Building Relationships with your lists

[adiknight]

Hi all,

How are you effectively building relationships with your lists - assuming you are making a conscious effort to do so?

Can you project your personality enough via email responders to build that relationship or must you take things a step further??

[elaine drennan]

Hi!

I have found that the biggest problem with autoresponder messages is how few people actually OPEN them, probably because they are so fed up of Spam.

Headlines are getting more and more way out just to trick people into opening the email and to be honest shock tactics like "My Father Just Died" really sicken me.

I have now switched to sending weekly Newsletters. My autoresponder messages are just short and give a link to the Newsletter - the title of the email is always the same so that when my suscribers see the email coming in with the name of my Newsletter on it they know it's not just spam...

Make sure you prompt your suscribers to communicate with you by asking them questions and for their opinions on various issues - TELL them you really do want to hear from them!

Regards,

Elaine

[Michael Franklin]

My thought is that you don't have to put on a brand new persona for your messages. Just be yourself and your writing will then come across more naturally.

It's important to inject some personality in all of your messages. But to be honest, I have found that the real reason behind my good open rates is that I make sure that every message provides enough value to the subscriber that they will look forward to the next message.

[CCCAffiliate]

Hello.

Have some spice in your e-mails. Don't be so plain all the time.

Help them!

Send free quality content as much as you can! (well, once a day at the most)

Be different, set yourself apart.

Cheers!

[crissanteiro]

I think there are several things: Above all content, value. I send them copies of my articles and blog posts, and am starting a newsletter. I keep in touch with them consistently, about every other day. I also put the name of my list on top so they can recognize it.

I really think it takes a while, just like everything in Internet Marketing. I think that if they are still on your list after a while, one day they might open that email and buy from you, as you will already seem familiar to them and they feel like they can trust you already.

[Steve Wisley]

Make friends as well as customers. Share personal stories. even if it sounds dumb to you. People don't connect much anymore and most are hungry for that. Plus, you can sell more to your friends than strangers.

As far as selling, I don't care how well known the guru is if all they do is try to sell me I cancel out of their list. Yes, you have to sell to your list, but give them some really good content they can use along with the selling.

Good Luck.

[Kevin Koop]

Lot's of great advice already!

Here's my short list of building rapport with your list:

[1] Use honest subject lines (as Elaine mentioned, you don't want your customer/subscriber to feel duped upon opening your email)

[2] Keep your emails on the "short" side most of the time. People are busy and will appreciate it if you value their time.

If you write something more lengthy, consider posting it to your blog and then sending them an email notice with a link to the post.

[3] Be real. Write honestly and don't be afraid to expose your human nature.

[4] Add value. Both in content and your recommendations.

Never promote anything for the sake of just making a buck. Closely look at what you are promoting and give honest pro's/con's so people will know if it is right for them or not.

[5] If you're ever wrong... admit it and do so in a hurry.

Best wishes,
Kevin