How to win Email Subscribers: Do’s and Don’ts of Freelancer Email Lists
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www.freelancermap.com/freelancer-tips
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Last week, we covered the reasons why email lists can work
really well for freelancers. People check their inboxes every
day and they go there to do business – that’s a great place to
win over clients. Moreover, emailing feels more personal
than “social” networks if it’s done right and it doesn’t have to
cost a dime. But how do you find people that want to get
your emails?
It’s all about selling them on a quality product. Here are the dos
and don’ts:
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1) Don’t use pop-ups on your start page
Let’s start with a big no-go. Imagine yourself as the user – you go to a
site, look at it for five seconds and before you even get the chance
to find out what’s going on, a big pop-up covers half of your screen:
“Subscribe for my super cool email updates here!” There are little
things that are more annoying than this. In fact, five times out of
ten I`ll close that webpage then and there. And zero times out of
ten am I going to subscribe to that list. You have to give your
potential clients a chance to familiarize themselves with the content
first. Convince them it’s worth it and then do a pop-up if you
absolutely have to.
Don’ts of freelancer Email Lists
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2) Don’t spam your readers
Here’s another big reason most people unsubscribe from email
lists – content overload. Getting an email every day is a bit too
much. One to two emails a week is the reasonable amount you
should strive for. And, let’s be honest – sending emails is never
going to be your primary job as a freelancer. So chances are, you
can’t really offer quality content seven days a week, there’s just
not enough time. A lot of annoying emails aren’t getting you
anywhere.
Don’ts of freelancer Email Lists
5. info@freelancermap.com
Don’ts of freelancer Email Lists
3) Don’t include too many images
Images are the plague of newsletters. They make them much
bigger than they have to be and are often not even being
displayed to the reader. That’s because most email clients skip
downloading that external content until the user gives them the
permission. Let’s say you worked hard on your newsletter and
included five big, beautiful images that put the whole thing
together. That’s great, but you always have to imagine how it
will look to someone who doesn’t download that content. And
five empty image boxes after each paragraph look terrible.
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1) Do offer extra content
Let’s look at what you should do. First and foremost, email lists
should provide value to their readers. If everything you’re
including in the email is on your site as well, it doesn’t feel
special. And that’s how you have to make your customers feel
if you want them to stay on board. Make them part of a club
that gets more than your average site visitor.
Do’s of freelancer email lists
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2) Do include call for action
Having a call for action is a step you absolutely cannot afford to
miss. After all, that’s what your email lists are all about –
enticing your readers to make use of your services or buy a
certain product. Call of actions can come in many different
forms, but they have to stick out. Make the button pop by
increasing its size or giving it a different color than the rest.
Placing it at the end of the email is another way to make sure
readers look at it after they’ve been convinced by the content.
Do’s of freelancer email lists
8. info@freelancermap.com
Do’s of freelancer email lists
3) Do optimize for mobile
Last but not least, optimizing for mobile is absolutely something
you just cannot disregard anymore. Just today I learned that
Facebook gets 84% of its ad revenue from mobile users. That’s a
huge number and should give you an idea of just how many
people use their mobile phones to connect to the Internet. So
make sure that email lists look good on a mobile device. You
might be robbing yourself of a huge number of potential clients
if you don’t.
If you’re willing to give E-mail marketing a try and add it to your
marketing strategy, also don’t miss our article “7 E-Mail Writing
Apps to Rock your E-Mails”