Internet Marketing Coach
Treat your Newsletter like your Blog and Increase Conversions
November 5th, 2007 | 6 commentsAs Internet marketers, we all hear the phrase “the money is in the list” over and over again. The reason is because many people have grown rich simply by collecting names and emails of individuals who are interested in what you have to offer.
First, I’ll tell you that I am not one of those individuals. I do have a list of over 1,000 newsletter subscribers, but I made a grave mistake from the start - I didn’t develop a relationship with those subscribers.
The fact is, no matter how targeted those individuals are to your niche, if you don’t develop some sort of a relationship, the list is not going to convert.
My biggest list of over 1,000 is highly targeted to individuals who are new to IM and want to make money. When I send a promo their way, I only make on average 4 or 5 sales and if the product isn’t “make money doing this…” I’m lucky to make one sale.
With that in mind look to your right, in the sidebar. Today (Sunday) is showing a low RSS subscriber rate for Saturday, but it’s been around 115 on average for the past week. That’s only 115 or so regular readers. Of course there are probably a few more who bookmark it and keep track that way and then you have the SE traffic as well, but either way, it’s nowhere close to 1,000+ eyes on any given day.
The last few recommendations I’ve sent to you guys and gals have converted much better. The post before this, recommending “20 Ways to Make $100 a day Online” has brought in 12 sales so far.
Just about every other recommendation I make on this blog normally generates 5-15 sales, although I’ve only done a few where I have benefited monetarily.
The reason? Because I’ve developed a relationship with you guys. You know that what I recommend is quality and that I’d never steer you wrong. I’m not being arrogant here, 5-15 sales really isn’t anything to brag about, but that’s not too bad at all for a blog that only has on average 115 RSS subscribers.
The purpose of this post is to let you in on something I just realized literally minutes ago. It’s something I’ve known for quite some time, but I just realized that I REALLY need to redo my newsletter and start developing a relationship with those subscribers much like I have with those of you who are frequent here at the blog.
In other words, if you can develop a connection with your blog readers, you can develop a connection with newsletter subscribers and one free report has the potential of generating sever hundred, even thousand, newsletter subscribers.
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5th November, 2007 at 6:13 am
Hi Josh,
I think you’re right.
Basically, I have about almost the same list as you and also realize that I’ve made a grave mistake.
There were times when certain e-books said build relationship first but it didn’t really sink in until now…
My newsletters are in for a big revamp…
However, would you mind commenting one statement in Chris’s “Affiliate project X”..
“Most marketers tell you build a relationship first but the top marketers actually sell , sell sell before anything else”
So, I’m a little confused about the fine-line between profiting from a list and building relationship only.
Thanks to comment,
Vern
5th November, 2007 at 9:12 am
Looking over this blog I assume that the list you have built up is not for this blog but another site? I woud also like to start a newsletter but the one thing holding me back is that I can’t really think of what kind of quality content I could put in it that I wouldn’t want to post on the main blog.
5th November, 2007 at 2:55 pm
@ Vern - I suppose “sell, sell, sell” does work, as many people do it and they claim to make loads of cash doing that. But, personally, I can’t stand that!! If you’re after what pays the most and not worried about actually helping people, then sending promos everyday may be your best bet, but I haven’t tested it so I’m not 100% sure.
@ Caroline - I collect most of my subscribers from the main site ez-onlinemoney.com which is on the front page of google for “make money online” so it gets quit a few new subscribers everyday and those people are brand new to Internet marketing.
You’re last statement is a good one. That’s kind of where I’m at right now. I don’t want to be like all these marketers who send promos every other day, but then again, can I come up with that much good content to fill a newsletter and post daily to my blog as well.
6th November, 2007 at 9:42 am
Yup exactly. I dont really have a backlog of ideas for my blog and a lot of the time I am really winging it and I don’t know what I’m going to be writing about in a few days time. The idea of committing to a weekly newsletter or something is quite scary because there’s nothing worse than false promises that you can’t live up to.
6th November, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Most people do it by constantly sending promos to their list and somehow it works. The secret behind that is branding your name first, then building a massive list of “followers.”
However I can’t stand those lists. Call me a guru basher, but I’ve unsubscribed from all of those lists. I’d rather get good info then promos all day every day.
The good thing about autoresponders is that you can come up with a good series and have them delivered every other day or however often you like. So if you can get a good, long series written up, you can go a month or more without writing for the newsletter.
13th November, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Hey Josh,
Little late to the conversation here, but I definitely agree, if you aren’t letting your personality show through to your email readers they won’t keep reading.
I made the mistake early on with one of my product lists of only sending out emails once every week . That’s basically means I was only getting four exposures to my potential customers a month.
In the emails I did send, they were on target but shared little about myself. I’ve learned that you really need to put yourself out there if you want to build great relationships.
With the massive success of Web 2.0 it’s all about putting a face to your business!