“Email Autoresponder Series Made Easy” by Erica Duran

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Erica Duran, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.

*updated March 22, 2016

I thought that after my article last week, “Why I Cut Thousands from My Email List Last Weekend”, I would follow up with what I did next.

I created a 6-part email autoresponder “Welcome” series.

I know some other people call it an “Onboarding” or “Indoctrination” series, but that seems really impersonal and like something out of the military, so I’m sticking with “Welcome” series. :)

You may want to set up different funnels for different interests and lists you maintain, but this series is for your main opt-in offer.

When someone is completely new to you and your offerings and they stumble on your website from social media, by searching Google, or receiving one of your business cards at an in-person networking event, you don’t want all that traffic to come to your site and leave with no way to follow-up later, so you need to create what is called a “Lead Magnet,” “Free Gift” or “Opt-in Bribe.”

I’ve changed mine over the years and now I have two main lead magnets on my site.

One offer is for my guidebook “10 Secrets For Snagging High-Paying Clients” to earn $5K-$20K+ per month working 3 days per week and the other lead magnet is to join the “Escape Artist” Private Facebook Community.

Note that if you are already on my list these lead magnets and autoresponders won’t get sent to you unless you opt-in with another email address. Or, you can just send me a message and I’ll get them to you.

I’ll have to admit, in the past I only provided the initial “Welcome” email with the free gift attached.
I missed so many opportunities to get to know and engage with my list by not having the autoresponder series!

I guess I felt like I didn’t want to clog up their inbox and waste their time since I am a productivity expert, after all. :)

Plus, I never knew what to write and thought I would do it wrong.

Now, I see that the only way you can do this wrong is to not do it at all.

I did struggle with what to write on all these autoresponder emails, so I thought I would show you the structure and outline so you could have an easier time setting yours up.

There are many conflicting opinions and strategies out there, but this is working for me right now.

I thought that if I shared what I was doing, at least, it would get you in motion to create yours.

Sometimes tweaking and editing what someone else is doing is much easier than coming up with yours from scratch!

Here Is My New 7-Part Email Autoresponders Series:

Email #1

This email gets sent immediately when someone opts into my list.

Whatever free gift was promised is attached to this email along with a link to join the private Facebook Community and an invitation for a FREE Aloha Strategy Session with me.

This is a basic “Welcome” message that thanks them for signing up. The internet and their email box are crowded places, so I am glad they are choosing to spend time with me.

This message lets them know what they can expect to receive from me on a weekly basis and the frequency so they know what to look out for in the future – they’ll be expecting it.

It also requests that the subscriber “whitelists” the email or adds me to their contacts so future emails do not go into the spam or promotions folder.

This first email is packed! But the main action I’d like them to take is to hit “reply” and tell me a little about themselves. How is their family? What kind of business do they have? Do they have any pets? Etc.

I genuinely want to know who is in this community.

I know most will by shy and not reply, but some do and the connection here is gold!

Email #2

Email 2 goes out one day after they opt-in.

For my second email, I basically ask if they did indeed receive and read the free guide that was sent and I provide the link again for them.

Then I share another free bonus “My Top 5 $20K+ Tools” and let them know that they can ask me questions about how to use them.

These tools are simple to use, but sometimes if someone just shows you where to click, it could save you hours of time and frustration.

Then, I go on to say that these tools I’m suggesting are great time savers but what really changed everything for me was to get a high-level mentor and maybe they would like to chat about that in a free Aloha Strategy Session.

Many online marketing experts say that email #2 is where you should make your first offer to turn this subscriber into a customer.

They suggest that it be one of your low price-point offerings that is under $20.

This is often called a “tripwire.”

You just want to change the relationship from a subscriber to a customer as quick as possible.

Right now, I don’t have a “tripwire” offer. I don’t even like the sound of that.

I might do a $7 audio or something like that in the future, but for now, I’m just offering my free Aloha Strategy Session in this email.

Email #3

Email #3 goes out one day after Email #2.

Many online marketing experts use email #3 to upgrade the subscriber from a “tripwire” customer (your initial low price-point offer) to the upgraded or signature version of your product or program – your main offer.

For me, this would be my 90-day “Platinum” Level Program. But, in my business, if I haven’t interacted with the person on social media and if they didn’t take advantage of the free Aloha Strategy Session yet – it just didn’t seem to make sense to offer the 90-day program here.

My intuition was telling me it was too soon.

So, in this email, I just remind them of the Aloha Strategy Session but my main focus is to try to inspire them to interact with me and reply to the email.

In this email, I explain that I produce a lot of content each week through the blog, radio podcast, my Web TV Show (or vlog).

I let them know that it would really help me out if they could hit reply and tell me what they are struggling with.

What keeps them up at night?
What would they like to hear about?
Who would they like me to interview?
Where are they procrastinating?
Does technology overwhelm them?
Are they still in a job?
Fill in the blank, “If I could just figure out ______ everything would be easier.”

Questions like that.

By getting their answers to these questions, I can create the exact content and programs that would really help them and make a difference and not clog up their inbox with “info crap.”

And, I won’t waste my time creating things that no one enjoys.

By the way, you can send me your questions and/or respond to the questions above to aloha@ericaduran.co too.

Email #4

Email #4 is sent out one day after email #3.

This email I really wanted to do something unique and unexpected.

It took me awhile to think of something, but then the idea came to me!

I would invite them to be a guest on my radio show podcast!

I am hoping that they feel flattered. :)

There are a lot of shows that focus on the industry “experts,” but I like to showcase people in the trenches and making new discoveries.

Everyone has a story, no matter where they are in their life or business now.

I think it makes the show authentic and relatable to the listeners.

The podcast guest opportunity not only showcases and promotes their business (if they have one) to my entire community and gets them tons of good link backs and social media mentions, but I get to work with them one-to-one and really get to know them better!

There are a few different ways that they can be a guest on the show.

1. Ask a question via voicemail
2. Schedule a free laser coaching session that will be recorded and put on the air
3. Be a full-fledged podcast guest for 30 minutes to 1 hour

Email #5

Email #5 goes out one day after email #4.

In this message, I point out that I have a lot of content and it can be overwhelming to sift through.
So, I point them in the right direction with links to my most popular and/or helpful podcasts episodes, videos, and blogs.

I also let them know that in episode 1 of the podcast, I tell most of my personal story so they can get to know me a little better and where I am coming from.

Secretly, I like if they start at Episode 1, not just because then they are more likely to download the entire series, but because I want them to listen in order and not jump around.

Email #6

Email #6 goes out one day after Email #5.

My thoughts are that if they get to email #6 and haven’t booked a free Aloha Strategy Session yet, they probably are not going to anytime soon.

They might be in consuming and research mode and not in action mode yet.

So, in this email, I share my 16-week all-inclusive online course “Snag Your First High-Paying Clients”.
This course has everything they need to be on their way to booking their first high-paying client but in a home study course so they can work at their own pace.

One-to-one phone calls with a coach can be a little intimidating for someone just starting out, but I want them to have the correct information and stop depending on all that “free stuff” that they find online.

Email #7

Email #7 goes out one day after Email #6.

In this email, I invite the subscriber to my weekly webinar “10 Secrets To Snagging High-Paying Clients – Your Path To Freedom & Luxury”.

On this new webinar they will learn:

• How to stop working so hard and burning out. (What the world doesn’t need is more overwhelmed, burnt out women entrepreneurs!)
• I’ll share why following what those big online “gurus” are doing and/or buying more information products is keeping you broke and stuck!
• The exact THREE phases that you’ll go through to get from $0 to a consistent $5K-$20K+ per month.
• How to upgrade your lifestyle TODAY and find your “real” target numbers.
• Why just driving more traffic to your website could be a big waste of time and money.
• And, I’ll reveal the ONE thing I know for sure that you need in order to make a profitable freedom business and dream luxury lifestyle happen for you!
  This webinar is a great way for me to spend an hour with the new subscriber in a totally interactive medium.
  Do you have a series that has been working for you?
  Do you have several series going out for different interest lists and segments?
  Do you have any suggestions for what I did in my series?
  Do you have any questions as this would relate to your business?
  Are you turned off by terms like “onboarding”, “tripwire” and “indoctrination” like I am?
  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Do you need help setting up systems like these so that you can earn a consistent $5K to $20K+ per month and have 3-day work weeks? If so apply for my complimentary “Aloha” Strategy Session!