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Do You Have To Build A List To Build A Business? Pt 2
If I had a dollar for every time I have heard a marketer say, the money is in the list, I’d be rich.
I say, the money is not in the list. (not automatically)
That’s like saying all’s I have to do is ask a girl out and I’ll automatically be assured she will go out with me again and again, without me doing anything to warrant her wanting to go out with me again.
I say the money is not in the list, but it can be, IF you handle your list with care.
You see, what I have noticed with some of the list I have been on is, no sooner than I opted into the list and confirmed that I want to be on a marketers list, some, not all, immediately hit me up with a sales pitch.
Now granted, I understand, if the sales offer is closely related to what I opted in for, just maybe, I might be interested in the offer, especially if it is being offered at a really great, one time price.
But, then you have those marketers that hit you up not once but many times, and if you say no, they send you to another page, usually after having a pop up you have to click out of, then you literally have to go through 10 freaking pages just to get out of the damn site.
I call that pimping your list.
Hey, how about a little dinner and wine before you try to screw me, know what I mean?
So, no the money is not in the list automatically.
The person that subscribed to your list evidently felt you had something of value to give, so give it, the value, via a newsletter, a video series, an ebook, etc…
But, give your list subscribers a chance to get to know you, really know you, and to see what you are all about, before trying to go for the sell.
I have been on some marketers list that did not try to sell me anything and when they finally did mention something, I felt compelled to buy from them or their affialiate link because they had given what I percieved as valuable information to me while I was on their list.
Again, I relate to the first date scenario. What lady or man would want anything further to do with someone if they felt abused in some way on the first date.
Let’s get to know each other better first.
So yes in internet marketing, if you want to build a lasting business, you do need to build a list. But the reality is, you have to or you should treat that list with the utmost of care.
Lead with value. Show those on your list how to better build their business or how to live a better and happier life.
If you do, you’ll likely have a friend and customer for life.
Please leave your comments about list building and/or your experiences you’ve had from being on someone’s list.
Cheers
Posted in list building | 
Tags: building list, business, internet, internet marketing, list, List building, money
11 Responses to “Do You Have To Build A List To Build A Business? Pt 2”
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You gave me realizations about building a business…I am about to start then…Thank you…
Suzanne recently posted..italian chandeliers
Willie,
this is amazing and straight forward. I love the way you keep it real and everyone should read this article. You have mastered the solution to building a real relationship with your audience first. You get to know their likes and needs as do they.
Now, you have built trust and can move forward with providing real content on subjects that relate to their lifestyle. Then you will be communicating with them and who knows. Just as you stated in your writing. They will feel obligated to purchase something they need at your price.
I love to give my readers all the information dealing with building teams and everything else in their field of business. I usually deal with business to business. Everyone sooner or later online will be doing something they have a passion for. Then make some revenue generate from that. They just need some tools, which are free from me. Then they need someone who has over 27 years experience in business. Just to bounce ideas off of.
You develop another team member with supportive goals. I love when meeting others that live to serve with real passion. To do things for others bigger than looking to make a buck.
Willie, your site is well designed and have real usable content. I feel your a great mentor in our industry and I look forward in following your growth.
William Earl Amis Jr III recently posted..When Is “Persistence” Required
Hi Willie
Exit Pop ups suck. If you look at some of the Pro’s sites you get the idea that they work, but they irritate the #&$ out of me.
The trick to making money from a responsive list is getting it. And on that point I am still stuck.
I cannot seem to get the list going.
How about some tips on that?
Ben
Ben recently posted..Leaders are Readers
HI Willie,
I have some loyal lists that have been building for over 5 years.
My strategy is to keep in touch every 2-3 weeks with some interesting information or news story. Then once every month or two I do a special pitch. I get lots of sales from this.
There are two ways to work with lists. One is to get a big list of those vagely interested in your niche. This is what the big marketers do. Then you can keep offering stuff knowing that some of your list will be ionterested and buy.
The other is to have a narrow focus, so your list is specifically interested in what you have to say. You can then have a small list and make lots of sales. I still get a 20-30% open rate on most emails, so I must be doing something right!
John Gaydon recently posted..Google Cancels My Adwords Acount
I so agree, I really dislike getting hit with offer after offer after offer.
Unfortunately I went the other way and kept offering everything for free without any offers at all.
I trained my list to get everything for free so when I finally did start making offers they got mad at me.
However, live and learn cuz life gets better every day.
Great post, Willie! You are so right that you can’t just put someone on your last and spam. There has to be something that brings people back. After all, just because someone is subscribed doesn’t mean that they will open the e-mail. How many do you leave unopened? I know I have some that I never check.
Steve Nicholas recently posted..Learning from Disappointment
Willie, I am with you all the way – I like a nice dinner and some wine first too! And nothing annoys me more than those hideous exit pop-ups “Are you sure you want to leave?” … Yes, that’s why I pressed exit!
Love the way you got up on your soap box there, I am right up beside you
Mandy Swift recently posted..Online Marketing Strategy vs Tactics: Three Steps To A Better “Video Marketing Strategy”
Your customers are in your list. But not for long if you don’t treat them right. I find the same problems on social media. Probably because spamming people actually works. But your conversion ratio would be so much higher if you devoted a little time to your ‘customers’.
Just like in off-line stores, it’s the relationship that is valuable.
Debbie
Debbie Lattuga recently posted..My Quest for Creativity
I agree that we need to build a relationship with our list before we start any hard selling. One of the quickest ways to get me to unsubscribe from a list is to receive a hard-selling email as soon as I optin.
Thanks for this insight, John.
Angela Arnold recently posted..Farm Direct Coop
Great advice for internet marketers, with some nuggets that cross the line into network marketing as well.
I have to know I can trust someone before I am ever going to respond to any kind of pitch… otherwise it comes across as aggressive in the extreme and I won’t stay long on the site. We have to build some kind of relationship with the people on our list, or else they become nothing more than numbers to us. And no one likes to be just a number.
Willena Flewelling
Willena Flewelling recently posted..Tangled Yarn
Ah, very wise … I agree the money isn’t in the list alone. I have lost count of the number of blogs I’ve subscribed to because I was initially impressed with the information … only to unsubscribe because either 1) the same quality of information was missing in the subsequent communication or 2) they sent too many emails, usually pitching me on something – and when they ran out of their own products to pitch, they pitched products of friends.
marquita herald recently posted..B-I-G Idea: We are ALL in Sales!