One of the absolute surefire ways to make more money in your business is by mailing your list great stuff … MORE OFTEN.

Sure, you'll lose some people, but those people aren't your eager customers who want your stuff – and want to buy it NOW. (Or at least hear from you and have the option to connect – and maybe buy something, too!)

The problem is that, if you don't plan your email promotions, you'll let this slide. Unfortunately. Trust me, I know. I slip up on occasions, too.

When I slip up and don't mail often enough, I notice two things –

1. My income starts to dip a bit.
2. I start to get emails and notes on Facebook, asking if I'm ok.

So, yes, please plan your promos in advance, even if you just have a piece of paper where you sketch them out.

This week I asked our panel of experts to weigh in on this question…

How do you plan your email marketing / list promotions?

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

This is actually pretty simple. Every major autoresponder has features to schedule emails and promotions in advance. Currently my lists are primarily in Aweber and 1SC.

Even when not traveling, I still usually schedule at least a week in advance. It's part of my “batching” I do. I've found the most effective way for me to work is to schedule several hours on a project and just work on that. So I'll write several emails at once. Then have them all loaded at once into the system for queuing.

Since I use 1Shoppingcart we can set discounts using the coupon system and those coupons can be set to expire at a set time. So everything can be done in advance including giving a limited time discount on a product. I've done as much as a month in advance this way for emails and promotions. It gets it off your plate where you're not thinking about it. Of course WordPress allows you to schedule your blog posts in exactly the same way.

I'd love to tell you I'm super organized and have everything scheduled for months in advance, but it wouldn't be true.

I do plan out my primary autoresponder sequences like this.

When putting up a new autoresponder, I'll mind map out the overall strategy, story, and content that is shared. Mind mapping helps me get all the information out including what the target market's primary problems are, the barriers they have to cross to reach their goals, and the objections they will have to purchasing from me.

The initial email sequence is planned out, and often written close together over just a few days. Pieces are moved back and forth between the emails to get them all in a nice flow, especially for the first 30 days.

When it comes to ongoing broadcasts, my reality is they are rarely planned more than a couple of weeks in advance. I have a journal of stories and notes about topics I want to cover in the future. On Friday mornings, I'll go through the journal and plan at least the next week's emails. Sometimes I'm able to put together emails for a couple of weeks in advance.

There have been multiple times someone has asked me to promote for them, but they still hadn't provided swipes or notes about their offer by the Friday before their promotion. In those cases, they're replaced by something else. The most successful promotions are those planned a couple of weeks out so all the content leading up to them can be focused on the subject. When I'm going to be away, I'll plan and write a few weeks in advance.

The best performers for me are very limited term specials such as a discount or additional bonuses only available for 24 to 72 hours total, but I don't like doing those more often than about every two weeks max.

Terry Dean is pretty awesome! Check out his stuff at – My Marketing Coach.

Kristen Eckstein of Self Publish on Demand says:

My team and I use a single Excel spreadsheet located in a team DropBox folder. This spreadsheet has a calendar for promotions and newsletter schedule in separate worksheets. I have a list of promotional items in the newsletter worksheet, and my amazing Online Business Manager synced those fields to the promotions calendar worksheet so when I update one, the other populates simultaneously. My OBM (Online Business Manager) monitors the spreadsheet each week and lets me know when I need to go update the newsletter content, since I try to schedule posts and videos out in advance.

Some promotions require much lengthier copy, so within that same folder in DropBox we also have a folder for copy. Each MS Word document containing copy is labeled to match the title in the promotions calendar spreadsheet so it's easy for my VA to find, place in Aweber, and roll out to my list. My Aweber account is linked to Facebook and Twitter, and Twitter is fed to LinkedIn, so I can literally get messages sent everywhere at once through one simple gateway.

Kristen is my Book Coach. Check out her program at Self Publish on Demand

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Organize Your Online Business says:

I use a paper calendar (printed in Word from WinCalendar.com) for planning. On the digital copy I put in all of my training sessions, travel schedule and time off. Then I print it and “take it to lunch” where I do my thinking.

If I have advance notice of an affiliate promotion I'll schedule it on the calendar. Otherwise, I'll promote if there is time when I hear about it. But I think a lot of marketers miss out on leveraging their affiliates because they don't give advance notice of promotions coming up.

I try to have two focus products of the month, one for the first two weeks of the month, the second for the second half of the month. During that focus period I will write 3-5 articles/blog posts on that product, then email my list pointing them toward those. I'll try to record one or two videos on the product.

I'm trying to not create any new products, but when I do, I generally plan those one or two months in advance. Then build up to their launch with specific dates on the calendar.

Email marketing is a flexible area (unless you're out of town and have pre-scheduled all of your messages), so I don't plan to mail daily. That leaves me space to work in an extra message here and there. Plus I have a year-long sequence that goes out every Monday – because I rarely mail on Mondays. (No scientific reason. I just don't get in gear that early in the week.)

Let Jeanette help you organize your business with her free tips -> Organize Your Online Business

Alice Seba of Step-by-Step PLR Guides says:

Email marketing is the main part of what I do in my business, so it's a central focus for me in my planning and work week. And it's funny, because it is basically what I do for a living (with the help of others to fill in all the important tasks that make my business a whole), I find it hard to explain how I plan it. At least it's hard to explain in a paragraph or two, but let me see if I can do it.

Each month, I plan the informational topics we'll be covering, the products we'll be releasing and create a promotion plan around that. Content and product promotions are generally tightly related as I want my audience to be as informed about and as interested as possible in what we have for sale. So each month, a basic plan is put together with rough dates for everything.

Then each week, I write a more detailed plan of which emails will go out which days to which lists and which segments of those lists. I will often write all the emails for a week in one day, so that it's out of the way as much as possible. I also finds this helps me keep a nice flow going between each email that a subscriber will receive.

A few important things:

– I always try to give a heads up about stuff that is coming up, so my subscribers will be ready and excited when it happens.

– I always follow up on stuff. Sometimes multiple times and try add a bit more value each time I send a reminder.

– I try to target my emails as much as possible. I have set up a customized system in Amember, where I can include and EXCLUDE certain people and buyers of certain products from emails. This allows me to really pinpoint people's interest, make special offers to people who haven't yet taken action and so forth.

– Customers are key. Opt-in subscribers are great, but customers are people who are proven to want your stuff. They always get special treatment, special offers, coupon codes and so forth.

Everyone will come up with their own system, but it's important that they pay special attention to email. People often lose sight of this as they see the web going more “social”, but trust me, email is social and it CONVERTS.

Alice has some really cool visual step-by-step PLR here -> Step-by-Step PLR Guides

Shannon Cherry of Quick Tweaks for More Profit says:

Check out Shannon's Cool program (and get a special discount here: Quick Tweaks for More Profit

Lain Ehmann of Business Love Potion says:

I would love to say that I'm more organized than I am. But I've found that if I work too far out in the future, I actually lose the opportunity to take advantage of “surprises.” And in the internet world, there always seem to be surprises!

My calendar is driven heavily by several large, regularly scheduled events, and then I work backwards from those. Then I try to leave room to add those “surprises” I mentioned earlier. I don't like to send too many promo emails simultaneously, even for really great offers, so I often have to let opportunities go by for fear of over-promoting and burning out my list.

It's a constant juggling act. But since there aren't many really great affiliate offers in my main industry, it allows me to focus on my own products and events and really build those up.

Nancy Marmolejo of Viva Visibility Blog says:

In my business, we have a master calendar with all the promotions scheduled to go out. I can't tell you how valuable this is, because I used to verbally agree to things without double checking and we'd end up in email promo hell. Mostly it was me promoting so many people that my own promos got shadowed. That was a costly mistake, and fortunately something far in the past.

The general rule of thumb is that during a launch for one of my programs or products, we don't promote anyone else. That means saying no to speaking gigs and some juicy looking JV offers. But at the end of the day, I want my list to remember me and my business, not the 20 other businesses I put in front of them.

We've adopted a “2 is Enough” rule, where I can do 2 external promotions in a non-launch month. That number works for my business.

I have an ezine that goes out once a week, some people get a blog summary sent to them, and of course the occasional promo.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Secrets Explained says:

I travel quite a bit these days, so it becomes crucial to my business for me to maintain a dynamic – as opposed to a static – marketing calendar at all times. I know which promotions will be time sensitive well in advance, and add those in for the day or days I will be letting my list know about them. Then I go ahead and write the emails and save them in my folder according to the date. Later on I add them to the que, in case I want or need to make some changes to the copy.

If I will be flying one day and not near my computer, I go ahead and write those emails as well. I then que them up to go out on a specific day and time so I know my people will receive them while I am on the road or in the air.

The remainder of my emails are written ‘live'. This means that each day when I wake up and go to my computer I write a personal email about what is going on in my life and how it relates to what I am doing in my business. These emails always get the best response, and I believe that is due to the fact that they seem more natural and personal to my readers.

Be a fly on the wall as Connie coaches her student to 10K per month -> Get to 10K Coaching

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Wow. As usual, my friend shared more than I had expected. Thank you all.

Here's my philosophy.

My goal  is to email my customers and leads something of value (content, offer, etc) a minimum of three times per week. I send more if I think of (or find) something cool to share above and beyond that.

The ONLY way that I can successfully do that is if I plan ahead. However, I'm pretty low tech about my methodology.

Leads and Customers.

I use old fashioned pen and paper.  I write the days of the week and fill in the blanks. For instance, most Thursdays, I know I will be mailing about Expert Briefs. That helps me to have an excuse each week to mail. I can mail about the blog post alone or tie it into a reminder about another offer. Either way, I know that I have that one day per week ready to rock and roll. So then it's a matter of filling in the other days.

If I'm traveling, I'll write my messages and schedule them in advance. If I'm home, I may get a day ahead, but I really like the personalization of writing them and then hitting the send button. It just feels more genuine to me. Like writing to a friend.

Affiliates.

I like to also email my affiliates weekly, but no less than monthly. Again, it helps to plan in advance what I'm releasing or if I am going to run any specials – and that gives me something to mail to my affiliates.  And, if all else fails, I can whip up a quick little tool or piece of content that they can use to promote me. (This is what I sent them today: 101 Blog Title Ideas) You'll see a lot of those pieces of content also posted here in the “Free Content for Your Blog Friday” section.

I don't have a specific fancy method to my madness. I just make sure to prioritize my lists towards the top of all of my business activities. Everything else has to wait.

So, how about you? What do you do to plan your mailings?

Also, would you be interested in a course about list profits? I've been thinking that it would be fun to put one together. So, let me know what you think.

Well, my friends, I am off for the day. (After I mail my lists about this post…)

Hugs and appreciate you much.

Thanks for reading.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. If you want to know what mailing system I use… it's this one:

Try AWeber's Email Marketing Tool Risk-Free

Last week, we started this series where Marketers share their pets. You can see the ones we've covered so far here:

• Terry Dean
• Connie Green
• Susanne Myers
• David Perdew
• Alice Seba

Today, we have Nancy Marmolejo & Kristen Eckstein on deck to share their furry friends with us.

Ladies, Show Us Your Pets!

Be sure to comment so they feel the love.

Nancy Marmolejo of Viva Visibility Blog says:

My business couldn't run without ample amounts of orange cat fur collecting on my lap. That is the great contribution of my amazing feline, Orange Kitty.

He has his own Facebook Page http://Facebook.com/OrangeKittyFans (please LIKE him!)

He's mentioned in the last line of my official bio:

And his story is poignantly told here from the eyes of his favorite human, my 9 year old daughter…

Check out Nancy's Audio Series – The Wild Idea that Took Off

Kristen Eckstein of Finish Writing Your Book Fast: Book Writing for Procrastinators says:

My self-proclaimed office mascot is a four-legged feline named Isabella (Izzy for short). She's a beautiful prima donna who owns and manages our entire household – the world really does revolve around her. In fact, she thought she was so special, she got herself a Facebook page where she can complain and obtain pity from her doting fans –> http://Facebook.com/IsabellaFuzz

She goes by many aliases: Isabella Butt-Fuzz, Fuzzy Butt, Muffin, Izzy, Fuzzy Buckets and Isabella You're-a-Butt Eckstein when she's been up on the counters or the loft half-wall.

Her younger brother Plummet C. Turtle is a red-eared slider living in the lap of luxury in a 55-gallon turtle paradise that recently got a nice remodel. It consists of a filter waterfall, deep diving areas, sticks for climbing and more. His middle initial doesn't stand for anything… I really want a pet sea turtle, but they're an endangered species, so keeping them as pets is illegal (not to mention a little hard to keep a 200-lb young sea turtle in a suburban home), Plummet has given me permission to imagine that he's a sea turtle.

The youngest is a betta named Quid who keeps me company in my office. He enjoys living in a little one-gallon tank featuring a fake plant and some rubble from the lost city of Atlantis. His tank is branded to the blue and green colors of my company logo. (Hey, it's all about branding, right?)

If I had my way, I'd run an unofficial zoo. However, with the amount that I travel and the maintenance animals require, I can only keep a few. But on my wish list someday are a Golden Retriever (a Goldendoodle would rock!), Maltese puppy, box turtle (also with the middle initial C.), horse, dolphin, river otter, teddy-bear hamster, salt water fish tank complete with Nemo and Marlin, and of course, I'd love a sea turtle. If you know of any for adoption that won't grow beyond 6 inches, let me know!

Check out Kristen's Book on Amazon! 21 Ways to Write & Publish Your Non-Fiction Book

I hope you’re enjoying seeing our babies! I sure am.

Be sure to give a shout out to Nancy & Kristen to thank them for stopping by.

Coming up on tomorrow, you’ll see more. Make sure you’re signed up for updates so you don’t miss a thing.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

This week I asked our panel of experts …

How the heck do you get people to comment on your Blog?

Let's dig in and see what the experts had to say this week…

Pat Flynn of The Smart Passive Income Blog says:

The easiest and most powerful way to get more comments on your blog posts is to simply just ask.

To take it even further, get more specific with what kind of comments you would like to receive. It may depend on the post that you write, but you can ask for opinions, questions, criticisms, a vote, an experience, a link, etc.

For example, in this post (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-well-can-you-describe-your-website-in-just-three-words), I asked my readers specifically to describe their website in just three words. Because this was a very specific and simple request, it encouraged a lot more (145) comments.

Another example can be found on this post (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/the-only-100-words-you-should-read-today), where I asked people to “pledge” what actions they were going to take to succeed. In a little over 24 hours, it received over 280 comments.

There are other techniques to encourage comments other than just asking.

First, you should make leaving comments as easy as possible. The more steps involved and the more complicated it is, the less comments you will receive.

Secondly, you should do what you can to give your readers the feeling that their comments will be read. You can easily illustrate this by responding to comments yourself. To take it a step further, instead of just saying “thanks for the comment”, really engage with your community and ask questions, leave feedback and take the conversation even further.

A successful blog post does not end with the publish button.

And last but not least, think about the comments on your blog posts like it's a tool for the reader. It's not just a way for people to share how they feel about your post, but it's also a way to contribute and add to the post, and your community and brand as well.

Note from Nicole. I found this video from Pat that shows a few more of his tips on this subject.

Shannon Cherry of ShannonCherry.com says:

Getting a community going is tough. After all, taking the time to comment on someone's well thought out post is tough. I can admit I don't do it as much as I should, and often that's because I feel my time can be spent elsewhere. (I DO, however, visit a lot of blogs.)

That said, I am lucky I get plenty of comments on my blog at ShannonCherry.com

Here's how I do it:

1) Calls to action. If you don't tell them you want comments, no one ever will. But you DO need to be creative with this. Just saying please comment isn't enough. I often ask a question such as, “Am I off base on this? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.”

2) Posts with a bite. I'm known for my “Cherry Bombs”, which are occasional posts that are a little controversial about Internet marketing and the coaching industry. I get the most participation from these posts. The key to these posts from sounding whiny or bitchy is to always put a teaching element in them.

3) Use social media. All my blog posts are also disseminated through social media using my RSS feed. But when there's one I particularly want traction on, I talk about it more than once in my social media networks. Remember don;t do this all the time, or the really special posts you want highlighted will just be run-of-the-mill.

4) Build the relationship. When someone posts on my blog for the first time, they get an email from me thanking them. I admit, this is automated using a wordpress plugin called Comment Relish. I also use WWSGD (What Would Seth Godin Do) as a plugin. This one, which Nicole told me about, allows me to welcome new readers and returning ones differently. (Thanks, Nic!) Finally, I try to reply to every comment personally on the blog to foster communication and community building.

And one more thought…

How important IS getting comments on your blog? Frankly, for me, not much. I know the traffic is there, just sometimes there's not much to comment on. After all, some of my blog posts are informational in nature, just giving some tips, and don't ask for feedback. As long as the traffic is coming consistently, I wouldn't worry so much about comments.

Rachel Rofe of RachelRofe.com says:

With our blog, we try to provide ridiculously valuable and/or interesting content. Every time we do, we mail it to our list and announce it to the Earn1KADay forum.

On the basis of valuable/interesting, a lot of people will comment right there.

And I know it sounds like common sense, but when we ASK for comments… we get a ton more.

I would also say that one could maximize the traffic they get. Direct your blog readers to your Facebook Fan Page. Make posts. Get people to know you. The more they know you and like you, the more they'll want to reach out to you (and make more comments through it).

Connie Ragen Green of ConnieGreen.com says:

I blogged for at least a year without receiving even one comment. It felt like I was writing to the black hole of cyberspace, but I refused to give up. Then one day someone left a comment. I was overcome with joy! And then I wanted even more comments, so I took a close look at what I may have done differently to help make this happen.

All of my previous posts had been about my experiences with building an online business. They were all about me. In this last post, the one someone had been compelled to comment on, I was explaining how to do something that would help them to build their online business. I had shifted my focus from me to them.

I now write posts regularly that help my readers with technology, social media, affiliate marketing, and more. The result is many more comments, and true interaction between my readers. This has helped me to create a community of readers who are focused on a common goal.

My record to date is almost 200 comments on a single post. It was last year when I hosted one of my 30 day blog challenges and asked people to comment in order to have their blog included. Again, I was thinking of how to help them to achieve their goals instead of only writing about my own experiences.

Serve your readers by addressing their needs, and they will be encouraged to leave comments to be included in your community. It's a win-win.

Mark Mason of MasonWorld.com says:

I am a bit lazy when it comes to soliciting comments.

But when I do go after comments, I use these five ways for getting people to comment on my blog:

1. End every post with a question. Leave something open for discussion. This is just like talking over drinks. Leave an opening for your readers to comment,

2. Ask for comments in the post. Sounds obvious, but it helps.

3. Reply to each and every comment. When appropriate, ask a followup question.

4. Ask for comments on Twitter: Example: Here is what I wrote about Nicole Dean: http://URL.com Do you agree?

5. Email your list and ask for comments. It lets your readers know that you care what they think. Then apply #3 above.

Nancy Marmolejo of VivaVisibility.com says:

I make sure to include the first few paragraphs of a blog post in my weekly ezine then invite people to come over to the blog and drop a comment. It's important to make it a “cliffhanger”, get people excited to read the rest and find out what those amazing 5 tips are or that cool new resource you've discovered.

And I don't stop there. I also remind my readers how leaving comments on a blog is a GREAT visibility strategy. I want them to know there's something in it for them and it's not just ME looking for traffic or buzz.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Awhile back I posted here on this same topic. I dug out that blog post, dusted it off, and found a nice gem. I hope you like it!

27 Ways to to Get your Blog Readers to Comment

1. Enable the DoFollow plugin so that your commenters’ links are followed by the search engines. While this isn't essential, it will be important to some of your readers, so why not do it?

2. Enable Comment Luv plug in so that your blog commenters get an extra link from their most recent blog post. I had this one enabled for awhile, but decided to remove it. However, I do like it when others have it on their blogs and I enjoy commenting there.

3. Email your blog commenters with a “thank you” after they post. There are automated tools to do this (including Comment Relish), but you can do it personally or have your Virtual Assistant do it for you.

4. Respond to the comment on your blog, which is really just common courtesy. I have a hard time keeping up with this, which is why I have noted very prominently in the comment area that I personally read all of the comments. And, I do. I try to respond to comments left, so at least there's a sign that I'm around and I don't just “post and run”. lol!

5. Visit their blogs and comment back. Again, this is time-consuming and can’t always be done, but is nice to do while you’re having a break with a glass of wine in the evenings. Take a few minutes away from IM, Twitter, and chatting on forums (yeah, I love them, too!) and go visit your readers’ blogs.

6. Here’s an idea that I hadn’t seen before — list all of your blog commenters in a “thank you” post. While time consuming, it is a very thoughtful and appreciated gesture.

7. Hold blog contests and giveaways that involve commenting to win.

8. Have a contest to reward the person who comments most! (Hmm… any ideas for prizes that you’d like to see? I can do this easily! Let me know.)

9. Promote and market your blog so that it gets a lot of traffic. People want to comment on highly-trafficked blogs.

10. Ask your readers to comment. Sometimes people just want to be asked.

11. Ask them for suggestions. Ask for ideas. Ask for Advice. Ask questions — like in this post, I’m asking for YOUR ideas, as well.

12. Send a note about your blog post to your newsletter or ezine, letting them know you’d love to hear their thoughts. I try to let my other lists know about my recent blog posts without being obnoxious about it.

13. Post something controversial. That’ll get people talking – for better or worse.

14. Don’t allow crappy/yucky spammy comments to remain on your blog. It makes your blog look neglected. Be sure to go in and delete your spam. If you’re using WordPress the Akismet plugin will help automate this process. There are tons of other plugins that will help keep spam off your blog as well, but spammers aren’t dumb and will find ways around them so be sure you delete the ones that do make it through.

15. Twitter about your best blog posts. That’ll attract people who are already talkative to come by and chat. Have your Virtual Assistants Twitter about it, too.

16. Automate the Twitter process. Don’t have time to twitter your own posts? There are plenty of plugins now that will send your blog post to Twitter and/or Facebook.

17. StumbleUpon your blog posts that are informative in nature.

18. Kirtsy blog posts of interest to your readers.

19. There are a ton of ways you can get the word out about a post on your blog similar in fashion to Kirtsy and StumbleUpon. You can add a widget to your blog that lists popular social bookmarking sites right at the end of your post. This makes it easy for visitors to submit your posts to the social networking sites of their choice and bring more people to it, allowing for more opportunities for comments.

20. Get personal. My personal blog posts are usually commented upon more than my others. Post pictures & videos of your day to day life as it applies to your blog.

21. Be silly or at least “real”. If you notice, in the past, I mentioned my husband’s reaction to beans… Too much information? Probably. But, it’s better than being B-O-R-I-N-G!

22. Make it easy to comment. If I try to comment on a blog and have to run through Captchas and logins in order to comment, I’ll likely leave. My vision is quite good, but I struggle with those darned Captchas — and they are not friendly at all to those with impaired vision. So, unless you don’t want people with impaired vision commenting on your blog… find a better solution.

23. Make sure your commenting works. A few minutes ago, I tried to comment on a blog and received an error. It was a friend, so I’ll tell her, but if it wasn’t… she might not know for weeks and think her readers weren’t interested or reading her material.

24. If you have a Blogger blog, be kind to those who do not have blogger/Google accounts and enable the alternative commenting.

25. Change the default text in your blog template from saying “Comments” to “Please leave a comment” or “Talk to me” or something – to attract commenters.

26. Think twice before setting up your blog to moderate comments. It’s definitely a hindrance to those who want to comment on multiple discussions. I’ve rarely seen active comments on blogs that moderate all comments.

27. Make sure your comment link isn’t hiding when people are reading your main page or when they are on a “category” page. Sometimes there’s so much “stuff” around the comment link that it’s hard to even find. I've been on blogs where I've wanted to comment, but honestly couldn't find the stinking place to do so.

It’s Your Turn.

So, now, I’ll pose this question to you. What's your best tip about getting more blog comments? Or why do you choose to comment on some blogs and not others?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Here are a few of my favorite Expert Briefs:

• Take a Look at My Home Office… If you Dare!
• How to Decide What to Blog About Next
• Tips for Balancing Work & Family
• Internet Credibility. How to Establish that You've Got It?
• How to Choose a Profitable Niche