In my last email, I talked about how using a small and responsive list can really build your income, while still using a professional auto-responder. You can use the best tools because you keep your list clean. If you missed the email, you can still read it by clicking here.
This leads into another important myth that needs to be busted. Many people in online marketing think that you need to send lots of promotional emails to your list because most people in our niche will quit and you need to make money from them before they give up on the their dream. I absolutely disagree.
I have been taught that you need to nurture the relationship with your list and think about the long-term benefit, not the short term sales. You need to communicate with your list in a way which is at least 80% about the value you are adding the their lives and less than 20% about what you are trying to sell.
Let's look at my own list as an example. I have about 1,200 active subscribers on my list right now. I add about 300 new subscribers each month, but I also delete 300 subscribers who are no longer paying attention. This means that the size of my list is stable.
If you do the math, it tells you that the average person is on my list for about 4 months. 1200 subscribers with 300 leaving each month. 1200/300 = 4 months. However, it isn't the average numbers that are important.
Some subscribers are only on my list for 30 days because they don't open any emails in the first month and they get deleted. Some subscribers have been on my list for over 2 years and open emails regularly. I hope they do that because they learn from emails like this one.
Which subscriber is more likely to take your advice and sign up for a site or buy something? I think it is the committed subscriber who has been getting value for years. It isn't the new subscriber who isn't even opening your emails.
If you take the advice of many internet "gurus" and just send promotional emails to your list which are pushing them to signup and buy, then you will chase away the long-term subscribers because there is no benefit to them to stay subscribed. You are losing your best customers.
That is not a good business idea. Instead, you need to focus the content of the emails you send your list on adding value, without asking for much in return. Teach and then make suggestions. Teach and make suggestions.
If you need help getting your email list ready to propel your success forward, then hit reply and let me help you.
