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List Building Question re. Segmenting

by Kenneth Holland
7 replies
Good Afternoon,

I have been employing list building for a short while now and I have a question for any experts/semi-experts on the topic:

I am growing a list in the IM niche and it has been tailored mostly to beginners.

Now I have been planning on starting a new list in IM focusing on a more advanced segment of traffic building. I'm wondering:

1. If this a good idea or should I keep it on one list?

2. If I do segment is it advisable to have subscribers that are on both lists? (the emails will show they are coming from the same domain but are different topics for the most part).

I hope all this makes sense. I'm really debating what I should do here and would love to hear some feedback.

Thanks!
#building #list #question #segmenting
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    List segmentation is a great discipline to develop if you
    want to manage your lists more profitably.

    By effective segmentation, you get to send more of the
    right messages to the right people at the right time.

    Always focus on sending only relevant messages to your
    lists. That way, readership and response will go up.

    Probably the biggest mistake even the gurus make is
    having one big list and treating them all the same.

    To answer your questions...

    1. Yes - it's a good idea to segment. Don't just have
    one list.

    2. Let subscribers decide what lists they go on.

    Make sure that the free gifts you give on the front end
    screens them for the information you're going to send
    them for that particular list.

    So for the advanced people, develop a give away on
    a more advanced topic.

    Find out what people are interested in and give (&sell)
    them more of what they want.

    Segment and prosper.

    Dedicated to your success,

    Shaun
    Signature

    .

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    • Profile picture of the author Kenneth Holland
      Hi Shaun,

      Great response...thanks!

      Question: You say let them decide what list they want to stay on. So if a subscriber of mine gets on two of my lists just let them jump off one of them (for example) on their own?

      Thanks again!

      Kenneth


      Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

      List segmentation is a great discipline to develop if you
      want to manage your lists more profitably.

      By effective segmentation, you get to send more of the
      right messages to the right people at the right time.

      Always focus on sending only relevant messages to your
      lists. That way, readership and response will go up.

      Probably the biggest mistake even the gurus make is
      having one big list and treating them all the same.

      To answer your questions...

      1. Yes - it's a good idea to segment. Don't just have
      one list.

      2. Let subscribers decide what lists they go on.

      Make sure that the free gifts you give on the front end
      screens them for the information you're going to send
      them for that particular list.

      So for the advanced people, develop a give away on
      a more advanced topic.

      Find out what people are interested in and give (&sell)
      them more of what they want.

      Segment and prosper.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
      Signature

      'A real friend will stab you in the front'

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2608057].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
        Originally Posted by Kenneth Holland View Post

        Hi Shaun,

        Great response...thanks!

        Question: You say let them decide what list they want to stay on. So if a subscriber of mine gets on two of my lists just let them jump off one of them (for example) on their own?

        Thanks again!

        Kenneth
        I said, let your subscribers decide what lists they go on.

        So, the basic principle is this: You need to set-up each
        free gift on a specific subject so that you can say that
        people who subscribe are interested in that subject.

        So people who sign-up to List A are interested in subject A
        (e.g. Internet Marketing for Beginners).

        Then people who sign-up for List B are interested in subject B
        (e.g. Advanced Internet Marketing)

        Then before you send a message, you need to ask yourself:

        Which people would be interested in hearing this specific
        message?

        If it's only beginner material, send it only to List A.

        If it's only advanced material, send it only to List B.

        If it's applicable to both, send it to Lists A & B.

        If it doesn't apply to any of them, don't send it to A
        or B.

        It isn't a case of them removing themselves from lists
        etc, it's more a case of you making sure that you only
        sending relevant messages out to specific list segments.

        Dedicated to your success,

        Shaun
        Signature

        .

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    • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
      Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

      List segmentation is a great discipline to develop if you
      want to manage your lists more profitably.

      By effective segmentation, you get to send more of the
      right messages to the right people at the right time.

      Always focus on sending only relevant messages to your
      lists. That way, readership and response will go up.

      Probably the biggest mistake even the gurus make is
      having one big list and treating them all the same.

      Segment and prosper.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
      I generally agree with you, but it is not always true that you should always send relevant messages to your lists.

      Sometimes you have got to wake them up, and the best way to do it is to break the pattern - send them something shocking or provocative, totally off topic.

      People get bored easily, and bored people don't give you their attention.

      Bored people don't appreciate you either.

      A bit like the predictable husband, who gets a nice surprise when his wife wants a divorce because she says he is boring.

      He should have had a bit more balls and thrown some spanners into the works every now and again.

      I know that sending occasional not relevant, provocative (or frivolous) e-mails works wonders from actual tests I have done - I'm not just talking theory here.
      Signature
      'If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.' Vincent Van Gogh.
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      • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
        Originally Posted by oneplusone View Post

        I generally agree with you, but it is not always true that you should always send relevant messages to your lists.
        Let me clarify what I mean by relevant...

        I didn't mean relevant to the topic area necessarily. I meant
        relevant to the person receiving it.

        So when the subscriber receives the message in their inbox
        (whatever it's about) they say - this is relevant to me, this
        is useful to me, it's valuable.

        Rather than them receiving a message that is irrelevant
        where the think the message is not useful to them and
        they either unsubscribe or begin to tune out your subsequent
        messages.

        Sending out shake me up and even out of the norm messages
        is a great way to separate yourself from the crowd and
        retain the interest and readership of your list members.

        At the end of the day it comes down to whether you're
        sending the subscriber what they want and segmenting
        lists is an excellent way to do that more effectively.

        Dedicated to your success,

        Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    Based on your plans, I think start a new list. But also, consider offering something to the more newbie list to entice those who are ready to advance to jump into that new list, as well. This seems to me the best possible solution. You won't lose anyone, but their self-selection out of the newbie list to the more advanced list means you'll be targeting the right groups with your messages: newbie messages for newbies, advanced for advanced. You'll have less unsubscribes, I bet.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Kenneth Holland
      GREAT advice too! Thanks John!


      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      Based on your plans, I think start a new list. But also, consider offering something to the more newbie list to entice those who are ready to advance to jump into that new list, as well. This seems to me the best possible solution. You won't lose anyone, but their self-selection out of the newbie list to the more advanced list means you'll be targeting the right groups with your messages: newbie messages for newbies, advanced for advanced. You'll have less unsubscribes, I bet.

      John
      Signature

      'A real friend will stab you in the front'

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