Question about email list building in a wide niche

10 replies
Hello Forum,

For the last 2 years I have been working on a website that is based around the home interior design niche. I post about quality items and tips related to furniture, décor, accessories and kitchenware. It's successful (in my eyes) and I earn a decent amount of money (which is ever growing) from it via affiliate sales and adsense. It has over 1000 visitors a day.

However, I have been increasingly interested in email list building and would like to do this for my website as well. That said, from what I have read, it seems building a list is more suited to narrower niches rather than a general site like mine.

If I build an email list based on giving general décor advice, news about trends and buying guides (for furniture and similar home products), and include affiliate links every now and then, would it be as fruitful as building a list based solely, say, on air conditioning units or antique oak tables.

What suggestions would you give as how I could incorporate a list building strategy on such a website?

Many thanks,

Beam
#building #email #list #niche #question #wide
  • Profile picture of the author vickybabe
    Personally i believe that you can build a list from any site. I would join aweber as they are the best. Then just add a form to your website offering to give away something free, cheers
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    • Profile picture of the author beamkiss
      I was considering Aweber yes. I'm also wondering whether list building is worthwhile when I am posting new content daily anyway. Is list building more suited to static websites?
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  • Profile picture of the author Giftys
    Despite what you sometimes hear, there are many ways to skin the cat. While niches work better, general creative thinking can often lead to something just as fruitful. You've got respectable traffic so I don't know why they wouldn't also be interested in your newsletter as long as the content is good and something you think they want. You could always segment out their interests based off of a poll or something and send separate newsletters accordingly. A free giveaway helps keep them on the list too. Maybe you can get sponsors for each segment.
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil M
      Building a list in any niche can be profitable if you do it right. One way that I saw recently that's pretty cool is to start a paid newsletter through letter.ly I thought it was a cool idea. The good thing about building your normal list though is just the ability to send out affiliate offers rather than just relying on the links on your website. It's also a little easier to do some preselling through email.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicholas Ho
    Build a list, then bring them back to your content site daily.

    Both works well together.
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  • Profile picture of the author beamkiss
    Thank you all for your replies. I like the advice I've been given. Will draw up some email plans now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      You can build a list for your site and then make offers
      for more content and products based on the sub-topics
      of your niche (decor, kitchenware, etc.).

      This will help you to segment your list subscribers out
      into more specific interest groups so you can provide
      them with more relevant messages and boost response.

      Remember, that when you build a list you own that as
      a traffic source and you are in control of when you
      contact them and you can direct them to your site too.

      In contrast, with many other methods, you're relying
      on them going to your site by their own initiative.

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
      Signature

      .

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      • Profile picture of the author beamkiss
        I noticed on the Aweber preview videos you can ask the visitor a certain question on the sign-up form and then they will be placed onto one of your lists depending on their answer. This seems a good way for a website like mine with various categories. Although it means building up a series of lists and not just one.

        However, would that mean missing out on potential customers who might choose furniture but will be interested in lighting 6 months in the future.

        Shaun, are you basically saying build one mega-list and offer certain subscribers info and products based on the category they chose? Aweber would be able to decipher all this?
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        • Profile picture of the author peter25k
          You need to capture all traffic to your list and then as different affiliate offers come to you you'll simply segment your list members so your offer is targeted to the right audience.
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        • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
          Originally Posted by beamkiss View Post

          I noticed on the Aweber preview videos you can ask the visitor a certain question on the sign-up form and then they will be placed onto one of your lists depending on their answer. This seems a good way for a website like mine with various categories. Although it means building up a series of lists and not just one.

          However, would that mean missing out on potential customers who might choose furniture but will be interested in lighting 6 months in the future.

          Shaun, are you basically saying build one mega-list and offer certain subscribers info and products based on the category they chose? Aweber would be able to decipher all this?
          You can ask people questions on opt-in forms to segment
          your lists immediately using custom fields - but I wouldn't
          recommend that route on your homepage.

          The reason I don't recommend that method is because
          the more information you ask for up front - the lower
          your visitor-to-subscriber opt-in rate will be.

          Instead, focus on building your front-end list (the Master
          List) and then make them offers to join additional lists on
          your specialist areas thereafter.

          You can also invite them to join your specialist lists by
          placing opt-in forms for specific topics on the relevant
          areas of your site.

          Dedicated to mutual success,

          Shaun
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