Email Myth #2 – The Money Is In The List!

Hey there. This is the fourth post in a five post series titled ‘Top Five Email Marketing Myths’. We’re counting down and today’s myth is…
“The Money Is In The List!”

The saying really should go…

“The Money Is In The Relationship You Build With The Highly Targeted, Frequently Contacted List Who Trusts YOU.”

Not quite as sexy, is it?

We’ve touched on the idea that a tiny list can outperform a massive list in the post on the ‘double opt-in’ Email Myth post.

What I wanted to talk about in this post is how this saying can be misleading and cause you to put a lot of effort in the wrong places.

Let’s start with a list of ideas on HOW you can build your email list:

1. Add an Opt-In form to Your Website.
2. Buy ads and send them to your Opt-In Form.
3. Use Article Marketing to direct people to your form.
4. Host teleseminars or webinars.
5. Link to your Opt-In form from social media sites.
6. Get affiliates to promote your list.
7. Get listed on newsletter directory websites.

How NOT to Build Your Email List:

• Don’t Buy Leads – Please don’t ever buy email leads and add them to your email list – it’s against the law. To build your email list you need to have the permission of each and every subscriber.
• Don’t Add Them – Some people have the assumption that if they got a business card from, or networked in some way with a person then they have the right to add them to their email list. This is just not true and it’s also considered spam.
• Don’t Trick Them – Don’t promise something you can’t deliver. Also don’t trick them into thinking they are getting a single freebie when you intend on sending them the freebie, and, a whole bunch of marketing messages.

Honestly when I got serious about building my own lists I plowed forward believing the money was in the list and I just needed to build a big list to get responses. What I figured out what that a list of ‘freebie seekers’ tends to have a very low conversion rate. Meaning, for every 100 people I email out to my freebie lists I usually get 1 or less responding. Not quite ‘raking in the cash’ as the saying promises, is it?

Let me add a little sidenote here: You might here something completely different from people who teach how to pull stashes of cash from unsuspecting customers. You might here people tell you to build up your email list really fast, start making really amazing offers your market just can’t refuse (you know, the ‘too good to be true’ kind?) and pound them with offer after offer until they’re worn right out. That’s NOT the kind of list I’m talking about here.

The kind of list I’m talking about is the one you’d be proud to have your mama on. Actually, come to think of it, that’s a really good gauge of what to send your list… ask yourself “Would I send this to my mom if she were interested in this topic? If the answer is no, don’t send it!”

From my own experience I’ve learned that my most responsive lists are my customers. A customer list is not any ol’ list and you can’t get it just anywhere. You must build the relationships with them and deliver great quality, consistently. Once you do that you can actually get a great conversion from your list because they now know, like and trust you. I’ve seen conversions of 16 – 30% on my customer emails.

At the end of the day your email list is an extremely important asset to your online business. You must treat it as an investment to be carefully tended to and nurtured. Allow time to let relationships grow, keep working at providing content and you should be able to find a fulfilling business while also turning a profit from that list.

Angela

p.s. If you missed the first three myth’s here they are:
Myth #5 – If I email too much, they’ll unsubscribe.
Myth #4 – Double Opt-Ins Are Bad For Business.
Myth #3 – Social networks are more important than email.