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Building a large to huge email marketing list is absolutely essential in the internet marketing game.
As an on line marketer the only “good” way to have, might we say, a captive audience to which you can market your goods, is to have their name and email address and their permission to allow you to send emails to them.
The email list has to be large to huge because the same old traffic principles apply whether you are a store front where traffic passes by your store or you are passing your “store” so to speak by your traffic.
Whether it is the 80/20 rule or the 95/5 rule or “they’ve got to see it 7 times” rule it doesn’t matter, traffic is the key.
Seems kind of cold and far from a relationship but it is the cold hard facts.
Of course once you have converted a piece of traffic to a prospect and then to a customer and ultimately to a client, you can then build a relationship. But first you have to keep them on your list, try to keep them from eventually opting out, as it were.
I have been slowly building lists using giveaway events in a variety of different product niches, so I have, I believe, 8 separate lists. Each of the 8 lists has at least one follow up message that goes out after a prospect opts in. Some have multiple follow up messages.
I didn’t pick up on any particular patterns in regards to opt outs with my regular follow up messages.
After my total list count got above 200 I then sent out some broadcast messages about some additional opportunities I thought the prospects might be interested in like a new giveaway or other free stuff.
This is when I noticed a definite pattern with opt outs. It seems when they receive a message they are reminded that they are on someone’s email list and guess what? The new message gives them the opportunity to opt out.
I notice most of my opt outs are either the same day or the day after they have received a new message. Further it seems more prevalent when they receive a broadcast message then just the regular follow ups.
Maybe this is obvious to everyone in this business but I just noticed it and thought I would write about the phenom.
I’m not sure if this can be controlled but I am searching articles for ideas on how to make it better.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas I would appreciate your input.
[...] Norm added an interesting post on List Building Keeps You Guessing | Six Degrees Of SeparationHere’s a small excerptBuilding a large to huge email marketing list is absolutely essential in the internet marketing game. As an on line marketer the only good way to. [...]
Hi Norm,
What did the broadcast message say in relation to the follow up ones?
My own personal reactions in opting out is that if I get a sales message or one of the type…”my good friend Satchmo has allowed me to”…soon after joining a list then I’m very likely to hit the unsub link.
I’m not so much into a list for free downloads but if the list owner hasn’t made an effort with me to establish a relationship of some sort before trying to sell me something or doing ad swaps then I’m outta there.
Cheers,
Rod
Hi, esteemed post. I compel ought to been woondering about this emergence,so thanks in place of posting. I’ll once be coming dorsum behind to your site.
Hi Rod
Thanks for the comment. My normal mode of operation is to have at least two followup messages to people who opt in to a list. These followup messages are just a “thank you” or “welcome” message and asking if they were successful at downloading the free gift that was given in the giveaway.
The broadcast messages that I have done are invitations to additional giveaway events. Consideration everyone who has opt’d in to any of my lists have come from giveaways, I guess I assume they might be interested in addional giveaway events. As you know the giveaway event owners require you to promote the giveaway so I sometimes do that with a broadcast message.
I understand what you are saying about not jumping on your opt ins too soon with a sales offer. I was observing that most opt outs come either the same day or the day after a new message. And it became obvious to me that their receiving a message of any kind reminds them they have the opportunity to opt out of the list they got on.
Had they not gotten a message, they would probably completely forget about the list they are on. That was my double edged sword comment, catch 22 if you know what I mean.
Building that relationship with your opt ins seems to be critical to keeping them on a list until such time they are willing to take a look at something you have to offer.
Tricky stuff.
Norm
I too have experienced similar trends with one of my lists when I have forwarded broadcast messages. I think that I hadn’t built enough of a relationship and they were put off by the ‘offers’. Somewhat frustrating when all you are trying to do is provide useful resources or opportunities to sign up to giveaways so they can build their lists, but evidently not everyone looks at opportunity the same way!
I think a lot of the problem is coming across as too pushy and the art is developing a regular contact timeframe and judging when to try and sell and when to just provide more content. Interesting to get some of the other MWA2.0 students ideas and experiences….
Tom
Hi Norm,
Speaking from my own experience, before I started building my own list… I would join someone’s list from a giveaway event, and if I didn’t hear from them for a while I wouldn’t be able to remember how I got on their list, and I’d unsubcribe when I got their next email.
I would also unsubscribe if all I seemed to be receiving was info about the latest giveaway events, as I only stay on lists that I’m learning something from.
Sometimes you just have to put yourself in their shoes, so to speak… You’ve just signed up for someone’s list, what do you want that next email to be?
I hope that helps a little? In fact just thinking about it, I think I’ve actually helped myself a little here with the info I’ve come up with..:D
So I guess it’s… Thank you Norm, for helping me, help myself..lol
Take care,
Paul.
Hi Norm -
You have pretty much already touched on this above but it’s my personal feeling that you are always going to have opt-outs after people just sign up to receive something for free. Your lists are your opportunity to build a relationship FIRST, then monetize second. Sending relationship-building emails / broadcasts should just be viewed as a pre-qualifier for a future relationship. If they opted out, they weren’t willing to build a relationship in the first place and most likely were just there to get something free. Hope this helps!
Paul
Norm,
You just believe that opt outs are not normal… I remember looking at one of Alex Jeffreys videos and it showed something like 30% of his list opted out…
Personally, I haven’t had an opt out for weeks… And I send a ton of emails. But it takes a whole lot of care to make that happen, although my goal is not to stop opt outs.
I sometimes take a day to write an email. Yep… 8 hours…
Now, I’m sure I’m going to get people opting out maybe even today, but the main way I keep opt outs to a minimum is to treat every name on my list as real people, with real problems, looking for real solutions… not more animal fodder.
Keep plugging away, it will get better.
Rob
Rob
Thanks for stopping by. I haven’t done much here lately, just been busy with other stuff. We’ve been working on our house and at my age I run out of energy after spending a few hours up and down a ladder. I guess I shouldn’t wait for some significant thing to happen before I blog.
I’ve have kept active with Giveaways and am still picking up a few opt ins daily.
One of my most successful giveaway products is about energy conservation. It does quite well for opt ins and downloads but I think those folks are mostly not internet marketing people.
Their interests are quite different from us folks that are trying to run an line businesses. When I develop my followup messages I try to keep the context in the “green” area of interest in an effort to gain some credability. I also have a blog on that subject.
Not sure why I’m telling you all this, just talking, no real point I guess.
Thanks again for the comment
Norm
Hi Norm,
Thought I stop buy to say hello and give you my thoughts;
After attending the Alex Jeffreys course, I did seem to sign up to a whole host of lists. As a result, my inbox was really taking a pounding every day and I was spending too much time reading mails which were distracting me.
As a result, I decided to start unsubscribing from lists simpley to follow my own plans.
Anyway …
Hope you are keeping well. Have you made any more progress restoring that car?
Keep in touch
John
Hi Norm hope you have finished your housemind yo a mans work is never done
only just getting into giveaways , still not quite sure how they work
cheers Mick
Hey John how are you doing?
Sorry I haven’t been to my blog for awhile. Shame on me. I’ve been working with another on line marketer friend that lives in Malta. We have been working on a joint venture and I just haven’t spent any time on my own blog.
No I haven’t gotten anywhere with the Comet. It’s still in my son-in-laws garage. He was supposed to put the tail lights back on it so we could drive it over to my garage so I could work on it here. But like most son-in-laws he has other priorities. I guess I should just go over there and do it mayself.
Anyway thanks for the look see. Appreciate the visit.
Hey Mick
Thanks for stopping by. I haven’t been here myself very much lately. Been doing some other stuff with a friend from Malta. We are working on a joint venture. Don’t know yet if we will be able to pull it off or not.
I have still been doing giveaways. I bit the bullet and upgraded to a top level on one that I thought would generate a lot of traffic. Turned out I spent almost a hundred bucks and didn’t get any more click thrus and opt ins then with just the minimum upgrade. I have discovered, without a long list or some other way to promote the event you join you almost have to at least do the minum upgrade to get any traffic at all.
My lists are still slowly building but have a long way to go to have the 1000 to 1500 that Alex recommends as a minimum.
A good giveaway book to get is JT Martins JV Giveaways Unleased.
I think I have a link to it so you can get it for free on my main blog page. If not here is a link where you can get it.
http://perfecttrafficstorm.com/links/8819
Cheers back to you. Happy blogging
Norm