I’ve been a long time follower of Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero of Red Hot Copy, and credit my own success with copywriting to her skills as a teacher. I’ve bought a lot of her products and I’m still on her mailing list. 

Lorrie is an award-winning marketer, world-renowned copywriter and creator of “The She Factor®”. She has a reputation as the top female copywriter in the info-marketing industry. She has written award-winning home study courses, conducts a world-famous virtual copywriting training, holds live workshops, and is authoring the original book, The She Factor based on her own She Factor Marketing System. Lorrie is dedicated to teaching the world it is possible to shift from the hype-filled sales to a more modern version…marketing written with authenticity, trust, and rapport.

Phew! Like I said, she’s one incredible woman

Anyway, because I’ve been on an affiliate marketing kick myself, I wanted to share her expertise on writing affiliate emails. So here’s what Lorrie had to say about “Writing Emails that Generate Cash”…

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Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, RedHotCopy.com

Have you ever really believed in a product so much you wanted to tell the world about it? Me too! (And while you’re at it, there’s nothing wrong with making a little percentage back for goodwill, right?) After all, you are doing a service for spreading the word about something you believe in and you’re help the product creator by sharing it with people he/she may never have been able to reach.

But how do you get your own subscribers to open an email – even an important one – much less respond? Well, save this email! I’m about to reveal to you some of my best kept secrets to getting my emails read versus going to trash heaven.

1. Start with a provocative subject line. Your subject line is like the headline of an email. If it doesn’t get attention, it doesn’t get read. I want to jump out of my skin when I see lame subject lines from people who should know better that simply have their ezine title included with nothing enticing the reader to dig further. The goal of the subject line should be to inspire enough curiosity to get the reader to open the email. BUT there should be a relationship to the subject line and the content. For example, don’t write, “Paris Hilton” unless you refer to Paris in your email. You can be creative though with a timely topic like Ms. Hilton if you actually tie the topic relevantly back into your email. Some of my most responded to emails were, “dog farts,” “another traffic ticket,” “my first day without a job.” Which brings me to point number 2.

2. Open with a brief story. When you write more personally in your emails, you have a much better chance of getting read. Think about what you actually read and I’ll bet when it comes to stories you’re much more absorbed than when you’re smacked in the face with hype and empty promises. Stories are more memorable. Plus they lower sales resistance.

3. Identify their problem early on. While you want to get them reading with an engaging story don’t forget that it’s always ultimately about “What’s In It for Me.” There’s a fine line between getting attention and over-indulging. So ask yourself before you start writing, “What problem does this product solve for my prospect?” If you can identify with what keeps your prospects up in the middle of night with worry, and what you’re offering can fix it, you can easily connect that emotion to a solution. But don’t wait too long to bring up the benefits or they’ll never get that far.

4. Have ONE call to action. Your affiliate email has one purpose, and one purpose only – to get the person on the on the other end to leap into action. It’s been proven countless times that if you have more than one website to send them to or multiple offers your email does not get responded to. So give them two choices – click on the link, or click away. As silly as it sounds even two options can confuse the mind in email. And the confused mind does NOTHING.

5. Explore new horizons. You don’t have to restrict yourself to email notifications anymore. With Web 2.0 (the social media) in full force you can also share your messages via blogs, podcasts, FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Squidoo, etc. I’ve become somewhat of an expert in these arenas but I’m sure there are new ways to monetize these platforms. I’ll keep my ears open if you will.

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All my best to you and yours,

P.S. I highly recommend Lorrie’s copywriting products and training, because I did, and still do, use them myself – but they’re pretty pricey. Not to worry though…if you really want to brush up on your copywriting skills and start converting your window shoppers into buyers, Copywriting Sweetie is a budget-friendly option

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