Inbox Outreach

I am a content marketer and email marketer. Some people want to learn from the success of others... My business and my emails are an open book. Here's what's working for me in email marketing right now.

[wolfeweb-blog]

5 mistake I made in 2015

I hope 2016 is going well for you so far!

A couple of days ago, I received an email from James Wedmore. I'm on his list and love the work that he does...

Anyway, he sent out an email about the mistakes that he made in 2015. It was a great email with transparency and vulnerability. I was inspired and felt compelled to sit down and think through my mistakes and reflect on them.

I appreciated the honesty and resonated with several of his mistakes.

So here's my version... These are the mistakes that I made in 2015 so that you can learn from them and hopefully be inspired to reflect upon your own.

1. I created products based on what I thought people wanted instead of what they actually wanted...

This became very apparent to me at the end of the year when I decided to start surveying people. You probably even filled out one of my surveys.

I had a bit of a rude awakening when I saw that the path that I was taking with my training and my courses wasn't actually the path that my customers and following wanted me to take. Now I get to course correct and create the exact thing you want from me.

2. I refused to step out of my comfort zone.

I've always loved podcasting, interviewing people, and "picking brains". For most of the year, I did not pursue this because I was afraid. I didn't know what people would think of another podcast. I was nervous about interviewing people that I "put on a pedestal". I was afraid people would see my podcast as a "me too" podcast since there are a lot of podcasts out there.

In the end, I had to shut out all of that noise going on in my head and just pursue it. The podcast doesn't generate a lot of income but it's the thing I am most excited about and most passionate about. I've got to accept that and follow my intuition with it.

I did practically no networking, staying in the comfort zone of my little office and not getting to know other like-minded entrepreneurs.

2016 is all about growth for me and growth lies outside of my comfort zone.

3. I lost focus and jumped from idea to idea.

True success lies in seeing things through until they work. In 2015, I left Learn To Blog and then proceeded to create company after company, hoping that one of them would give me a "quick win" and just pick up where my previous business left off.

I would never give some of these businesses a chance to mature. I didn't let them play out. I didn't test enough angles until one of them worked... Instead, I'd move on... Leaving my audience confused and myself feeling like I was starting over... Over and over again.

4. I made things about me instead of about you.

I do realize the irony of that statement in the context of this email... However, I think these mistakes are things that YOU can learn from and should take to heart. This email is just as much about you avoiding these pitfalls as it is about me realizing them.

Most of my emails and my products that I created throughout 2015 were about me... Here's what I've done... Don't you want to be like me? I'll show you how I did this...

Instead, if I was focused on you and really realized that what I've done doesn't matter, I would be in a much different place today.

The lesson in this one... Always focus on who you're talking to... Not yourself. Here's what you will be able to do after consuming this... Here's how you can do X... Etc. 

This is a lesson that I've always known but have gotten lazy in my writing and communication... Finding it easier to talk about me than to focus on what you'll get out of it.

5. Saying yes to too much / Always putting others first.

I'm a people pleaser. I always think about how my decisions will effect others. This is not necessarily a bad trait but it can be taken too far. 

I agree to do too many projects with other people, leaving me spread too thin to carry out my own passion projects. 

I agree to working for less than I'm worth because I want to make sure that everyone is happy all of the time... (And this usually backfires and these people tend to be the hardest customers to work with)

I work on projects that I'm really not excited about working on because I have the skillset to do them and don't want to disappoint.

It's been a year of amazing lessons.

Quite frankly, I'm glad I made these mistakes because I've learned lessons that I'll never forget as a result.

My business will be stronger this year than it was last year...

And now, hopefully you're business will be stronger as well.

I apologize for the post about me but hopefully YOU gained some valuable insight from it that will help YOU grow in 2016. (There I go again apologizing... Always the people pleaser. :) )

What is your #1 biggest mistake you made in 2015? I'd love a reply. I might even make a roundup blog post with people's responses (anonymously if you prefer)... So I'd love a reply!

--------

In case you're wondering... This IS what I'm working on in 2016...

==> Authority Insider

I will see it through until success and I will make it the best entrepreneurial community on the internet. (It's already damn close!)

I appreciate you!

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

My best email subject lines from the month of August…

I’ve included the day of the week as well so people can try to figure out a correlation between best open rates and day of the week.

[wolfeweb-blog]

What Comes First - The Product or The Email List?

Hey, I hope you had a great weekend. I typically try to shoot out an email every day so I can stay connected with you and share some cool insights. This weekend, however, I spent some time away from the computer and gave the mailing a break for a couple days. But don't worry! I've got more cool stuff to share so I'm back... :) While I was sifting through all the questions people sent me about content marketing and email marketing, a very specific concern came up from a few people... A few people told me that they haven't started building a list or started creating blog content because they didn't have a product to promote yet... So they felt that there was no need to pursue creating email content or blog content... Here's what I have to say about that... When people ask me "what's the one thing you would do differently when you started out, knowing what you know now?", I have a very specific and consistent answer... I would have started building my list from day one... In my opinion, the audience is so much more important than the product... So build the audience whether you have the product or not... Start blogging, start putting calls to action on your blog to build a list, and start focusing on creating the audience. Once you have the audience, you will have the ability to ask them what they want and create a product based on their feedback... Once you have the audience, you can sell them your products or affiliate products... For example, I started my business in 2007. I didn't start building my list until 2009. I imagine my list would be 10,000 subscribers larger than it is now had I started earlier... Now, since I started building that list, I launched the WordPress Classroom, Learn To Blog, a product on List Building, coaching, FB Uncovered, VidForce, and promoted multiple affiliate products... Once you have the audience, you have the ability to create and test different products and ideas to that audience. There's really no question... Focus on building an audience through great content now, whether you have a product ready to go now or not... That's my tip for the day... Also, I need to quickly mention that my new program Marketing Insiders is getting a price boost next month AND I just added in a private Facebook community... So, if you're not a member yet, make sure you sign up today... http://MarketingInsiders.co See you tomorrow! Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

The Confusion Over Content Marketing

I've really been enjoying going through everyone's replies to the email from a few days ago. The results are fascinating! It really goes to show that I may not always know exactly what you're looking to learn and the best way to figure it out is to just ask... For example, I really thought the number one concern about content marketing would be that people don't have enough consistent ideas for content... That problem (so far) is actually 5th on the list... The number one problem that most people said they had was just finding the time to create the content. If it's a time thing, I've got all sorts of ideas to solve that issue... Time management strategies, outsourcing strategies, rapid content creation strategies, mindset strategies... There's so many avenues to go down with that and I'm excited to dive in on this stuff over the coming weeks and months. One thing that I found extremely interesting was the amount of people who said something to the effect of "I don't have issues with content"... It wasn't a ton of people but it was enough for me to take notice... I took a peek at their websites (if I could find them), I looked at a couple of their social media profiles and I did a little search to see if some of the people who had no issues with content were being effective with content... I was surprised to find that a few people very rarely posted content or (even worse in my opinion) posted frequent content but had no engagement and no "calls to action"... This is where the confusion with content marketing comes in... People think that they don't have a content problem but, in reality, if they're getting no engagement, not building a list, and not making any sales, then they DO have a content problem. Content is meant to serve a purpose. It's not meant to just be floating around on the internet and only seen once every 3 months from an obscure Google search... It's meant to be seen, shared, engaged upon, drive interest in your products, build your list, and make you sales... It's not meant to do just one or a couple of those things... It's meant to do ALL of those things... Every time. That's the difference between "journaling" or blogging for fun and creating a legitimate business around your content. I do urge those of you who have no questions about content marketing, take a look at the purpose of your content and ask yourself if it's truly fulfilling that purpose. Why are you creating that content? Is that content serving the purpose of that why? It's an important question to ask. Because, if the answer is NO, content creation is probably a waste of time and it's time to start analyzing how to make it fulfill your goals. In the September issue of Marketing Insiders, I'll be deep diving in to all of the questions that came up and giving my best advice to each. I will also be sharing a favorite time management interview that I did with a good friend of mine to help those who are looking for more time in the day. It's going to be a great month to be a member. http://MarketingInsiders.co Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

Creating An Info Product (A Case Study)

First off, I want to thank everyone who sent me a reply to my email yesterday! That info was super-helpful and, I promise I'll make it worth your while for shooting that reply over. It will all be explained in a blog post shortly. I mentioned in yesterday's email that I would discuss a case study of a product that was made, using the method that I mentioned... My book, WordPress Revealed, used the exact strategy that I laid out... I created a blog post and, in the post, asked people what their biggest question about WordPress was... I then did a hunt on Google, Facebook, the Warrior Forum, and any other place I could think to search and looked for all the common questions that people were asking. If you've ever read the book, you'll actually notice the book is structured with questions... So the book will have a question like "How do I change my header in WordPress?"... I then write several paragraphs, with screenshots, that answers that question... The whole book is structured in that way. I simply rounded up all the questions people asked on my blog, rounded up all the questions people asked in forums and on Google, etc. and then I put all the questions into a Google Docs spreadsheet so I could analyze which questions popped up the most. I ordered the questions in the book by most frequent and then proceeded to answer each question one at a time... ...And a best-seller was born. That single book has sold something like 10,000 copies and has generated somewhere in the range of $15k - $20k for me, not including the money made from people that went on to buy Learn To Blog... And it all started with just hunting down common questions and then answering them. Simple as that. In fact, here's a blog post that I wrote on this exact process... http://mattwolfe.net/becoming-an-amazon-1-best-seller/ The blog post is actually a couple years old now but it's one of my most popular posts of all time and, it goes in to great detail of exactly how I created and marketed the whole thing. Enjoy! Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

Step-By-Step Quick Guide To Creating An Info Product

I wanted to teach you a quick little trick that works for me... I do, however, have a simple little request at the end of this email. If you find this email valuable, can you please do me the 30-second favor from the end of the email? Awesome! Thanks! I want to teach you how I create quick little products that you can either give away for free or you can sell... I personally like to sell these. :) Here's how I create an ebook that I'd normally charge around $10 for... 1. Think of a niche that you’d be interested in going in to. 2. Hunt Google for blogs, articles, forums, Quora posts, Facebook groups, etc. about that niche. 3. Make a long list of questions that people have about that niche. List as many questions as you can find and order them by the frequency you see them. (I.E. if one question pops up 10 times, it should go towards the top of your list) 4. Make a long list of objections people would have to spending money on solving that problem. 5. Open up MS Word (or similar) and paste all the questions you found in to the document. 6. Answer all the questions. Utilize the same resources you found in step 2 to find all the answers. 7. Create a sales letter that tells people you have the solution to all of these questions. List all the questions you found. In the same sales letter, list off all of the objections that people would have to purchasing that product and write a response to that objection (invalidate it / ease their mind). 8. Find the top 5-10 “gurus” in that niche and approach them about promoting your product. They'll be the bloggers you found and the people running the forums and communities from step 2. 9. Get active in all the communities you found step 2. Answer some of the questions and point to your resources as the source / solution. And that's it... You've just created a product that solves the problems of people in your niche... I know this is a real simplification of the process but, it's really not much more difficult than that. People tend to overthink it a lot but, that truly is how simple it is to create a product that you KNOW will sell online. In my next email, I'll break down a case study of this exact process... So look out for that tomorrow. Now... I mentioned a favor earlier in the email. Here's what I'd love from you. Can you hit the "reply" button and answer these 2 questions... 1. What is your biggest holdup or question about creating content? 2. What is your biggest holdup or question about email marketing? If you could just answer those 2 questions in a single sentence each, preferably in as few words as possible, I would really appreciate it and I promise that I will create some killer stuff for you to help answer all your burning questions on those two topics. Thanks in advance and I'm looking forward to your replies! Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

[Blog Post] Here's What I'm Working On Next

It's funny how quickly businesses can change. One day I'm running Learn To Blog, one of the largest blogging training courses on the internet and the next day I'm stepping away in pursuit of what's next. If you want to jump straight to my latest blog post, here's the link: http://mattwolfe.net/my-business-is-evolving-again/ Anyway, as I was saying... Things can change quickly. Over the past 6 years, since I've gone in to business on my own, I've run two different blogging memberships, had 10+ blogs, hosted 4 podcasts, done three product launches on list building, Facebook, and video marketing, worked with a ton of people on a consulting basis, and been a super-affiliate that has topped product leaderboards... It all just keeps evolving and I never seem to get completely settled in to only doing one thing... ...And I wouldn't have it any other way. I think that's the beauty of being an entrepreneur. I love the idea that I could have a course or a software or be doing a service in something I never even thought about working in a couple years from now. I love experimenting, trying new things, testing new markets, adding new revenue streams and then always coming back to report what I've been up to on my blog. You may be asking yourself, "what does this have to do with you?" Here's the answer... I'm building something new for you. I love reporting what I'm up to on my blog and sharing income reports and case studies but, I want an outlet to share more... I wanted a place that goes beyond my blog, where I can bring in guest experts, create tutorials on cool little tricks that are working, share amazing resources that I find from around the web, and much more... So, today's blog post dives much deeper into what I'm up to next and what my next evolution is. I'm really looking for your feedback. I would love it if you could comment on the post, let me know your thoughts, your ideas, your objections, etc... I want to hear it all. I'm working on a new ebook and I'm going to pick my favorite responses in the comments and make sure those people get a free copy. So please, let me know your thoughts. It will shape how this new program looks and I will create the best possible community tailored to what you are looking for. Here's the blog post link again: http://mattwolfe.net/my-business-is-evolving-again/ Thanks in advance! Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

Connecting In Real-Time With Your Tribe

I was in my buddy's truck. We were out running an errand and had to stop for gas...

My buddy got out of the car to fill up and, while I was waiting, I hit the little blue button on my iPhone to start up the app...

The next thing I knew, 20 people were staring right at me, asking me what I was up to today, and little hearts were floating around on my phone...

I stared, wide-eyed, into my phone for about twenty seconds, slightly confused, and not really realizing what was happening or the impact that this, days-old, app would have on my business.

I quickly found my bearings and awkwardly started talking to the mystery people that were popping on to watch me.

I started receiving instant feedback... Questions start popping on to the screen. People complimented my shirt. The little hearts confirmed that people were happy to see me or that they liked what I had just said.

I was hooked...

If you're not following so far... I'm talking about my first experience firing up the Periscope app on my iPhone.

It was awkward, it was slightly nerve-wracking, it was all so new to me... But it was a freaking blast and, after shutting it down, my brain flooded with possibilities.

You see, this was the first time I had experienced the possibility of interacting with my "tribe" in real-time, while I was out in public, doing whatever I was doing in my daily life.

An idea could pop into my head that I had to share and, I could instantly hit a button and have a quick discussion (with instant feedback) from the people that followed me.

It was phenomenal.

I still get a little nervous every time I hit the broadcast button but, the little hearts quickly put me at ease.

Here's my thought process immediately after closing the app...

I can use this to quickly share ideas and build a bond with my following.

I can use this to find new people to create a bond with.

I can use this to tell people about my products and drive traffic.

I can use this to make free offers and build a list.

I can use this to repurpose live webinars and give another media to tune it.

I can use this to allow people sneak peeks on my recordings.

I can use this to let people listen in live while I'm podcasting.

I can use this to share fun experiences with my following (building that bond).

I can use this to...

It was seriously a flood of ideas...

If you haven't played around with Periscope yet, go download it... Today. It's on iPhone and Android right now and, it's completely worth it.

...And if you want to get even more ideas on how you can use live broadcasting to build your brand and grow your following, check out this month's "Marketing Insiders". It's all about using live broadcasts to boost your business!

http://MarketingInsiders.co

Enjoy and I'll see you on the broadcasts!

Matt Wolfe

P.S. Next month's edition will be all about Email Marketing. You won't want to miss it!

P.P.S. I'm smack-dab in the middle of a blog post about Periscope as well. Keep an eye out for that sometime later this week. :)

[wolfeweb-blog]

How To Make Your Content Reach The Most People

I just got off the phone with my good friend, Joe.

We were actually discussing another podcast that we are going to work on together, starting next month...

During this call we kind of went off on a tangent and I explained the benefits of mailing your list daily.

Here's one major concept, for anyone that wants to create a content-based business, that I think is important to learn...

The main point of creating content for free in a business is to eventually drive a desired action. My blog has opt-in forms, banners to my products, etc... The content is created as a "magnet" to attract people to my website so that, eventually, they take the desired action of either opting-in or purchasing a product I'm involved in or affiliated with.

There is a secondary goal with creating a lot of killer content, however...

The secondary goal is to create that "know, like, and trust factor."

It is to form a bond with your readers and get them excited to read what's next from you, get them excited to see your name in their inbox, and get them to crave more of what you can offer them...

So, what does this have to do with mailing daily?

Once you've built up a mailing list, you have the ability to put content directly in front of people, in a place that most people check daily... Their inboxes.

Let me ask you this... What do you think gets more reads; my emails or my blog posts?

Here's the answer...

With the list that I have right now, every time I email I get somewhere around 6,000 opens on my emails... That's 6,000 readers... Every day.

In a single month, my blog may get a total of 6,000 - 7,000 visitors.

Now, if I want to build that "know, like, and trust factor" by getting really useful content in front of people, email is the most efficient method.

My blog attracts new people in, while my list ensures that I'm constantly putting really useful information in front of people.

The lesson is that blogging is a great form of content marketing to attract people to you but email is a MUCH more efficient way to "be cool" and build a bond with people... So do it often.

If you're not building a list in your business, make it a focus!

Here's a blog post from a while back that shares some creative ways to build a list... Maybe one will resonate with you. :)

http://mattwolfe.net/growth-hacking-box-ways-grow-business/

Enjoy and have a great rest of your weekend!

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

How Often Should You Email?

The question that has baffled almost every email marketer (including me) is "how often should I mail my list?".

Personally, I've struggled with this a lot.

I'd go months and months without ever sending a single email to you and then I'd go weeks where you might hear from me multiple times in a day...

It's sporadic, it's unorganized, and breaks a rule that I always have in my business...

The main rule that I live be in business these days is...

"Build Systems"

I create systems around every task that needs to get done. I have schedules and systems for content creation, for advertising, for handling emails, for handling consulting, for doing calls, for conducting interviews, etc... It's all systematized.

But email... I've always "flown by the seat of my pants".

As someone who's been paying attention lately, I'm sure you've noticed that has changed.

You've probably noticed that you receive an email from me every day now.

I'm sure some emails interest you and some get quickly archived and ignored... (I'm ok with that).

The point is that I've created a system...

I was scared to email too often and I did something even worse... I emailed too little.

What was I scared of?

Here's common objections people might have to emailing daily...

1. People will get mad that I'm emailing too often...

My response: I've never been mad that I get too many emails... I just unsubscribe when I get overwhelmed.

2. I'll get a lot of unsubscribes...

My response: People who unsubscribe aren't interested in what you have to say... You're saving money by pruning your list to only the people that enjoy hearing from you.

3. I don't have enough to write about...

My response: Surprisingly, every time I sit down to write, I manage to think of something to write about... Sometimes I'll just start typing things like "I'm not sure what I'm going to say but here it goes..." The next thing I know I've written a long email and I need to go shorten it up.

4. People will get sick of me.

My response: I've seen exactly the opposite. The more I write and the more I share, the more I tend to get positive feedback and replies from people telling me they enjoy my emails and hearing from me.

5. The amount of opens and clicks will go down...

My response: Actually, I've seen no evidence, so far, that emailing daily has caused less opens or less clicks. The time I send, the day I send on, and the subject line make a much bigger impact than the frequency...

Today, marks one week of me mailing every single day and I've been blown away by the response.

I'm getting more opens and more clicks on my emails than I used to but, more importantly, I'm getting dramatically more engagement!

I've been getting people hitting reply and thanking me or sharing stories about how relevant my email was to them. I've been getting comments and feedback on the blog. I've been getting more people purchasing the courses I have to offer and reaching out for consulting...

Across the board, everything has been improving.

So I wanted to take this opportunity, on this fine Saturday morning, to share these insights and tell you about my experience after a week of daily mailings.

Hopefully this will inspire you to build your mailing list so you can create an amazing outlet like this and, if you have a list already, hopefully this will help you realize that people do want to hear from you. Give mailing more often a shot!

Here's a link to a blog post I wrote about mailing more often.

I'd love your comments and feedback if you haven't offered them up already. :)

Enjoy!

[wolfeweb-blog]

How To Make Your First Dollar Online (Low Hanging Fruit)

In the email that I sent out yesterday, I talked about the power of belief...

I explained that, once you've made your first dollar online, a shift happens in your mind and, all of the sudden, there's no doubt that creating an online income is possible.

Next thing you know, creating more of those dollars seems to require a heck of a lot less effort.

I also told you in my last email that I'd explain my best tip for creating your first dollar online...

Here's a link to what I'm going to recommend... But read on so I can give a little more context...

I recommend leveraging a site that already exists and already has active buyers looking for what you have to offer.

There's a site called Fiverr. I'm sure you've probably already heard of it...

But I'm not sure you realize how simple it can be to create some quick wins with the platform.

Here's what I recommend doing...

1. Think of something you can sell on Fiverr for $5... It can literally be anything you can think of. People buy all sorts of crazy stuff on Fiverr.

People buy gigs all the time for things like "For $5 I will write your name on my arm and take a picture of it"... Or "I will sing happy birthday to someone using a funny voice and send you the audio"... Literally, anything sells on Fiverr.

Personally, I like to create mini training videos. I'll think of a quick little trick that I learned that I can teach in 10 minutes or so and I'll make a quick video teaching it. I'll then sell that video on Fiverr... Easy.

2. List your gig on Fiverr. It takes 10 minutes to get the gig online and ready to sell. I recommend making a quick video telling people what you're offering. Just fire up the webcam or your smartphone and talk about your offer. You'll get a lot more sales doing this.

3. Fiverr will give you a link to promote your gig... Put the link on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and any other platform you can think of.

4. Post the link to your gig in a relevant subreddit on the reddit website. There's a subreddit specifically for Fiverr gigs...

5. Give it 24 to 48 hours to see your first sale roll in. People will click your links and some people may even find it organically just searching Fiverr.

That's it... That's the simplest way I've found to make your first few bucks online.

I still set these little gigs up for myself because they are so simple. You've probably seen them on my income report. I like low-hanging-fruit income streams as much as anyone. :)

I actually created a little report for $10 that walks you through the whole process, with screenshots, and additional subtle details to help the offer succeed.

You can get details about that at this link:

http://growthhut.com/lp/fiverr-report/

I'm right in the middle of a blog post right now, that's going to list several other "low hanging fruit" methods to create that first bit of income.

I should have the post done by tomorrow so keep an eye out for an email about that.

See you then and I hope this helped!

[wolfeweb-blog]

The Key Ingredient To Repeated Success

Have you ever noticed how people who have found success once seem to be able to keep finding it?

Some of the biggest entrepreneurs and the most successful people in the world seem to be able to build successful companies, go completely bankrupt, and then start over and build another success...

You see it all the time in the online marketing community as well.

Someone creates a product that sells well, they disappear for a little while, and next thing you know, they're back on the scene with another product that does better than the last one.

People like Frank Kern and Mike Filsaime (both people who I have a lot of respect for) have both gone into "retirement" only to come back, launch something new, and take their businesses to new heights...

All the while, so many people that are just starting out struggle to just get a single business off the ground. So many people have yet to make their first dollar...

Why does that happen?

It's the power of belief...

Once someone has created something that's seen some mild success, they realize that it IS possible. They've broken past a barrier in their mind and shut up that inner voice that's constantly telling them "this works for other people but won't work for you".

I recently sold a company that provided the only income stream that I had only to turn around, start a new company, and quickly replace and surpass my old income.

Had I just been starting out, I probably would have tried a couple things, made some mistakes, decided that building an internet business wasn't for me, and gone back to my day job...

But, because I had done it once before, I had no doubt that it was possible and I had no doubt that I had the skill-set and ability to do it again.

The point here is that the power of belief is an amazing thing.

This is why so many people tell you to figure out how to make that first dollar. Don't figure out how to build a business before figuring out how to make your first dollar because, once you've made that first dollar, you've broken through that initial barrier of belief.

So, what's my best recommendation to make that first dollar online?

I'll explain a couple super simple ways to make a quick buck in tomorrow's email...

But for now, check out this blog post from a couple months ago about how I sold my last business...

http://mattwolfe.net/selling-learn-blog-evolution-new-personal-mission/

Enjoy and keep an eye our for my email tomorrow.

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

How Your Success Hurts Your Audience

Yesterday I mailed about a blog post explaining my new strategy with email marketing...

I was blown away by how well received it was. It will definitely receive a follow-up blog post soon, answering some of the questions I received and showcasing some of the better comments that people sent me...

One comment in particular that really struck a chord with me was a comment about how the bigger someone's name becomes, the less valuable their content gets.

I found the comment fascinating and it took me a moment to understand what was meant by it...

This is my interpretation as well as some advice to avoid falling into the same trap...

I do believe that what often happens with bloggers and marketers is that, as their personal brand grows, they tend to fall into a trap of "chasing the money"...

Email marketing becomes easier, getting their blog posts in front of a wider audience become easier, and getting social media to pay attention becomes easier...

All of this means that making money becomes easier...

So, instead of creating the value that originally built their personal brand, they start promoting "low hanging fruit" products and wallpapering their website with annoying ads to attempt to make more money quicker.

It's shortsighted.

It may work for a quick cash infusion for a little while but, over time, their audience just slips away. I've seen it over and over again and some of the biggest names that I once followed are barely talked about anymore with any sort of high regard.

I've also seen quite a few people grow beyond their audience...

What I mean by that is that they start off teaching one concept and build their audience off that concept... Over time, they become more savvy and start teaching at a level beyond the level of their audience.

This is one place that I certainly have messed up in the past... I often create content and forget the fact that some of the people following me may not know some of the terminology I use or be at a level yet where the concept is relevant to them...

Sometime's it's tough to step back and remember who your core audience is and why they initially began following you.

So, here's my advice...

Focus on the value you are creating to people above everything else.

If you ever find yourself thinking something along the lines of "is this affiliate product going to make me a lot of money if I promote it?", shift the thought process to "will my audience get a ton of value from me telling them about this product?"

If you're always focused on creating value with the content you are putting out, you will never have to worry about losing people because you're just trying to suck money out of them... Money is a byproduct of creating value. Always remember that.

And, as for the issue of teaching past where your audience is at...

Just always remember what built your audience initially and speak to those people. Bring them to your level by creating content from the perspective of someone at the place you were at when you started.

Who would have thought a single comment on my blog post could have led to this little lesson?

I hope you enjoyed it.

Check out this blog post that spurred the comment and leave your comment and input. I love to reply and keep the conversation going.

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

[Blog Post] This Is How Emails Should Look

Email marketing is an interesting thing...

It's especially interesting when you're a marketer who teaches strategies to be a better marketer...

You get a lot of people who join your list because they want to learn how to grow their brand through things like marketing, blogging, video, etc...

...Except when they're marketed to, through email, they get frustrated.

Recently, when I did a poll, overwhelmingly, people wanted to learn strategies to grow a mailing list and be more effective with email marketing. It was, by far, the most popular response.

So I'm always a bit baffled when I get people who reply to my emails asking me to unsubscribe them or even cussing at me for being in their inbox...

They opt-in because they want to learn from me and then get irritated when I link them to something that will help them learn.

It's just really interesting.

Anyway, sorry for the slight rant / tangent...

In this email, I want to point you to a new blog post; but first I want to offer a piece of advice that's helped me tremendously with email marketing...

If you have aspirations to build a brand online, you should be focused on building a mailing list and you should be focused on staying in touch with that list...

The best advice I can give, if you are looking to go down that route, is to watch closely to what other marketers are doing...

Be on people's lists, pay attention to what they're mailing about, keep a swipe file (save emails) of the messages that resonate with you...

Just pay attention to what others are doing for a while by opening and clicking in their emails.

This WILL be the best email marketing education you can get.

You'll start to notice what types of emails work well to grab your attention and which ones don't. You'll notice what topics you get the most excited about and which ones you have no interest in...

Keep track of this and keep notes of it. This will help shape your email marketing strategy.

I wrote a blog post about my strategy. I am switching things up a bit and trying some new ideas. The new strategy does not necessarily follow common wisdom...

I've outlined this new strategy in this post.

http://mattwolfe.net/what-im-changing-about-email/

Check it out and leave your comments on the post. I'd love your opinion and I'd love to discuss it with you.

Enjoy!

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

My best email subject lines from the month of July...

I’ve included the day of the week as well so people can try to figure out a correlation between best open rates and day of the week.

[wolfeweb-blog]

This single element changed everything (and now our business thrives)

Hey,

Matt Wolfe here from VidForce.

When I first started working for myself in 2009, I really struggled...

I had a blog that made a little bit of money and I scraped by doing some client work installing WordPress websites for people. Each month I had no idea how I was going to pay the bills or where my next paycheck was coming from. It was scary as hell...

It was also in 2009 that I met Josh Bartlett. I took a leap of faith, purchased an online training product, and connected with Josh, who was also a customer of the product...

Josh and I chatted a lot on Skype and got to become good friends... I shared my struggles with him and he offered advice.

It was through this training program and through my conversations with Josh that I learned about the one element that was holding me back...

I'm talking about video.

As it turns out, people are a lot more likely to follow you, trust you, connect with you, and, ultimately, BUY YOUR STUFF if you're just willing to put yourself on video.

Video can be scary. A lot of people are afraid to just put their voice on video, much less put their face on camera...

But it will be the most powerful thing that you do for your business once you take that leap and start putting yourself on video.

That's why we created VidForce...

We wanted to turn around and teach all of the elements that completely turned our businesses around. We wanted to teach the baby steps of getting your first videos online all the way through the advanced videography techniques that are used to make professional, on-camera videos.

We also wanted to teach the strategies that Josh gathered after years of running the industry's leading video platform.

With Josh's unique knowledge, we have insights in to awesome data... Things like optimal video lengths, best places to put calls to action, autoplay vs. manually pressing play, and so much more... We have the data that shows what works and what doesn't and no one out there teaching video right now can say that...

This opportunity is amazing and it's closing fast.

We set a $100 discount to the first 500 people that signup and I believe we just passed the half-way point...

So, if you haven't headed over and registered to be on the live VidForce trainings with us, do so know...

Here's the link to VidForce...

This could be the difference between struggling further in your business and finally starting to thrive!

Jump in and we'll see you in the live training!

Matt Wolfe

[wolfeweb-blog]

7 steps to creating an online business you love

Here's a simple model that anyone can use to create an online business...

It's the exact business that I put in place after I'd had a little bit of success with blogging.

Step 1: Pick a topic that you enjoy and can teach about...

You probably already know what this is... It's a topic you can talk about for hours.

(In my case, I chose blogging)

Step 2: Create video training that teaches that topic...

It can be slideshows, screen capture videos, videos shot on your phone... It all works.

(I did screen capture videos of WordPress)

Step 3: Put the videos online in a place where they are not easily accessed...

You can upload them to Easy Video Suite, put them on YouTube as unlisted, or use a tool like ClickFunnels or Kajabi that builds a members area for you.

(I used Easy Video Suite and hid the videos on a WordPress blog)

Step 4: Create an email sequence in your autoresponder...

Link out to the videos you made from your autoresponder sequence.

Step 5: Create a sales video that really makes your product seem irresistible...

Pretty much all good sales videos follow a blueprint that's always effective.

Step 6: When someone purchases, add them to your autoresponder.

They will receive all the videos you created via email and love you and your product.

Step 7: Drive traffic to your sales video with cheap Facebook ads.

That's it... That's the whole model.

I've used this process over and over again to create income online and now, I'm partnering with Josh Bartlett, to really dive in and teach all the video aspects to this model.

In fact, here's a video you can watch right now that will teach you some steps to make your videos grab attention and keep people around until the end.

Next week, we're opening up the doors to our course, which will include live training and pre-recorded training all about how to create training videos of your own, how to use things like your smartphone to create professional videos, and, most importantly, the blueprint that makes your videos sell.

That's coming next week!

In the meantime, check out this video from Josh about how to grab attention.

Enjoy! More cool tips on the way. :)

Matt Wolfe