Is this the quickest way to lose subscribers?

I know what happened...

You didn't deliver value...you just delivered "greetings and good wishes".

People do not view "greeting and good wishes" as valuable unless they are your close friends.

In their eyes, by delivering "greetings and good wishes" instead of "monetizable value", they think you just SPAMMED them.

"What have you done for ME lately?"

Hi Stewart,

I think the main thing is that you are not meeting the expectations of your subscribers.

I know it seems weird with all the talk about building a relationship, but if I was on your list, it almost certainly was not to receive another email to deal with that had very little to offer me.

Those on your list got there because they purchased a product from you most likely about marketing. They told you then that they want more information about marketing.

Building a relationship doesn't not necessarily mean making friends. So things like the kinda random "have a nice weekend" are just not what people expect from being on your list.

I am on 2 or 3 "laugh of the day" lists. They send me 1 funny story each day. That is what i expect. If they ever started to "sell" to me from those lists with any regularity, I would leave. I signed up to get the funny stuff.

You must meet the expectations of your list or they will leave. They are not looking for another acquaintance, they are looking for marketing help.

However, you are correct that once your lists get bigger, you will have unsubscribes with almost every mailing. Don't take it personal. Maybe they just gave up on IM.

I was about to say something very similar to Jack.

Your subscribers want useful content, and a piece of your knowledge. They don't want to be your friend - plenty of other people will wish them a good weekend.

Edit: Plenty of people responded while I was writing this. Sorry, was distracted by the footie.

It came across as spam which quickly put you in the discard pile. Shame that a simple gesture can have that effect but it's the "new world" we live in.

1. You can't serve or please everyone.

2. Some folks have given up on trying to make money online.

3. Some people are in a bad place emotionally and WANT to have a bad weekend and don't like that you;re wishing them a good one.

4. Some want to be your friend and others don't.

5. Some wanted your product but did not want to hear from you on an ongoing basis.

6. Some folks feel more connected to someone else.

7. Some thought you were someone else.

8. Some of the people on your list forgot they bought anything from you.

There's no way to know EXACTLY why someone drops unless you ask them.

Forget about those who drop off and focus on those who remain.

You can never please all of your subscribers. I have sent out valuable gifts and gotten boatloads of thank yous, only to find out more people unsubscribed to the freebie than any paid offer before it. I even had one guy respond saying he only wants to hear about helpful "paid products".

Although your email was well-intentioned, people don't have much time for such trivial messages. I'm sure that many of these people are part of other lists too, so imagine if all list owner's sent such a message. Plus the "have a nice weekend" message doesn't sound sincere/personal (even if you are) since the recipient knows that it was sent to everyone, compared to sending such an email to an individual friend.

I know that you are trying to build rapport with your list, but I'm just trying to explain it from their point of view. I hope I have not come across the wrong way.

Also, some people will unsubscribe no matter what you send because they don't intend to stay on anyone's list, and are sometimes lazy to unsubscribe immediately, but once they receive your message it reminds them to unsubscribe.

If you had said, have a great weekend AND here is a great freebie for you to_____ (do something real important to them). Maybe you would've had less unsubcribes.

I agree with all that has been stated above about reasons and such. One thing I don't think I read and would ask is, are you emailing these people consistently?

I find that if I don't get 2 - 3 emails from something I've signed up for or it takes more than a week, by the time I get it, I've forgotten all about it.

Here is something else that was posted by another Warrior on here and I haven't been able to find it again. He said make the second email a questionaire about what they would like from you in the future.

I actually don't get too many unsubscribes after the first few days. The ones who unsubscribe immediately, I am glad they did because they probably just wanted the freebie and left. After that, I feel for those who open and click on things, they are engaged.

That is why I segment them out and give them special stuff.

Probably they only subscribed to your list in order to get the WSO

Personally Stewart, I'd have a tough time thinking up a reason to un-sub from your list, based on your message.

My initial thought was: "Have a great weekend too, mate!"

All the flim-flam above re: not delivering 'useful info' is bull**** (IMHO).

Anyone who rewards fake freebies over genuine niceness in their inbox (to the point where they get disgruntled and unsubscribe) is...frankly...a loony.

Not only would I stay subscribed, dude, but I'd mark you as one of the cool ones.

Best wishes,
Steve

I'd have to say that a random post like that for me would probably make me think a moment too... like uhhh, okay, thanks? Out of courtesy I'd probably reply as I tend to be that way anyway. But I'd still be thinking.

I've done things like that before but as someone else mentioned, with a Holiday. You could have done something like wish them a Happy Thanksgiving for example, and then keep them afloat of some valuable content that you'll be adding to your site in the next few days to look out for, or even simply provide with some seasonal related tips or article that would give them value.

So for example, if you are selling products to people to help them get their internet marketing started, maybe a blog article of good info that you could teach them how to make their own "Black Friday" sale and make it stand out... something. Just spitting out examples and random thoughts here, but yes, value is indeed important to get them going.

I've had unsubscribers too, and I remember when I got my first one, I felt bummed out about it... but then felt, if they didn't want to remain, chances are they either only came for free stuff and left, or just didn't want to receive any emails other than the first one. I quickly learned how to detach myself from unsubscribers and focus on those that still remained as members. Now if you were losing every single subscriber you gained within a day or two, then YEAH, I'd probably say at that point there's something seriously wrong.

Oh, and cleaning out your mail is a benefit and must as well... no point in keeping inactive members... no matter how much content you provide someone, there are just some people, a decent chunk of people, that will just stop opening up emails, or may have used a new made up address just to join your site with and abandon it afterwards, etc... you'd be surprised how I've had people join with one email, and then a new one after (guess they joined with a new made up email first, found value, and then joined with their actual email... IP address and name they joined with told me this. Lol).

Takes some time though... I still gotta go through some things and tweaks and tests as well... it's all part of the business though. Best of luck... it'll work out though, trust, work, and see.

Your problem may come from email deliverability.

If an email bounces 2 times in a row I'm pretty sure (not 100%) that your autoresponder automatically unsubscribes them.

This could happen if a person abandons an email address (happens more often than I thought... I've had the same email address for 13 years).

So if a person discards an email account... eventually the email you send will bounce... once that happens 2 times your autoresponder unsubscribes them.

That may or may not be the reason, but a possibility to take into consideration.

-Simon

Those unsubscribing are not your target and are just costing you AR fees.

Haha,The exact same thing happend to me! sent them a thank you message,Bam,11 unsubscribed! hah!

They need value,But they dont value a thank you.

I lost some subscribers, reason slightly deviated from the niche, sent information little away from their niche, some felt irrelevant and unsubscribed, the kind of useful information we send, and which should be very relevant to their niche in order to maintaining the list.

Experience: People unsubscribe regardless of HOW nice you treat them.. Offer them "FREE $27 IM product" related to that particular niche and instead of thanking you, they might unsub.. vice versa when you promote an affiliate link to them.

Don't send them something like a greeting, you're like asking them to "please unsub" from my list.. See, it doesn't matter if you send them "FREE stuff", "Promotion offer", or even a "simple greeting".. you'll definitely face unsub..

My advise: If that's the case.. you might as well send them an affiliate link or your next product launch (something that makes you money).. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking you to blast an email out to them everyday.. Just keep it cool.. and stop sending them "greetings"

Hope this help,
Jeremiah

You can wish them a nice weekend, but have some content in the email as well

I actually unsubscribe most often when I am getting duplicate emails from the same source, either because I have deliberately subscribed for a specific benefit (with or without realizing it would be a duplicate) or just plain ended up on several sub-divided lists from someone. Note: I almost always use a unique email address for every subscription (that way I can identify ones that turn into spamfests... and lots of them do). As a result, I end up with lots of duplicates when marketers are doing a good job and creating sub-lists! Hard to keep up with 100's of subscriptions every day!

I think the quickest way to lose subscribers is to send 2 emails with your Aff link in less than 1 day. nothing is worse that this!

I think it's just the nature of the beast. For every subscriber who unsubscribes, make sure you bring in 20 more. This is a good solution to the problem, it is what it is. And like "mado" said... dont ever attempt to send out 2 emails in the same day... everyday.