One of the main ways you will make affiliate sales is by sending out what is called a ‘broadcast’ email to your list. This simply means that it is a one off email. You type out the email you want to send, choose which subscribers you want to send it to, and then when you click the ‘send’ button it will be sent out immediately to those people. One of the most important thing to think about when sending out emails to your list is the subject line.

At the end of the day, you can be promoting a great product and have written a really good, compelling email – but if nobody clicks on it then you aren’t going to make the sales. So – your first job is to come up with a decent subject line. Personally I find that subject lines which are both descriptive and intriguing tend to work best. One thing to avoid is subject lines that are slightly ‘spammy.’ For example – ‘You have money waiting’ or ‘Notification of payment received’ Subject lines like that might get you some clicks but when people then read your email and see what you are actually promoting then they will most likely be pissed off because it bears no relation to the product itself. My top tip would be to have a look at the subject lines other marketers use. Pick one that you often buy from yourself and know/trust as a respected marketer. Don’t copy of course but have a close look at the types of words they use. Do they ask questions or statements? Do they always/often use a particular word in their subject lines? Do they capitalise certain words to add emphasis? Once you’ve written your subject line then the next thing to think about is the body of the email.

Obviously your job here is to get people to click on your affiliate link and land on the product page. There’s no right or wrong way to write a promo email – but remember that you need to capture people’s interests to a point where they really want to click your link to find out more. Here’s a fairly typical formula: Start off by introducing why you’re sending out the email and give it your own personal slant if your can (this helps a lot) “Hi FirstName, Perhaps THE biggest thing that enabled me to quit my job and run my business full-time was building a mailing list. If you want to be successful online then you really MUST build a list – so here’s a great shortcut I just come across that can help you to build your list FAST: AFFILIATE LINK HERE …”

One of the biggest mistakes people make with a promo email is to write it as though it is the sales page. By this I mean that they make it too long and repeat every single benefit that is listed on the sales page. Whilst you want to include SOME benefits in the email, you don’t want to make people have to read everything twice. So – state the main benefit to YOU and put your own slant on it. One trick is to include a negative within the email. For example “The sales page for this product is a little hypey for my tastes and I’m not overly keen of dime sales – but don’t let that put you off because behind it as a great product that I thoroughly recommend.” Make sure that you get your affiliate link into the email at least twice and ensure that the first of these is near the top of the email. Some people will read the first paragraph and immediately decide they want to check out the product, so don’t make them scroll all the way down to the bottom just to find the actual link. Another good tip is to state something like “This isn’t for everyone but if you’ve ever [--- Insert a point the reader may or may not identify with--- ] then you’ll definitely want to check this out.” Sure – some people will think “I don’t know what he’s talking about” – but equally some will think “Yep, I can relate to that. He’s talking to me…” and check out the product.

Make sure also that you format your emails correctly. Nobody likes reading massive chunks of text, so keep your paragraphs short and easy to read. Avoid complex language too. A chatty style seems to work well for many affiliate marketers – and it comes across as friendly too. A nice touch is putting something like ‘Enjoy the rest of your day’ at the end of your email.