Rob Walling is the host of the wildly popular podcast Startups for the Rest of Us.

He’s also a serial entrepreneur and marketing BADASS who knows how to sell more with email.

Rob’s latest company, Drip, is an email service that gives you autoresponder blueprints…

…and makes boosting your conversions DEAD simple.

His secret weapon?

Opt-in “mini-courses.”

Got a blog on your website?

An e-book?

KICK-ASS content you’ve ALREADY slaved over?

Then pay attention:

Because in this episode, Rob reveals a tested template for repurposing your content…

…and building a “Crash Course” that sells more, hands-free.

Think “Mad Libs” for autoreponders.

It’s ’bout time to wipe off that dusty content.

…and create a series that ignites your opt-ins and sales. 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* Rob’s tested # of emails to put in your mini-course

* some surprising data on images vs. text-based emails

* how to write mini-course subject lines that sell

* the “Mad Libs” approach to writing autoresponders in Drip

* how one Opt-In form headline hauls in a FIFTEEN-PERCENT opt-in rate

* the best-performing headline Rob has ever seen

* how to nab an ONGOING lift in your email conversions

Mentioned:

* Drip

* HitTail

* Startups for the Rest of Us

Intro and outro backing music: Forever More by CREO

Raw transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

It’s John McIntyre here, the Autoresponder Guy. I’m here with Rob Walling, a serial entrepreneur. He’s been building web applications for 12 years and the latest is nifty piece of software called Drip, which actually makes creating autoresponder sequences super, super easy. We’re just talking about it and I was trying to understand how can we talk about this in a way that’s going to appeal the most to you the listener. It’s basically a Drip and the content, and what we’re going to get into in a minute. Is how to create email courses, how to take the content you have on your site that you’ve already created and turn that into an autoresponder that sells your products. So you don’t need to go and spend hours and hours and hours obsessing of the details and writing all sorts of stuff.

I mean you’re going to create this yourself and go use the content on your site and you can attempt to Rob’s service, and they’ll do it for you. The idea today and what you’re going to get out of it by listening is that having an autoresponder that really sells stuff at your site is automatic sales machine. Doesn’t have to be hard, it can actually be really, really easy when you understand some of the principles that I’m sure Rob will share with us in just a minute. We’ll talk about that, how to put together an email mini course based on what they’ve learned with their customers. Also some of the trends they’re noticing in the industry which we haven’t talked about yet personally. I’m sure it will be very, I think that’s going to be really interesting.

We’ll get into that. How are you going today, Rob?        &nbs...

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:17 – why one simple tweak can put your email marketing miles ahead of most companies

* 00:25 – the most overlooked step in mailing your list

* 00:33 – how to get your list to click “Open” just by seeing your name in their inbox

* 01:14 – a mindset shift that will make your list LOYAL instead of annoyed by your messages

* 01:28 – the psychological principle that makes people WANT to talk to your business

* 01:37 – some overdue good news about writing subject lines (stop pulling your hair out!)

Tweetables:

* Take that “From” name and use YOUR name. Make it more personal.

* People do business with people, not companies.

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

Hi, John McIntyre here again, the Autoresponder guy, coming to you from themcmethod.com with another email marketing update. Today I want to talk about something that’s very under-looked in the world of email marketing. OK, and a lot of companies get this wrong, big time, OK? Now what is it? It’s the from name.

So what is the from name? When an email hits the inbox, OK, you’ve got the subject line, and right next to the subject line, there’s also a from name. So it might say, from your mom, it might say your mom’s full name, and then it has the subject line next to it. If you received one of my emails in your inbox, it would say John McIntyre, and then the subject line, OK? So you see who it’s from, and then you see the subject line, OK? So this is the from name.

OK, now what do a lot of companies do? Well, what they do is this: they use the from name to put their business name. Problem is, is how many businesses are, you know, what sort of business sends a personal email? So this is why the person, receiving your business name, they assume it’s a kind of promotion, or offer, or something like that. They don’t really- it’s harder to build a relationship to a business than it is to a person.

So here’s what I suggest you do. Take that from name, and use your name. If you use your- use someone in the company’s name. Or you can use, say, John, comma, company name. Something like that. Make it more personal. If you want people to build a relationship with you, or someone in your company…alright, because people do business with people, OK? And what’s going to happen, like I said, I’ve said this in other videos, that over time as people enjoy your emails and build a relationship with you, they’re going to open your emails just because they’re your emails.

So this is another easy, straight-forward way that’s very over-looked, and rarely talked about. It’s a way to get people to recognize your emails as soon as they get in them. It’s like “Oh, it’s, I got an email from John McIntyre from the McMethod.”

OK, that’s it for today. I’m John McIntyre, the Autoresponder Guy from themcmethod.com with another email marketing update.

 

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:36 – how to get prospects SALIVATING for your next email like Pavlov’s dog

* 0045 – the “special sauce” I add to every subject line (that you can steal)

* 00:48 – how to develop your own SECRET CODE that makes readers feel INCLUDED

* 01:25 – the one “catch” to using this trick – why it ONLY works if you add value

* 01:35 – why subject lines are NOT the “be-all-end-all” of email copy

Tweetables:

* Once people become bonded to you as a personality, they’re more likely to open your emails

* People will WANT to open your emails – just because they’re from you

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

Okay, it’s John McIntyre here again, the Autoresponder Guy, coming to you from themcmethod.com for another email marketing update. In this video I want to talk about a really easy, simple, straightforward way anyone, including you, I do this, you can use to make your emails more recognizable in the inbox.

What this is going to do is, once people become bonded to you as a personality, the person in their inbox, they’re much more likely to open your email. What you want to do is you want to make it easy for them to notice which emails are yours, because then, assuming that they enjoy receiving your emails and you send them valuable content, they’re going to want to open them.

Here’s what I do. Of course you’ve got the “From” line. I talk about that in another video, but what I want to talk about today is, basically you can add a little code at the front of each subject line. For me, that means there’s a bit of a bracket like this, either side, and then I have the code for my site. In my case it’s “MM” for McMethod.

Okay? This means that when the email turns up in the inbox, subject line has, bracket, M M, bracket, and then the actual subject line. Like I said, this makes the email more recognizable so when it comes to people wanting to open my emails, just because they’re from me, I’m giving them an easy way to know the email’s from me.

This is just something you can try. I haven’t heavily tested this but I have a feeling that it does boost response, especially if you’re sending them valuable information. I don’t think it will do much for spammers because spammers don’t have a relationship with their audience, but if you intend on building a relationship with your market people are going to end up opening your emails just because they’re your emails.

The subject line is still important but it’s not the be all and end all. Okay? That’s it for today. I’m John McIntyre, coming to you from themcmethod.com as the Autoresponder Guy. I’ll see you next time for another email marketing update.

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:57 –  how to tell if your emails are a pain the ass for your readers

* 01:10 – what studies reveal about copy that SELLS

* 01:20 – the head-scratching reason sales pages are so thin

* 02:07 – a tiny piece of code you can use to improve your emails…even if HTML gives you a headache

Tweetables:

* Studies have shown that really long lines are harder to read – people won’t read them.

Mentioned:

Go into your email software’s HTML editor and add the following code to your emails:

* At the VERY top, insert:

* At the VERY bottom, insert:

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

Hey, it’s John McIntyre here again. The Autoresponder Guy coming to you from themcmethod.com with another email marketing update. Today I want to talk about how wide your emails should be. This seems a bit random, so I’m going to use a bit of a quick story to explain the point, to make a point.

If you go to Gmail or your email client right now, like Outlook or one of those things, and you open an email from someone, sometimes, usually, it’s going to have a really long line. Really long lines. Let’s say you’ve got a widescreen. A lot of people have widescreens these days. You’ve got something that’s maybe a foot, maybe a foot and a half wide. 50 centimeters, half a meter, whatever.

When someone writes an email to you, could be a friend or a family member, could be a business, if they don’t know what they’re doing, and the email goes the full width of the screen, so when you open the email to read, you’ve got to read from one side of the screen to the other.

This is a pain in the arse, right? I don’t know if you’ve noticed before, but this is hard to read. When you try and read emails like this, you have to really concentrate to make it from one side to the other, and when you go back to the other side of the email, to go to the next line, you have to really concentrate and focus to get to the next line. It’s ridiculous.

As far as I know, studies have shown the really, really long lines, they’re actually harder to read, and makes people less likely to consume the content, whether it’s a sales letter or an email. This is why, when you see sales letters, the columns might be a 600 pixel width. It’s a very thin page. It’s not a full width page. Okay? To apply this to your emails, every email client’s going to have a HTML section. It’s really, really simple. All you do is you add a div tag. You might need to look up what a div tag is online, but basically you would add a div.

(See “mentioned” at www.themcmethod.com/use-this-code for instructions on the code):

Basically what this is going to do is it’s going to wrap your email in a 400 pixel div tag. I’m John McIntyre, the Autoresponder Guy. I’ll see you next time for another email marketing update.

 

[ptwitowerpress]

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:24 – one condition you  MUST meet to use this hack

* 00:37 – a little-known app that makes writing simple

* 01:00 – the REAL root cause of exhausting writer’s block

* 01:21 – why having your back against the wall will SILENCE your “inner critic”

* 01:29 – how you can adjust this trick to write your sales pages

* 01:57 – your new 2-step creative process to writing SIZZLE-HOT copy

Tweetables:

* It’s as simple as setting that timer and putting pen to paper.

* Write first. Edit later.

Mentioned:

Bookmark these links for writing your next email!

Egg Timer: 15 minutes

Egg Timer: 25 minutes

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

John McIntyre here again. The Autoresponder Guy, coming to you from themcmethod.com. Today I want to talk about writer’s block, because this is something that goes so many copywriters down. So many people who want to write emails, who want to write sales copy, who want to make more money with their words. Gets them down, and it doesn’t need to.

Here’s my secret. Here’s what I do. This is how you can overcome writer’s block any time. Okay? Obviously you need a bit of discipline and a bit of willpower, but if you’ve got that, if you can bring that to the table, what I’m going to give you right now is going to be a really easy hack, and it will seem remarkably simple as a way to beat writer’s block.

Here it is. Go to e.ggtimer.com. This will be in the show notes at themcmethod.com, by the way. Go to that site; set a timer for 15 minutes. It’s pretty self-explanatory when you get to this site, and then try to write an email in that 15 minutes. Don’t edit. The idea here is to get rid of your editor. We all have that voice inside of us that wants to edit as we go.

What this timer does is it eliminates that editor because you don’t have time to edit it. You just have to focus. You have to sit down and write that email as fast as you can without thinking too much, without worrying about it, without getting into cure about it. That’s what this timer does. That’s my hack. That’s one of the best ways to do writer’s block.

Same goes for sales copy. Maybe you don’t want to do 15 minutes. Maybe do 25 minute blocks, and the goal is, when you sit down for that 25 minutes you are writing non-stop for 25 minutes. Okay? Now after that, you can come back later, you can edit that stuff, okay? The timer forces you, forces your brain to switch off that editor part and just go balls to the wall writing, and then you can come back and edit it. This is “write first, edit later.” That’s the quote.

Don’t remember who said it; it’s very true. Write first, edit later. This is how to overcome writer’s block. It’s not some big, evil demon. Okay? Especially when it comes to emails. Maybe when you’re writing a book it’s different, but with emails it’s as simple as just setting that timer and putting pen to paper, okay? I’m John McIntyre, coming to you from themcmethod.com, as the Autoresponder Guy. I’ll see you next time.

Zach Grove is a FAST-rising email copywriter.

He writes SIZZLING hot autoresponders.

His emails impress clients.

…how do I know?

‘Cause he learned from the best ; )

Zach applied to write copy for me in late 2013.

Back then, I thought I needed a few emails…

…Turns out, the McMethod is growing faster than ever.

And there’s a LOT to get done.

Since December, Zach has become my right-hand man and go-to executioner.

He’s worked behind the scenes with me on:

* building my Email for Ecommerce sales funnel

* launch of the McMasters paid community

* leading 30+ McMasters as the community manager

* writing launch autoresponders for clients

…and in this episode, Zach pulls the curtain on 4 tricks learned on the journey.

Here’s your VIP Insider’s Pass to The Autoresponder Guy HQ.

Grab a coffee.

Take out a sheet of paper and a pen.

And get ready to convert more prospects in your funnel.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* the DAP formula to make your squeeze and sales pages flow – every time

* the discovery author Kurt Vonnegut called his life’s greatest work (add this to your swipe file)

* how simple “Story Shapes” can help you craft GRABBING parables in email

* how to write an FAQ email that DESTROYS objections and gets sales

* why marketing is NEVER about your product

* the weird path Zach and John both took to go from ZERO copy chops to writing for 6-figure clients in months

* what a random email about napkin math and Einstein can teach you about “framing” your emails to CAPTIVATE readers

Mentioned:

* Jay Abraham’s 3 ways to grow a business

* the Universal Shapes of Stories via Kurt Vonnegut

* CopyHour (hand-copying sales letters)

* EmailforEcommerce DAP-format landing page

* Vishen Lakhiani on the Email Marketing Podcast re. FAQ emails

* Perry Marshall’s Traffic/Conversions/Economics triangle

Intro and outro backing music: Forever More by CREO

Raw transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

John: It’s John McIntyre here, the Autoresponder Guy.  I’m here with Zach Grove.  You might not have heard of Zach Grove before.  Zach Grove is an up-and-coming copywriter.  He’s actually is one of the copywriters who applied to write copy for me, write emails, way back in December.  That was two months ago.  In December I put out a blog post and said I was looking for someone to come and write some emails for me.  That’s all I thought it would be.  Zach was one of the people who applied.  I was really impressed.

Now what’s happened…He started just by writing a few emails for me.  Now, I guess I would say he is pretty much growing into that role of right-hand man.

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:23 – the K.I.S.S. approach to writing email copy

* 00:50 – what my typical autoresponder looks like (and when it’s OK to break the rules)

* 00:58 – how to use SPEED as a weapon in your copy

* 01:07 – one factor that nearly FORCES prospects to click your sales links

* 01:15 – what “punch-y” copy can teach you about writing better blog posts

* 01:33 – how to delight readers with this simple change in your emails

Tweetables:

* Make your copy conversational – it’ll make people enjoy your emails a LOT more.

* Sometimes my paragraphs are as short as 1 word.

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

It’s John McIntyre here again. The Autoresponder Guy, coming to you from themcmethod.com with another email marketing update. Today I want to talk about how to format your emails. Specifically what I want to talk about is, when

you write your emails, some people have these huge, big, scary paragraphs.

Paragraphs that no one wants to read because, let’s face it, reading a big, scary paragraph that’s 5 or 10 lines long is just a pain in the arse. It’s really hard. It’s intimidating, especially when it’s in email. Here’s what I do. I do really short paragraphs. When I say “short,” I mean sometimes my paragraphs are as short as 1 word.

Okay?

Sometimes 2 words. Sometimes 3. Of course I do have the occasional 2 line or 3 or 4 line paragraph, but the typical email here is just 1 really, really short paragraphs. All right? It’s really that simple. What this does is it makes your email easier to read. It makes it less intimidating and it means people scroll down the page faster, so it builds that momentum in terms of, they open that email and they have to keep scrolling down. This is good because it forces them to scroll down, and then they’re more likely to click on the link as well. Okay?

When you’re writing your emails you want to format them like this. Don’t have one big paragraph. Don’t have 3 big, scary paragraphs. This is important for blog posts as well. You want to do these short paragraphs. Really, really short paragraphs. Short, punchy, to the point.

In some of the other videos I’m going to talk about some of the other stuff you’re going to need to do with formatting your emails, but this is just a start. Try and do short paragraphs; make it really conversational, and it’s going to make people enjoy your emails a lot more. I’m John McIntyre, the Autoresponder Guy, coming to you from themcmethod.com with another email marketing update.

You may not have heard of David Deutsch.

He’s a Hall-of-Fame copywriter.

David’s been writing ads for decades…

He’s sold millions of dollars of clients’ products.

From copywriting at legendary agency Ogilvy & Mather on Madison Avenue – 

…to penning direct mail pieces for giants like Maxwell House Coffee.

These days, David’s a HIGHLY-SOUGHT consultant the PROS turn to.

Here David opens the kimono on getting prospects on a SLIPPERY SLOPE.

Getting them to nod their head yes…

…and slide into buying.

His secret?

Uncovering emotional “hot buttons.”

Find them – and you can press them to get prospects to BUY.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 3 gold-sifting questions to ask YOUR prospects and uncover hot buttons

* why the secret to great copy is LISTENING

* a sophisticated hook that challenges prospects (and make them want to buy)

* how to turn interviews into INSIGHTS

* the key marketing skill all children display naturally

* why you’re doing customers a disservice by NOT convincing them to buy

* one subtle variable David noticed the world’s highest-paid copywriters all concentrate on (HINT: not tactics or strategies)

Mentioned:

* Jay Abraham

* Ogilvy & Mather ad agency

* David’s website (coaching, speaking, consulting)

Intro and outro backing music: Forever More by CREO

Raw transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

John: It’s John McIntyre here, the Autoresponder Guy. I’m here with David Deutsch, frequently referred to as one of the top direct response marketing consultants and copywriters in the country. David’s copy has sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of clients’ products and this includes everything from books, seminars, newsletters, Maxwell House coffee and Uniroyal Tires.

His advertising career started at the renowned Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency on Madison Avenue. He’s worked with all types of companies from Fortune 500 companies, such as Merrill Lynch, General Foods, American Express to small businesses and entrepreneurs. These days, he’s mostly writing for and consulting with companies who sell information and advice in print. This is in print, online and through seminars.

Today, we’re going to talk about how he’s applying all the skills he’s developed to email marketing. We’re going to take a broader look at the marketing process as a whole. It’s going to be very interesting.

David, how are you today?

David: I’m great, I’m great. It’s finally warmed up here.

John: I was telling people the same thing here in Thailand. Warm up here is from 25 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius. It’s gone from warm to hot basically.

David: I just wish I was there in Thailand now.

John: Alright so let’s, before we get into the email marketing stuff and the marketing as a process, may be tell the listener a little more about you and may be a bit more about what you’ve been doing lately.

David: I started out in traditional advertising, as you said, at Ogilvy and Mather working at an ad agency and worked at various ad agencies and then discovered direct mail,

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:26 – why you should NEVER worry about writing good copy

* 00:29 – my unusual background that might surprise you

* 00:46 – why formal credentials DON’T matter

* 00:59 – the reason your copy don’t need perfect grammar!

* 01:07 – why having no “formal writing training” might be an advantage to writing sales copy

* 01:28 – 2 things you need to know to write good copy

* 02:11 – the un-sexy answer to “how do I get good at email copy?”

Tweetables:

* Be prepared to be BAD – as long as it takes to get good at it.

* If you are a trained “writer”, you probably won’t be very good at sales copy.

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

It’s John McIntyre here again. I’m the Autoresponder Guy. I’m coming to you from themcmethod.com, where we talk all about email marketing. Today in this video I’m going to talk about the question that I get asked by a lot by people, and that is, “What if I’m not a writer, John? If I’m not a writer how am I supposed to write these great emails? How am I supposed to tell stories? How am I supposed to come up with these ideas that sell stuff?”

The short answer to this is that you don’t need to be a writer.

I dropped out of school. I went to college and I ended up dropping out of that, and I had a series of random jobs after that for a few years, until I eventually sat down and taught myself copywriting. I’m not a writer. I have no formal training in writing, yet I can write an email to get people to buy stuff.

That’s why I believe that anyone, whether they think that they’re a good writer or they’re not, can learn to write sales copy, can learn to write emails, can learn to write landing pages. All this sort of stuff. Sales copywriting, none of this stuff needs to be properly grammatically correct, and that’s the best bit.

In fact, if you are a trained writer you probably won’t be very good at sales copy emails and all that because you’ll be trying too hard to make the writing proper as opposed to selling the way it needs to sell. If you’re feeling insecure that you can’t write these emails, that you can’t write sales copy because you’re not a writer, you’ve got to forget about that. You should not worry about it because it doesn’t matter.

The main thing that you need to do in your emails and your sales copy and these kind of things is communicate on a level that your prospect understands. That requires empathy. That requires understanding. That requires knowing how your product meets their needs and solves their problems. It’s really that simple.

You don’t need to be a writer and you need to accept that and you need to believe that in the deepest part of you, and then you’re going to be able to go out there and get good. Just quickly, you might be wondering, how do you get good at email? If you can’t go to school for it, if you can’t be a good writer of it, how do you actually get good at writing emails or writing sales copy?

The unsexy answer to that is that you just write more emails. You write more sales copy. Of course you can sign up to say,McMasters and you can learn the step by step things you need to do to get it, but at the end of the day you have to be willing to suck for long enough to get good.

That’s the secret to getting good at anything. Be prepared to be bad at it for as long as it takes to get ...

 

In this episode, you’ll discover:

* 00:25 – a surefire way to LOSE profits

* 00:43 – why RELATIONSHIPS form the foundation of your marketing

* 00:51 – the coveted answer – how long should your sequence really be?

* 00:56 – why your prospect must “buy or die.”

* 01:17 – one habit you NEED to be doing regularly to sell more

* 01:36 – how to optimally mix up your broadcast and autoresponder emails

* 02:00 – my secret for truly connecting with a list

Tweetables:

* Either they unsubscribe from your list – or buy.

* If you stop contacting them, you’re gonna lose out on sales.

Transcript:

Download PDF transcript here.

It’s John McIntyre here, the Autoresponder Guy here again with another McMethod video session. Today, I want to talk about how long should your autoresponder sequence be, because I get a lot of people have asked me this via email, podcasts. The answer is that there is no answer. The way I want to frame this up is this: When you have a friend, when you have a relationship, you don’t put an end date to that. You don’t say, “Well, I’m going to be friends with you for the next month and then I’m going to stop contacting you.” You don’t say that with your friends. Business is exactly the same. It’s about relationships. You have a relationship with your prospect, whether you’re selling information, whether you’re selling pills, whether you’re selling anything at all. It’s about a relationship.

Why then, when people think about email marketing, do they think about, “Well, how long should it be?” I would say, “As long as it takes.” Either they unsubscribe or they buy. It’s that simple. Buy or die is another way to put that same thing. Buy or die. Either they unsubscribe from your list because they’re not interested or they buy or they just sit on there over an infinite time span, you’d sign up. There’s going to be people who are going to be on your list for a year and then they’re going to sign up, maybe two years. They’re going to have to just keep talking to you, keep hearing from you, on and on and on. There is no ideal length. You want to be doing this regularly.

As far as an autoresponder goes, you can’t build out a three-year autoresponder. That would be too much. You could, but it will take a while. What you want to do is … I’d say, one to three month’s worth of autoresponder emails in there as well as have some sort of weekly newsletter that you send out that’s valuable. It could be a pitch or maybe you just write daily emails or write two emails a week and load them into autoresponder and send them out. Do that every single week and then you’ve contacted them regularly. That’s how it should work. You could do a weekly newsletter, a weekly update. I’d say weekly at the very least, depending on what industry you’re in, but never stop them.

The key thing I want you to understand here is that you should never ever stop contacting them unless they tell you to, “Stop contacting me.” You have no idea when they’re going to buy from you. If you stop contacting them when you think it’s the right time, you’re going to lost out on sales. There’s no question about it.