What would you think if you discovered that one of the top SEO experts today has a secret to his success and it DOESN’T have to do with SEO?
And how would you feel about discovering that his secret actually ties into an old school direct marketing practice?
Well, I discovered both of these things in an interview that I listened to recently.
And it confirmed to me more than ever the importance of what I call “Direct Response Content Marketing”.
Let me explain…
Who is Brian Dean and What is Backlinko?
Brian Dean is the person behind the popular website Backlinko.
He’s a highly respected SEO expert who has risen to popularity over the last few years.
How popular are Backlinko and Brian?
In this article on SingleGrain.com, called “10 SEO Lessons to Learn from Backlinko’s Success: Behind the Scenes with Brian Dean“, Eric Siu, CEO of SingleGrain, describes their popularity…
“Backlinko is an online marketing blog that Dean launched in 2010. The site has grown rapidly over the past five years and currently receives nearly 100,000 visitors a month—a significant number for a blog in the insanely competitive SEO niche. “
— ERIC SIU, SingleGrain.com
(NOTE: Make sure to check out Eric’s article to learn 10 SEO lessons we can learn from Brian.)
I personally discovered Brian and Backlinko back in 2016 when I first learned about his ingenious content marketing/link building method that he calls “The Skyscraper Technique“.
From that moment on, I’ve regularly checked in on what Brian is up to both on Backlinko and on his YouTube channel.
If you haven’t ever read or watched Brian, then you should do that.
(But why don’t you finish this post first!?!)
Anyway, I was researching some SEO methods at work the other day and I came across an interview with Brian which pleasantly surprised me.
(SIDE NOTE: I’ve been at my job for just over 6 months now and I really love the place, the people, and the projects.)
The Thing That Brian Dean Said Which Really Surprised Me
Brian shared some really great SEO advice, like he usually does, so that didn’t surprise me.
But what did surprise me was two things that he said:
- I was surprised by what he said his main focus was.
- And I was surprised by what he said he did when he didn’t know what to focus on.
Why did those things surprise me? Because neither of those things focused on SEO.
Both of these things focused on something that many people have foolishly believed isn’t important anymore: email.
You read that correctly. One of the top SEO experts today isn’t only focused on SEO. He’s focused very seriously and consistently on email.
Ignite Visibility’s Interview with Brian Dean
In an interview on Ignite Visibility’s YouTube channel called “1 Strategy That Built Over 1,000 Links For SEO With Brian Dean,” CEO and Co-founder John Lincoln got Brian to reveal some cool insights.
It was during this interview that I heard Brian reveal the two ways he focuses on email:
1. He said that his main focus on his SEO site is his email list.
He does this because he knows he needs to warm up and nurture his subscribers before they’ll be willing to become clients for his high-end course (that is only offered 2 times a year).
2. One of the things he does whenever he doesn’t know what to do is focus on building his email list.
Not only that, he says that everyone should focus on building their email list. That again is really interesting considering he’s an SEO expert.
Why does Brian focus on email?
Because when Brian first began experimenting online, he began to follow an online guru who said that there were two questions that he always asked himself to see how his day went::
1. DID I BUILD MY EMAIL LIST?
2. DID I SERVE MY EMAIL LIST?
If this old online guru was able to say, “Yes,” to both of these questions, then he considered it a good day.
If he couldn’t, he made sure to correct that problem that very day or the next day at the latest.
Brian never forgot this lesson. That’s why, to this very day, SEO expert Brian Dean is always focusing on email.
Don’t get me wrong. Brian does use SEO in very powerful and creative ways. But he doesn’t rely only on SEO to grow his business.
Brian Is Not Alone with This Focus on Email
In case you think that Brian is crazy or an anomaly, he’s not.
All of the smartest digital marketers and content marketers know the importance of an email list.
In a post on WPBeginners.com called Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons), they reveal an interesting truth that people overlook when it comes to the power of social media vs. email.
In that post, they show the image below and then they say…
“All these emails are from big social media platforms, so they can engage you with the content on their platform and get you to visit their app or website again.
“All social media platforms are building an email list because they are smart business owners. This helps their valuation when selling their business.
“While social media is a great way to reach your audience, it’s important to keep in perspective the timely nature of social media platforms.
“They come and go.”
– Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons), WPBeginner.com
Let’s take a look at what someone else says about the importance of email.
In an article on OptinMonster called Why You Need to Build an Email List Right Now – And the Exact Steps on How to Get Started, Syed Balkhi reveals just how important building an email list is…
“For business owners, email lists can yield dramatic rewards. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average sees a 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the US. Can you say that about your social media marketing campaign?”
— Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster.com
You see? That’s why I say that all smart digital marketers and content marketers also know the importance of building an email list.
But here’s where things get really interesting.
Spoiler Alert: This Focus on Building an Email List is a Very Old Direct Marketing Practice
The importance of building an email list actually comes from an old school practice that came long before email was even invented.
The early direct marketers knew the same thing that Brian Dean knows.
One of the most powerful things about direct marketing is the ability to build and own your own list of prospects that you can market to.
That’s not all.
If you sit all of the top copywriters down in one room and ask them what the most important thing in direct response is, do you know what they’ll say?
They will tell you that the most important thing in direct response is the list.
(*If you pick the right list, your job will be much easier. If you don’t, you’ll see very little results, no matter how powerful your content or copy is.)
In direct mail, you either build the list or you can rent one. But when it comes to email, your main option is to build your list. (Renting email lists can get you in a lot of trouble.)
The importance of a list was important in the early days of direct response and it still remains important today for all content marketers and digital marketers.
I Don’t Know About You, But I Know What I’m Going to Do
I hope this article was inspiring and eye-opening for you. (If you liked it, you can check out my other articles here.)
After listening to the interview with Brian and taking time to write this article, I know what I’m going to do.
I’m going to double-down, or even triple-down, on building and serving my email lists. (Help me out by joining my list below!)
I’d advise you to do the same.
And if we focus on this, and perfect this skill, I know that by the end of the year we’ll be very thankful that we have.
Stay Tuned and See the Two Primary Ways Brian Builds His Email Lists
In my next post, I’ll show you the two ways that Brian builds his email lists.
I’ll share some important lessons we can learn from him.
Subscribe below so that you’ll be one of the first to be notified when the post goes live.
Watch John Lincoln’s Interview with Brian Dean Right Now
Before you go, I’d encourage you to listen to the interview with Brian that I listened to.
You’ll want to hear Brian share the importance of email for yourself.
And you’ll also want to hear the other great SEO-related info that he shares.
You can listen to it below…
Practicing What I Preach
I can’t let you leave without offering you two opportunities to become a part of my exclusive email audience.
So here are your two opportunities below…
(Choose one or both options)
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Did you enjoy this article? Then don’t miss when the next one goes live.
Sign-up below and you will be emailed whenever a new article is posted.
(That means that you will usually be emailed multiple times a week.)
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