One of the most important things you can do right now to get your email messages read is to “brand” your mailings so they stand out from other messages that arrive in your subscribers’ inboxes.

Just create a 1-2 word strapline that you include in every one of your mailings to your list… to identify the message as being from YOU.

If you offer valuable content and recommendations to your subscribers, then they’ll learn to LOOK for your messages by looking for your individual “brand.”

I know this: When I receive anything that reads “Talkbiz,” I know it’s from Paul Myers and I immediately read it because I know it’s valuable.

Paul’s been doing it for as long as I can remember. And I’ve been reading his “ramblings” for as long as I can remember.

The “brand” gets my attention, even though I receive about 800-1000 email messages per day. Enough said.

That’s important to mention here: your “brand” must be equated in the mind of your subscribers with “value.” The reason Paul Myers’ mailings get my attention (and the attention of countless others) is because I equate “Talkbiz” with “value.”

I don’t recommend many lists, but one that I think every marketer should join is Talkbiz News. Paul is one of the sharpest marketers I know and I have learned more from him than I could write in 10 books.

Visit his site for more details on his free newsletter. Nope, I don’t get a commission for sending you there … but, I do get to say “thanks” to Paul for all he’s done for me and Internet marketing.

It won’t help you to use email brands if your subscribers don’t recognize the importance of reading your specific messages.

Email branding and message value must be holding hands at all times.

If not, the romance between you and your subscribers is going to be short-lived.

So, what does it mean to “brand” your email messages? How can you do this? Let’s take a look…

Branding Your Email Delivery

There are two ways to “brand” your messages for delivering them to your optin subscribers…

1. Brand your “From” listing. The first way to “brand” your email messages is to use the same “From” listing in each mailing.

Here are some examples…

AMS Ezine
Affiliate Secrets eCourse
All Access Member Update

The idea is simple: Each email that you send out to a specific list would always come “from” the same origin, whether it is the name of a person, a newsletter, an eCourse, a list or otherwise.

2. Brand your “Subject line. Another way to “brand” your mailings is to use a consistent word or phrase in your “subject line” Again let’s look at some examples…

In today’s Gazette
[PVM Members]
AMS #210
By Request

Again, the point is to have some consistent wording to your mailings so folks can quickly and easily identify a message that comes from YOU.

Important note: If you “brand” your subject line, I still think it’s important to add some kind of additional “attention-grabbing” headline to your subject. For example…

In today’s Gazette: “How to double your profits”
[PVM Members] Update available for 24 hours…
AMS #210: My top traffic generator

I guess the best marketer I’ve ever seen do this is Jim Daniels.

His Bizweb Gazette newsletter does this just about as well as you can do it. His subject line usually mentions the Gazette, which is followed by a short, attention-grabbing statement about what he’s going to reveal in the current mailing. One of my favorites was…

“Details on my #1 Traffic Source” in today’s Gazette…

Irresistible. The “Gazette” is consistent for branding. And the “Details on my #1 Traffic Source” is going to pull you into that mailing like the most powerful magnet on the planet. I know I stopped what I was doing to read it.

Look, this is an easy thing that anyone can do with any list that they build. Insert some 1-2 word tagline that your subscribers can become familiar with and easily see among the many emails in their inbox.

Even while email marketing was a totally zero cost, unsettled frontier just a few short years ago, it’s turned into an obstacle course littered with obstacles and barriers.

Every single email marketer faces three clearly distinct challenges in getting their email messages in front of the eyes of their optin subscribers…

1. Spam Filters. 
The first challenge is that of “spam filters.”

We have SPAM filters that are deleting a great majority of the SPAM, but are – in the process – deleting a great majority of the legitimate email messages (Like YOUR marketing messages and MY marketing messages to recipients who REQUESTED the information).

While there aren’t any concrete numbers, many researchers estimate that up to 50% of requested email never makes its destination.

2. Mass Deletion. 
Another challenge that optin email marketers face is that of “mass deletion.”

We have massive deletes (how many times have you quickly scanned through 50 message subject lines, highlighted them all and then clicked the DELETE button?) as we, as individuals, try to determine which emails to read, and which are SPAM.

Because we are bombarded with so many unsolicited mailings, we oftentimes mistakenly (or out of frustration) delete the very messages that we actually requested.

3. Incredible Competition. 
And yet another challenge is that of “incredible competition.”

We have incredible competition for the subscriber’s attention. There are many other messages (and more coming each day) by many other marketers (and more coming each day) that are also attempting to reach the very subscribers that we’re also trying to reach.

And they convinced “our” subscribers to join “their” lists just like we did. And the obstacle course keeps getting bigger as more obstacles are added.

Bottom line is: it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get your email marketing messages seen by the intended recipient, and certainly more difficult to get the messages read and responded to.

Does that mean that email marketing is dead, as many people want you to believe?

Of course not!

Don’t buy into that kind of limited thinking.

What it means is that YOU must adapt as email marketing challenges arise.

As these obstacles get into your pathway, don’t just quit and head backwards.

Finding a way around the obstacle, through the obstacle, over the obstacle or under the obstacle is crucial… just so you can continue to go forward.

Anytime something works – especially when it works well – I can guarantee that there will be challenges to overcome.

Mark that down. It’s a universal, timeless, immutable fact of life you can’t afford to ignore.

Internet marketing isn’t a Utopian world. It’s not perfect. And its foundational powerhouse, email marketing, has more than its share of challenges.

That’s because email marketing flat our works!

And works well.

Email marketing is the most powerful tool for creating wealth online. Really, nothing else comes close to it.

Every part of marketing online, to one degree or another, uses email as a part of the process.

No big surprise there … email is a powerful, powerful weapon.

And, because it is so powerful, coupled with the fact that it is completely FREE to use, it has become overused.

It is overused by those who want to ABUSE the outlet, (I.E. SPAMMERS) and it is overused by those who don’t know how to use it effectively.

The result is a constant bombardment of email messages in your email box… which has led to a myriad of problems.

However when you know how to build a list of susbcribers AND HOW to email them you’ll soon find yourself in a very powerful and influential position.

My goal is to help you get those subscribers onto your list (which can often be the hardest part of this equation).

The sole purpose and the ultimate goal of the OptinPop plugin for WordPress is to help you turn your blog traffic into subscribers.

If you’ve not gotten OptinPop installed on your blog yet you’re missing a key component in your listbuilding campaign.