My List is not responsive, please help

Well, I don't know what your niche is, but one issue could be it is just not a big enough list. 500 is not a lot of people, and unless you are going really high ticket and know everyone has actually bought on your list I would try to grow this list a bit more.

Also, are you able to check the open rate? Are they even getting your emails and is the headline captivating enough that they are wanting to hang on your every word?

Are you providing value in the letters? Are you putting links in every one (don't do this)?

Are you open with them, and have you dared to add a line like "just hit the reply button and I will help you personally"?

I agree with Jill that 500 is not that big of a list. Particularly considering that the internet is vast and there are millions of email subscribers. This said, there may be a multitude of reasons as to why your list is not responsive.

1) Even if they subscribed, it does not mean that your emails are arriving at their inbox. Some free email services have changed their spam filters making them even more strict. If your subscribers do not check their spam boxes looking for your emails they may not even be receiving them. In addition, if they did not whitelist your emails then that too may be the reason your messages are getting filtered out of the inbox.
2) Your subject line may not be compelling enough. Remember that your email is one amongst dozens or even hundreds of emails. If the subject line does NOT appeal to the reader they simply will NOT even read it.
3) Your AD copy may be dull and boring. Once your reader opens your email you NEED to give them a reason to continue reading and even go visit your site. If it is boring, dreadful and has a lot of typos, they are just going to hit the dreaded button, DELETE.
4) A LONG email. Time is precious in internet marketing and people simply have a short attention span when it comes to reading on a computer screen. Unless it is something interesting, entertaining or informative they are NOT going to read all the way through until they reach your link. SO keep your Email ADs, short, sweet, concise, and STRAIGHT to the point.
5) MORE long sales pages on your SITE... AGAIN, time is gold. Maximize your readers time and convert that email into a sale. Don't go on and on in circles talking about the product or service. Get to the point.
6) PRICE- Now some people may place this at the top. I do not. And here is why. If all of the above are taken care of, if your ads are arriving at inboxes, if you write an eye catching subject line, if you have a KILLER AD, and on your site you simply have amazing sales page that simply draw the visitor to stay, then they are more likely to spend the money.

FINALLY, remember that statistics have shown that it takes a person an average of seven times SEEING an AD or product before they make a purchase. Therefore you need to be consistent, persistent and patient.

Good luck

Are you building a relationship with your list and giving them good content?

Also are you interviewing your list?

How do you know what they want if you are not going to research on their needs?

Marketing is all about meeting your customer's needs.

Also think about where you are getting subscribers. How are you attracting them to your list? You might be getting lots of freebie seekers depending on your methods.

Travis

My recommendation is that you try to get closer to your list, and start sending them really nice and informative content.
Make them believe in your articles, and do not try to monetize the list for a month. Later on as you develop the required trust, you will be capable of highly improving your earnings.
Please PM me if you have any specifics you want to discuss

Regards,
Moe

Hey Tush, something that could help is...

and I don't know how you're building your list, but likely what's happening is, when you email them, they don't recognize your name, so they don't open it. So, what you should do is right after they subscribe, have a very short video clip of yourself saying hi, introducing yourself so they can put a face to the name, and then tell them you'll be emailing them some tips, strategies etc. that will help them with whatever it is you're market wants.

This will likely help with your email open rates.

Brad

Brad has hit the mark! The idea of sending a video is great!

Also you build relationship by looking for FREE things you can send them. Tips or tricks, free reports you have authority to distribute or just a simple, hey guys I ran across the "FREE Report today" if your struggling with XXX this will help you. Make sure you don't give them anything they have to opt-in to though.

They will begin to appreciate the content you deliver and when you have something you want to earn money from they will remember all the free stuff you have taken time to find for them and buy your offer.

The psychology behind this is that they will feel guilty because they have freely accepted all the stuff you have given them and they will feel compelled to purchase from you in order to ease their conscience if they didn't buy.

But don't just give them free stuff in order to get them to buy later. Take the time to find quality things and send it to them. Don't place any limites or preconceived notions on how many times you can mail them. Do it every time you find something of value you can share.

When you start seeing thank you replies then you know your peeps are warming up to you.

Oh and I never ever refer to my list as "My List" they are me people, peeps, peers. See them in this light and your perspective will change.

Hope this helps a lot!

Russ

PS: Don't believe for one second that you need more subscribers, build a relationship with the ones you already have. If you can get a 10% response rate ( which is low if you have a relationship with them) of people that buy that's far better then a 1% response rate from a list of 1k that never hears from you!

some good advice already given, especially Brad's point about getting them to recognize you. You need to create that connection so they begin to like and trust you, and don't just see you as a faceless corporation sending out pitches.

There's a lot of things you might be doing right/wrong, so it's hard to give a precise answer. However, the general things you need to do are:

1. offer what they signed up for
2. show them your real side, and why you're the one they can turn to for help
3. follow up continuously, with pitches and free content
4. only offer them great deals, which are closely related to what they signed up for

I think Imran made a great point. be sure to build relationships with your list. Just don't send offers for them to check out. Also be sure to resend out emails after a day or so to those who didn't open your email...if you see its an extremely low rate then try a different subject.

Be sure to give to your list as well. They've stuck with you thus far and they deserve it. Give them great tips, advice, maybe even a bit of inspiration, whatever you do, just be sure to be a great "friend" to your list. Never give them anything you personally wouldn't appreciate and always be sure to not take for granted their still on your list

From a list of 500, you SHOULD be generating SALES.

I know this because, I have a list of 500 people myself,
and sales are generated with no problem. So, learn how
to write good email copy so the value is received well,
and build a relationship with people.

Also, I don't know who said "don't sale for the 1st month"
...it's false. You SHOUD be selling to your subscribers the
moment they opt-in to your list.

That way, you set the tone that your in "business" and
not a charity. Believe it or not, people actually respect
you more when you ASK for the sale asap...because, they
KNOW you will only ask for it later on anyways.

It's like setting the tone of a relationship when you meet
a guy on the street...do you want an intimate relationship
or a friendship? You have to set the tone right up front
with a OTO or sales pitch after they opt-in.

And never question if listbuilding works or listen to anyone
who tells you it doesn't. It's a slap in the face of those who
DO get it to work...and work well. Good Luck

I feel that you should have a small poll or short survey that helps to find about their interests. Based on that you could promote products to them??

Hi there,

Don't worry to some extent we've all had this experience when we start out in Internet Marketing. I remember my own list being around 500 a while back now and sending out a broadcast and only 3 people clicking on the link.

But let me answer your question regarding whether or not you should build a list. The answer is YES! YES! YES! You absolutely must have a list as that way you control the traffic, all the top internet marketers have big lists. And the sooner you start building it the better. The hard part is making your list responsive and this is a real art.

First and foremost you must have headlines in the subject line of your e-mail which make people want to open the mail. If no one opens the mail then no one is going to click on the link inside and see your offer but even before we get to that point there is another very important issue. Are you'r e-mails getting through the spam filters ?

If words like FRee and Offer and even Opportunity are included in the mail they may well be flagged by the filters and go straight into the spam folder. So you have to edit ALL your mails accordingly, this happened to me early in my own IM career.

I couldn't work out why my list weren't opening my mails and that was the reason. You should test all your mails via your autoresponder to make sure they get through the filters. Then make sure you have great, compelling and intriguing headlines and you'll be half way there....

Maybe it's the copy in your emails, subscribers will generally respond to good copy but not 'hey check this out it's great'.. Seth Godins books 'Tribes' has some good advice...

Hi Tush,

Looks like we all received some very good tips above.

One thing which helps is training the people on your list to expect offers coming their way early on. If you get your subscribers from freebies, you need to get an offer in front of them within the first couple of days.

Even if you start out with a quality report you created yourself, and are only asking $7.

List owners need to get past the "paid offer fear" which can (and does) result in them becoming freebie providers instead of marketers.


The best to you,
Dennis

How can I get the most from this list? Is it really worth it to build a list?
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500 is not so big, but you have to provide usful stuff to your subscribers, such as (Free ebbok, fre videos) or any thing give them a free solution to a spesific problem in you niche.
it's really worth to build a list, but you have to make it (Targetted List) and try to use facebook to grab more visitors to your list
Good luck

Thanks guys and (girls) for the wealth of information shared here. I also need to see what I am offering my list, and the frequency and ....and.... and ....
Thanks again
tush

The size of your list isn't important, it's the relationship with your subscribers that's important.

There are people making a six figure income with lists of under 1000 and people making very little with huge lists.