You may have heard the saying often thrown about in internet Marketing circles: The Money is In the list. I’m not going to argue with this, it is as true today as it has ever been.
In fact, I would go as far as to say the single most important thing to do for anyone new to the world of internet marketing is to start building an email list as soon as possible.
Indeed the great majority of any internet marketers time is taken up by growing their list. But unless you spend some time looking after the existing customers in your list then everything you’ve invested will have been wasted.
If I could give only one piece of advice to anyone starting out in Internet marketing it would be “Love Your List.”
Unfortunately the majority of people venturing into internet marketing make one major error. They are so focused on squeezing as much profit out of their list as they possibly can that they forget they are dealing with real people.
This approach may work well in the short term and could even give you a good initial income. However, eventually you will lose the confidence and trust of the people on your list and they will stop responding.
This way you are going to have to put time and money into replacing the customers you are consistently losing.
Believe me you will have better things to do with your time than constantly replacing people dropping out of your list due to neglect.
These are real people!
You need to understand that behind every email address you collect there is a real person. Someone who has shown an interest in what you have to offer. They have trusted you enough to give you their name and email address. A conscious decision was made to take the time and respond to you. They may even have downloaded one of your products or possibly made a purchase from you.
So you must remember these are real people with real dreams and real feelings. You will find that if you treat them as such, if you show your human side, you will be in this business for the long term rather than be just a quick flash in the pan.
When you get a new subscriber don’t go all out sell, sell, sell. Because if you are constantly plying people with sales emails, you will lose more people than you retain. If this has been your approach so far you need to stop now. This method has been a tactic of internet marketers for so long, it’s just not working anymore. People these days will just not put up with that kind of hard sell.
Think about the times when you subscribed to someones list. It was probably because they had a free offer that interested you, right? Now when you gave them your email address you knew that would not be the last you heard from them. You know at some point down the line they are going to try and sell you one thing or another.
If they take the hard-sell approach and keep pestering you with sales emails chances are you will unsubscribe from their list. However if they are sending you useful information. Or they are giving you free training or great advice, you are more inclined to read their sales emails when they inevitably do arrive.
Remember it cost a lot more time, effort and money to get a new subscriber than it does to keep your existing list happy and interested.
People will stay on your list if you are giving them great FREE content. The longer they are on your list the more chance you get to build their trust. The more they trust you the more likely they are to become a paying customer. They are more likely to recommend you if they think that what you are providing is useful and worthwhile.
These people on your list can be your greatest form of promotion…
You can tell people how great you are. You can tell them what a wonderful product you are selling. They may or may not believe you, they may or may not buy from you. But if someone totally unconnected to you gives you the thumbs up… that is such a powerful thing.
There is nothing greater for yourself or your brand than the endorsement of one of your customers.
It is for this reason that I say Love Your List.
If you put the time and effort and love into your existing customers then it will pay off in the long term. Not only will you have to spend less time replacing the customers you are losing. You are more likely to have a growing list who are willing to become paying customers.
When you are starting out, building an email list can seem like the hardest thing in the world. To get complete strangers to trust you enough to join your list can really take a heck of a lot of time and effort. So doesn’t it make sense to ensure that all that work you have put in to get your subscribers should not go to waste?
In Conclusion
Remember! it is extremely important to keep growing your list, but it is equally important to look after your existing subscribers. After all you don’t want the effort you are putting in to growing your list to end up being largely to replace the people you are losing.
Once you start to build your list, ensure you spend some time connecting with those people. Send them an email AT LEAST once a week. Make them feel wanted, valued and loved. Send them free content, help, advice and tips. Give them free training but ensure it is the full course that delivers on what you promise.
Don’t give away 80% of something and then ask people to pay for the final 20%. This is a sure fire way to get people reaching for the unsubscribe button.
In short if you love your list, your list will love you.
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