The absolute most important thing you can do to build a successful business online is to build a responsive list. The absolute most important thing you can do to make money online is to build a relationship with your list. Okay, so which is it? Actually it's both! You can have a huge list, but if you don't have a good relationship with the members of your list, then you will likely have limited success when promoting products. On the other hand, if you have a small list, but a great relationship with the members, then you will likely make money, but not as much as if you had that same list... only bigger. Make sense? So if you've been in marketing for any length of time then you already know these two very basic rules. But the question remains... How can I build a decent size, responsive list? Simply put... take the time to build a relationship with the members of your list. I mean these are people that have raised their hands and said "Yes, I'd like to hear from you", so make sure your delivering exactly what it is they signed up for! Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement in any business, online or off. If you have a following of people that look forward to hearing from you, and trust in what you have to say, then they will likely spread the word and tell others about you. They will help you to build your list. That's not to say you shouldn't promote as much as possible to bring new members onboard, but it's nice to have others doing it at the same time!
Right now, I'd like to specifically discuss ways to build relationships with your list, and in a future article we can cover the actual mechanics and methods to get people to opt-in to your list. So what can we do to make people actually look forward to hearing from you? It's not as hard as you may think! There are a few simple guidelines to follow, and they include...
Always provide more content, of a better quality than they may expect! It never hurts to give someone information that you yourself would be willing to pay for. Seriously, this is the most effective method to keep your list chomping at the bit to get your next email or newsletter. You don't have to give away the entire contents of a $47 ebook, but it wouldn't hurt to give out highlights from one of the best chapters! You must do more for them than the other 23 marketers likely sending them e-mails that day. Every niche is different, so keep that in mind.
Next, be personable. Don't take on the corporate image, or have a "better than you" attitude. You may be surprised to find out how many internet marketers that subscribe to you list are actually more successful than yourself! Let your members know that you're a real person who makes mistakes and has successes and failures as well. Share your experiences openly, and people will likely relate to you more. Always remember to stay on topic however, and I personally stay away from any "controversial" issues that are unrelated to my business, such as politics.
Staying in contact with your list is also of great importance. You really need to concentrate more on consistency than frequency. Whether you try to mail your list once a day, once a week or even once a month isn't likely as important as the fact that you actually do it every single day, or every single week. Mailing out one week and then three weeks later and then once a day for 4 days is likely going to heart your relationship, as your list members will see you as unreliable, or unpredictable. Pick a schedule and stick to it!
These are just a few of the things you can do to build a stronger, and more profitable relationship with your list members. I prefer to think of my list members as business partners more than customers. After all, we're all in this together, right? I'll cover some more methods to build a stronger relationship, in a future installment. Until then, work on implementing these methods in your autoresponders or direct mailings and you should see increased conversions and have a better response when you have something to say! To your continued success...
Michael Purvis is an Internet Marketer and owner of multiple online businesses. He gives away more free information than many online marketers sell! This can be seen at http://www.Million-Dollar-Deals.com
You can check out his latest projects and thoughts at the new blog http://www.ModifyYourThinking.com
