Building A Relationship With Your Email List

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One of the worst cliches in the Internet marketing business is, “The money is in the list.” The money is actually in the relationship that you have with your list. A list that is abused is not going to be responsive and is not going to make you much money.

So how do we build a relationship with our list that ensures that we make sales on a consistent basis?

First, make sure that the list you’re building is going to have a chance to be responsive to your offers by pre-qualifying them. How? It’s actually quite simple. On the opt in page that they are sent to, make it crystal clear exactly what they will receive when they have joined your list. If it’s a free report, tell them exactly what’s in it. If it’s a newsletter, tell them what they’ll be receiving in it and how often they’ll be emailed. You don’t want there to be any surprises after they’ve signed up.

Second is elementary but where most go wrong. Don’t turn your list into a pitchfest for every new affiliate offer or resale rights offer that comes along. I call this the “me too” marketing phenomenon.

The next step is to actually follow through with your promises. So many marketers make empty promises and never follow through with them, and this is a perfect way to kill your list’s responsiveness. If you say you’re going to send them a weekly newsletter, make sure it goes out every week and not more often. Don’t email them every day if you said they’ll only hear from you once a week.

And how about going the extra mile? Try sending out an email to your list asking them what they’d like to hear about from you. I’ve gotten some really good suggestions from doing this. Give your list surprise freebies once in a while. I get emails thanking me when I do. If you have a blog with an important entry that you think will be of benefit to them, send your list a link to it.

Make sure the information you give your list is rock solid. You want them to trust you. If you give them lots of useful content and treat them with respect, you’ll find that you’ve built a list that will be responsive. And don’t be afraid to throw in some personal experiences and information when emailing your list. They need to know you are human. And more than that you will have built a list where the people on it know you and even like you.

People buy from other people they know, like, and trust. Be that person they know like, and trust, and you won’t have to ever worry about building your relationship with your email list. It will just happen.

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For more on listbuilding the basic ListBuild List membership is free.