How do I "warm up" my list

How good is your freebie for your squeeze page?

That sets the ball into motion.

If your freebie sucks, you can forget about getting a good response.

Also, are you sending them emails just to send them, or are you actually providing useful stuff?

(Im talking REALLY useful here...not just some crap you can find in an ezine article)

Have you been monitoring the open rate on the emails that you send out? What is your current open rate? Perhaps you could send out a poll for them to vote on, and see how responsive they are to something like that. This would also provide you with valuable information on what interests them.

What are you putting in the subjectline of your emails you send out
to your list? as this can play a major part in how many open or read
your messages.

Sorry to say, but what you are experiencing is all too common among everybody.

My lists gets a free PDF and video file for 52 weeks of the year and the content is very good as I receive compliments.

I have over 2000 on my list and it grows each day, but when I send a broadcast out maybe around 200 people will read it. I am being optimistic here though. Then maybe for a product costing $7 maybe 20 people will buy.

The money is not in the list. That always makes me laugh. Sure you can make a bit off the list, but the real challenge is to sell all over the internet.

Hi lonicera,

You can expect each additional step to bring in lower numbers.

1. 1000 visitors...
2. 500 sign ups...
3. 400 confirm
4. 200 open the message...
5. 100 click on the link...
6. 10 actually buy something

OK, I admit that's not an earth-shattering revelation, but it's good to see an example in print.

Your biggest issue,as I see it, is...
Do you tell them what to look for in their inbox AND what to do to get the incentive you're offering?

If not, you can set up a new page that shows people exactly what to expect and what to do. Then after they click the "Subscribe" button on your opt-in form, they will be re-directed to that page.

All the best,
Michael

Don't take everything you read literally. The $1 per subscriber per month figure is just a kind of shorthand that some people use to make people focus on the fact that your list has a value. Some marketers may achieve a much higher return than that, and some much less.

How much more or less depends on a wide variety of factors, not least how well you communicate with your subscribers, and the average amount they have come to expect to spend on things you recommend.

That last point is quite important.

If all you ever try to sell people are $7 ebooks, you build an level of expectation that $7 is what your recommendations are 'worth'. So when you pitch them something for $67 you may have a tough job.

There are some who believe that every email you send to your list should contain a pitch - to train them to buy. I don't necessarily hold with that and often go long spells without selling anything.

In my view, that in itself 'trains' (horrible word in this context) them to expect valuable content.

I know which I'd prefer my readers to expect from me!

Completely. In fact, your 40% squeeze page conversion is actually a bit higher than normal.

You are making the exact same mistake I made when I first started sending out an ezine way back in 2001 - believeing that people only want to be educated.

They do want to be educated, but they want to be entertained too.

You can achieve the entertainment part by allowing your own personality and life to be a part of what you write.

And by ignoring one of the silliest pieces of advice that has ever been foisted on novice writers: To never, or rarely, use the words 'I' or 'me'.

Take alook at two of the most popular newsletters (according to another thread active here today) - Paul Myer's TalkBiz and Dr Andy's ezSEO Newsletter. Both give excellent content and are well worth reading for that alone. But both have their readers waiting for the newsletter to arrive. For the content? Partly, but largely for the fact that they talk about themselves, what they've been doing and what they think about things.

Paul is never afraid to share his thoughts - or news of his darts and beer escapades. Andy talks about his life and the problems he has been having with fruit flies!

Not Internet marketing stuff, but they invite the reader into their lives and THAT is what makes us want to read the next issue.

If I were you, I would cut back to one mailing a week for now, until you've found your own voice, and talk to your readers in the same way that you'd talk to a bunch of friends. Share personal stuff along with the good tips. And if you recommend something, do so from a position of real knowledge - i.e. try out the product yourself first. A review by someone who knows what they are talking about is far more likely to get the clicks than one that appears to be a simple rehash of a pre-written affiliate email.

It is very hard to warm up a cold list, because there is no reason for them to start trusting you again, but keep at it and in the end you'll find that newsletter publishing is one of the most satisfying and profitable ways to be an Internet marketer.

Remember, it isn't about numbers - it is about results. A small list that is loved and nurtured will often out perform a big one that is pitched into a coma.

Martin