Please Unsubscribe from my list

I think you're pretty spot on here Maddi.

Although, I'd like to see the results from a segment that hasn't opened an email in 3 months if you send them something with the subject line: "Please Unsubscribe"


I bet you'd get a couple people to open it, and if your message was good enough, you'd probably get a few people to reengage. And if not, well what does it matter... they're not opening your emails anyway.

Yep. That should be every list owner's goal: make your name synonymous with whatever emotional response gets someone to open your emails without regard to the words in the Subject line. Great point!

You get there by exceeding expectations in every email you send. Overdeliver out the wazoo. Don't slam them with sales pitch after sales pitch. Rather, send a lot of free and really valuable information about the topic that got them to sign up in the first place. Build that trust level sky high. That's how you can win with a list - even a pretty small list.

John

Maddi,

All I can say is I appreciate this post. You make some really awesome pointers, and I wish some of the people in my list would listen to them. As well as those people who keep e-mailing me the same SPAM over and over.

Caleb

That what I am planning on testing

Let's see how it goes

I have a small list. I just consider it another source of traffic. My philosophy on list building is: don't try to scam people, send them real value consistently, keep em' short-n-sweet, go for the newsletter as opposed to the autoresponder series, tell them up front how often they will hear from you, don't flood their inbox.

Just my $0.02...

If you don't have something valuable to say that people are eager to read, why bother?

Your open rate is a tell-tale metric.

Good post and it reflects the mind frame I have always had about my list. "Send something of value or don't send it at all."

Yesterday I was also thinking a little about what emails I was opening. I frequently get an email from a marketer that only sends one short paragraph. On very rare occassions it may be two short paragraphs. He only includes a link or a promo every couple months or so. I always open his email and I am probably not the only one. I never have to stop and think "do I have time to open and read this?" or "what is the latest pitch?"

I think I will also start sending much shorter emails. Longer emails do not always mean more value. It should save me time composing the message and I hope it gradually improves my open rate.

Sorry this got so long...

The debate of subject lines will always go on. This will never change.These subject lines come an go throughout the years. I have monitored mails and even from 2007 these subject lines were still being used back then

You see them more often now because a lot use them. Plus it only happens in the IM Niche you don't see it in any other niche

Ange, that is an interesting point you bring up. If I do end up doing it, I will contact Aweber and tell them I'm cleaning up the lists.

Some great points here by fellow warriors, Aussie_Al and jlucado, you see the thing is they will only know you are sending Valuable info, if they ever open your emails

For unsubscribes, people will unsubscribe each time you email them regardless of whats in the email, promo or not. So that shouldn't matter.

The point here is I'd rather have a few hundred subscribers with an exceptional open rate and with real value than a massive list size to show off.

And don't get me wrong, I'm in this business to make money. I think I will make more money from a small number of people who look forward to my emails and build a relationship with, than a few thousand who don't really know me and hardly ever open my emails.

Maddi

Hi Maddi,

First, I understand and agree with what you are saying.

Let me give you a couple of examples of what I think you are talking about. I need to preface this by saying that I am on--I don't know--probably hundreds of lists in various niches. I join to keep an eye on what, and how, other marketers are doing things.

I'll mention a couple of Warriors here whose emails I open probably 80% of the time just because I see who sent them. I don't even read the subject lines. Those are Paul Myers (talkbiznews) and Kim Roach (buzzblogger).

I open their emails because I know they put a lot of thought into them and they almost always provide me with something to think about (rare in the IM world). Sure, they promote things, but they also provide value and I respect that. And--I don't get emails from them every day, but like I said, when I do I frequently open them.

There is the other side of the coin. And this isn't a dark side, it's just another approach. Let me first give you a list of names...

Rob Benwell
Shawn Casey
Michael Jones
Andrew Fox
Fabian Tan
Tellman Knudsen
Alex Goad
Chris X
Richard Legg
Ewen Chia

There are several things these guys have in common. First, they no doubt all make more more that you or I do--probably a lot more. Second, each and every one of them hit their list EVERY SINGLE DAY (and some of them hit their lists twice a day).

Let me focus in on a shorter list...

Michael Jones
Andrew Fox
Rob Benwell

If a day went by and I DIDN'T get an email from one of these guys, I might be tempted to give them a call and see if they were all right! And to be honest, I can't recall ever getting an email from any one of these three guys that ever gave me some genuine value--they are all 100% promotional.

But these three guys are three of the biggest Clickbank product vendors and super-affiliates out there. They are not stupid, not by a long shot. They all fully understand the power of a list and they know how to make money marketing to it.

I have bought a good number of products from each of these marketers and have had good luck with all of them. And Michael, Andrew, and Rob all understand and teach the value of market research and split testing. There are some facts that simply cannot be denied...

First, the more emails you send out--the more affiliate commissions you will make. The more provocative your subject line, the more people will open your emails. You may not like believing those facts, but they are indeed true.

If you've ever been involved in promoting a product launch in the IM niche, and you've checked the leader boards a few days after the launch--you will see the names of Michael, Andrew, and Rob in the top ten affiliates for sales if they promoted. Why? Because they know how to build a list, and--more importantly, they know how to milk those lists for all they are worth.

So yes, I understand the pain of getting hundreds of emails a day all filled with nothing but promotional hype and fantastic-sounding subject lines--but the very best people in this business have tested, tested, and tested again and again what makes them the most money.

Look, I understand that people want to provide value to their subscribers (I do too). You want to take pride in the emails you send out (I do too). But let's not forget that the goal of Internet marketing is not to build a list of good buddies and friends--it's to make money and lots of it.

Before we make any wild leaps of illogical assumptions, perhaps some testing of your lists can help. I use Aweber, but I assume other major auto-responders allow you to do similar things as well. Why not try some split testing to see whether you make more money from sending a few value-laden emails a month or hitting your list every day or two with strictly promotional emails.

If you do a split test with a Aweber account your list will be randomly divided into 2-4 segments (however you set it up) which you can test with different subject lines or content. This can work well for one individual mailing, but one mailing may not have statistical relevance unless your list is very large.

A trick you can try with Aweber is to segment your list by whatever parameters you have set up for your list. A way to do this could be to create a segment of subscribers who use a gmail account. Create a segment of gmail users and broadcast your emails to them say once a week and give them some good content with a bit of subtle marketing. Establish the percentage of your list with gmail accounts.

Create another segment of subscribers who have YaHoo email accounts (or whatever type you wish) and hit them with a strictly promotional email every other day for a month. Make sure you have click tracking on for both segments. Run this test for several weeks and check your results.

This takes some work, but you can test to see which of these segments actually generates money for you... that's what it's all about. You might be surprised at what you find. You will likely find that you get more complaints and unsubscribes from the segment you hit constantly with promotional stuff, but those people aren't going to buy from you anyway so they are just taking up database space.

All I'm saying is that we all make assumptions that often seem logical, but without actually testing those assumptions, they really mean nothing. It's all about testing and analyzing hard data.

Food for thought... Mike

I just try to always give good value to my list every email, I know the reason I stay on lists and its because they send me useful stuff so I just try to do the same

Some years ago, I published a short ebook titled "Hot Email Headlines".

In it, I shared some 43 subject lines that had brought the highest CTR
from nearly 2 years of my email list marketing.

The feedback from many who read the ebook was similar:

"We opened your email BECAUSE IT CAME FROM YOU. It wouldn't have
mattered much what subject line you used!"

That was interesting feedback. Well worth testing with an approach
like yours. Indeed 'branding' through email subject lines is something
ezine publishers have used for years.

Like JohnMcCabe said, I've pruned my email lists pretty aggressively
for years. That's because I believe more in WHO is on my list, rather
than how many are.

It's a strategy that works FOR ME (I'm not saying it will for you!)

In one of the hot IM launches recently, the product owner wrote to
tell me:

"I can safely say that your traffic was about 1/20th of the top guys on the
contest so you for sure had great conversions to the traffic you had."

All success
Dr.Mani

Unsub from your list? For crying out loud I've been trying to get on your list!

I think what you are doing is a great idea and I totally understand where you are coming from. I prefer to have a list of people that know I add value and, therefore, want to read my emails!

Lee

Lee, ask Tina as she unsubscribed from list at least she can send you my way

Tina, What can I bribe you with to subscribe again

Mike: Look, I understand that people want to provide value to their subscribers (I do too). You want to take pride in the emails you send out (I do too). But let's not forget that the goal of Internet marketing is not to build a list of good buddies and friends--it's to make money and lots of it.

Absolutely, and I have said the same, I am in business to make money and lots of it

I am not disagreeing what you have to say, and I know that you understand where I am coming from too. You bring a great point of testing, since I use aweber, I might give it a shot.

Thanks for a very interesting and detailed reply though, I really appreciate it. I guess there are marketers who make boat loads of cash by doing just that, emailing non stop, but then again, there are marketers who make a lot of money just by begin themselves and describing what I intend to do.

Just like some have said above, it would be interesting to find a balance between the two.

Dr. Mani: Pleasantly surprised to see your reply, but not surprised at the reply itself.

"We opened your email BECAUSE IT CAME FROM YOU. It wouldn't have
mattered much what subject line you used!"

Exactly the place I want to be.

Hope NAMS4kids went well.

Thanks

Maddi

@ MikeMcmillan I have no fewer than 281 emails from Richard Legg. What a freaking loser!

Fantastic subject and well written by Maddi.

I'm a great email dumper and I always unsubscribe from the list of anybody that sends me a misleading subject line. I feel by doing this they are invading my privacy and betraying the trust I placed in them by giving them my email address; therefore they don't deserve my support any longer.

The other people I unsubscribe to are people that start phoning me. This current idea of asking for home address and phone number when paying for something has been abused to hell too. Today I cease my payment process the moment the seller attempts to get access to my phone number.

Maybe we are moving into an era of ethical internet marketing and if so it isn't a minute too soon.

Regards,
Davmac