I frequently hear the question, “What’s the best way to approach email marketing?”

As you contemplate the answer, remember this:

• Certainly, there has never been a time more dripping with opportunities than right now for the average person with an internet connection. The whole world is your market, no matter what you want to sell. The World Wide Web is a sparkling treasure chest for those who are willing to work and learn.
• Unfortunately, the internet is also full of slithering gurus who are very convincing in their presentation that their new, magic blueprint will make you rich in days. These people leave a taste in my mouth like a bad tooth. How many hopes and dreams have their outlandish promises broken? If you haven’t succeeded yet online, take heart. It’s not your fault.
• Seemingly, this whole internet business process is way too complicated for the average person. In truth, the complexity has been removed with modern software. How sweet it is! If you suspect that it has been that way for a while, you are right on the money.
• If you are like most people, you are filled with anxiety, worry and fear about striking out on your own on the internet leaving you shaking in a cold rain of doubt. If so, take a deep, soothing breath and relax. Lay back in your favorite recliner and take it easy.
• We are about to blow away the guru smoke screens and take solid aim at the things that might be stopping you from taking your first tentative step into the magnificent world of online business.

A short story will illustrate how the 4 step email marketing system works.

Step 1: It is advised that you build your online business around something you love or something you are expert in. Elaine’s passion is small dogs like her little Chihuahua named Pickles.

She builds a site based on Chihuahuas and has done an excellent job. The pages on the site are full of free information for her visitors to gain information from. She has sections on Chihuahua nutrition, common Chihuahua diseases, sadly a page on Chihuahua “In Memoriams” and so forth.

Elaine has completed step 1. You can’t have a business online without a great content site. Nobody likes a site where everything is up for sale or some new “special” is announced.

Step 2: The search engines have been watching her site closely. They see that people that go to her site tend to stay a long time, they review many pages and frequently click on her links.

They reward her efforts with an ever growing supply of free (organic) traffic. This is where the money is. You just can’t beat focused, organic traffic.

Step 3: Her information rich pages convince her visitors that she is an expert in every facet of Chihuahuas. They love the way she has put the site together and are fascinated by some Chihuahua stories she sprinkles in here and there.

This is called preselling. Just by the sheer quality of her content, the visitors know she is the Chihuahua person to go to.

Step 4: Elaine, of course, wants to make money and she doesn’t want to risk a bank loan to get inventory to sell. She learns about affiliate marketing and quickly becomes an affiliate for the millions of items to be sold at Amazon, she becomes an affiliate for a company that makes really good quality Chihuahua clothes and also has links on her site to affiliate programs at a dog training and grooming company specializing in “how to” videos.

Sadly, she is getting tons of traffic, she has done everything right yet few people buy anything. After doing a lot of research, she stumbles upon a piece of research that Google did and it floors her.

My 4 Step Email Marketing System:

Their study shows that the average buyer on the internet visits a site 7 times before actually buying. No wonder she isn’t making any money!

Our Elaine is not one to give up. Further research shows her that email marketing is the only way for her to go. She sets things up on her site and waits.

This is what is different now. Many people still come to her site, they still spend a lot of time, but instead of just leaving, she has several ways to offer her visitors a little bribe for their email address.

Elaine has a opt-in box that offers an excellent free eBook on Chihuahua organic health foods and recipes. All she asks for is their email address and their permission to send them a newsletter every week or two.

Her offer is tempting so quite a high percentage of her visitors sign up. After all, they want the eBook and they can always unsubscribe after if they choose.

Elaine decides to send out her newsletter every week. She is elated that few people unsubscribe. She loves sharing her knowledge about her little furry friends and she gets great feed back from her email list.

She always includes a little plug for the latest sale item on her site or something new she has added. Before long, people start buying. Her income increases as her list grows. Her first time visitors still don’t buy more than before, but many sign up and soon become regular customers.

This is what email marketing is all about. Building trust. When people leave Elaine their email address, they are giving her permission to come and visit them through their inbox.

She no longer wonders why first time buyers rarely buy nor does she care because now she knows the truth and has learned to overcome what, at first seemed like an insurmountable obstacle.

How sweet it is for her to make her living from her kitchen table, surrounded by the smell of fresh cut grass wafting in through the window, bread baking in her oven, her favorite coffee by her side and Pickles snoring contentedly by her feet!