Is the 1 email subscriber = 1 dollar per month rule of thumb a load of BS? Or do I suck?

Are you matching up your products with what your subscribers want?

The reason I'm asking is because you refer to your subscribers as basketball FANS but you wrote you got them through offering a basketball WORKOUT eBook.

I'm assuming people who download a workout eBook would better be classified as "basketball players," or people who want to get exercise rather than "basketball fans."

So, what I'm getting at here, is that people who subscribed under "I'm someone who wants to improve my game and/or get in better shape" isn't necessarily going to want to buy a a typical fan based product like a Lakers jersey; they may actually more want to buy something like exercise equipment.

could be your product prices, you are going from a free report to $50.00 that is quite a jump, especially from a freebie list and not a buyers list. Are there any lower priced products you can promote, such as around $7.00 to $9.00

al

Not all lists are equal. I believe the $1 per subscriber is very relevant with a buyer list but not so much with a prospect list.

Prospects are the people who you are adding to the very top of your sales funnel and you don't know who is a buyer and who will never buy. You have to treat them all the same because you don't know which ones will become buyers.

I have a small list of less than 300 people that brings in the most sales. That is because they are waiting for me to tell them when I launch a new product and they always buy.

I have another list that is the most profitable and these people don't buy very much of anything. That is because it is my JV Partner list. These are the people that promote my products and make sales.

So everything depends on what kind of list you are building.

I hope this has been helpful,
Steve Yakim

$1 per subscriber is a good rule of thumb but you can't rely on it totally because there are a lot of factors that can effect your results, the fact that you are getting sales means that you are doing something right.

There has been some good advice given by agmccall about pricing points, may be you want to create a low price point product (around $7) that you offer as an OTO as soon as people join your list.

hope that helps

It sounds like you are just starting off so I would not be too hard on yourself. You should ask your list questions and solicit feedback to see what they're interested in, what their greatest pains are, and if they'd be willing to sign up for a new product you have planned. By doing this you dial the message to market match screw several twists tighter.

You should segment all opens, clickers and buyers to separate lists.

Also segment those that don't open, click or buy to a separate list, if they haven't done any of those actions in the past X days.

So one list will become 5 lists.

Main, Opens, Clickers, Buyers, Non-Performing.

You can also build out lists based on the offer, so that you are targeting deeper.

I would stay on target with the opens, clickers and buyers, but consider sending PPL(pay per lead) offers to the non-performing list and suck whatever amount of revenue you can from them or try some kind of win-back campaign to at least get them to open and show that they aren't dead.

However, the non-performing could be a bunch of throw away accounts that were used to get the freebie and are no longer or rarely checked. At some point they have to go, as it's just not cost effective to keep them.

However, I know that most marketers can't bare the idea of removing anyone from their list, because of a hope and dream that someday they will convert. If your non-performing is a small enough percentage of your list, I guess it's not the end of the world.

But at least know what that percentage is and be creative in trying to get them off the list.

The above is something that any email marketer can do regardless of other factors that may be keeping them from getting to $1 per user. But at least you will have a better grasp of your subscribers.

All good advice that was mentioned previously. I think you've done pretty gone for just starting out.

One thing I want to add, which I mentioned in another post. People may not be buying because they don't know, like and trust you. Some people will, as evidenced by some sales. But many others will not.

Ask yourself a question.. have YOU ever bought something from someone or a company you didn't know like and trust first? I doubt it.

How many times have you seen a product you wanted and Google the company, or look for reviews FIRST, before you bought, and if you didn't find any, you didn't buy? I know I've done that myself, many times.

So, your list needs to BELIEVE the product will do what it says, and if they don't know, like and trust you, they may not believe it.

This is the missing link for a lot of marketers out there.

Their are different elements to basketball. Ball handling, shooting, jumping higher, dribbling, etc. Many people that may be strong in one area and weak in another. I definitely think segmentation might help. You can give people more targeted content and product recommendations for their specific weaknesses.

I've had $1 per month per subscriber in the past, but that was from a HIGHLY targeted list of recent buyers. I was marketing a very closely related, complementary product.

To make that amount from a normal subscriber list is quite the ambitious goal. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, you've done well with what you have.

Just keep playing. Split-test offers, try new products, and really put yourself into the mindset of your subscribers. Think about what you would want to see and what would appeal to you in their situation.