Tools & Resources

Everything on this page ranks somewhere between “mind blowing” and “life-changing.”

I’ve used and loved every single thing I’ve listed–and I think they’re important enough to tell you about.

I believe so strongly in these products that I’m using affiliate links for them, which is the strongest endorsement I can offer.

So you can rest assured that everything on this list is worth your time and attention.

Email Marketing Tools

SumoMe List Building Tools

I’ve tried a bunch of tools to help me to cut through this noise and capture more email signups on my sites, and my FAVORITE is SumoMe.

SumoMe makes it super easy to add multiple opt-ins to your site, including popups, scroll boxes, “welcome gates,” and “hello bars.”

It works with all of the major email software out there.

And best of all, you can use it as long as you want for FREE.

Check SumoMe out here:

http://joshuaearl.com/sumome

Drip

I’ve tried several of the “big name” email providers: Aweber, MailChimp, Ontraport. They were ALL painful in their own way.

(MailChimp especially has a … special place in my heart. Whoever thought it was a good idea to make sending an email a 7-screen process – well, I’d like to meet him in a dark alley some day…)

Then I discovered Drip and the clouds parted, and the trumpets sounded…

With Drip, composing emails and arranging them into autoresponder sequences is fast and easy. And if you want to get fancy, you can create automation rules that move subscribers to different sequences based on actions like clicking a link.

Rob Walling, the creator of Drip, has put together a great team. They respond quickly to questions, and they’ll even help you import your existing subscribers and autoresponders.

Get a 14-day trial here:

http://joshuearl.com/drip

Email Marketing How-To

Look Over Perry’s Shoulder Email Bootcamp

If you have an email list but struggle to get emails written, you’ll love this course.

You get to listen in as Perry Marshall interviews 4 different business owners he’s never met–then writes entertaining and engaging emails for their customers right there on the spot.

This is the best email copywriting course I’ve found.

Get it here:

http://joshuaearl.com/look-over-perrys-shoulder

Autoresponder Bootcamp

In this course, Perry Marshall answers all the hard questions about email marketing:

“What do I say in my emails?”
“How long should I wait before I pitch my product?”
“How often should I send emails?”

You’ll also get 25 fill-in-the-blanks email templates that show you exactly how to structure emails that entertain and sell.

With these tools in your toolbox, you’ll soon be banging out email after successful email.

http://joshuaearl.com/autoresponder-bootcamp

Marketing How-To

80/20 Sales and Marketing

This is the most important marketing book you’ll ever read.

Here’s why.

There’s an avalanche of great books on marketing tactics like SEO, email marketing and Facebook advertising. It’s tough to know where to start.

But in 80/20 Sales and Marketing, Perry Marshall gives you the bedrock principles of how to grow a business.

After you read it, you’ll know which tactics to choose, and how to use them most effectively.

It’s an easy and entertaining read, but the mind-shift you’ll get is easily worth thousands. (Understanding and applying the concepts in this book earned me at least $20,000 in the first 6 months.)

You can get it on Amazon, but Perry gives away the book for $0.01 plus shipping on his site. Here’s a link:

http://joshuaearl.com/8020

I highly recommend buying the hard copy. Read it once straight through, then twice more, underlining and taking notes as you go.

Perry Marshall’s Marketing DNA Test

This assessment is what convinced me to stop dreaming about becoming a copywriter–and actually go for it.

The quiz takes about 5 minutes to complete, and then you get a detailed report with insights about your personal strengths and preferences.

You’ll see how to approach your marketing in a way that plays to your strengths. When you do that, marketing is fun instead of a dreaded chore.

The DNA test is free if you buy 80/20 Sales and Marketing, or you can get the standalone version here:

http://joshuaearl.com/marketing-dna

Next Step Marketing Guide

Putting together a marketing “funnel” is overwhelming.

There are so many tricks and tactics to try that it’s hard to know where to start.

Perry Marshall’s Next Step Marketing Guide will walk you through the basics, from clarifying your marketing message to setting up your ads and email campaigns.

You’ll see how to stop stressing out about your marketing, and focus on what will really make a difference.

Social Media

Plugg.io

Twitter isn’t an effective platform for directly marketing my products, but it’s a great tool for making contact with prospective customers–and getting them to sign up for my email list. I use Pluggio to queue up tweets a week at a time, then drip them out in a steady stream.

I like Pluggio better than Buffer because it allows you to save Twitter searches and bookmark other users’ tweet streams, allowing me to queue up a weeks’ worth of retweets in less than 15 minutes.

Books Worth Reading

My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising

It’s nearly 100 years old, but every single page in this book is relevant to marketing today. These principles will outlast email, Facebook and Google.

Hooked On You: The Genius Way to Make Anybody Read Anything

This book is a quick read that shows you how to use fun stories to write emails that people LOVE–and love to buy from.

2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love

An excellent primer for anyone looking to write faster. It’s written from a fiction author’s perspective, but I used what I learned to write a non-fiction book in 30 days.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Cal Newport shows why “follow your dreams” is some of the most rotten advice Steve Jobs ever gave. The real path to a satisfying and high-paying career is “deliberate practice.” Apply this one technique consistently, and you’ll rocket past 95% of people.