates for you to choose from. Wonder why they use the name “success themes?”

    OptinMonsters success themes

    Well, these are templates which had been tested out and prove to be extremely effective for your success.

    I love OptinMonster’s success themes because I have zero knowledge in design. Yup, no joke.

     

    4. What didn’t I like about OptinMonster?

    I often compare both OptinMonster and Thrive Leads (Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster in my mind) and one thing I wished I had more are the ready-made templates.

    OptinMonster doesn’t come with that many ready-made templates compared to Thrive Leads.

    Another thing I didn’t like about OptinMonster is the campaign setup. Coming from Thrive Leads, OptinMonster seems to be very specific when it comes to campaign creation. While there is nothing wrong with it (generally speaking), it certainly felt like each campaign is dictated by opt-in type. And yes, in some ways that felt very annoying 🙁

     

    5. How much does OptinMonster cost?

    The pricing for OptinMoster is slightly different. For starters, each pricing plan comes with very different features.

    Basic: $19/month or $108/year (save 25%)

    • Unlimited Optin Forms
    • A/B Split Testing
    • Page Level Targeting
    • User-friendly Reporting 1 site

    Plus: $29/month or $228/year (save 25%)

    • Everything in Basic, and:
    • Floating Bar
    • Sidebar Forms
    • After Post / Inline Forms
    • Content Locking
    • 3 sites

    Pro: $39/month or $348/year (save 25%)

    • Everything in Plus, and:
    • Exit-Intent Technology
    • Referral Detection
    • Mobile Specific Forms
    • Yes / No Forms
    • Slide-in Scroll Trigger Boxes
    • Smart Canvas Forms
    • Full Screen Takeovers
    • Campaign Scheduling
    • Unlimited Sites
    • Priority Support

     

    6. Is OptinMonster worth it?

    I know, you are not pretty much undecided if OptinMonster is worth it. Here’s what I think.

    OptinMonster is good and very intuitive. It is prior in the market and what makes it really good is that it is co-founded by Syed Balkhi, founder of WP Beginner. Now, this means that plugins created by him and his team are always very good and able to integrate to any WordPress themes without issue.

     

    7. My personal verdict on OptinMonster

    I love beautiful things (and plugins). Personally, I would say that OptinMonster is well created and deserve all the credits in the email list building industry. Being an active OptinMonster user, I would say that there is no doubt in my mind that OptinMonster is good and worth the money.

    See OptinMonster demo here!

     

    OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads

    The real comparison for OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads is probably the pricing factor.

    • $348 – OptinMonster (Pro’s package with all features included)
    • $228 – Thrive Themes (10 themes and 6 plugins including Thrive leads)

    Both OptinMonster and Thrive Leads are available as subscription-based service, which means that you’ll always have to pay either a monthly or annual fee to use them.

    Comparing OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads on the smallest plan, here’s how it looks like:

    • $108 – OptinMonster (single site with selected features)
    • $67 – Thrive Leads (single site with all features)

    Now, as you can see, it is actually more worth it (and you get more savings too) when you opt for Thrive Leads. Even when using Thrive Leads with the smallest plan of $67, you save $41 per year and on top of that, you are not limited to the features as of what OptinMonster offers for its smallest plan.

    Overall, it is important to understand that while both offers very similar features, Thrive Leads is seen to be the best option since it doesn’t limit you for any of its features.

    When it comes to email list building, you certainly wouldn’t want to be bolted down with restrictions, right?

    I hope you like this OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads comparison. Which is your favorite email list building plugin?

  • Convertkit vs Drip vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Automation

    Convertkit vs Drip vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Automation

    The introduction to email marketing automation (before we compare MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip)

    Email marketing automation is the thing right now. It doesn’t matter if you are selling a course or simply trying to create a more engaged subscriber.

    According to Hubspot, success in email marketing automation comes down to two parts:

    • Recognizing that marketing automation does not do marketing and lead generation for you but it can help you scale your business
    • Centering your marketing messages around the real and live person at the receiving end of your campaigns

    It makes all the sense if you think about it.

    The first step is to start creating content that attracts the right type of audience and when they show up at your doorsteps, you need to bribe them with a powerful call to action (I use Thrive Leads for that matter).

    The second part is to understand your audience before you are able to send emails that resonate closely with them. Hubspot said about “treating them like a real person” and that’s what you should be doing!

    Using advanced tagging tools, you will be able to send timely and powerful email contents to them and in return, you will get better click-through rates and engagement. Plus, you may even see a drop in people unsubscribing as well!

    BONUS: For a limited time only, I’m opening up an exclusive 7-days course to help you with affiliate marketing. Want in? Click here for more info!

    MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip are three of the most powerful email marketing automation software in the market today. I was searching for MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip the past few days and sadly, I can’t find one. Therefore, I did mine and I hope you like it!

    What made it worse is that most of the comparisons out there don’t compare or even include MailChimp. So, I hope this comparison between MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip will give you a great idea on which email marketing automation you should be using for your business.

    This post would be pretty long since I’m giving a detailed explanation on all the three email marketing automation. Therefore, here’s a quick drive down on the overall summary for them.

    I recommend you to read the full article to get the complete information which will certainly be useful for your decision making between MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip.

     

    If you are a complete beginner or running with very limited funds for email marketing

    Then your best choice is MailChimp.

    Sure, MailChimp has several weaknesses (highlighted here) but it is still the best value for money. I have seen MailChimp grow a lot since two years back and now, I’m proud to say that it has evolved into an excellent email marketing automation system.

    Here are the reasons why you need to be using MailChimp for email marketing:

    • Absolutely free to use (up to 12,000 emails a month and 2,000 subscribers)
    • Comes with email marketing automation for all accounts
    • Easy to setup and start for beginners
    • Comes with an array of beautiful templates (for newsletters)
    • Excellent delivery rates
    • Easy integration with third party apps and e-Commerce stores
    • Advanced tagging for paid accounts

     

    How much does MailChimp cost?

    • New Business plan (forever free) > Free for life up to 12,000 email per month and 2,000 subscribers
    • Growing Business plan > Starts from $10 per month for 500 email subscribers and unlimited email delivery
    • Pro Marketer plan > Starts from $199 per month

     

    Who uses MailChimp?

    • Yoast SEO
    • Leadfeeder
    • Viral Loops
    • Breezy HR
    • Captive Media

    >> Try MailChimp Today <<

     

    If you are a blogger or marketer trying to better manage your subscribers for better click-through rates and engagement

    Then your best choice is ConvertKit.

    ConvertKit is built for bloggers and marketers who want more than just email marketing. As a matter of fact, ConvertKit is was built directly against what MailChimp is doing and ConvertKit is a great alternative to MailChimp.

    Here are the reasons why ConvertKit is best for you:

    • Easy to use, plain templates that are proven to increase clicks and engagement rate
    • ConvertKit is subscriber centric (ability to manage your subscribers with just a few clicks)
    • Send targeted emails based on your subscriber’s interest
    • Easily track subscriber’s actions based on clicks tracking
    • Easy to use email automation system
    • Comes with unlimited landing pages

     

    How much does ConvertKit cost?

    • 1 to 1,000 subscribers > $29 per month
    • 1,001 to 3,000 subscribers > $49 per month
    • 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers > $79 per month

    There are also custom plans for those who have a huge list of email subscribers.

     

    Who uses ConverKit?

    • CopyHackers
    • Bare Metrics
    • Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn
    • Tara Gentile
    • Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

    >> Try ConvertKit today! <<

     

    If you are trying to sell eBooks, courses, and other paid media

    Then Drip is your best choice.

    Drip is just like ConvertKit, but with many other functions in it. What makes Drip different from the rest of the email marketing automation systems is the ability to tag each subscriber with extreme details.

    Here are the reasons why you need to use Drip for email marketing automation:

    • Custom made email marketing automation that makes sense
    • Details workflow and email automation creation
    • Advanced tracking of email subscribers
    • Get more insights and more revenue with contact management tools
    • Drip integrates with just about everything
    • Comes with inbuilt widget without needing any plugin

     

    How much does Drip cost?

    • 1 to 100 subscribers > Starter plan (Free)
    • 101 to 2,500 subscribers > $49 per month
    • 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers > $99 per month

    There are also custom plans for those who have a huge list of email subscribers.

     

    Who uses Drip?

    • Help Scout
    • Ambassador
    • When I Work
    • Segment
    • Teamwork
    • Samcart

    >> Create a free Drip account here <<

     

    MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip – Complete Comparison

    Now that you get a quick hang on what email marketing automation software and the importance of having the right tool, let’s dive into the main topic for today, MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip.

     

    MailChimp Review

    MailChimp is one of the best email marketing automation for beginners and small businesses. As for the record, MailChimp doesn’t offer automation back then. But since May 2017, MailChimp had rolled out new email automation for every MailChimp user.

    And yes, you guessed it right! Even for the free accounts!

    Email marketing automation can be a challenging business. Lucky for you, MailChimp is one of those email marketing providers that made marketing automation really that easy (even for beginners) to master!

    https://youtu.be/qNvC75dt0jQ

    It totally makes sense since there is so much competition in the market where MailChimp can no longer keep their hands clean and not doing anything about it.

    For email marketing beginners, the MailChimp move is heavenly and timely.

    I still use MailChimp for some of my projects and they are good. I have absolutely no complaints about them and I believe you won’t have either, especially when you do not need advanced tagging on email subscribers.

     

    Advantages using MailChimp

    • Availability of free and premium plans
    • Email automation on all plans (including free ones)
    • Beautiful templates
    • Best in the market for drag and drop
    • Excellent delivery rates

     

    Disadvantages using MailChimp

    • The process of tagging a subscriber is not an easy task (coding required)
    • Ugly subscription forms
    • Many advanced features for email marketing are not available in the free plan
    • Very strict rules in email content (including affiliates and promotions)
    • Support is slow and available only for paid plans

     

    My personal recommendations for using MailChimp

    MailChimp is best when you do not require any advanced email marketing features. You can consider using MailChimp if you are just starting out in the blogging world or if you have a developer in-house to code your email for tagging reasons.

    You can’t go wrong using MailChimp and once you are comfortable enough with email marketing, there are better options such as ConvertKit and Drip to consider.

    Start here: You can start using MailChimp using this link.

     

    ConvertKit Review

    If you like the interface on MailChimp, you are going to love ConvertKit too. Being a ConvertKit user, the best way to describe ConvertKit is MailChimp on steroids.

    ConvertKit is powerful because it serves three main purposes that most email marketing automation software isn’t able to do:

    • Ability to tag each subscriber based on actions with ease
    • Inbuilt landing pages makes lead generation even more powerful
    • Easy email automation system with visual

    Another selling point using ConvertKit is the forms, tags, and segments which will help you to segment your subscribers (a little setup required). Hit play on the video below to get more information.

    Advantages using ConvertKit

    • The power of Infusionsoft, but easier to use than MailChimp
    • Integration with more than a dozen apps
    • Email automation made easy
    • Very supportive and active support team
    • ConvertKit is created mainly for bloggers and advanced marketers
    • Affordable pricing and plans to fit your needs

     

    Disadvantages using ConvertKit

    • Not able to manage multiple domains using one account
    • Landing pages are very simple and limited in choices
    • Plain text in most email templates
    • Pricing increases dramatically (more than others) at higher tiers
    • No free plan available

     

    My personal recommendations for using ConvertKit

    You should be using ConvertKit if you are serious about making money out of your email list. ConvertKit even published an article on the 5 reasons why you shouldn’t use ConvertKit and stick to MailChimp.

    In short, ConvertKit comes with a small price tag for some heavy duty email automation features.

    Is ConvertKit worth the money? Absolutely!

    Start here: Click here to check out ConvertKit now!

     

    Drip Review

    When I moved to Drip, I had my hat blown off. BIG TIME!

    I heard about Drip sometime back and when LeadPages acquired Drip, I knew Drip was something. It must be, right?

    Drip is like putting ConvertKit on steroids. Why?

    drip email automation

    I am totally blown away when I created my first account with Drip. What I love (not like) the most is the introductory part where you would need to answer a few questions. The answers collected from the Q&A will be used to customize your email marketing solution when you first start on Drip.

    In other words, you will start with many features turned on (which helped a lot with the whole process).

    I do a lot of things with my website; from consulting business to selling courses. So, it is a no-brainer to use Drip because of several advanced options under the hood.

     

    Advantages using Drip

    There are a lot of advantages using Drip (just like ConvertKit and MailChimp) and here is a list of them:

    • A best-in-class visual workflow builder
    • You can automate everything (18 triggers and 16 actions in the automation rule builder)
    • Tag your subscribers based on their actions
    • Identify your best leads (useful if you are selling a product or services)
    • Send targeted emails (drip campaigns, broadcasts and one-off emails)
    • Ability to track your email marketing performance
    • Effortlessly capture email addresses (instead of using plugins)
    • Drip natively integrates with dozens of applications and platforms
    • Availability of free plan (for 100 email subscribers)

    As you can see above, Drip does offer more advantages when compared to ConvertKit and MailChimp.

    But hey, Drip has its disadvantages too!

     

    Disadvantages using Drip

    • Overall pricing is more expensive when your list is small (price improves once your list grows)
    • Not suitable for beginners and newly started bloggers
    • Too many features which may lead to confusion for beginners
    • The free plan is only for 100 email subscribers

     

    My personal recommendations for using Drip

    Drip is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, the same goes for MailChimp and ConvertKit. Drip is the best email marketing automation software if you know exactly what you are selling.

    I use Drip for this website because I wanted to create powerful marketing automation funnels to deliver the right content to the right audience.

    The Goal: Create powerful marketing automation funnels

    Start here: Click here to see Drip in action now!

     

    MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip – Summary

    Phew!

    This is a long comparison between the top three email marketing automation systems in the market today. What do you think?

    Would you go for:

    • MailChimp which is the best free email automation system?
    • ConvertKit if you are a blogger or marketer who wants to better manage your subscribers?
    • Or like me, going for Drip because you want to have powerful email marketing automation features to maximize revenue and engagement?

    Leave a comment below and I’m happy to hear your thoughts.

  • AWeber Review 2017: Why Email Marketing Consultants Are Recommending AWeber?

    AWeber Review 2017: Why Email Marketing Consultants Are Recommending AWeber?

    In this AWeber review 2017, we are going to take an in-depth look at one of the popular email marketing solution (that are even recommended by most email marketing consultants).

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    Latest Update: Like email marketing? Read my latest comparison between MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip for 2017! Read more.

    [/feature_box]

    We will go through everything you need to know about AWeber, including the advantages and disadvantages of using AWeber for business owners.

    aweber review 2017

    What is AWeber?

    Until date, AWeber is one of the most popular email marketing and autoresponder tools for business owners and bloggers alike.

    AWeber got its fame in the email marketing world because it offers excellent pricing, features, templates, interface and customer support.

     

    AWeber Review: What are the features of AWeber

    I’m planning to make this post as the best AWeber review, and therefore, I want this post to be as informative as possible. This post on AWeber review is more than 2,400 words and therefore, feel free to bookmark this for future reference!

    AWeber is a full-fledged email marketing and automation tool and here are the complete (yes, C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E) features that it offers:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Campaigns
    • Autoresponder Follow Up
    • Expert Customer Service
    • Subscriber Segmenting
    • Sign Up Forms with Style
    • Email Newsletters
    • RSS to Email
    • Drag-And-Drop Editor
    • HTML Email Templates
    • App Showcase
    • Manage Subscribers
    • Email Delivery Rates
    • Email Marketing Tracking
    • AWeber Stats App
    • Atom App
    • Email Marketing API

    [/bullet_block]

    Phew, that’s a huge list of 16 email marketing and automation tools that will skyrocket your email marketing strategy.

    No wonder why email marketing consultants always recommend AWeber, right?

     

    1. Creating Campaigns Using AWeber

    [button_3 text=”get-started-its-free.png” align=”center” href=”https://www.reginaldchan.net/recommends/aweber/”/]

    What I love about AWeber is the ability to automate your emails.

    But wait! You probably heard that AWeber can’t do email automation like that.

    Yes, you are right, but that was AWeber back in 2016. AWeber is now able to perform email automation and do all the excellent tagging you always wished.

    The new AWeber sleek drag and drop editor will be the only thing you ever need when it comes to email automation.

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    Through statistics, click through rates (CTR) for automated emails are up to 35% higher than broadcasts. So, segmenting and automating your emails will be an effective strategy in building long-lasting relationships with your email subscribers.

    [/feature_box]

    When you use AWeber, you are no longer creating normal, boring email campaigns. With the inbuilt email automation by AWeber, you can not only schedule emails sequence based on time, but you can also create powerful action-based segmenting!

    Here are three important email marketing strategies that you can use with AWeber (even though there are probably hundreds of them that you can build yourself):

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Welcome campaign
    • Educational campaign
    • Linking one campaign to another

    [/bullet_block]

    NOTE: You can add elements like autoresponder emails and wait times, and set criteria for when someone starts a campaign.

     

    2. Autoresponder Follow Up

    Make no mistakes; AWeber email automation tool is powerful, and can skyrocket your email marketing to new heights.

    AWeber autoresponder follows up sequence, you can:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Save a lot of time
    • Build relationships that last
    • Increase engagements and more importantly
    • Making the great first impression

    [/bullet_block]

    Not only that, you can tag your email subscribers based on the actions they have taken. This ensures that you are growing your email lists and reduce the chances that your email goes into the spam folder and improve your unsubscribing rate as well!

     

    3. Customer Support

    AWeber customer support is good. At any point in time where you need help, you can fire up a question, and they are they to help out (unlike other AWeber competitors).

    Here’s what you need to know about AWeber customer support level:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Just a call or click away
    • Availability of knowledge base
    • Weekly and monthly email marketing guides
    • Constant updates on AWeber’s blog

    [/bullet_block]

    Current awards that AWeber had are:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”69.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • 2017 Stevie (Bronze) Winner for Sales & Customer Service
    • 2016 Stevie (Gold) Winner for Sales & Customer Service
    • 2015 Service Team of the Year Runner-Up, NCSA All-Stars

    [/bullet_block]

    aweber testimonial

     

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    BONUS: Click here and try AWeber for 30-days free (no credit card required).

    [/feature_box]

     

    4. Subscriber Segmenting

    Segmenting is important because you want to send the right message to them, at the right time.

    Always remember that segmenting ensures they only receive content that is relevant to their needs. As a result, you have more engaged readers, better click-through rates, and more sales.

    Here are a few ways you can segment your email subscribers based on their activities:

    aweber segmenting

     

    5. Email Sign Up Forms

    Let’s face this. You want to attract more subscribers to your email lists with sign up forms that look great on any device.

    Need to grow your email list? AWeber can help!

    AWeber comes with over 700 ready-to-use templates which make it easy to create professional sign up forms for your online business in minutes.

    With AWeber, you can:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Add forms to your website, blog or Facebook with just a few clicks
    • Get more eyes on your emails
    • Easily use matching colour schemes and forms that look good on any device
    • Test your forms using AWeber inbuilt A/B testing

    [/bullet_block]

     

    6. State-Of-The-Art Email Newsletter Software

    Do you want to have an email newsletter software that connects you with your readers, and ultimately transforming them into die-hard fans?

    I bet you do!

    With AWeber, you can deliver the best email newsletters with just a few clicks.

    Want to know why I recommend AWeber for all my clients?

    [step_graphics style=”1″ color=””][step style=”1″ text=”1″ headline=”Segment%20Your%20List”]%3Cp%3ESegment%20your%20list%20based%20on%20people%20who%20read%20your%20last%20email%20or%20re-engage%20people%20who%20didn%E2%80%99t.%20It%E2%80%99s%20the%20simplest%20way%20to%20make%20sure%20the%20right%20people%20get%20the%20right%20messages.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A[/step][step style=”1″ text=”2″ headline=”Create%20Your%20Message”]%3Cp%3EDrag%2C%20drop%20and%20edit%20-%20with%20AWeber%E2%80%99s%20email%20newsletter%20software%2C%20there%20is%20no%20design%20or%20coding%20experience%20required.%20Need%20images%3F%20We%E2%80%99ve%20got%20more%20than%206%2C000%20to%20choose%20from.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A[/step][step style=”1″ text=”3″ headline=”Send%20AWesome%20Emails”]%3Cp%3EWe%20provide%20all%20the%20analytics%20you%20need%20to%20track%20your%20emails’%20success.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A[/step][step style=”1″ text=”4″ headline=”Use%20a%20Template”]%3Cp%3EChoose%20from%20over%20700%20free%20newsletter%20templates%2C%20plug%20in%20your%20content%20and%20go.%20Need%20something%20extra%20special%3F%20We%20can%20build%20you%20a%20custom%20template%20too.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A[/step][/step_graphics]

    Yes, you read it right. The benefits of using AWeber is very clear. You have INSTANT ACCESS to over 6,000 stock images and 700 free newsletter templates.

    And AWeber allows you to integrate easily with your social media accounts!

    email newsletter automation software

     

    7. RSS to Email

    Email marketing is a great way to boost readership but do you know why so many bloggers and business owners fail to achieve that?

    They are not using the right email marketing software! A good email marketing software allows you to email blog articles directly from your website.

    When you use AWeber, you can transform your most recent posts into a newsletter for your readers. And the best part, it is done automatically!

    All you need is to hook up your RSS link to AWeber, and the rest are all taken cared of!

    The technology that AWeber has allows you to broadcast email newsletter from all major blogs, regardless of the blog software you are using.

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    Do you know that the easiest way to keep your subscribers updated with blog content is through email automation? Sign up for free 30-days unlimited access to AWeber and skyrocket your blog traffic today!

    [/feature_box]

     

    8. Drag-And-Drop Editor

    Drag, drop and send. How easy can that be?

    Creating professional looking emails from scratch is easy. With the drag-and-drop editor, you no longer need to code and build your email templates.

    A task that would take a few hours to complete could not be completed in just a few clicks.

    Here is a few features of AWeber email marketing software:

    aweber review 2017

     

    9. HTML Email Templates

    We receive hundreds of emails a day, and one of the best ways to make your email stand out is by making it memorable.

    In this case, you wouldn’t want to send those plain text email. You want to send them using a standard email template that is customized specifically for you!

    But here’s the thing. It is expensive to do one (apart from nerve-wracking with all the coding works).

    When you use AWeber, you are going to benefit in terms of time saving and professional email template designs.

    For starters, there are over 700 HTML email templates that you can choose from, ranging from 1-column, 2-column and yes, even plain text you’re a die-hard fan of those.

    There are also many color themes that you can use to match your website, and this is crucial. You want to brand your email marketing campaigns with the signup forms and even emails.

    With AWeber, all of the above are achievable at no cost to you!

    And if you are coming from another email marketing software or have your custom design in mind, you can upload it directly to AWeber.

    custom email templates AWeber

     

    10. App Showcase

    Do you have landing pages and shopping carts that you want to connect to your email marketing software?

    You can do it easily with AWeber.

    There are hundreds of different integration that you can use with AWeber, including:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Facebook
    • WordPress
    • LeadPages
    • PayPal
    • Launch Effect
    • Cyfe
    • Dasheroo
    • Drupal
    • Heyo
    • Short Stack
    • Rafflecopter
    • Gleam
    • Clickbank
    • Etsy
    • Shopify
    • Magento
    • 2Checkout
    • SumoMe
    • OptimizePress
    • aMember Pro
    • Member Mouse
    • Zendesk

    [/bullet_block]

     

    11. Manage Subscribers

    Do you wish to collect, manage and segmenting your subscribers with just a snap?

    With AWeber, everything you need to build a healthy email list is available at your disposal, under one roof.

    You can build your custom forms, tracking your subscriber’s activity and action, segmenting your list or even moving your list from other email marketing services to AWeber can be done easily.

    When I wanted to move my email list from GetResponse to AWeber, it took me under 15 minutes to completely import the lists. There was no need of support as it is just that simple!

    aweber review

     

    12. Email Delivery Rates

    Email delivery rates are vital and seriously, make no mistakes from this.

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    The ultimate goal is to get more eyes on your emails, and this can only be done when your email marketing software can deliver emails timely and accurately.

    [/feature_box]

    How good is AWeber delivery rates?

    I would say it is excellent, and probably as high as 99.99%. With a good and clean list, you are pretty much able to get perfect delivery rates with AWeber.

    And if you ever need help (which you certainly will somewhere down the road), AWeber regularly provide insider updates to ensure that you stay on top of the frequent changes that will affect your email marketing and delivery rates.

    Plus, easy to read analytics will make sure that you know what’s going on under the hood, any time of the day!

    AWeber Delivery Rates

     

    13. Email Tracking and Analytics

    Ask any email marketing consultants (not marketers), and they will tell you that the only way to grow your email marketing is by understanding the analyticsSeriously.

    Over the past decade, I’ve been helping business owners come in terms when email marketing; more specifically, helping them with email marketing consultancy.

    One of the biggest concerns for business owners, entrepreneurs and bloggers is to understand the analytics. Strong understanding of email analytics will help you to:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”28.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Send better emails (emails that get open and read)
    • Make more sales (raise your hands if you doesn’t like $$$)
    • Drive traffic to your website
    • Target (and understand) your audience based on their actions

    [/bullet_block]

    Sending emails is always the first part of email marketing. The second part is to analyze the results. Finally, you will know how you can maximize and make more sales!

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    Important tip: If you want to start getting your emails read and ultimately achieve your business goals, start analyzing your email marketing results. You should start analyzing the results of your email after a few days of sending the email.

    [/feature_box]

     

    14. Check stats via mobile (AWeber Stats App)

    According to statistics, we spend more time with mobile devices than anything else on the planet. Therefore, it makes all the sense that you are concerned about your email marketing strategy.

    When you use AWeber, you can easily download the AWeber app on Apple App Store and Google Play.

    What you’ll get would be:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”55.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Check scheduled broadcasts
    • View your subscribers stats
    • Watch email opens and clicks rate on real-time
    • Keep tabs on follow ups / messages

    [/bullet_block]

    With this feature, you can now gain a holistic view of your campaign that gives you up-to-the-minute stats on scheduled broadcasts, sent messages, subscriber activity and followed up messages.

     

    15. Atom App

    Now, hold on! AWeber also comes with Atom App which works as a mobile signup form that allows you to add new subscribers to your email list while you are on the go.

    The magic starts when you successfully add the email subscribers to a list. For starters, they will automatically receive your first follow-up message immediately. As a result, you are not going to (ever) leave a new subscriber hanging and instead, creating the opportunity to connect with them instantly!

     

    16. Email Marketing API

    This. Is. Geeky. Stuffs.

    When you use AWeber, you can easily integrate applications easily with AWeber’s API.

    As AWeber is one of the best email marketing software in the market, the company has created ‘AWeber Labs’ where you can set up and find apps to integrate with AWeber.

    For beginners, you will 100% enjoy it since it is free to create a developer account and right after that, you’ll have unrestricted access to all the information you need to start building your first app!

     

    AWeber Review: Features (Recap)

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    If I would sum it in one sentence, I would say that AWeber is a great email marketing software that provides flexibility and tons of features for its users.

    [/feature_box]

    When it comes to email marketing software features, AWeber is very much at the top of the crop because it provides features that are high in quality and more importantly, reliable.

     

    AWeber Review: How Much Does AWeber Costs?

    According to AWeber, anyone can succeed with email marketing for less than a few lattes a month. 

    AWeber costs $19 per month, for up to 500 subscribers and unlimited emails.

    For $19 a month, you’ll get:

    [bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”1.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • Email experts who are available 24/7/365 to help you with email marketing
    • Easy-to-use tools to create high converting emails and sign up forms
    • Industry-leading deliverability
    • State-of-the-art email automation system

    [/bullet_block]

    Here are a full list of features, as well as the different email marketing plans to fit your needs:

    aweber pricing

    Even one of my close contact, John Corcoran has nothing but excellent AWeber review:

    how good is AWeber (Aweber review)

    AWeber plans are very flexible and if you are starting out, consider using the lowest plan for a trial run.

    And if you are looking for some AWeber discounts, going for quarterly and annual billing option will just do the trick!

     

    AWeber Review 2017: Why Email Marketing Consultants Are Recommending AWeber?

    When it comes to email marketing software, AWeber is one of the best in the market. Affordability and reliable, AWeber is one of the best I have ever used for both business and blogging. Email marketing consultants are recommending AWeber simply because it is really easy to use and extremely reliable.

    I totally understand that AWeber may/may not be the best fit for you. If you are having trouble deciding or committing on AWeber, AWeber is offering a free 30-days trial. All you need to do is to click on this link and start sending emails today!

    Try AWeber out and take it a spin for a full 30-days. If it doesn’t fit, just cancel the account at no cost to you.

    BONUS: AWeber 30-days free trial doesn’t limit you on email marketing. It comes with full access to all features, just like having a paid account.

  • How To Make Money With Email List

    How To Make Money With Email List

    Do you know that most of the articles you find on the Internet on ‘how to make money with email list‘ actually teaches you nonsense?

    Forgive me for my rant, but I think that it is about time where someone stands up and put some serious facts on using the email list to put real money into your bank account.

    For starters, there are just too many articles telling you how to make money using email list, but I realized they missed some seriously, crucial factors in it.

    Now, don’t take my word for it. To justify the matter, take a moment to think about this.

    Are you making $100 a month from your email list?

    If the answer is ‘yes,’ you probably know what you are doing, and you can safely skip this post. However, you may want to continue reading to find some quick hacks to double your income generated from the email list.

    If your answer is ‘no,’ please carry on reading and bookmark this! I promise you that you will find a lot of beneficial information from this post and it doesn’t take you more than 10 minutes.

    how to make money with email list

    1-minute recap: What you should know about building an email list?

    Everyone who has a blog or website need to build an email list. While most email services providers charge you money, there are some who are offering free accounts such as MailChimp and Benchmark Email.

    An email list goes a long way because he will help you generate money in a long run. Of course, more on how to make money with an email list is after this little segment.

    Building an email list is also important because it is going to help you connect with your audience. You will connect with them in more ways than just psychological emotions with them, especially when your posts and writing resonate with them.

    The result from this will be explosive:

    [bullet_block large_icon=”0.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • They are going to help you boost your traffic
    • They will share your content if they love them
    • They are going to be your friends
    • They are going to be your loyal fans
    • They are going to look for you when they face challenges (usually within your niche)
    • They are going to trust you so much that, they will buy anything you promote to them!

    [/bullet_block]

    Ladies and gentlemen, these are the exact reasons why you should build an email list.

    How to make money with email list?

    The million dollar question that you can find over a thousand tutorials on the Internet but yet, only a handful make money with email list.

    The problem is fairly simple.

    [bullet_block large_icon=”19.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • It is NOT because you are not using a paid email service provider
    • It is NOT because you have a small email list
    • It is NOT because you are not sending weekly newsletter
    • It is NOT because you are not using an autoresponder
    • It is NOT because you are using a free email service provider

    [/bullet_block]

    And the answer is this.

    The simplest way to make money with email list

    Segment your email list.

    Yes, you read that right. If you want to generate real money from the email list, you need to start to segment your email list.

    The biggest mistake you can ever do is to put everyone on the same email list. Here is a simple way to segment your email list:

    [bullet_block large_icon=”61.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]

    • General newsletter – Everyone goes in here once they sign up for your email newsletter
    • Segment 1 – People with specific interest (example content marketing) only
    • Segment 2 – People with specific interest (example social media) only
    • Segment 3 – People with specific interest (example search engine) only

    [/bullet_block]

    When you send a weekly newsletter, send them by batches based on the segments. So, each newsletter can easily be custom made and be extremely focused on topics they interest them the most.

    Do you know what happens when you do the above?

    1. You will have low unsubscribing rate (with Google loves)
    2. You can send highly targeted emails to the right audience which improves with click-through rate (CTR in short)
    3. You resonate with your email subscribers and this build trust

    Now, imagine doing this.

    You send weekly emails to all these segments trying to provide tons of value. As a result, they love it and thank you for them.

    Then, once every month, you send a newsletter that has some promotional items in it. For example, you can promote online courses, recommending an affiliate product or even upselling your services.

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    Takeaway: Because there are a deep trust and understanding between you and your email subscribers, they are not going to be pissed off with you. Instead, they might even thank you for the promotional email and make some purchases!

    [/feature_box]

    What’s next is simply, cha-ching!

    How to start segmenting your email list?

    how to segment email list

    Most free email service provider such as MailChimp doesn’t provide you with tons of options for segmenting. At least, in the point of view of a complete non-developer.

    If you are interested to know the method to create tags using MailChimp, here’s an excellent article found on their knowledge base. Read more here.

    The easier way is to create multiple signup forms and lists on MailChimp. This step allows you to send traffic to the right signup forms and ultimately helping you to segment your target audience.

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    Important tip: Do not compile all your email subscribers under one email list!

    [/feature_box]

    When you are sending your newsletter, make sure that you create different types of email based on your segment and always avoid recycling!

    Bonus: Should you use email automation to make money with email list?

    Yes, if you can afford it.

    [feature_box style=”8″ only_advanced=”There%20are%20no%20title%20options%20for%20the%20choosen%20style” alignment=”center”]

    What is email automation?

    According to BigCommerce, email automation is the most effective way to engage in email marketing because it enables you to send out messages to your customers at designated times. … Using automation, they can save time by setting up the email platform to send messages when customers take specific actions.

    [/feature_box]

    There are many email automation services that you can choose from in the market, but most of them cost above $15 a month. And I totally get it!

    As a blogger or content writer, you might think that email automation system just adds more weight to your monthly budget.

    I had the same mindset as well, and with having over 2,000 email subscribers, it gets pricey very fast. Recently, I move from a prominent email automation system to ActiveCampaign.

    The result? I’m surprised!

    Let me share with you some details here about ActiveCampaign. It comes with a free trial of 30 days which you can try out (using this link), and that’s not yet the kicker since every email marketing solution in the world provides that.

    The kicker was the value and the price. For only $9 a month, you get a complete email automation system and trust me, a good email automation costs a lot more than $9!

    • GetResponse starts at $15 a month
    • AWeber starts at $19 a month
    • ConvertKit starts at $29 a month

    And yes, I was surprised and tested it out (thanks to my curiosity nature).

    Here’s what you need to try on Active Campaign using their free trial.

    1. Create an email list

    how to create email list on active campaign?

    2. Import contacts to the email list you have just created

    import contacts into activecampaign

    You can either upload a CSV file using the default button (green button) or manually add into Active Campaign.

    It would take around a few minutes to upload the contacts.

    3. Create an automation for your email list

    Create Automation on ActiveCampaign

    The above is the drag and drop automation system found on ActiveCampaign. You can choose from several pre-made templates or you can create one from scratch.

    Why did I choose Active Campaign?

    The email automation system is so powerful that I can easily create proven automation without creating one from scratch.

    What?!

    Yes, Active Campaign thought about this and kudos to them. I don’t have hours to create a good sales funnel, and this is exactly what Active Campaign does for me. It gives me some awesome pre-made templates, and I can easily duplicate them into my email list.

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    The results: 100+ hours of time-saving (testing, modification, and A/B testing), 30% of improving results, 90% of satisfaction for my email subscribers, 25% improved in revenue generated from the email list.

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    Now, go figure!

    Quick Guide: How to use Active Campaign tagging feature and make money with email list

    Tagging works when email subscribers perform a specific task. In this case, it can be clicking on a link in the email, being subscribed to a newsletter or being added to a new email list.

    Here’s a quick GIF on how to use Active Campaign tagging feature.

    active campaign tagging feature

    Once the above is done, you’ll find email subscribers that are tagged accordingly based on their preferences or journey in your sales funnel.

    tagging email subscribers

    You can find the tags allocated to each email subscriber when you check on their profile.

    Summary

    I hope you find the guide, ‘How to make money with email list’ useful and do tell me what you think about it. Feel free to reach out to me if you need help and looking forward to seeing you in the comment section below!

  • ConvertKit vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Solution #60DaysBloggingChallenge Day 4

    ConvertKit vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Solution #60DaysBloggingChallenge Day 4

    ConvertKit vs MailChimp.

    In today’s #60DaysBloggingChallenge, I’m going to compare two powerful email marketing services, ConvertKit and MailChimp.

    Before I start, I would like to highlight that I’ve been using MailChimp (paid account) for over three years before finally moving over to ConvertKit in September 2016.

    So, here’s the layout of this article. I’ll be starting off with a brief introduction of ConvertKit and MailChimp, followed by a summary of their advantages and disadvantages. I certainly hope that you find this comparison, ConvertKit vs MailChimp useful and please share this post around on social media.

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    BONUS: Like email marketing? Read my latest comparison between MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip for 2017! Read more.

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    CONTINUE READING