Posted by You’ve heard the fortune is in the list, and that is 100% true. But if we’re going to be a little picky, we might elaborate and say the fortune is in the relationship with your list.
You see, just having a mailing list of warm bodies isn’t going to do much for your business revenue. You need to engage these readers. You need to get them to read your emails. And you need to get them to take action by clicking on your links within your emails.
So, what’s the secret for increasing your response rate and boosting your list profits?
Simple: You need to develop a good relationship with your subscribers.
Think about it…
Let’s suppose a stranger walked up to you and asked for a ride uptown. Would you do it? Probably not.
Now let’s suppose you met a good friend on the street who asked you for this same favor. Would you do it? Probably. And the reason you’re more likely to do a favor for a friend is because you know, like and trust him.
Listen, you don’t exactly have to be friends with your subscribers, but they do have to know, like and trust you. Once you reach that level of a relationship, then you’ll start enjoying a more responsive list.
So how do you attain that sort of relationship with your subscribers? Like this…
Stay In Front Of Your Subscribers
Sometimes list owners get a little lax with their list. They put off writing to their subscribers. If they don’t have something in mind, they just don’t email. At other times, they simply forget to send out emails.
This is a mistake. If you don’t stay in front of your subscribers, they’ll forget about you. It’s out of sight, out of mind. That’s no way to develop a relationship.
Think about all the relationships you’ve developed offline. How did you do it? By keeping in contact via the phone, personal meetings, texting, social media and similar ways. But the point is, you connected with your friends regularly, which is how you became friends and grew to know, like and trust each other.
The same applies to your business relationships. If you want your subscribers to know, like and trust you, then you need to get an email out to them on a regular basis (preferably once a week).
Recommend Good Products Only
Every once in a while you’re going to run into promotional opportunities that could put a lot of money in your pocket, like a high-commission product with a high conversion rate. However, when you take a closer look, you may discover that it’s not a very good product.
What should you do?
Skip it. Your reputation and your relationship with your list is worth far more than any high-converting, high-commission product. If you wouldn’t recommend this product to your mother or best friend, then don’t recommend it to your list.
Place Your Subscribers’ Needs Above Your Own
You probably built a mailing list to make money, right? Of course. However, when you’re actually emailing your list, you need to put that thought aside – your readers are smart, so they’ll know if you view them as automated cash machines. Instead, you need to think about what is good for your list.
Zig Ziglar used to say (paraphrased) that if you help people get what they want, then you’ll get what you want too. That is absolutely true when it comes to building a responsive list. If you focus on giving your subscribers what they want and need (e.g., good solutions, recommendations and content), then you’ll get what you need too.
Conclusion
You just discovered three ways to build a relationship with your mailing list, which in turn will boost your overall profits.