Email Marketing Strategies for Your Business or Side Hustle

This episode, “Email Marketing Strategies for Your Business or Side Hustle,” is the ninth in the mini-series entitled “Generating Leads—the highest quality for your business.” You can access the entire series on The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday website by going there directly and clicking on CONTENT or through a link in the show notes.

If you are not already familar with my voice, I’m Rabbi Dave, and welcome to today’s episode about mastering email marketing strategies to help you reach your ultimate goal of living your #dreamlife. This episode will focus on email marketing tips for all types of businesses, including side hustles. 

Discover how to build and segment your email list, create compelling content, and utilize automation tools to enhance your marketing efforts. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting, this episode will equip you with the knowledge to boost engagement and drive sales through effective email marketing.

My Email Marketing Strategies Story

When email marketing was still in the pioneering phase and became difficult because of spam filters, I wondered how the spammers delivered their emails through or past these technical roadblocks into people’s inboxes. Some of what I learned was valuable, even from people who employed questionable methods.

It’s important to remember that you can learn from almost everyone. For instance, spammers knew the words that triggered spam blockers, and avoiding them made my emails more effective.

Subject lines need to get a prospect’s attention. But how? One way was to share information in the subject line that I could only have if it came from them. For example, by confirming their first name or the name of the company they represented or even asking if the phone number I had for them was correct, the email open reply rates were much higher.

Nowadays, I don’t recommend employing those techniques, but it got their attention back then! 

I created an extremely effective system that broke all the sales records for the company I was representing. However, avoiding spam filters meant that some of the sentences in my emails didn’t contain the words I would typically use, making my emails a little odd.

One of the corporate big shots discovered I was doing this and told me how surprised he was at me.  He felt it was beneath me to write sentences that were not grammatically correct and forced me to stop using the techniques that avoided spam filters. That was the end of my very effective system!  

The story’s moral is if it works, even if it is a little odd, don’t fix it!

Key Benefits of Email Marketing for Businesses and Side Hustles

Email marketing provides a high return on investment (ROI), often outperforming other marketing channels. Why? The expensive portion of marketing—ads, trade shows, or manually collecting customer and prospect email addresses—happens before emails get sent.

According to studies, businesses can expect an average return of $42 for every dollar spent on email marketing. Why is it so effective? With email marketing, the subject and body of the email can contain personalized content that resonates with the recipient.

By segmenting email lists using various criteria, the sender can send emails to specific audience segments, significantly increasing engagement and conversion rates. 

Another significant benefit of email marketing is building strong customer relationships. Regular, relevant communication helps maintain top-of-mind awareness and fosters loyalty among customers.

Strategies for Growing Your Email List Ethically

Using ethical strategies to build your email list is crucial for maintaining a positive reputation and ensuring compliance with regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the CAN-SPAM Act. One effective strategy is to offer valuable incentives in exchange for email addresses, such as exclusive discounts, free resources like e-books or webinars, or entry into a prize drawing.

A resource that I recommend is a book by Smiling Steve called The Free Cheese Secret. In that book, the “free cheese” represents the giveaway, whether a service, a physical product, or an electronic one. You can download the first 12 chapters of that book by visiting the homepage of SmilingSteve.com and clicking on the image of the book.

Another strategy is creating engaging content that encourages visitors to subscribe, such as blog posts, newsletters, or special reports. It’s also essential to make the sign-up process straightforward and transparent, clearly explaining what subscribers can expect. Additionally, leveraging social media platforms to promote your email list can attract followers to subscribe. Ensuring that all email acquisition methods are permission-based and providing easy opt-out options will help build a high-quality, engaged email list.

Crafting Compelling Emails

The subject line is the first thing recipients see. It should be concise, relevant, and intriguing to grab the recipient’s attention and give them a reason to open the email. 

Some tips for writing effective subject lines include using action verbs, personalizing the message with the recipient’s name, and creating a sense of urgency or curiosity. For instance, a subject line like “Unlock Your Exclusive 20% Discount Today!” is more compelling than a generic “Special Offer Inside.” Along with the subject line, the preview text—often the first few lines of your email that appear in the inbox preview—should complement and enhance the subject line. This text provides additional context and entices the recipient to open the email, so make it engaging and relevant.

Begin with a strong opening line that hooks the reader and conveys the email’s purpose. Use concise, compelling language and break up the text with subheadings, bullet points, and images to make it easily scannable. Personalization is critical; tailor the content to the recipient’s preferences and behaviors to increase relevance. Additionally, a clear call-to-action (CTA) directs readers on what to do next, whether purchasing, reading a blog post, linking or commentating on your content, or signing up for an event. 

When it comes to email design, ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, as a significant portion of emails get opened on mobile devices. Use a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes, much as you would with a website. Keep images small for fast loading and make click-through CTAs if possible. 

Following these best practices will help create emails that look great and drive engagement and conversions.

List Segmentation and Personalization

Segmentation is dividing your email list into distinct groups based on specific criteria to ensure that your emails are relevant to the recipients, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversions. Yes, that last line is a mouthful, but segmentation works.

Using list segmentation will improve open and click-through rates, reduce unsubscribe rates, and enhance customer satisfaction. 

What criteria should you use for List Segmentation? There are many options, including, but not limited to, demographics (age, gender, location), behavior (purchase history, browsing activity), and engagement levels (frequency of interaction with your emails). 

For example, a segment of high-engagement users might receive exclusive offers. In contrast, new subscribers receive an email welcome series to familiarize them with your brand and build rapport, using a technique often called Building Know, Like, and Trust.

Use customer data to personalize by their first name, recommend products based on past purchases, and send birthday or anniversary messages with special offers. You can use dynamic content to show different product recommendations to various users. A well-known example is Amazon’s recommendation emails, which are highly personalized based on the user’s browsing and purchase history, driving significant sales and customer engagement.

Automation and Email Drip Campaigns

Automated email software with predefined triggers or schedules (such as signing up for a newsletter, purchase recommendations, or reminders that they abandoned a shopping cart and did not complete a purchase) delivers timely, relevant messages to subscribers without consuming time. Automation enhances efficiency and consistency in communication, ensuring that emails are sent at optimal times and allowing for personalized messaging at scale. 

Drip campaigns are a series of automated emails that nurture prospects and guide them through the sales funnel. They can be used to onboard new subscribers, recover abandoned shopping carts, or re-engage inactive customers. 

Think of a welcome series beginning with an introduction to your brand, then a tour of your best products, and then a special discount offer. An abandoned cart sequence could start with a reminder email, followed by a message highlighting the benefits of the abandoned product, and ending with a limited-time discount to encourage purchase. Re-engagement campaigns can rekindle interest by offering exclusive deals or showcasing new arrivals. 

Testing to Improve Your Email Marketing Strategies

Test and Optimize Your Campaigns: Continuously test different elements of your emails, such as subject lines, content, design, and send times. Use A/B testing to determine what works best for your audience. Monitor key metrics like open and click-through rates, as well as conversion rates, to evaluate performance and make data-driven improvements.

Weekly Podcast Challenge

We hope you’re excited to take your email marketing to the next level with the strategies we’ve discussed today. Start implementing these practical steps—grow and segment your list, craft compelling and personalized content, optimize for mobile, and leverage automation to nurture your audience. Remember, continuous testing and optimization are crucial to success.

Choose one step and share your progress with me through social media using our dedicated hashtag #richrabbichallenge, or email me with your updates—I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for tuning in to The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday. If you found value in today’s episode, subscribe for more insights and strategies to help you thrive. And don’t forget to share this episode with a friend or colleague who could benefit from “Email Marketing Strategies for Your Business or Side Hustle.” Our next episode will be the 10th in our mini-series about generating leads on Building a Personal Brand.

Visit my website, https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com, to access content-rich articles, including guidance and tips on living the dream life.

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