The FWD: Thinking Show

On this episode of Ask Me About Email Marketing, we discuss starting, failing, monetization, driving traffic, staying accountable, growing businesses, connecting with people, and much more with Noah Kagan, the chief sumo at SumoMe.com. Whoa, that's a lot to talk about. In fact, Noah covers so much ground in our brief conversation, I'm convinced that this episode will be THE most downloaded episode to date. Let's make it happen. In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why quality of subscribers supersedes quantity
• How to commit to an email strategy and stay accountable
• The velocity to $1 principle, and value of selling early
• Ways feedback from subscribers can shape your strategy
• The importance of sticking with your business
• Some tactics for getting traffic, what to do with it, and why you might not need traffic at all
• ... and much more!

Thanks to Noah for joining the show, dropping some knowledge, and providing marketers with a ton of valuable tools at SumoMe. Here are a few links that were mentioned on the show:

• SumoMe
• AppSumo
• Noah's site, OkDork
• Traffic1m

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

In this bonus content, I share three key lessons from our most popular episodes to date. To get access to all the bonus audio content for this show, be sure to sign up to the feed through iTunes, or your favorite podcast app.

Like many marketers, I can get overwhelmed when it comes to producing high-quality content on a consistent basis. That's why I find the idea of repurposing content so appealing.

If you've been following our blog, you'll remember Monica's post on repurposing content. I was so inspired by the ideas she compiled, that I wanted to share them with you, our podcast listeners.

In this week's episode, I discuss the value of repurposing your content - and, more importantly, ways you can start doing it today.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to find your most successful content
• Why you should give new life to your high-performing content
• Where and how to repurpose content
• An illustrated example on how a single blog post can lead to a new project
• ... and much more!

When you're a wearer of many hats within your business, creating compelling content often falls on the back burner. (And frankly, it can feel like a chore.) The next time you find yourself under pressure to get new content out the door, try repurposing something you already have. Take a listen above and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Here are a few links that were mentioned in the post:

• How to Get More Traffic from Every Post by Republishing on Medium
• Fiverr.com
• Teachable
• Zippy Courses
• Udemy

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

Looking for ways to optimize and accelerate your email list growth? Look no further!

In this episode, I discuss a recent study from the team at Privy.com, which evaluates the most effective ways to quickly grow your list. Ben Jabbawy, Privy's founder, joins me to reveal what is and isn't working for email marketers trying to build high-converting email capture campaigns.

Privy is a list growth platform that empowers over 20,000 businesses to create banners, bars, popups, and embedded webforms on your website. You can also create landing pages, special offers, and a whole slew of other awesome things.

In Privy's report, The State of Email List Growth 2016, they analyzed six months worth of data across 5,000 active users to discover and present email capture and list growth best practices.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The best types of offers to associate with your campaigns
• What performs better...popups, banners, or tabs?
• Quick and easy tests to optimize for mobile devices
• Effective ways to deliver offers for new and returning visitors
• And much more...

This is a must-listen if you have a form on your site and aren't seeing the results you want. Listen above! Here are a few links that were mentioned in the post:

• The State of Email List Growth 2016 (Report)
• Privy

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

Over the past few months, we've been working feverishly to develop and release our third mobile app, Curate. (Curious about it? Listen to this podcast episode and then check out our announcement post from earlier today.)

Curate lets you to build an email newsletter using curated content. But what exactly is curated content?

In this episode, I host a roundtable with our content marketing expert Kristen Dunleavy, user experience guru Grace Stoeckle, and iOS development team lead, Andy Obusek all about, you guessed it, curated content.

At AWeber, we believe in the power of email to connect people in remarkable ways; to build strong relationships in the inbox– the kind of relationships that grow your business.

If you are struggling with what to write in your emails, or finding ways to provide added value to your subscribers, this episode is a perfect introduction into an effective strategy that you can add to your email marketing repertoire.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What is content curation?
• Why curated newsletters are so effective?
• What are some tips and tricks for creating engaging curated content?
• What tools can help you find and publish curated content?
• And much more...

This episode was recorded live on Blab.im. You can watch the recording here!.

Here are a few links referenced in the episode:

• Our latest app, Curate
• Clean Swifter - Andy's tech blog
• What To Write In Your Emails - Free Course
• Paper.li
• Feedly
• Flipboard

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

In this episode of the Ask Me About Email Marketing podcast, we're sharing our experience at AWeber in engaging subscribers and soliciting feedback.

In a comment on the show notes for episode 13 with Jason Brubaker, Ilana Moss shared the following comment:

"In 'real life' I have no trouble connecting with people but here in the virtual universe I don't know what to do. I have almost 5 thousand subscribers on various platforms, 1200 on Aweber, and I have a Facebook page with 3000 followers. I post things and get likes and shares but few if any comments. I've tried asking what they need or how I can help and I get no answer. Any idea what I might be doing wrong and how I can change that? How do I get to know my virtual audience? Thanks!"

To answer Ilana's question, I've tapped Chris Vasquez, Creative Director, and Meghan Nesta, Product Manager, to share their expertise in soliciting feedback from customers. The resulting conversation is full of actionable tactics and knowledge drops.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Effective ways to engage disengaged subscribers
• How to start a conversation with your followers
• How to use Jonah Berger's STEPPS acronym to boost engagement
• How we can solicit feedback using micro-transactions

This episode was especially fun because we recorded live on Blab.im. You can watch the recording here!. Here are a few links referenced in the episode:

• Chris' Email Sentiment Widget
• Jonah Berger's book Contagious
• How to integrate a Survey Gizmo survey into your emails

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast

We're back with another great episode of the Ask Me About Email Marketing podcast.

In this episode, part two of our series with email consultant Chris Lang, we continue to discuss Gmail deliverability trends.

Chris presents a unique 10-point list of ways to get your emails read in Gmail’s Primary inbox tab.

If you are just tuning in, check out last week's episode to learn more about Chris and his 10-point list.

As mentioned last week, being in the Promotions tab might be ideal for many marketers. Many subscribers use the Promotions tab to shop and make purchases, so being listed amongst big brands in a place where you can compete for someone’s buying attention might work for your business.

For others, you may be trying to form more of a one-to-one relationship with subscribers, and appearing in the Primary tab is more appropriate for your brand and content. In this episode, we’ll take a look at Chris' recommendations.

Here’s what you’ll learn in Part II:

• The 8 remaining points on Chris' list of recommendations
• The dangers of using code-heavy HTML templates
• The effects of using too many links and images
• The importance of white-listing instructions

Last week, I shared this quick word of caution: please don’t try to use these tips to manipulate Google. That’s called spam, and AWeber hates spam (like, we really despise it). We pride ourselves in our deliverability and commitment to making the internet a better place, and we want you to do the same. So I encourage you to use the tips Chris shares to help you understand why some of your messages may end up in Promotions or Primary, so that you can better read your data and optimize your campaigns. Remember the golden rule: Be transparent, and send valuable content that your subscribers want to read and engage with. And of course, email responsibly. :)

Here are a few links referenced in the episode:

• Chris Lang
• Chris' 10-point list summary on ClickFunnels
• Chris' Whitelisting Resource

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

Email marketers spend a lot of time optimizing their open rates. Getting subscribers to open emails is almost a form of mad science – one that is predicated on first getting your emails seen.

But that's easier said than done. Making sure your subscribers see your emails means staying out of the spam folder, and landing in your subscribers' Primary inbox. And because so many of our subscribers have Gmail accounts, it's important to be aware of how the various inbox tabs (Primary, Social, Promotions) work.

Like Google's SEO algorithm changes, there are some aspects worth paying attention to and testing. To discuss Gmail deliverability trends and results from his many tests with clients, I've recruited consultant Chris Lang to share his unique 10-point list of ways to get your emails read in Gmail's Primary inbox.

Now, for many businesses, being in the Promotions tab might be ideal. The Promotions tab is a place where subscribers go to shop and make purchases, so being listed amongst big brands in a place where you can compete for someone's buying attention might work in your favor. For others, you may be trying to form more of a one-to-one relationship with subscribers, and appearing in the Primary tab is more appropriate for your brand and content.

In this two-part episode, we'll dive into some of the tactics that Chris recommends for each situation. Here's what you'll learn in Part I:

• Chris' observations on the Gmail tabs algorithm
• Chris' recommendations for what days of the week to send, and what to do with disengaged subscribers
• Why mobile is becoming increasingly important when considering email engagement
• The first two elements to consider when aiming for the Primary tab

As you listen to this week's podcast, I need to share a word of caution: please don't try to use these tips to manipulate Google. That's called spam, and AWeber hates spam (like, we really despise it). We pride ourselves in our deliverability and commitment to making the internet a better place, and we want you to do the same.

So I encourage you to use the tips Chris shares to help you understand why some of your messages may end up in Promotions or Primary, so that you can better read your data and optimize your campaigns.

Remember the golden rule: Be transparent, and send valuable content that your subscribers want to read and engage with. And of course, email responsibly. :)

As usual, here are a few links referenced in the episode:

• Chris Lang
• A great resource from KissMetrics to learn about UTM parameters

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

Be sure to stay tuned for Part II next week!

Email marketing is an effective way to automate and scale your service-based or local business. The basic principles of acquiring and nurturing leads, developing top-of-mind awareness, and automating customer interactions are relevant for all businesses, not just digital. In this podcast episode, we pick the brain of Matthew Rodela of Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy. Matthew has built multiple computer repair, and consulting businesses, and also provides fantastic resources for anyone who is starting or maintaining their own computer business. He currently hosts the Computer Business Podcast. The tactics Matthew shares with his community are relevant for most service-based and local business, so whether you fix computers, walk dogs, plan weddings, chop down trees, or service mortgages, this episode is jam-packed with actionable insights. In this episode you'll learn:

• How to use email marketing to nuture leads from your website
• How to use email automation to build customer relationships
• How to increase referrals and repeat business with top-of-mind marketing

Here are a few links referenced in the episode:

• Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy
• The Computer Business Podcast
• Matt on Twitter

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.

Video in email. It's a thing. You can't ignore it.

Well, you can ignore it, but I wouldn't recommend that. :)

Successfully implementing video in your email campaigns can yield higher open rates, and a ton more clicks from your subscribers. If you've been looking for a new way to stand out in the inbox, this is the episode for you.

Producing video has become incredibly accessible and affordable these days. Do you have an iPhone? Great, you're equipped to record video!

To dive deep into this topic, and help equip you with the tools you need to test and optimize video in email, I've recruited our in-house education guru, Jay Moore. Jay has been running a successful webinar series on this topic and shared a few key points.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why you should test video in your emails
• How to effectively use video in your emails
• What types of videos you should create
• Various tools and software for creating video on a budget

You don't want to miss this. Here are a few links referenced in the episode:

.
• AWeber's Video in Email webinar replay
• Screenflow
• Camtasia
• Skype Call Recorder
• Wistia's Blog
• Litmus' Blog Posts on Video

Have a question about email marketing? Leave us a message at aweber.com/podcast.