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Wow, you really can't please some markets...

by Nick Brighton
12 replies
I started building a list in a sub niche within the dieting industry. I forgot about
the list for a while, and was getting some residual sign ups for the last couple of
months.

Here's what I lured them to sign up with:

A free 7 day (quality) email course
A free piece of software to deliver plans and recipies (again, good quality)

So, I let things run their course and decided yesterday to shoot them an email and
get some feedback.

I sent a broadcast telling them who I was, what they signed up for and generally
a little bit of well wishing. (First one I've sent outside the original course itself)

I also asked them to do a 10 second survey to find out what they needed help
with...NOTHING FOR SALE at all, or even any implication of such.

Aweber tells me, using their proprietary software that my email will not get flagged
as spam.

Today comes, I've got a small (less that 10%) response with people who took
the survey. However, I've also got 1.5% of people reporting my email!

This, as you can imagine, is a major flag for Aweber and I'll probably get a call from
them if this doesn't go back down with the next few emails!

So, what on Earth is a person to do? I've done nothing but help these people, never
tried to sell them anything and they all verified their opt ins.

And they say IM 2 IM is a hard business, try these folks for a tough ride!

I don't want to drop this niche, but equally I don't want to battle against what
they want (I still don't know if they want to BUY anything at all!).

By the way, I've just scheduled another email for tomorrow which will remind them
about the survey and again who I am, why I am emailing them and why they're on
my list in the first place...

Can you believe that response though? Ever had a response like that? Is it just early
day teething problems of having a new list?
#markets #wow
  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    I'm willing to bet that you'll find most of your subscribers are using Yahoo, Gmail, Aol, etc.

    What they are doing is clicking the Spam button in place of the delete button. Very common. I wouldn't take it personal.

    I have never done this, but maybe remind them that if they don't want any more emials they should click the Unsubscribe then delete and NOT the spam button...

    Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
      Originally Posted by MikeAmbrosio View Post

      I'm willing to bet that you'll find most of your subscribers are using Yahoo, Gmail, Aol, etc.

      What they are doing is clicking the Spam button in place of the delete button. Very common. I wouldn't take it personal.

      I have never done this, but maybe remind them that if they don't want any more emials they should click the Unsubscribe then delete and NOT the spam button...

      Mike
      Aaaah, that might explain it. I really can't imagine what else it could be. I'll remember to tell them about that tomorrow, thanks Mike that will come in VERY useful in the future too.
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Bruno
        I believe that if you started building a relationship with them from day one you probably wouldn't be having this issue.

        They really don't know much about you or your intentions no matter if your giving them great information or not.

        Also from day one you wouldn't have a lot of spam complaints you just be sending a few e-mails a time that are already in your autoresponder series.

        But you can always regain their trust by doing the things that you're doing.

        I'm not sure I would hit him with a survey just yet. Sometimes surveys can wreak of trying to sell them something and it may be too soon for that.

        Frank Bruno
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        • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
          Originally Posted by Frank Bruno View Post

          I believe that if you started building a relationship with them from day one you probably wouldn't be having this issue.

          They really don't know much about you or your intentions no matter if your giving them great information or not.

          Also from day one you wouldn't have a lot of spam complaints you just be sending a few e-mails a time that are already in your autoresponder series.

          But you can always regain their trust by doing the things that you're doing.

          I'm not sure I would hit him with a survey just yet. Sometimes surveys can wreak of trying to sell them something and it may be too soon for that.

          Frank Bruno
          More good points, I admit I should have followed up more after the initial email course. I'll learn from what I should have known better.

          As for the survey, again I can see why that might be red flag for them, but I did my best to come across as someone who just wants to know what my subscribers want more help with, nothing more nothing less.

          Very good points though, goes to show how delicate email marketing really is.

          (and they all harp on about building the list, but building it AINT the problem...)

          In reality, this is not the way I usually go about email marketing, but was a bit of a side project that got left too much on the side recently...

          ...list neglecting is still a faux pas, even if you're not selling to them!
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        • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
          That's happened to me with one of my lists in a non-IM niche. It's a small list only around 430 but I stopped emailing them and when I resumed I got lit up like that as well. Email 1 was .087%. Email 2 was 2.04%! Freaked me out, I was worried that Aweber would shut me down or something. Not sure if I should keep at it with this group. The list is built around a "freebie" concept so I think that's part of the problem as well. I won't do a site like that again. All I get are freebie seekers when you have "free" on your domain. Live and learn.
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          • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
            Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

            That's happened to me with one of my lists in a non-IM niche. It's a small list only around 430 but I stopped emailing them and when I resumed I got lit up like that as well. Email 1 was .087%. Email 2 was 2.04%! Freaked me out, I was worried that Aweber would shut me down or something. Not sure if I should keep at it with this group. The list is built around a "freebie" concept so I think that's part of the problem as well. I won't do a site like that again. All I get are freebie seekers when you have "free" on your domain. Live and learn.
            Amen. I think the only time I will offer freebies is with an immediate OTO upsell, or the ability to know EXACTLY what the visitors want in the long run. What was I thinking, I know better than this! (Kicks himself with measurable force).
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            • Profile picture of the author Frank Bruno
              The best thing to do is to send them an article or link to a blog post with some content.

              And work in your call to action into that content.

              Frank Bruno
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    Keywords in that niche often trigger spam filters, since obviously (in the twisted non-logic of filters) any message mentioning "weight loss" must be spam, right?
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    • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
      Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

      Keywords in that niche often trigger spam filters, since obviously (in the twisted non-logic of filters) any message mentioning "weight loss" must be spam, right?
      Who says I mentioned "Weight Loss"? ;-) In fact, I didn't use any keywords that
      might trigger spam. I write (like you should) to the list as a friend would...and
      how many times do your friend's emails get blocked from you?

      Good point though , but that's not what's happening here.
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  • Profile picture of the author blokh
    Sorry to hear about this Nick.

    I can understand what you must be feeling ... I have an online practice driving test located on one of my sites. TO use this, you must double opt in ... the emails clearly tell them you will receive information from me and you confirm that you are giving me the permission to send you emails.

    I get more than 10 sign ups a day (all organic) and I have been getting these leads since the past one year. So with around 4000 people on this list, every time I send out an email (i get around 2% reports) and noone else really cares. Never sold them anything, and I think never could! Have stopped trying now ... will see if I can really find something for them.

    BTW: If anyone has something that these people would be interested in, do let me know, I can try one more time before I totally give up on these.

    These are people who had to give a driving test and they took a practice test on my site.
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  • Profile picture of the author MeTellYou
    ridiculous. It seems that people got really suspicious nowadays... they just think that you're going to try to sell them stuff before you even try

    congrats on your 700th post too.

    Thanks,
    Sebastian
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    • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
      Originally Posted by MeTellYou View Post

      ridiculous. It seems that people got really suspicious nowadays... they just think that you're going to try to sell them stuff before you even try

      congrats on your 700th post too.

      Thanks,
      Sebastian
      Wohoo, I didn't realize my post count. Last time I looked, I was on about 800. Time flies when your wasting it on forums ;-)
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