June 13, 2024 • 28 mins
What if your email marketing strategy is costing you more customers than it's gaining? This episode of Turn Down the Hustle is a must-listen for T-Shirt business owners who want to avoid common pitfalls and maximize their email campaigns. Learn why sending marketing emails from Gmail is a big mistake and how using an Email Service Provider (ESP) can help you maintain professionalism and comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, ensuring your emails don't end up in the spam folder.
You'll also discover the right balance between sales-focused content and engaging storytelling. Ever wondered if you're overusing images in your emails? I'll explain how too many graphics can negatively impact your email performance, particularly on mobile devices. Plus, I tackle the emotional side of email marketing by discussing why obsessing over unsubscribes is counterproductive and how understanding the reasons behind them can help you build a more effective mailing list.
Finally, I share actionable steps and best practices to refine your email marketing strategy. From creating captivating email templates to allowing uninterested subscribers to opt-out, you'll gain valuable insights to boost your engagement metrics and reputation with your ESP. Join me for a deep dive into email marketing that will set yourT-Shirt business up for long-term success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today we're diving into a topic that's close to my
heart and essential for yourbusiness.
If you've been with me for alittle while now, you know I'm
talking about email marketing.
I know what you're thinking.
Email marketing isn't that forthe big brands with massive
budgets and teams of marketinggurus.
Let me tell you, it's not justfor the big guys.
(00:21):
In fact, it's one of the mostpowerful tools at your disposal
and it's perfect for smallbusiness owners like you, ann.
But here's the thing there aresome big common mistakes I see
t-shirt makers make when they'rejust starting out with email
marketing, and these mistakes,believe it or not, can really
hold you back.
But don't worry, we're going totalk about them today.
(00:43):
Today, we're going to discussmistakes that range from using
Gmail for your email marketing,violating the canned spam act
why maybe your strategy is notworking for you the amount of
images you use and, finally, thedreaded unsubscribes.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You're listening to Turn Down the Hustle, the
podcast dedicated totransforming how you run your
creative online t-shirt businessby working smarter, not harder,
so you can spend more time withyour why, people and passions
that matter most in your life.
So throw on your favoritegraphic tee and turn up the heat
.
Press, because it's time toturn down the hustle.
Here's your host digitalmarketer.
(01:23):
Cold brew lover, t-shirt maker,freckled hype girl and owner of
Sunkist Virtual Assistant, amy.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Mistake number one is sending email marketing from
your Gmail.
So I'm talking like you'relogging into your Gmail on your
computer, checking your emails,and then you're thinking, hey, I
need to send out my new offer.
So you click new email, youdrop in all of these email
(01:51):
addresses you've pulled fromyour website into the to field,
type out your offer and hit send.
Cannot do that.
That is a violation of theCanSpan Mac for the number one
reason that you're not givinganyone who received that email
an option to opt out orunsubscribe.
They are stuck in that emailchain.
(02:11):
You know what I'm talking about.
If you're in any of those grouptexts with Android users and
you can't leave the chat, it isquite frustrating at times.
So you maybe just mute it oryou start to ignore it.
The best practice for sendingemail marketing and to help you
ensure that you're following allthe legal guidelines is to sign
up for an ESP email serviceprovider, something like
(02:34):
Flowdesk, MailChimp, convertkit.
Any ESP will help set you upfor success.
Okay, now you know, do not sendemail blasts directly from
Gmail.
But what about that Gmail emailaddress that you have?
I think that is a part two ofthis mistake and that it
detracts from theprofessionalism with having that
(02:57):
personal email address, whyAnyone can just go create a
Gmail or Yahoo email and startsending it from their business,
whereas if you take the time toget a custom domain branded
email address, it definitelyboosts up those professional
brownie points.
If you need more resources oncreating one of those, check out
(03:20):
the episode prior to this oneepisode 28, to learn more about
that specifically and go moreinto depth.
Also, if you are using an ESPand you have just a plain
personal Gmail email address,there's a high likelihood that
one your ESP may not even acceptthat as an email that you're
allowed to send email marketingfrom.
(03:40):
But two, there's a very highchance that all of those emails
you send are actually just goingto land in the spam folder or
promotions folder anyways, orworse off, is that your
subscribers actually just markyour emails as spam.
Mistake number two is notfollowing the CanSpam Act.
(04:03):
Probably even before that isnot even being aware that there
is a CanSpam Act.
It helps provide guidance andprotection governing marketing,
whether it's emails or thosephysical mailings.
We already talked about it inmistake number one, but if you
want to ensure that you're onthe right direction of following
(04:25):
the canned spam act.
It would be providing a clearway to unsubscribe.
That means if somebody receivesyour email, they can quickly
find that button and get out ofthat email thread or whatever
they've signed up for.
It doesn't mean you hide theunsubscribe button in the middle
of your email text or you justdelete it altogether.
Or the option doesn't mean youhide the unsubscribe button in
(04:45):
the middle of your email text oryou just delete it altogether,
or the option doesn't exist.
That would not be adhering tothe CAN-SPAM Act.
Also, in accordance with theCAN-SPAM Act, you have to have a
valid postal address includedon all of your marketing emails.
For many of us small businessowners, our home is also where
(05:06):
we're running our business, sothat would mean we need to put
our home address on all of ouremail blasts.
Majority of us don't want to dothat.
Yes, if someone wants to figureout where we live, internet can
probably do that for them, butwe don't want to offer that
information for them.
But we don't want to offer thatinformation willingly,
(05:28):
especially when there are otheralternatives.
You can go open up a additionalPO box, maybe at your local
USPS or even UPS.
I go through iPostal.
It is a very helpful service.
I'll link it in the show notesfor you.
Another way t-shirt makers donot follow the canned spam back.
It's having deceptive subjectlines.
(05:50):
Now there's a differencebetween creating a subject line
that is a cliffhanger and it'slike oh, what's in this email?
What new feature could shepossibly be talking about?
Then you're interested and youclick it right.
But I have seen it used and Icringed when I saw it.
(06:11):
Someone took like the exactsubject line you would get, like
if your order is delivered oryour order is ready for pickup.
They put that in the subjectline as a deceptive tactic to
make people think that they hadan order ready or like, hey,
wait, I didn't order somethingand then inside the email was
(06:32):
actually marketing promotionmaterial.
You can't do that.
That is a deceptive subjectline and it is a violation of
CanSpamAct.
So that's mistake.
Number two is that t-shirtmakers are not following the
CanSpamMac when they're runningtheir email marketing program.
If you haven't read through itbefore, I will link it in the
(06:54):
show notes for you.
And did I mention that, theCanSpamMac?
You are subject to penalties ofup to $52,000.
So this is not something youshould just scoff.
I highly recommend, if you careabout your pocketbooks and your
business and your customers,that you take a look at this
(07:15):
before you send another email.
Mistake number three is focusingsolely on sales, meaning every
email you send is to share aboutyour new offer.
Consistently pushing sales canturn off subscribers.
Yes, I said subscribers, notcustomers.
Many of your email subscribersmay not be customers yet, so
(07:40):
you're still trying to grow thatlike know and trust factor and
nurture your audience to movethem closer to a purchase.
Your email marketing has theability to land in your
subscribers' personal inbox,like you are on their phone or
(08:00):
device right when they wake up,potentially when they're
scrolling.
That's the power of your reach.
With email marketing, it'scrucial that you focus on
building relationships andproviding value.
This can range with justconnecting with them through
devotionals, if your audience ismajority faith-based, or maybe
connecting them to local eventsor other vendors they may be
(08:23):
interested in.
Maybe you have a localspotlight, or even something
that recently came up is makingsure they know all of the
graduation dates in the area.
You are a master at Canva andby using Canva you can really
create some unique items thatare of value to your audience,
(08:43):
that are relevant to your localarea.
Don't be afraid to mix up yourcontent either.
You can share helpful tips ormaybe stories about what you did
this weekend and then somehowyou've linked.
You know the shirt you werewearing PS.
If you want the shirt that I'mwearing this weekend, check it
out here, or something similar,or create your own here.
(09:04):
Think about offering them abehind the scenes look, or maybe
, if they missed a live, you'reemailing that out.
Here's the live replay.
Click here to watch.
Just for my audience.
I've recorded it for you,something to that effect.
Or then thinking about thoseabove and beyond occasional
promotions.
Think about the old 80-20 rule80% valuable content, 20%
(09:30):
promotional.
That doesn't mean that you'renot selling anything, it's just
your approach, versus having anemail full of only products by
here, by here, by here, by here,with no other texts.
That's what we're trying tomove away from if we want to
build relationships with youraudience.
(09:52):
Think about styling tips.
Or maybe has your businesstransitioned now into tank tops?
Can you go into details abouthow to pick your perfect tank
top size?
Can you share photos of what itlooks like with somebody in a
medium versus a large, so youcan help them work through that,
or maybe a picture of that tankindoors with the lighting,
(10:16):
versus outdoors, help them findtheir perfect fit.
Also, when we talk focusingsolely on sales as a mistake, I
would use that same mistake in adifferent light, in the sense
of evaluating if your effortsare working or not.
So let's say you've beensending emails for two months
every week and you've beenworking on growing your
(10:39):
subscriber lists.
Again, you've been sendingthose emails, but then maybe
your sales are not correlatinglike my sales.
I thought they would doublewith sending all of these emails
and it's not.
So it's not working.
I think that is a mistake aswell, to focus solely on sales.
Why, if you are sendingconsistent emails and they're
(11:02):
getting open and you are gettinga higher click rate, like
people are going to visit yourwebsite but they're not buying
anything, that does notnecessarily tie to causation,
meaning it's your email listthat is failing.
Why?
There could be a number ofthings on your website as a
reason of why they're not buying.
Is your offer not correct?
(11:23):
Is your website confusing?
Are you having a glitch?
Is your pricing structure notadding up to what your
subscriber wants to spend?
Maybe there's not a perceivedvalue there, so they don't want
to trade their dollars for thatproduct.
Proceed with caution if you'refocusing solely on sales to
(11:45):
measure your email marketingeffort success or lack thereof.
Instead, I recommend you justlook at your email marketing on
its own, as a standalone.
This is why an ESP is extremelyhelpful, because you can start
to use that analytic feature tosee, hey, which emails are
getting open, which buttonresulted in the highest clicks?
(12:06):
What subject lines were maybenot as successful?
Focus on those versus focusingon your sales count.
Mistake number four I seet-shirt makers make when it
comes to email email marketingis including an overwhelming
amount of images to content,meaning you have way too many
(12:29):
images and not enough content tosupport those images.
There are a few downsides ofoverloading emails with images.
Now, I'm not saying there's acertain amount of images you can
or can't have.
I'm talking about images inproportion to your content.
(12:50):
So the majority of your emailshould be filled with content,
written word over those images.
And now, even if you're usinglike, an image block, like for a
flow desk and image block, andyou're like well, the graphic
I'm uploading has text on itthat's technically content.
It's not, because whenever youload it into your email service
(13:11):
provider.
It is counted as an image ifit's in the image block.
If you have way too many imagesin your emails in comparison
with the content, this can getcaught up in the spam filter.
Emails with too many images aremore likely to be flagged as
spam.
Why?
Because your subscribers'inboxes are looking for emails
(13:35):
from like friends, colleagues.
Okay, yeah, that's probablysomething that belongs in the
primary inbox, but an email witha lot of images is more than
likely promotional content ormaybe something that is unwanted
.
When was the last time you sentan email and attached tons of
emails in the body of the email?
(13:55):
Probably have never done that,but whenever you're sending your
email marketing, you'reprobably doing that a lot.
Also, a lot of images can createloading issues, especially on
mobile devices.
I can't tell you how many timesI've received emails.
I go to open it up depending onwhere I'm at.
Maybe I'm at work trying toload it with where I have not as
(14:19):
good service and I can't evensee the email because all of I
can tell the image blocks arecondensed or collapsed and the
images are not loading and Ijust see shop now, shop now,
shop now.
And I don't know what any ofthose images were supposed to be
and there's not any text tosupport what the image block was
.
So I just hit delete.
(14:40):
I don't wait for all of thoseimages to load.
The best practice is to use thatbalance of text and images.
So you're going to have peoplethat are drawn to images.
A few images will support theirreading style, whereas others
like to read and they will skim,so that text supports those
(15:00):
type of subscribers.
If you're currently strugglingwith this mistake, what I want
you to do before you send yournext email is grab all of the
photos you normally would put inan email, but if you have three
, I want you to pick one.
If you have six, I want you toget it down to two.
Try to reduce how many imagesyou're using, and then that will
(15:21):
also push you to make sureyou're only selecting or taking
the most high quality photospossible, because you know
you're not going to use them all.
And then if you're like, well,I really want them to see all
these images, though I want themto see the images too, but they
just don't belong in your email.
So focus on using a clear andcompelling call to action to
(15:45):
pique their curiosity to go seethe rest of the images or your
offer.
Maybe you don't even reveal thefull image, maybe you have it
blurred a little bit so theyhave to click to go to your
website to see the full product.
Maybe it's one of those.
The goal of your emailmarketing is to lead them to
your website.
(16:06):
If they can get all of theinformation from the email and
delete, why would they evervisit your website?
The final mistake, mistakenumber five, makes me sad when I
read comments like this.
And it is obsessing overunsubscribes.
Why?
Because many of us learned longago to not obsess over our
(16:31):
group member count and ourFacebook groups dropping.
We figured out how to do itfrom a desktop.
You can go in and search formermembers to see even who's left
the group.
But when we first started itfelt like a gut punch, like I
worked so hard to get a group of63 people and you best believe
I'm going to notice if next timeI come and the group's down to
(16:52):
61, it's like did I do somethingwrong?
Are they not liking my products?
It's really easy for you tostart to internalize those group
members that have left one byone.
Maybe what you didn't realizeis maybe they just wanted to
take a social media break sothey actually deactivated their
profile.
Or maybe they're trying to cutback on spending and they love
(17:15):
all your items, but they arejust not exercising self-control
, so they're trying to work ontheir budget.
Maybe others accepted the grouprequest to come join your group
but they actually realizedthese products aren't for me.
I actually don't wear graphictees or I don't need a custom
tumbler, so this group is notserving me, so I'm just going to
(17:37):
leave.
That says nothing about you as abusiness owner and it says
nothing about your products.
It is all about the members andtheir own personal situations.
We are very selfish creaturesby nature in that we assume the
world revolves around us, so ifsomething does not go in our
(17:58):
favor, it has to be somethingthat maybe I have done, but that
is not always the case.
Everyone is all on their ownjourney and maybe their journey
just isn't aligning with yourpresent journey, and that is
okay.
So we've come a long way toaccept that mindset for our
(18:19):
Facebook group.
So, as you start to venture outinto email marketing, that is
no different.
If you get an unsubscribe or two, that is okay.
Or in proportion to your emaillist size.
Presently, a currentunsubscribe rate that is healthy
is less than 0.5%.
(18:40):
So if you have an email list of500 people that you are
emailing on a weekly basis, youhit that email and anywhere from
two to three people unsubscribe.
That is a healthy amount.
It's going to happen.
Every time you send an email,you're reminding people that you
exist, so it's anotheropportunity for them to decide
(19:03):
is this still serving me or isit not?
The good news is is if you havethat unsubscribe button clearly
identified in the body of youremail, they'll hit unsubscribe
versus marking you as spam,which we absolutely do not want
to happen.
However, if you send an emailand you do see a spike in
unsubscribes, maybe for that 500email list, one email gets 15
(19:27):
unsubscribes.
That's okay.
This is a great opportunity toevaluate why.
Is this an email where maybeyou took maybe more of an edgier
approach in your opinion onsomething which is okay?
Sometimes, being more one wayor the other can help you create
an audience of loyal followersversus just a lukewarm in the
(19:51):
middle trying to please everyone.
But take a look at that.
Or did you try to take a leapin trying out a new product
offering or announcing thatsomething in your business is
going to change, or maybe didyou change up your email
marketing style that potentiallydid not get the response that
you were hoping for.
Those unsubscribes, when theycome in a large bulk, can really
(20:15):
teach you a lot about it.
I actually had this happen onetime and I uh funny enough it
was an email Maybe you've gottenthis one from me.
It was over a year ago now butI sent an email about my eyebrow
appointment fail like thetenting of my eyebrows and it
(20:37):
was just so dark and I put thepicture in there.
I mean it was terrible.
And so I got an uptick inunsubscribes on that particular
email.
That I have never seen happenbefore.
So I went back and I went intothe content to figure out like
where was the disconnect?
Why was someone unsubscribingfrom this email?
(20:59):
And I found that in that emailwriting copy I didn't do a good
job of getting to the punch soonenough.
I felt like I was a little bitwordy about telling about my
eyebrow experience.
So for my subscribers it's likewhat does that have to do with
me?
So I found and I took a lessonlearned that if I'm going to
(21:19):
have some kind of antidote orstory or share something
personal.
I needed to get to the punchfaster, so, again, you can learn
from those kinds of events.
Let's go back to the Facebookgroup example.
Many of us have been inbusiness for years now, so
potentially the customers westarted with may have trickled
(21:39):
down.
I have no doubt you still havesome of the most loyal customers
that are still with you, thatwere there when you first
started, but some have kind ofdisappeared into the distance.
Maybe that's no longer theirstyle.
Maybe they've kind of outgrownTees.
Maybe they have 20 of yourTumblr cups so maybe they're not
in a point to buy right now.
(22:00):
Or, if you sell B2B, maybe youraudience isn't making shirts
anymore.
No matter what has changed, manyof you are trying to find a way
to make sure those in yourFacebook group are actually
wanting to be there.
Long gone are the days of wherewe were asking people to invite
200 people to get a $5 giftcard.
(22:20):
We learned that that was not agood approach.
So you're trying to whittledown your audience to make sure
that those that want to be thereare there to help increase that
those that are seeing yourposts with a very low reach that
social media provides.
It is hitting those thatactually are interested in what
(22:40):
you provide.
So if we're using that samekind of approach with our
Facebook group, the same shouldalso be true with email
marketing.
First things first.
We only want to get people onour email list that we know are
a good fit.
But maybe some hopped on ouremail list that were not a good
fit or later have evolved andmaybe changed or maybe they're
(23:03):
no longer interested.
So they hit that unsubscribe.
That is good.
They are weeding themselves outand telling you I am not
interested in your offer or thisoffer is not the best offer for
me.
This is good news.
What if the same people did thesame thing in our Facebook
group that they're doing on ouremail list?
(23:23):
Those one to two unsubscribesevery time we send.
That's great.
Why?
It's going to help increaseyour reputation with your ESP,
because you're going to havepeople that are active on your
email list so you're not gettingthese bounces or delivering to
closed inboxes.
It's also helping your openrates and, eventually, your
(23:45):
click-through rates as well.
Quality over quantity An engagedaudience is way more valuable
than a large audience, butthey're not as engaged.
So for those of you juststarting out with 20 people on
your email list and you're atlike an 82% open rate, enjoy
that while you can, because thebigger your audience grows, the
(24:09):
more likely it is that you'regoing to start getting people on
your email list that aren'tactually interested and then
you're going to start followingmore into those average open
rates of like 35%, plus or minusjust a bit.
So, again, if you're startingoff just now, enjoy that while
you can.
And if you're finding that yourengagement rates are lower, or
(24:32):
maybe your open rates are lower,this is where you can apply a
cold subscriber type of funneland you can start to work to
identify those.
Hey, do you actually want to beon this email list or are you
no longer interested?
If you're no longer interested,here's an unsubscribe.
You can take yourself off.
No harm, no foul.
Or if you are interested, goahead and click this button to
(24:55):
tell me you still want to behere and then, after a period of
time or a few emails, then youcan decide who still has not
opened or taken the action I'veasked of them, and then you can
remove them from your email list.
Again, that will help keep youremail list healthy.
It's time to wrap up thisepisode and I just want to recap
all of those mistakes and thebest practices for them, the
(25:17):
first mistake being sendingemail blasts from Gmail.
Your best practice is going tobe signing up for an email
service provider to help guideyou through the appropriate way
to send out your email marketing.
Mistake number two is notadhering or following the can
spam act.
Your best practice there is tojust look in the show notes and
(25:37):
just read it to begin with andmake sure you understand Mist.
Best practice there is to justlook in the show notes and just
read it to begin with and makesure you understand.
Mistake number three isfocusing solely on sales
whenever you send your email.
That best practice is to followthe 80-20 rule 80% valuable
content and 20% promotional.
Mistake number four is havingway too many images in your
(26:01):
emails.
The best practice is to use abalance of text and images.
However, I highly recommendusing majority content and very
few images, and think aboutthose compelling call to actions
to get them to take action.
Mistake number five is obsessingover unsubscribes.
(26:21):
The best practice to alleviatethis is to, quite frankly, shift
your mindsets.
Unsubscribes is the name of thegame.
It may happen.
Actually, check that it's goingto happen, but take a note to
see if your unsubscribed ratesare on par with the average,
roughly 0.5%.
(26:42):
If it is, no worries.
If it is higher than thatconsistently, then that's
something you want to take alook at and dive deeper into
your email marketing strategyand figure out which part is
your audience not responding tothe way you want them to.
If you're ready to take the nextsteps for email marketing
whether it's to get started withemail marketing, or maybe you
(27:05):
just need to fine tune yourcurrent processes Maybe you need
some help with some templateson what should you be sending,
what should you be saying?
I'd love to help you out withthat.
Check out the show notes,because I will link all of my
best resources down below.
Thank you for taking the timeto tune into another episode.
(27:25):
Your support means everythingto me.
If you do have an extra secondtoday and you would like to rate
and review the podcast, thatwould be greatly appreciated.
It helps future perspectivelisteners decide if this is the
podcast they want to tune intoor not.
Today we're diving into a topic that's close to my
heart and essential for yourbusiness.
If you've been with me for alittle while now, you know I'm
talking about email marketing.
I know what you're thinking.
Email marketing isn't that forthe big brands with massive
budgets and teams of marketinggurus.
Let me tell you, it's not justfor the big guys.
(00:21):
In fact, it's one of the mostpowerful tools at your disposal
and it's perfect for smallbusiness owners like you, ann.
But here's the thing there aresome big common mistakes I see
t-shirt makers make when they'rejust starting out with email
marketing, and these mistakes,believe it or not, can really
hold you back.
But don't worry, we're going totalk about them today.
(00:43):
Today, we're going to discussmistakes that range from using
Gmail for your email marketing,violating the canned spam act
why maybe your strategy is notworking for you the amount of
images you use and, finally, thedreaded unsubscribes.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You're listening to Turn Down the Hustle, the
podcast dedicated totransforming how you run your
creative online t-shirt businessby working smarter, not harder,
so you can spend more time withyour why, people and passions
that matter most in your life.
So throw on your favoritegraphic tee and turn up the heat
.
Press, because it's time toturn down the hustle.
Here's your host digitalmarketer.
(01:23):
Cold brew lover, t-shirt maker,freckled hype girl and owner of
Sunkist Virtual Assistant, amy.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Mistake number one is sending email marketing from
your Gmail.
So I'm talking like you'relogging into your Gmail on your
computer, checking your emails,and then you're thinking, hey, I
need to send out my new offer.
So you click new email, youdrop in all of these email
(01:51):
addresses you've pulled fromyour website into the to field,
type out your offer and hit send.
Cannot do that.
That is a violation of theCanSpan Mac for the number one
reason that you're not givinganyone who received that email
an option to opt out orunsubscribe.
They are stuck in that emailchain.
(02:11):
You know what I'm talking about.
If you're in any of those grouptexts with Android users and
you can't leave the chat, it isquite frustrating at times.
So you maybe just mute it oryou start to ignore it.
The best practice for sendingemail marketing and to help you
ensure that you're following allthe legal guidelines is to sign
up for an ESP email serviceprovider, something like
(02:34):
Flowdesk, MailChimp, convertkit.
Any ESP will help set you upfor success.
Okay, now you know, do not sendemail blasts directly from
Gmail.
But what about that Gmail emailaddress that you have?
I think that is a part two ofthis mistake and that it
detracts from theprofessionalism with having that
(02:57):
personal email address, whyAnyone can just go create a
Gmail or Yahoo email and startsending it from their business,
whereas if you take the time toget a custom domain branded
email address, it definitelyboosts up those professional
brownie points.
If you need more resources oncreating one of those, check out
(03:20):
the episode prior to this oneepisode 28, to learn more about
that specifically and go moreinto depth.
Also, if you are using an ESPand you have just a plain
personal Gmail email address,there's a high likelihood that
one your ESP may not even acceptthat as an email that you're
allowed to send email marketingfrom.
(03:40):
But two, there's a very highchance that all of those emails
you send are actually just goingto land in the spam folder or
promotions folder anyways, orworse off, is that your
subscribers actually just markyour emails as spam.
Mistake number two is notfollowing the CanSpam Act.
(04:03):
Probably even before that isnot even being aware that there
is a CanSpam Act.
It helps provide guidance andprotection governing marketing,
whether it's emails or thosephysical mailings.
We already talked about it inmistake number one, but if you
want to ensure that you're onthe right direction of following
(04:25):
the canned spam act.
It would be providing a clearway to unsubscribe.
That means if somebody receivesyour email, they can quickly
find that button and get out ofthat email thread or whatever
they've signed up for.
It doesn't mean you hide theunsubscribe button in the middle
of your email text or you justdelete it altogether.
Or the option doesn't mean youhide the unsubscribe button in
(04:45):
the middle of your email text oryou just delete it altogether,
or the option doesn't exist.
That would not be adhering tothe CAN-SPAM Act.
Also, in accordance with theCAN-SPAM Act, you have to have a
valid postal address includedon all of your marketing emails.
For many of us small businessowners, our home is also where
(05:06):
we're running our business, sothat would mean we need to put
our home address on all of ouremail blasts.
Majority of us don't want to dothat.
Yes, if someone wants to figureout where we live, internet can
probably do that for them, butwe don't want to offer that
information for them.
But we don't want to offer thatinformation willingly,
(05:28):
especially when there are otheralternatives.
You can go open up a additionalPO box, maybe at your local
USPS or even UPS.
I go through iPostal.
It is a very helpful service.
I'll link it in the show notesfor you.
Another way t-shirt makers donot follow the canned spam back.
It's having deceptive subjectlines.
(05:50):
Now there's a differencebetween creating a subject line
that is a cliffhanger and it'slike oh, what's in this email?
What new feature could shepossibly be talking about?
Then you're interested and youclick it right.
But I have seen it used and Icringed when I saw it.
(06:11):
Someone took like the exactsubject line you would get, like
if your order is delivered oryour order is ready for pickup.
They put that in the subjectline as a deceptive tactic to
make people think that they hadan order ready or like, hey,
wait, I didn't order somethingand then inside the email was
(06:32):
actually marketing promotionmaterial.
You can't do that.
That is a deceptive subjectline and it is a violation of
CanSpamAct.
So that's mistake.
Number two is that t-shirtmakers are not following the
CanSpamMac when they're runningtheir email marketing program.
If you haven't read through itbefore, I will link it in the
(06:54):
show notes for you.
And did I mention that, theCanSpamMac?
You are subject to penalties ofup to $52,000.
So this is not something youshould just scoff.
I highly recommend, if you careabout your pocketbooks and your
business and your customers,that you take a look at this
(07:15):
before you send another email.
Mistake number three is focusingsolely on sales, meaning every
email you send is to share aboutyour new offer.
Consistently pushing sales canturn off subscribers.
Yes, I said subscribers, notcustomers.
Many of your email subscribersmay not be customers yet, so
(07:40):
you're still trying to grow thatlike know and trust factor and
nurture your audience to movethem closer to a purchase.
Your email marketing has theability to land in your
subscribers' personal inbox,like you are on their phone or
(08:00):
device right when they wake up,potentially when they're
scrolling.
That's the power of your reach.
With email marketing, it'scrucial that you focus on
building relationships andproviding value.
This can range with justconnecting with them through
devotionals, if your audience ismajority faith-based, or maybe
connecting them to local eventsor other vendors they may be
(08:23):
interested in.
Maybe you have a localspotlight, or even something
that recently came up is makingsure they know all of the
graduation dates in the area.
You are a master at Canva andby using Canva you can really
create some unique items thatare of value to your audience,
(08:43):
that are relevant to your localarea.
Don't be afraid to mix up yourcontent either.
You can share helpful tips ormaybe stories about what you did
this weekend and then somehowyou've linked.
You know the shirt you werewearing PS.
If you want the shirt that I'mwearing this weekend, check it
out here, or something similar,or create your own here.
(09:04):
Think about offering them abehind the scenes look, or maybe
, if they missed a live, you'reemailing that out.
Here's the live replay.
Click here to watch.
Just for my audience.
I've recorded it for you,something to that effect.
Or then thinking about thoseabove and beyond occasional
promotions.
Think about the old 80-20 rule80% valuable content, 20%
(09:30):
promotional.
That doesn't mean that you'renot selling anything, it's just
your approach, versus having anemail full of only products by
here, by here, by here, by here,with no other texts.
That's what we're trying tomove away from if we want to
build relationships with youraudience.
(09:52):
Think about styling tips.
Or maybe has your businesstransitioned now into tank tops?
Can you go into details abouthow to pick your perfect tank
top size?
Can you share photos of what itlooks like with somebody in a
medium versus a large, so youcan help them work through that,
or maybe a picture of that tankindoors with the lighting,
(10:16):
versus outdoors, help them findtheir perfect fit.
Also, when we talk focusingsolely on sales as a mistake, I
would use that same mistake in adifferent light, in the sense
of evaluating if your effortsare working or not.
So let's say you've beensending emails for two months
every week and you've beenworking on growing your
(10:39):
subscriber lists.
Again, you've been sendingthose emails, but then maybe
your sales are not correlatinglike my sales.
I thought they would doublewith sending all of these emails
and it's not.
So it's not working.
I think that is a mistake aswell, to focus solely on sales.
Why, if you are sendingconsistent emails and they're
(11:02):
getting open and you are gettinga higher click rate, like
people are going to visit yourwebsite but they're not buying
anything, that does notnecessarily tie to causation,
meaning it's your email listthat is failing.
Why?
There could be a number ofthings on your website as a
reason of why they're not buying.
Is your offer not correct?
(11:23):
Is your website confusing?
Are you having a glitch?
Is your pricing structure notadding up to what your
subscriber wants to spend?
Maybe there's not a perceivedvalue there, so they don't want
to trade their dollars for thatproduct.
Proceed with caution if you'refocusing solely on sales to
(11:45):
measure your email marketingeffort success or lack thereof.
Instead, I recommend you justlook at your email marketing on
its own, as a standalone.
This is why an ESP is extremelyhelpful, because you can start
to use that analytic feature tosee, hey, which emails are
getting open, which buttonresulted in the highest clicks?
(12:06):
What subject lines were maybenot as successful?
Focus on those versus focusingon your sales count.
Mistake number four I seet-shirt makers make when it
comes to email email marketingis including an overwhelming
amount of images to content,meaning you have way too many
(12:29):
images and not enough content tosupport those images.
There are a few downsides ofoverloading emails with images.
Now, I'm not saying there's acertain amount of images you can
or can't have.
I'm talking about images inproportion to your content.
(12:50):
So the majority of your emailshould be filled with content,
written word over those images.
And now, even if you're usinglike, an image block, like for a
flow desk and image block, andyou're like well, the graphic
I'm uploading has text on itthat's technically content.
It's not, because whenever youload it into your email service
(13:11):
provider.
It is counted as an image ifit's in the image block.
If you have way too many imagesin your emails in comparison
with the content, this can getcaught up in the spam filter.
Emails with too many images aremore likely to be flagged as
spam.
Why?
Because your subscribers'inboxes are looking for emails
(13:35):
from like friends, colleagues.
Okay, yeah, that's probablysomething that belongs in the
primary inbox, but an email witha lot of images is more than
likely promotional content ormaybe something that is unwanted
.
When was the last time you sentan email and attached tons of
emails in the body of the email?
(13:55):
Probably have never done that,but whenever you're sending your
email marketing, you'reprobably doing that a lot.
Also, a lot of images can createloading issues, especially on
mobile devices.
I can't tell you how many timesI've received emails.
I go to open it up depending onwhere I'm at.
Maybe I'm at work trying toload it with where I have not as
(14:19):
good service and I can't evensee the email because all of I
can tell the image blocks arecondensed or collapsed and the
images are not loading and Ijust see shop now, shop now,
shop now.
And I don't know what any ofthose images were supposed to be
and there's not any text tosupport what the image block was
.
So I just hit delete.
(14:40):
I don't wait for all of thoseimages to load.
The best practice is to use thatbalance of text and images.
So you're going to have peoplethat are drawn to images.
A few images will support theirreading style, whereas others
like to read and they will skim,so that text supports those
(15:00):
type of subscribers.
If you're currently strugglingwith this mistake, what I want
you to do before you send yournext email is grab all of the
photos you normally would put inan email, but if you have three
, I want you to pick one.
If you have six, I want you toget it down to two.
Try to reduce how many imagesyou're using, and then that will
(15:21):
also push you to make sureyou're only selecting or taking
the most high quality photospossible, because you know
you're not going to use them all.
And then if you're like, well,I really want them to see all
these images, though I want themto see the images too, but they
just don't belong in your email.
So focus on using a clear andcompelling call to action to
(15:45):
pique their curiosity to go seethe rest of the images or your
offer.
Maybe you don't even reveal thefull image, maybe you have it
blurred a little bit so theyhave to click to go to your
website to see the full product.
Maybe it's one of those.
The goal of your emailmarketing is to lead them to
your website.
(16:06):
If they can get all of theinformation from the email and
delete, why would they evervisit your website?
The final mistake, mistakenumber five, makes me sad when I
read comments like this.
And it is obsessing overunsubscribes.
Why?
Because many of us learned longago to not obsess over our
(16:31):
group member count and ourFacebook groups dropping.
We figured out how to do itfrom a desktop.
You can go in and search formermembers to see even who's left
the group.
But when we first started itfelt like a gut punch, like I
worked so hard to get a group of63 people and you best believe
I'm going to notice if next timeI come and the group's down to
(16:52):
61, it's like did I do somethingwrong?
Are they not liking my products?
It's really easy for you tostart to internalize those group
members that have left one byone.
Maybe what you didn't realizeis maybe they just wanted to
take a social media break sothey actually deactivated their
profile.
Or maybe they're trying to cutback on spending and they love
(17:15):
all your items, but they arejust not exercising self-control
, so they're trying to work ontheir budget.
Maybe others accepted the grouprequest to come join your group
but they actually realizedthese products aren't for me.
I actually don't wear graphictees or I don't need a custom
tumbler, so this group is notserving me, so I'm just going to
(17:37):
leave.
That says nothing about you as abusiness owner and it says
nothing about your products.
It is all about the members andtheir own personal situations.
We are very selfish creaturesby nature in that we assume the
world revolves around us, so ifsomething does not go in our
(17:58):
favor, it has to be somethingthat maybe I have done, but that
is not always the case.
Everyone is all on their ownjourney and maybe their journey
just isn't aligning with yourpresent journey, and that is
okay.
So we've come a long way toaccept that mindset for our
(18:19):
Facebook group.
So, as you start to venture outinto email marketing, that is
no different.
If you get an unsubscribe or two, that is okay.
Or in proportion to your emaillist size.
Presently, a currentunsubscribe rate that is healthy
is less than 0.5%.
(18:40):
So if you have an email list of500 people that you are
emailing on a weekly basis, youhit that email and anywhere from
two to three people unsubscribe.
That is a healthy amount.
It's going to happen.
Every time you send an email,you're reminding people that you
exist, so it's anotheropportunity for them to decide
(19:03):
is this still serving me or isit not?
The good news is is if you havethat unsubscribe button clearly
identified in the body of youremail, they'll hit unsubscribe
versus marking you as spam,which we absolutely do not want
to happen.
However, if you send an emailand you do see a spike in
unsubscribes, maybe for that 500email list, one email gets 15
(19:27):
unsubscribes.
That's okay.
This is a great opportunity toevaluate why.
Is this an email where maybeyou took maybe more of an edgier
approach in your opinion onsomething which is okay?
Sometimes, being more one wayor the other can help you create
an audience of loyal followersversus just a lukewarm in the
(19:51):
middle trying to please everyone.
But take a look at that.
Or did you try to take a leapin trying out a new product
offering or announcing thatsomething in your business is
going to change, or maybe didyou change up your email
marketing style that potentiallydid not get the response that
you were hoping for.
Those unsubscribes, when theycome in a large bulk, can really
(20:15):
teach you a lot about it.
I actually had this happen onetime and I uh funny enough it
was an email Maybe you've gottenthis one from me.
It was over a year ago now butI sent an email about my eyebrow
appointment fail like thetenting of my eyebrows and it
(20:37):
was just so dark and I put thepicture in there.
I mean it was terrible.
And so I got an uptick inunsubscribes on that particular
email.
That I have never seen happenbefore.
So I went back and I went intothe content to figure out like
where was the disconnect?
Why was someone unsubscribingfrom this email?
(20:59):
And I found that in that emailwriting copy I didn't do a good
job of getting to the punch soonenough.
I felt like I was a little bitwordy about telling about my
eyebrow experience.
So for my subscribers it's likewhat does that have to do with
me?
So I found and I took a lessonlearned that if I'm going to
(21:19):
have some kind of antidote orstory or share something
personal.
I needed to get to the punchfaster, so, again, you can learn
from those kinds of events.
Let's go back to the Facebookgroup example.
Many of us have been inbusiness for years now, so
potentially the customers westarted with may have trickled
(21:39):
down.
I have no doubt you still havesome of the most loyal customers
that are still with you, thatwere there when you first
started, but some have kind ofdisappeared into the distance.
Maybe that's no longer theirstyle.
Maybe they've kind of outgrownTees.
Maybe they have 20 of yourTumblr cups so maybe they're not
in a point to buy right now.
(22:00):
Or, if you sell B2B, maybe youraudience isn't making shirts
anymore.
No matter what has changed, manyof you are trying to find a way
to make sure those in yourFacebook group are actually
wanting to be there.
Long gone are the days of wherewe were asking people to invite
200 people to get a $5 giftcard.
(22:20):
We learned that that was not agood approach.
So you're trying to whittledown your audience to make sure
that those that want to be thereare there to help increase that
those that are seeing yourposts with a very low reach that
social media provides.
It is hitting those thatactually are interested in what
(22:40):
you provide.
So if we're using that samekind of approach with our
Facebook group, the same shouldalso be true with email
marketing.
First things first.
We only want to get people onour email list that we know are
a good fit.
But maybe some hopped on ouremail list that were not a good
fit or later have evolved andmaybe changed or maybe they're
(23:03):
no longer interested.
So they hit that unsubscribe.
That is good.
They are weeding themselves outand telling you I am not
interested in your offer or thisoffer is not the best offer for
me.
This is good news.
What if the same people did thesame thing in our Facebook
group that they're doing on ouremail list?
(23:23):
Those one to two unsubscribesevery time we send.
That's great.
Why?
It's going to help increaseyour reputation with your ESP,
because you're going to havepeople that are active on your
email list so you're not gettingthese bounces or delivering to
closed inboxes.
It's also helping your openrates and, eventually, your
(23:45):
click-through rates as well.
Quality over quantity An engagedaudience is way more valuable
than a large audience, butthey're not as engaged.
So for those of you juststarting out with 20 people on
your email list and you're atlike an 82% open rate, enjoy
that while you can, because thebigger your audience grows, the
(24:09):
more likely it is that you'regoing to start getting people on
your email list that aren'tactually interested and then
you're going to start followingmore into those average open
rates of like 35%, plus or minusjust a bit.
So, again, if you're startingoff just now, enjoy that while
you can.
And if you're finding that yourengagement rates are lower, or
(24:32):
maybe your open rates are lower,this is where you can apply a
cold subscriber type of funneland you can start to work to
identify those.
Hey, do you actually want to beon this email list or are you
no longer interested?
If you're no longer interested,here's an unsubscribe.
You can take yourself off.
No harm, no foul.
Or if you are interested, goahead and click this button to
(24:55):
tell me you still want to behere and then, after a period of
time or a few emails, then youcan decide who still has not
opened or taken the action I'veasked of them, and then you can
remove them from your email list.
Again, that will help keep youremail list healthy.
It's time to wrap up thisepisode and I just want to recap
all of those mistakes and thebest practices for them, the
(25:17):
first mistake being sendingemail blasts from Gmail.
Your best practice is going tobe signing up for an email
service provider to help guideyou through the appropriate way
to send out your email marketing.
Mistake number two is notadhering or following the can
spam act.
Your best practice there is tojust look in the show notes and
(25:37):
just read it to begin with andmake sure you understand Mist.
Best practice there is to justlook in the show notes and just
read it to begin with and makesure you understand.
Mistake number three isfocusing solely on sales
whenever you send your email.
That best practice is to followthe 80-20 rule 80% valuable
content and 20% promotional.
Mistake number four is havingway too many images in your
(26:01):
emails.
The best practice is to use abalance of text and images.
However, I highly recommendusing majority content and very
few images, and think aboutthose compelling call to actions
to get them to take action.
Mistake number five is obsessingover unsubscribes.
(26:21):
The best practice to alleviatethis is to, quite frankly, shift
your mindsets.
Unsubscribes is the name of thegame.
It may happen.
Actually, check that it's goingto happen, but take a note to
see if your unsubscribed ratesare on par with the average,
roughly 0.5%.
(26:42):
If it is, no worries.
If it is higher than thatconsistently, then that's
something you want to take alook at and dive deeper into
your email marketing strategyand figure out which part is
your audience not responding tothe way you want them to.
If you're ready to take the nextsteps for email marketing
whether it's to get started withemail marketing, or maybe you
(27:05):
just need to fine tune yourcurrent processes Maybe you need
some help with some templateson what should you be sending,
what should you be saying?
I'd love to help you out withthat.
Check out the show notes,because I will link all of my
best resources down below.
Thank you for taking the timeto tune into another episode.
(27:25):
Your support means everythingto me.
If you do have an extra secondtoday and you would like to rate
and review the podcast, thatwould be greatly appreciated.
It helps future perspectivelisteners decide if this is the
podcast they want to tune intoor not.
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