List Building: Is it Still Worth The Effort?

Today’s guest post is by Mike McMillan. Mike loves to create great free helpful content on his own blog, why not drop by and say hi.

You’ve heard it until you’re sick of it. I know, because I have too. In a sea of confusing, conflicting and sometimes downright incorrect information, one constant always seems to rise to the surface. So get ready to hear it one more time: To greatly increase your chances of building a successful Internet marketing business, YOU MUST BUILD A LIST.

When just starting out, it seems like a daunting task. You must start from zero and entice thousands of strangers to surrender the address of an inbox that is already besieged with email from friends, family, and SPAM servers. Every day billions of emails fly around the globe, bloating inboxes and junk email folders until mail servers groan and overheat. What can we possibly say in the subject line that would even prompt someone to pick ours out of the avalanche of email they receive on an hourly basis, open it, and then read the darned thing? Most people, and seemingly rightly so, just give up on this.

* But Isn’t Email Dead?

Another chant we’ve been hearing a lot lately is that EMAIL IS DEAD. After reading the description above, you might be inclined to believe that one. I mean, come on. We’re all suffering from a bad case of email fatigue. Some days we hit the delete key without even thinking about who the sender is or reading the entire subject line. Surely everyone else must be doing the same thing. Is it true? Could email really be dead?

I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. Email is alive and well, but at the same time things have certainly changed. Because of the constant assault on inboxes everywhere, we have an incredibly small window to slip our message through. And due to many factors and outside distractions, such as MP3 players, and cell phones that can play games, send text messages and also access Facebook and Twitter, our email can really get lost in the noise.

* Separating Yourself From The Pack

So what will be the one thing that will make your email stand out from all the others? Why should anyone sign up for your list, and then open your emails once they start to flood in?

Incredible value, that’s what. You have to offer incredible value to get an email address, whether it’s a free report or a training series or some other enticement, and then continue to deliver even more value through outstanding content. Forget about saving your best stuff just for your blog. Yes, that has to be top notch as well, but all your emails need to contain your very best writing.

You must capture your reader’s attention and hold it, beginning with the subject line and not letting go until they read your signature at the bottom. You must test different subject lines and monitor open rates for various word combinations, culling those that don’t produce well. You should be using every possible method to capture an email address, including all forms of social media, web forms on your blog or site, list swaps, etc.

If you’re thinking that this sounds like a lot of work, believe me it is. But it’s absolutely one of the best investments you can make in your online business.

* Autoresponders Can Help

Additionally, the importance of a great autoresponder service cannot be overstated. Pick a reliable one and get to know it intimately. I use Aweber, but there are others out there that Internet marketers swear by. I mention Aweber because it’s where I started and I know it well, but whichever service you choose, be sure to exploit all the metrics they have to offer. The insight they provide is very valuable when it comes time to fine tune your campaigns. Learning everything there is to know about your autoresponder is well worth the time investment.

Opinions differ as to what your email should say, but the recent trend, which my testing bears out, points to the fact that longer emails seem to get a better response than short emails with a link to click through to your website. The less clicks a reader has to do, the better. Once you grab their attention, your enthralling content will keep them reading.

* Short And Sweet? Size Matters…

And what keeps people reading? Just be yourself. A few short introductory sentences about your day or what you’ve been up to recently can give people a sense of who you are and give them the feeling that you’re a real person. Hook them with your intro, then hit them with your best stuff in the body of the email. Wrap it up with a call to action, and you’ve got the makings of a great email and lots of very satisfied readers.

Remember, never miss an opportunity to capture an email address. No matter how folks find you, they should have the chance to sign up and receive your emails. Building a list will give you the best chance at growing a successful Internet marketing business.

This is a guest post written by Mike McMillan. If you’d like to find out more about Mike Feel free to check out Info Product Earnings Exposed.

12 Comments

  • Pauline Bennett

    Reply Reply February 14, 2012

    Hi Mike
    Yes I think it is still worth the effort, but I get fed up with emails that have headlines like : “re your account” or “your PayPal payment” maybe I’m boring or doing it incorrectly but I prefer to write a simple headline telling them why I am writing, I am more likely to open an email with a headline that says ” I have a report for you today”
    I use Get Response as my autoresponder but I have been thinking of changing to Aweber as the reviews I have been reading are leaning me towards them, but I am not sure if it would be good to change or how easy it would be?

    Thanks for sharing

    Regards
    pauline

  • Carl Picot

    Reply Reply February 14, 2012

    This is a nice encouraging post thanks Mike.

    I am about to start building my list but information like this is very helpful when you are staring at

    a blank piece of paper wondering what to write :)

    I’ll pop over to your blog and check it out.

    cheers

    xxxxcarlxxxx

    • Mike McMillan

      Reply Reply March 4, 2012

      Hi Carl, thanks for the comment.

      When you’re just starting out, list building should be one of your main objectives. John T. is an expert at this. If you’ve read many of his posts or been involved in any of his membership sites like I am, you are aware of the importance of building a targeted list of subscribers.

      One thing a lot of people miss when starting out and that is the importance of keeping in touch with subscribers. You don’t need to send an email out every day, but really–if you’re not mailing 3-4 times a week, some of your subscribers will forget who you are and your open rates will go down. A good list can easily turn into a “zombie list” in a matter of months if you don’t stay in contact.

      Contrary to popular opinion, I have found my own open rates are actually higher the more I mail–I don’t mail more than once a day, but you have to keep in front of your subscribers.

      Good luck with your list building! –Mike

  • Sandy Halliday

    Reply Reply February 14, 2012

    Great points Mike. You are right about trying everything you can to capture the email addresses. In spite of the fact that people say they hate popups on blogs I just added Popup Dominatation to my health niche blog and I have really noticed a difference in optins even though I have an optin box on my blog for my free report.

    I had to disable W3 Super cache for it to work but I would rather have a slower loading blog and more signups that a faster loading blog and not so many signups.

    • Mike McMillan

      Reply Reply March 4, 2012

      Good point, Sandy! Sure, I like to sell things from my blogs, but my main objective is to use them to build my lists. As you know, a sale is a one-time event but a subscriber represents a long-term relationship that may be worth much more than a single sale is. Good luck! –Mike

  • James Hughes

    Reply Reply February 15, 2012

    Hi Mike – very good post. It just shows that email isn’t dead and that it is very important to keep building your list. From the start it might take a bit of time but in the end it will be worth it. Your point about long emails has given me food for thought. Thanks

    • Mike McMillan

      Reply Reply March 4, 2012

      Hi James, thanks for the comment.

      One thing here, while we’re on the topic of list-building, is the issue of deliverability. If you’re using Aweber, GetResponse, or any top-level autoresponder service–you can count on the fact that your emails are being sent. And these companies work hard to maintain good relationships with the major email providers: AOL, Gmail, HotMail, MSN, etc.

      But because an email is sent, does not guarantee it gets delivered to its final destination. There are many filters along the way that can trap it. I always recommend you set up accounts at gmail, MSN, HotMail, YaHoo, etc. and subscribe to our own lists.

      Frequently check to make sure your emails are 1.) getting delivered, and 2.) making it to the in-box and not the spam folder. I am subscribed to hundreds of lists–really! And I can’t tell you how many big-name marketers emails hit my spam folder every day. This has a huge impact on their open rates (and not in a good way).

      Take time to look in your spam folders and see if you can find characteristics of the emails that hit there. Do some research and homework. You can often find reasons why they get filtered as spam. Avoid doing those things yourself. –Mike

  • Ben Doyle

    Reply Reply February 20, 2012

    Something happened to me the last week and a half.

    I did my first ever JV with my first ever product and it resulted in a really good payday for me.

    And it made me realise just how important a list of customers is.

    So I’m thinking I need to start one but Im really confused by it all.

    I want to send out broadcasts instead of using an auto responder. That way I can talk about what’s relevant today.

    But it seems pointless taking the time to write quality content for 15 subscribers.

    What do you suggest?

    Thanks

    Ben

    • John Thornhill

      Reply Reply February 21, 2012

      Hi Ben,

      I would suggest putting opt-in forms on just about any page on your websites, look at this blog and my products for examples.

      John

    • Mike McMillan

      Reply Reply March 4, 2012

      Hi Ben, I understand exactly what you are saying.

      One of the best things you can do, (and you realize this) is to create a product of your own and get affiliates to promote for you. They already have lists and can send you traffic. That traffic can be opted-in to your list and grow it fast. It doesn’t need to be a big product either. There are many people with big lists who will promote even a 5-7 dollar product if the sales page converts well. You can make it a 100% commission so affiliates get all of the up-front money and then use OTOs or up-sells to make money on the back end.

      Use your download page too to promote products to tweak your sales even more. You can also offer big affiliates banner ads on your download page in exchange for mailing for you.

      One thing: A lot of affiliates hate promoting products with opt-in forms on the sales page. These forms can leak visitors away from the order form and affiliates don’t like that. You’re better off using something like Exit Splash to create a “pop-up” and with the first one and offer a discount when people try to leave your page followed by a second one which offers them a bonus to opt-in if they decline your discounted offer.

      Affiliates work hard to drive traffic to your sales pages. Keep them happy by not incorporating “leakers” on your sales pages which drive visitors away from the order form–the business part of your page. –Mike

  • al

    Reply Reply February 26, 2012

    Hi Mike/John, i too am a newbie although i have been around wasting my money and times for a while, well it’s time to get serious. I think at one point i thought building websites was important, but now i am at the stage i need to focus on building my list and my online presence. Thanks for the post.

  • Mike McMillan

    Reply Reply March 4, 2012

    Thanks, Al.

    Having your own blog in our niche is always a good idea. Use it to opt-in visitors. Remember that individual blog posts can easily be indexed by Google. If you write posts well-optimized for specific keywords you can often get them to show in the search engines–free traffic, it’s the best kind. –Mike

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