A great response?

Pete,

You hit the nail on the head when you say niche and other variables come into play.

I once worked with a very well known internet marketer and did all of his email copy for a year or so.

His list was close to a million people, and the very BEST open rates we could get were 16%, 20%, 14%... rates like that.

Because his list was pretty general MMO, and was over a million people, and were also over marketed to, the open rates were pretty low.

The click through rates were even lower... often being around 2 to 3%.

But some of the email subject lines like... "here's your free gift" or "here's your free coaching session"... some of those would pull 30% open rates or close to it.

But on most days, they actually averaged 5% or so because of some of the reasons I mentioned above.

He really had no personal relationship with his list, he over marketed to it, and a few other problems I had mentioned to him about.

Yet, some of my small lists that I've personally built from the ground up, over 10 years... some of those get open rates of over 60%... I've had a few near 70%.

But these are people I've had a long relationship with... I've gained their trust and respect, and have done nothing but given out quality and helpful advice over the years.

Without a doubt, I've been doing this long enough to see the direct correlation between offering emails of value and amazing content... with high open rates.

Heck, you can get high open rates a few times if you trick enough people... but it will never lead anywhere.

For example, if you send out "here's your free gift" and it's nothing more than a pitch?

Sure, you'll get some people to open, but if you don't follow through and offer something of value... you can kiss future open rates goodbye.

So, for me... I still get high open rates after years and years of sending out emails to the same lists... because my readers know that they're going to get value and advice first, before any pitch.

I give content and advice throughout 75% of the email, maybe more, and then use 25% to segue into a product or service.

But I no longer send out emails just to promote.. if it doesn't have something useful for the reader, I won't click send.

This has helped me keep my own open rates high... but again, working with other marketers... it's all over the board. 10% to 20% have been norm with some big lists and marketers who tend to over market.

Lets look at it this way (and assume the sales are for the same amount).

Would you like a 9% click through rate and 27 sales?

Or an 83% click through rate and 5 sales?

It's always pleasurable to know that the good people read your copy - but it's much more ecstatic when they buy the magnificent products or services.


Steve