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The right way to treat a list?

by sadiecopywriter
26 replies
Hi there,

I'm a little sketchy when it comes to what do with a list. I know about the auto responder sequence once you get them to sign up, (usually between 3-10 emails).

But once it's done, what do you do with them?

This is where I get lost. It seems 'ify' to contact them just when I'm selling something.

So what do you contact them with?

And how often do you contact after that, with anything?
#list #treat
  • Profile picture of the author dean20653
    I don't run a list but this is my opinion from reading this forum....

    When someone signs up to your list it's because the like what your offering

    Then you follow up with more info and concern for there " progress"

    After all the "initial" contact messages are out of the way you continue to provide good free advice and tidbits , new posts, something you tried and works well, an interview, video, etc etc, keep the engaged. They look at the free info then see other things your selling and "hopefully" buy

    The better the relationship and the more value your subscribers get from you the more they will trust what your sending them and the more they will buy from you.

    But you have to be sincere and genuine with the info you give them. Not just junk. Every email let them sample ... Then buy

    Hope I helped
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  • Profile picture of the author XponentSYS
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    You can sell in almost every email by having a 'footer' section that says "check out my/these products".

    If you have a buyers list, you know what product they bought. You can send emails that encourage them to implement and help them with tips. Promote products the supplement the main product. So if they bought an ebook on making money with niche sites then offer products likes WP Plugins/Templates, Traffic Solutions and SEO.

    You want a balance between blatant sales and helpful emails but even 'helpful' emails can be sales pitches.

    For example, you could write a few emails giving tips for getting YouTube traffic for free and softsell a product that makes it easy to rank YouTube videos.

    A freebie opt-in list may be less targeted and you don't know if they are buyers or not. You would promote the main product as part of the follow-up series but after that you have more options.

    You can work on building trust and get them into your sales funnel. Or you can treat them as less valuable prospects and throw different offers at them until something sticks.

    It really depends on your business.

    If you are a product creator with multiple products targeting a niche, then you want to build a relationship and move prospects into your sales funnel.

    If you are an affiliate marketer or solo-ad seller you can do less 'relationship building' and more marketing to try and squeeze cash out of the non-buyers before they die off.

    One thing to do is look for a product or offer you want to promote and then write a few emails pre-selling before sending the offer. Much like the idea of talking about the benefits of free YouTube traffic with real value and actionable tips leading to a harder sales email promoting a YouTube ranking product.

    The key is to distinguish between buyers and prospects. Easier with your own products.

    And then the business model you want to use for prospects - build a relationship and get them into your sales funnel or churn and burn them to max the financial return before they are gone.

    Edit: I leap frogged over Ben's post but I would suggest listening to everything he has to say and look up some of his threads for amazing gold nuggets.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bronwyn and Keith
    Hi Sadie

    Treat your list with respect by NOT sending offers everyday unless you have pre-arranged with them to do so.

    Respect comes both ways - if you treat them how they expect to be treated they will do the same to you.

    Be real, be genuine and if you can only send offers to them that you "know" work or have personally tested.

    Regards

    Bronwyn and Keith

    Originally Posted by sadiecopywriter View Post

    Hi there,

    I'm a little sketchy when it comes to what do with a list. I know about the auto responder sequence once you get them to sign up, (usually between 3-10 emails).

    But once it's done, what do you do with them?

    This is where I get lost. It seems 'ify' to contact them just when I'm selling something.

    So what do you contact them with?

    And how often do you contact after that, with anything?
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  • Profile picture of the author actionplanbiz
    theres no right way. everyone does it different.

    if you dont like selling, than you dont have to. email them some tips and put your affiliate promotion at your signature.
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  • Profile picture of the author AaronMatt
    To properly treat a list, you need to show them that YOU exists.... Listen to their problems and show them products that will SOLVE their problems. Build a very STRONG relationship with your list and you'll live heavily ever after.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
      Hi Sadie,

      There's an art and science to giving value to your list while selling to them. A few things to remember:


      1. Make offers from the start.

      ALWAYS focus on giving value to your subscribers, but from the beginning make offers to train them to expect offers from you. You don't want to CULTIVATE freebie seekers.

      Yes, you get them on your list with a great, free bribe, but don't cultivate an expectation of "always free."


      2. Mix it up!

      A. Send out a regular e-mail newsletter (weekly or biweekly) AND solo ad promotions.

      The newsletter builds a relationship with your subscribers by offering them pure value. It's the glue that keeps you subscribers on your list.

      Yes, include your offers in the newsletter, but the main focus here is offering good, free content. This gives value to your subscribers and builds goodwill.

      B. The other days of the week, send out a solo e-mail or e-mail series promoting your offers.

      The smartest way to do this is with a series of e-mails which gives value and builds excitement for the offer. The primary difference here is that the focus is on selling something, whereas the newsletter is primarily for educational/relationship-building purposes.


      3. Stay on their radar!

      The purpose of e-mailing your list is to either 1) make a sale or 2) stay on their radar and build the relationship. So make sure to e-mail regularly. People have the attention span of a gnat these days, so e-mailing regularly is critical. Your list should be hearing from you every 2-4 days. This isn't hard to do when you're sending a weekly newsletter AND a series of promotional e-mails.

      If you don't have many things to promote, you might feel at a loss after promoting your initial product or service. Time to get another product or service!

      Once your have your list-building machine humming and a stable of products and services, it's just a matter of rotating promotions.

      I think one of the hardest things when trying to do e-mail marketing is knowing what to say. "What do I say???"

      Check out Ben Adkins' "Follow Up Master Plan." He actually just launched it this weekend and the promotion is over now, but hit him up anyway and see when he'll be releasing it to the public. (You can reach him at BenAdkins.com and find him on Facebook. He's very active on Facebook.)

      FUMP gives you EXACT e-mail sequences for:

      1. Converting your Facebook fans to actual paying customers (assuming you've already converted them to your list).

      2. Getting traffic and sales for local offline businesses. (Once you learn how to do this, you can sell this as a service to local, offline businesses if you choose to do that.)

      3. Reactivating/warming up your existing stale list. (Who else has let their list go a bit cold???)

      4. Making "cold" sales -- that is, making sales to people who have opted in "cold" to your list from an ad (on Facebook, solo ads, etc.) for a freebie.

      5. Priming your existing buyers to buy more from you.

      6. Finally, he also provides an "evergreen" e-mail sequence. Just plug in your product or service, tweak the language a bit for your niche and press send.

      Ben is very, very good at what he does. I've been buying from him for a year now and I love his stuff. His e-mails are great. They build excitement and give lots of value during the process. There's absolutely no "cheese" or "slimy sales" factor here.

      Also, remember that the basics of online business are very, very simple:

      Traffic > Opt-in page (to build a list) > E-mail newsletter (to build a relationship) > Sales

      Build a list. Build a relationship. Make an offer.

      That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers make it waaay too complicated.)

      Hope that helps!

      Michelle
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  • Profile picture of the author xpesos
    I usually send them email regarding niche for which they have signed up
    Sometimes just tips with some thing to sell in between
    And most of the times i send discount offers, or related updates
    But i strictly remain in the niche they have signed up for
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Fuhrman
    From the standpoint of communication you should try to write your list everyday. This may sound controversial to some but the research has shown that this is yields the best results over time. However, that does not mean you should try and sell something everyday. There are 3 different basic types of emails you should rotate. Sales emails, Motivational emails and personal connection emails where you try to let your list know you better personally.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicholasb
    I emailed my list twice today, and put myself on my second affiliate leaderboard in the last 2 weeks.

    Email often, and never stop, I've been emailing my list once to twice a day for years, I have literally send thousands of emails to my list, and I have many loyal readers followers and buyers
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    If you ask 100 successful email marketers - you'll get 100 different answers.



    My two cents is to keep your list guessing.

    Send them free stuff, promotions, blog posts, videos, reviews - and just a random message if something comes up.

    Just keep them guessing.

    And NEVER let them forget who you are. (The best way to accomplish that, is by contacting them frequently).
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  • Profile picture of the author dduverge
    Just be yourself. Not everyone on your list will identify, but those who do are potential customers or partners.
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  • Profile picture of the author SandraLarkin
    Banned
    You need to treat your list like your friends. That is all there is to it.


    Do not constantly sell them. You need to offer them free things and every once in awhile sprinkle in an offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyTorrents
    Treat them like people, do whatever it takes to improve your relationship with your list.

    You could do this by helping them with their problems, sending them useful articles, chatting with them, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author dmarc
    It largely depends on what your intent with the list is, and how you've built it.

    If you're planning on eventually selling solo ads, you DO want to condition them to expect and click on "freebie" links. After all, most solo ads are going to be offering a free gift of some sort. In this case, it can be beneficial to offer some no-opt in gifts of your own in follow-ups, to build trust, and establish yourself as someone who provides valuable content and offers. This will help to ensure clicks to future offers of "gifts" in paid solos you run. This is also assuming it's a list you've build by giving away a free report or something similar in the first place.

    A buyers list is a whole different ball game.

    Really though, this question has been asked and answered many, many times already. There are some great threads about relationship building and selling to your list.

    If you could provide some more details, such as how you've build your list, and what your long term goals are, you could probably get some more specific answers.
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  • Profile picture of the author PolicyMaker
    Research Few Tips,News Stories, Motivationl Stories and keep em aside somewhere...

    Now start Crafting Your Email Series, Write at Least 2 Emails Per Day and Put them into Auto-Responder Series...Second, make sure whatever you promote is valueable and will get em closer to what they want...

    Hope it'll help...
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  • Profile picture of the author David Braybrooke
    Let your personality shine through in your emails. Be original. Ask your list how you can serve them best. And never worry about unsubscribers, unless you are having a large number unsubscribe daily. If people don't like your personal style you should let them go. Don't try to please everyone and never let anyone insist that you shouldn't 'oversell'. Every email is about maximising your chance of making a sale; there is a method required, but if you are not thinking forward to the point of making a profit, then why have a list anyway? If you are the big-hearted, altruistic, not interested in money, information sharing selfless type ... let me know where I can sign up!
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  • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
    If you want to send out an email that is not part of your autoresponder series, then just keep it light and casual. If you are promoting a product, be enthusiastic, but not over bearing and point out all the ways that product can benefit the person. However, take time to send emails that have nothing to do with selling products, such as tips which would be useful to the subscriber.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jtraits
    i`m not gonna tip you on what to do but how to do it and it's very simple -for me at least-.
    use a professional email marketing company. do not go with free email servers -hotmail, gmail etc- as you will be marked as a spammer and there goes your list straight to the trash
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    • Profile picture of the author igorGriffiths
      Relax and treat them like a friend not a cash cow.

      Be consistent, if have not sorted out a pitch for the next email then just send a message containing your insights into one area of your lists interests. Never skip an email date because you have nothing to write, this is a sure way to allow your list to get cold.

      Track what your list responds to, opens, click throughs, buys and unsubscribes then tailor your pattern to suit them not you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery Moss
    Your motive should be to help your subscriber, rather than advertise to them constantly. Even if you recommend a product, then it should be in the subscriber's best interest rather than your own. When you keep the subscriber's needs in the forefront, it will influence everything you do, even how you talk with them and the person on the other end reading the email will be able to tell you have their best interest at heart. In this way, you should treat your list like a garden, where you nurture your flowers. Or, in this situation, you would nurture each subscriber as they are literally worth gold to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author gcbmark20
    Hi,

    1. NEVER ALLOW YOUR LIST TO GO COLD!

    2. ALWAYS SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW FIRST - RESULTS - KNOWLEDGE

    3. THEN ASK FOR THE SALE!

    You'll never run out a persons ability to BUY from you.

    That's a fact.

    People want to buy, not all of them will but that's just how it is.

    Once they've gone through your sequence you can place them onto a
    separate list because you now know that they're not interested in buying
    what was offered in your sequence.

    Move on and continue to build relationships with them, offer them something
    else that may be more of what they're looking for.

    Once they're on your list they are your people until they unsubscribe.

    Make the most of that time by sharing what you know and opening up
    the possibilities to them.

    Get them HOT.

    Get them EXCITED.

    Offer to HELP THEM.

    Then ask them to pay you for that help.

    All the best
    Gavin
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Maybe you can ask the people on your list if what they want?
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    Moderator's Note: You're only allowed to put your own products or sites in your signature.

    Signature edited.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasdfgh
    I have a couple of pretty big lists and I can tell you from experience that you must build trust before attempting to sell anything. Offer them some value and show that you are genuine

    A welcome email introducing yourself

    Email asking them if there is anything they would like see covered on your site

    Recommend something to them that is free, or even better, give them something for free.

    Be personal in your emails. If some idiot has just crashed into the back of you on the way to the office, slip that in with whatever you are emailing about.

    When selling, make it sound like you are doing them a favour. Maybe a review or explain how xxx product has really helped you out in the past few weeks.

    Don't just say.... Buy this, it's great!!

    Use an autoresponder and get all of this setup. Then keep adding to your autoresponder. It depends on your niche but once per week is quite normal
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  • Profile picture of the author Traffic Strategiest
    Hopefully you picked out a profitable niche before you started to build your list.
    If you did then you should contact your list with useful information in that niche.
    ending perhaps with a survey on what they would like to hear in your future contact.
    Give good free information and ebooks that will be of help to your subscribers.
    Offer things for sale that are of use to people in the niche you targeted.
    Hope this helps
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