Opting out of every "promo-only" list.

[internetmarketer99]

It seems that more and more "marketers" feel that Internet Marketing consists of sending offer after offer - and that's it!

I put "marketers" in quotes to be facetious. These aren't marketers.

What ever happened to building relationships, providing something of value and interest, etc.?

I'm sure I'll get flamed from those who feel defensive - for obvious reasons.

Those who make the effort and continue to provide worthwhile content will continue to get my business.

But for those of you who simply send out pitch after pitch, do yourselves a favor and take note of those who have been around here for a long time. Get on their lists, see how they operate, learn why they succeed. It's the only way to build any kind of sustainable success in list marketing.

Mark

[Yudi]

Completely agree. That's why recently I opted out of about 50% of the 'guru' lists I was on - it was all just a barrage of pitches and not a single piece of content.

Seriously, do people really like this stuff? Who wants to be pitched to constantly? And who honestly thinks they can get away with doing that forever?

On the other hand you have guys like Perry Marshall who the majority of the time sends out only stellar content. Further, even when he does pitch, he sets it up with some sort of knowledge bomb first. Isn't it strange how I've opted IN to every single list of his and love reading even his pitches?

It's about time people start realizing this.

[morry]

You certainly won't get any flames from me. I'm subscribed to a bunch of gurus just to see how they're doing things and the vast majority send nothing but pitches. At least the better ones are offering webinars etc to sell the products. Those can be really valuable.

The worse ones just send crappy email pitches. One guy has been sending stuff aimed at newbies and every week there is a "must buy" course that will change your life. I can't believe these guys make money in the long run either.

Sean

[internetmarketer99]

I think it's like a Ponzi scheme - there are so many newbies coming to the market, that you can burn your list just to catch those who haven't yet realized that each email isn't actually a "once-in-a-lifetime, must-have, from-my-really-good-friend, closed-forever-at-midnight" legitimate offer.

Mark

[TrafficGuy Claude]

Yep. To them its all numbers. Churn and burn baby! There's so many people out there looking to earn online that they can make millions doing this type of "bad" marketing. The only difference between them and the average marketer, outside of constant pitching, is that they have waaaay bigger lists with the PPC advertising capital to keep them chock full of green n00bs.

[dave147]

after a while you get to know the ones that only send you sales pitches, instead of tips, advice and useful info that you can use - you don't even have to open their emails - just delete, unsubscribe and they are gone baby!

[John Taylor]

Mark,

Originally Posted by internetmarketer99

But for those of you who simply send out pitch after pitch, do yourselves a favor and take note of those who have been around here for a long time. Get on their lists, see how they operate, learn why they succeed. It's the only way to build any kind of sustainable success in list marketing.

I don't want to shatter your illusion. But it
isn't "the only way".

There are lots of people who subscribe to
lists because they want to know about the
latest products. Being on some people's
lists is a shortcut to being able to buy the
products you want. Especially when it's
someone who you know offers great
bonuses.

Unless you're running a hobby list, the real
purpose of a list is to make money.

Sure, everyone has their own style and some
folks deliver their promotional emails in a more
elegant way than others. But at the end of the
day they are all promotional emails.

John

[Colin Evans]

Originally Posted by internetmarketer99

But for those of you who simply send out pitch after pitch, do yourselves a favor and take note of those who have been around here for a long time. Get on their lists, see how they operate, learn why they succeed. It's the only way to build any kind of sustainable success in list marketing.

I have and they all sell in every email...

Some are a complete pain and only offer information in long winded videos - in my view they are worse than people who just send pitches (at least these are quick to deal with).

One of the best lists I subscribe to offers a single short tip in each email and pitches a product related to the tip - fantastic - I get a valuable tip in seconds with the option of a product for more info...

[ExRat]

Hi John,

I don't want to shatter your illusion. But it
isn't "the only way".
[snip]
Unless you're running a hobby list, the real
purpose of a list is to make money. But at the end of the
day they are all promotional emails.

Precisely.

Mark,

I put "marketers" in quotes to be facetious. These aren't marketers.

Those who make the effort and continue to provide worthwhile content will continue to get my business.

Your second quote (above) appears to negate your ability to make the first statement.

What you're saying is that marketing persuasion only goes one level deep -

a) blatant pitch

or one level 'deeper' -

b) pitch disguised with helpful content

...and that -

a) is worthless whereas b) is the ultimate

With respect, this is the kind of thinking that leads people to assume that Camelot are a non-profit organisation - if you get my drift.

How about this approach -

1) In general - NONE of them will get your business

2) ALL of them will get your research email address, and you will list and examine as many different 'levels' and approaches to marketing that can be observed, with a truly open mind and non-assumptive approach to the conclusions drawn

I put "marketers" in quotes to be facetious. These aren't marketers.

If we're going to try and make this classification, perhaps the only 'genuine' marketers are those who learn to stop being consumers, except for research and reverse-engineering purposes?