You can build a huge list. You can send out a ton of emails to this list. And yet you may be disappointed to discover that the money you make from this list doesn’t even cover your $20 or $30 per month mailing list fees.
It’s a very common problem among newsletter publishers.
Many times these marketers just assume that email marketing doesn’t work. And they end up abandoning their lists.
BIG mistake.
You see, if the list is targeted, then usually the problem is that newsletter publishers simply haven’t taken the time to build a good relationship with subscribers.
This is essential. That’s because people buy from those they know, like and trust.
So if your subscribers don’t feel like they know, like or trust you, guess what happens? Yep – they buy from your competitor instead.
So how do you start building a relationship with your subscribers? Simple – by using these three tips…
- Contact Subscribers Regularly (and Often). The relationship you’re building with your subscribers really isn’t all that different than the relationships you’ve built with people offline.
Example: Think about some of your best friends. Did you become friends by talking to each other once every few months? If so, then it probably took years to become friends. Otherwise, you probably saw that person regularly, such as at least once a week or even on a daily basis through school, work or your hobbies.
The same goes for your building a relationship with your subscribers. You can’t expect results if you just contact them once a month. Indeed, they might not even remember you if you do that.
Instead, you need to contact them regularly and often, such as once a week. Depending on your niche and the purpose of your list, you may even contact them two or three times per week.
- Be Honest and Trustworthy. You’re going to be recommending a lot of products and services over the life of your newsletter.
Just be sure that you’re 100% honest with your recommendations.
That is, recommend a product because you truly believe it will help your subscribers… NOT because it’s the product that will put the most commission in your pocket.
Sometimes this means you’ll be recommending free resources or paid resources without an affiliate program.
- Give Subscribers What They Want. In other words, don’t give subscriber what you think they want or what you think they need. Instead, find out for sure what they want – and give it to them.
One way to do this is by keeping track of the general trends in your niche (such as the most popular products and niche forum discussions) so that you know what your subscribers are already buying, reading and using.
Another way to do it is to survey your readers from time to time to make sure you’re giving them what they truly want.
Conclusion
Think about your offline relationships and you’ll soon see that building a business relationship via email isn’t all that different.
Plus once you know the secrets of building a responsive list, you too will enjoy watching your newsletter profits grow!