Email marketing revisited: Is it still worth it in 2020?

From the very origins of email, marketers have seen the potential of using the medium of email to spread their messages across and convert general audiences from mass consumers to specific customers of the company's products and services without any need to even leave their seats. 

Fast forward to the turn of the millennium with the development of faster internet speeds and 3G mobile communications heralding a 'golden age' for tech companies from San Francisco to Shanghai, companies found like never before how powerful email marketing could potentially be. An explosion of new companies emerged harnessing email along with ancillary support companies like internet marketing, search engine optimization and online consultancies. 

We previously discussed in an earlier post regarding the merits of email marketing (The Power of Email Marketing) and how it can be used to convert leads to actual customers in order to 'close' the sales funnel.

A few telling statistics from GetResponse recently reveals that despite what many think, email marketing is definitely not dead - rather, still as crucial as it was years ago.

Every day, 294 billion emails are sent daily - with Gmail by far being the dominator - with more than 425 million ACTIVE users. 

As for marketing products and services through email, an amazing 82% of respondents mentioned they opened mails from companies and spend 138% more than those who do not receive any promotional mails. Out of the same group, 44% mentioned that they purchased at least once from a promotional mail. 

The infographic mentions a few important pointers for companies and internet marketers to be cognizant of. Namely, you need to make your emails more engaging by limiting the word counts, 'spicing up' the subject line, personalizing the mails (ideally by actually mentioning the respondent's name!), and using the correct keywords and time slots for email sending.

You should also be aware of applying certain psychological devices like using odd numbers, question numbers, personal pronouns (you, your), percentages and scarcity.

Lastly, your aim should be to get your mailing list to actually read and respond to your messages by making your messages as short and to the point as possible, compatible with smartphone/tab screen viewing and always aim for a personal touch to your emails to be as "human" as possible!

The bottom line is that email marketing remains a staple of most online (and even offline) companies' budgets despite the prominence of more "softer" methods of inbound marketing which leverage the power of pull marketing attracting customers towards the company rather than the other way around.

Review: Leveraging Leverage

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

- Archimedes

This is the first post on this blog in ages. Already I feel like I'm fighting off the spider webs that have amassed since we've been gone!

During our sojourn, we've done a lot of soul searching and gone through that 'midlife crisis' phase only to return back to our origin - that is, writing about freelancing and marketing. We will also start to write more about other topics too - including personal finance, economics and self development. 

Our first article on this new arena will be an e-book review on the book 'Leveraging Leverage' which is available at Amazon Kindle. We have always been staunch believers of personal development and aggressively watch the latest YouTube videos on anything having to remotely deal with self improvement and gain. That's why when we read this book, we felt it touched a nerve and really connected with us in another level.

Without getting into too much detail, the premise of this book is quite simple - since the dawn of civilization, humans have always strived to use the concept of leverage wherever they could - from inventing the first manual levers to lift heavy objects otherwise impossible to carry - to devising complex but convenient financial tools like mortgages, margin trading and IPOs - all in an effort to harness the power of leverage. 

After a long time, Frontier Freelancing is finally back!

It has been a long time coming. Strangely, we have COVID-19 to thank us for getting 'back on the saddle' and writing again due to the extra free time.

Keep on the lookout for fresh content touching on all areas of freelancing, marketing and general business in the coming days!

Till then, we wish you all safety and security in these challenging times!

Best Regards,

Red

The Power of Email Marketing

One of the most important and powerful tools in internet marketing is no doubt email marketing. According to Litmus, at least 91% of consumers check their mails EVERY day. What's more, Hubspot claims that email marketing is the third best most effective channel for lead generation for marketers in 2013 - producing 13% of all leads.

The various benefits of using email marketing for business include:

• To generate new leads and prospects (offer them incentives and information)
• To convert leads into customers (conversion success rates range from 5-20%)
• To increase website traffic (with plenty of inbound links within emails)
• Retain existing customers (by keeping them entertained)
• Cross-sell and up-sell your other products and services (through tie-ins, bundles, special offers, etc.)
• Build up your brands and reputation (through authoritative content and information)
• And to educate and enlighten

Email marketing is also not to mention a very cost-effective and convenient means of promotion. The ROI from email marketing is

Ten Steps to Kickstarting Your Affiliate Marketing Career

A new year means new possibilities.

Let's face it, all of us want to be rich. We also want to have sufficient time to spend with our family and friends and feel a sense of independence. No one in their right mind would 'dream' to work away their entire lives cramped in an office only to be under-appreciated in the end with a meager pension and a bent back after years of confinement.

For many, entering into affiliate marketing programs presents the possibility of achieving their financial dreams. It's in fact an even more lucrative way to earn money than freelancing. Not only can you comfortably work from home without having to go out and slave away in some cubicle, but you are your own boss and decide how much or how less you want to work per day or week. Theoretically, you can work as little as a few hours a week and still make hundreds to thousands of dollars per month doing what you love!



But before you can start earning easy money, you have to first follow a few essential (and necessary) steps:

1. Research

Before doing anything else, you have to research your idea first. Pick a niche market or