Second in the series of “Scaling without Failing on a Teeny-Tiny Budget,” Jen Pilcher will share her tried and true email list and e-newsletter building strategies. Email list building and e-newsletter distribution are vital to the growth of your company both with your customer base and monetizing this asset for revenue opportunities. **Confession from Jen – I would rather throw my computer out of the window than create the e-newsletter; however, I know it’s a necessity – so if this sounds like you, please join me on how to keep your sanity and have some fun while scaling your list on a teeny-tiny budget.

1. Building a Revenue
Generating E-Newsletter
On a Teeny Tiny Budget
Presented by, Jen Pilcher, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer,
MilitaryOneClick, LLC

2. The Real Title
How to create an
e-newsletter for people
who can’t stand creating
e-newsletters.
Presented by –
Jen, a person who
dislikes creating
e-newsletters.

3. Where to Start
People who have never started an e-newsletter
Write down the #1 reason why
People who have started an e-newsletter
Write down your #1 challenge with your e-newsletter

4. Why E-newsletters? It’s in the proof
• Email is still a preferred communication channel – it’s a no-frills, quick way to get information you
need.
• According to a recent Adobe Survey, time spent checking email increased by 17 percent over the
last year among white-collar workers in the United States.
• When it comes to marketing, half of consumers prefer to be contacted by brands via email (followed
by direct mail at 22 percent and social media at 9 percent).
• It’s also amazingly cost-effective. With an ROI of around 4,300% (according to the Direct Marketing
Association), email practically pays for itself
• “Everyone speaks of email’s demise or they talk about account based marketing or social being the
next hot thing, but there are 4.35 billion email addresses in the world. Email volume is growing at 4
per cent per yearly and by 2020 there will be almost 260 billion emails sent and received per day”
• “We know that email helps drive 20 per cent of ecommerce sales. In contrast social is 2 per cent.”

5. The Basics
• Constant Contact
• Mail Chimp – MilitaryOneClick uses Mail Chimp
• We pay $75/month for 5801-10000 subscribers
• Over 8K subscribers with open rates hovering between 10-23%
• Click through rates between 8-13% depending on the newsletter and the list that we send out on.
• We send out 1x a week with 4-5 articles that include short story leads, hyperlinks 3 times (1 in title, 1 in READ MORE,
and 1 on the graphic), and 1 graphic.
• Industry average open rate is 13.9% according to MailChimp.
• We use MailChimp's scheduler optimizer to try to hit on when most people will open and read.
• MailChimp is free at first, but as you add subscribers, they prorate your subscription, so you want to make sure that you
have some kind of plan for how to use the newsletters actively to drive traffic-- especially if you're paying a lot for the
service.
• We have seen better open rates depending on our headline (for example, our readers opened the Presidential
Candidate headline newsletters from MVM more enthusiastically than this last one about finding babysitters after a
PCS) and whether or not we use emojis.

6. Example of MOC E-Newsletter

7. “The average consumer will receive 500 promotional
emails a month and will open one in 50” – How do you
become the 1?
• Responsive design – fancy word for will your consumer be attracted to it, like it and want to keep
dating it?
• Mobile World
• Using emojis in marketing messages has been shown to work BIG TIME.
• According to a GoDaddy survey that sampled 1.5 billion emails from 2015-2016, emojis in subject
lines increase open rates by 20 percent and click-through rates by 50 percent.
• Make sure you test them first since some email clients like Outlook won’t render them correctly.
• How easy do you make it for customers to engage with you on mobile via email?
• Do your messages render properly?
• Are they eye-catching and worthy of engagement on a tiny screen?
• Easy, Easy Easy to open, click and read – THEN CTA!

8. Transactional Emails
• These are the automated emails you get in your inbox after taking a
certain action on a website. This could be anything from filling out a form to
purchasing a product to updating you on the progress of your order.
• Often, these are plain text emails that email marketers set and forget
• Simplicity
• Very clear call-to-action -- which is perfect for subscribers who are quickly
skimming the email.
• All of their communications and marketing assets tell their brand's story --
and brand consistency

9. • Emails triggered by milestones like anniversary emails and birthday emails are fun to get
• They're colorful, use delightful images and GIFs, and very easy to scan. The copy is brief but clever
-- some great puns in there -- and aligns perfectly with the brand.
• You can use animated GIFs in your marketing to show a fun header, to draw people's eye to a
certain part of the email, or to display your products and services in action.

10. Tips and Tricks
• WiseStamp (paid)
• Istockphoto (paid),
• Pixabay (free),
• Wylio (small paid subscription)
• Google Docs
• Dropbox
• BaseCamp
• TailWindApp (Pinterest scheduling)
• Sprout Social

11. Building the subscriber list
“Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually
make you look like an overnight success.”
Biz Stone, Twitter
• In person, in person, IN PERSON – any chance you can
• Clip board sign ups – better than nothing, but not the best
• Lap top or ipad sign ups prefered
• Events
• Incentive to provide email address
• On-line
• Call to Actions on Facebook, Website, events

12. E-Newsletter Sponsorship/Revenue
• E-Newsletter Blasts
• Lists – specialized
• Co-Marketing
• **Buying lists - “Earned – not bought”

13. Resources
• http://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/email-marketing-
still-king-01677597#Y159FJoobcfGCKbq.97
• http://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/email-marketing-
still-king-01677597#hDKKIhG3b31eMD8z.99
• http://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/email-marketing-
still-king-01677597#hDKKIhG3b31eMD8z.99
• http://which-50.com/data-driving-effectiveness-email-marketing-says-
return-path/
• http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/286952/customers-are-
mobile-is-your-email-marketing.html

14. Jennifer@militaryoneclick.com