List Building Questions

[Vanquish]

I recently tried to build a list on two separate occasions but have been failing so far. I can't seem to strike the balance between providing quality info and putting it in with affiliate links. I usually provide too much quality or not enough. Below I have some questions for expert list building warriors that I hope can help me build a large responsive list.

1. How many e mail are in your auto responder series?

2. How many emails of content do u send before offering an affiliate offer?

3. What is the typical conversion rate of your e mail list? Does it vary by niche or is it something set in stone?

4. On which e mail approximately do you make most of your sales?

5. Do you make your sales when potential customers go through your auto responder series or do the bulk of your sales from from an email blast to your entire list?

I know its a lot of question but im really trying hard to figure this stuff out and get good at it. I know theirs a lot of experts here so if you don't feel like answering all the questions answering just one or two would be graet because it would provide me with some valuable info. Anything helps!

Thank You

[Nightengale]

Just a couple of quick thoughts:

1. Everyone does things a little differently. Some people use an AR series and some use an e-zine which is ongoing. What you choose to do is up to you.

2. A rule-of-thumb formula for content vs. promotion is 75% content to 25% promotion. It can vary a little of course, but remember that your content is the "main dish" and your promotion is the side dish.

The ongoing gift of content is what builds the relationship, which is critical to the success of your e-mail and online marketing efforts. A constant barrage of promotional e-mails will get you labeled as a spammer and a lot of unsubscribes.

That said, once you've done this, don't be afraid to send out solo e-mails which are pure promotion. Solo mailings often get a much higher response than the promotion tacked onto the end of your regular content. HOWEVER, a barrage of solo mailings won't work unless you've previously built a relationship by sending out great content via an AR series or an e-zine. So you MUST have that.

Hope that helps!

Michelle

[Sara Young]

The key to successfully market to your list is:

1. To have a targeted list - a hungry crowd

and

2. to give them what they want.

Trust me, I know this from experience.

For a long time I had a list of thousands of members and could barely make 1 sale a month from them.

I tried so many different things, and nothing I did worked.

Then I got smarter and realized that I need to get a targeted list - of people who are desperate and ready to buy.

I recently made 18 sales in a few days from a list of 250.

I gave them very little content and pushed the product right away.

Oh, and one more thing - once you have a list of targeted people, you need to try to get into their head and think like them.

Then write your emails.

This is the key to success IMO...

[Vanquish]

Thanks for all the input everyone, Does anyone have anymore advice? It is much appreciated

[Vanquish]

Originally Posted by Sara Young

The key to successfully market to your list is:

1. To have a targeted list - a hungry crowd

and

2. to give them what they want.

Trust me, I know this from experience.

For a long time I had a list of thousands of members and could barely make 1 sale a month from them.

I tried so many different things, and nothing I did worked.

Then I got smarter and realized that I need to get a targeted list - of people who are desperate and ready to buy.

I recently made 18 sales in a few days from a list of 250.

I gave them very little content and pushed the product right away.

Oh, and one more thing - once you have a list of targeted people, you need to try to get into their head and think like them.

Then write your emails.

This is the key to success IMO...

Thanks for the input, it's great that you experienced success with list building. What characteristics define targeted and desperate to you?

[Big Al]

Hey mate...

I'm on a lotta lists that mainly sell, a few lists that sell and provide content and probably one list that nearly always provides content.

A massive part of the mix that virutally no one mentions is this...

Lots of people (ie. myself included) open and respond to emails based on my percieved opinion of the marketer. Do you open emails based on subject line or who the sender is?

For me it's never the subject line, it's rarely the content.. if they're in a niche I want to know more about, if they sell or recommend good products and I can learn even the most minute of information - I don't care if they sell 99% of the time...

Al

[JMPruitt]

It is all about quality content. One bit of advice I use, that many people seem to not even consider. I will advise you it is a little off but it works.

have you ever read a fiction book? writers always plan out their book before ever writing the first page. then they can use foreshadowing to drop hints of what is to come.

this works on an email list as well. if you plan out your emails for the next few weeks or months. drop hints as to what is to come later. this will get your emails opened because people want to know what you have to say. The more emails that get read, the more likely you will be to create sales.
another thing is don't always link to a product or sales opportunity.

I send emails out with free reports, other good sites and articles I find, that are related to the niche, etc. this gets people into the habit of clicking on your links, so that when you offer a promotion you get a higher click through rate. psychologically, this also gets people to thinking if they gave all this great info for free, then paying for this information will give me even more.

[Troy_Phillips]

I guess I am aggressive ..... no laid back..... well maybe the best of both worlds .

I send every day . I send quality content every time . I use a PS: file to sell.

If you use your emails like a well written article and the PS file as the resource box .... see where I am going ?

[Sean Phillips]

Hey, just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their ideas, and also to thank the thread-starter for starting this topic.

I'm currenly right in the middle of writing my first autoresponder sequence, and going through these exact issues, so it's great to hear everyone's thoughts.

Sean

[Popstar]

Originally Posted by Big Al

Hey mate...

I'm on a lotta lists that mainly sell, a few lists that sell and provide content and probably one list that nearly always provides content.

A massive part of the mix that virutally no one mentions is this...

Lots of people (ie. myself included) open and respond to emails based on my percieved opinion of the marketer. Do you open emails based on subject line or who the sender is?

For me it's never the subject line, it's rarely the content.. if they're in a niche I want to know more about, if they sell or recommend good products and I can learn even the most minute of information - I don't care if they sell 99% of the time...

Al

Agreed. If someone provides the info I want, I have no problem pulling out my credit card to pay for it.

Don't get too caught up in the massive value/freebie mindset.

It's okay to send out a freebie every once in a while, but I think it's better to entice them to want what you have and SELL it to them.

As to how to sequence your emails, you should split test on your own list and come to your own conclusions. What works for one list won't necessarily work for another.

Debbie

[pharris1]

Excellent points made in this thread. Don't underestimate the importance of building a relationship with your list and developing familiarity with them. The longer we're online the greater number of junk emails we get. Keep it real and sincere with your list and you will stand out from the rest. It may take some time but it works.

Another suggestion is to keep a list of buyers separate from your original list. These are people that you know will buy from you so you stand a better chance of selling them again in the future if they like your stuff.

Peter

[Vanquish]

Thanks for the input everyone I appreciate

Can anyoen comment were the bulk of their sales come from is it when the subscriber is in the sequence or when you send a broad cast e mail? So far I have 300 subscribers in a 10 message sequence with messages sent every other day and I have only had 1 sale

[Kevin Regier]

Originally Posted by SteveRenner

Frank Kern is a master of this, get on his list! (Layed Back Style)

Matt Bacak is another good one to watch, but he will email you sales pitches every day
(Agressive Style)

As Matt says: "A Day without Email, is a like Day without Sunshine"

I would love to be on Kern's list, but as of right now his list is CLOSED. If you know of some way to get on it that I am not aware of let me know by PM and I will repay you for the knowledge.

Matt is a good guy for sure, I did some work for him a couple of months ago and though I do agree his style is more aggressive that Kern I do learn some good stuff from being on his list.

Kevin

[anu_smart]

Thank you Senior Warriors for your worthy discussion..

I was actually looking out for a discussion on auto-responders and its issues.

And this discussion gave answers to almost all of them

[AndrewStark]

Going back to basics, it all depends on what you're using to generate the list?

If you have a crappy report full of affiliate links then the chances of ever making a sale are slim to none.

A butterfly report with free content that encourages the reader to share will get you seen as a content provider in your niche, and you can JV with others in the niche who also have free reports. This whole process can be easily monitised with a OTO and plenty of affiliate banners in the members area.

The next step up is a list of buyers, and as per the freebie list it can go 2 ways. If you're product is over hyped and doesn't deliver on the salesletter then follow-up sales will be in short supply.

Conversly over delivering will have people desperate to open your emails, and jump on your recommedations.

Finally just keep on driving traffic to the opt-in page, and be yourself when it comes to broadcasting - If you find an offer that interests you, then it should also interest your list.

This assumes that you're actually interested in the niche that you're building a list for.

People here have already mention Frank Kern, when I watched his influence DVD he explained that although selling to niche markets was making him plenty of money he dreaded having to deal with the customers, and he hated what it was doing to him.

In summary be yourself, be passionate about what you have to offer, and good things will happen.