I keep hearing from soul proprietors who are fretting over the size of their email list. They tell me they can’t possibly start sending out an ezine or to send out marketing messages because their list is too small.
“The money is in the list” is a popular phrase among internet marketers that they are hearing over and over.
It’s true that the money is in the list, however, a lot of people mistakenly focus on building the biggest list possible, instead of building a “focused” list.
The key to email marketing success is in having a targeted list, not so much the size of it. A list of 100,000 people that never results in any sales does you no good. On the other hand, if you have a list of say, 400 people who are totally in love with you and what you do, you can make a lot of money.
The reality is that you can make money with a VERY SMALL list. I know one person who does quite well with a list of about 165 people. I have several lists going, and it is my smaller – what I call my more “intimate” list – where I get most of my business.
So how do you create a highly targeted list? Here are three strategies to help you do this.
#1) Target good keywords
If you are targeting the wrong keywords, you will not have a focused list. You want to only go after keywords that have the potential to result in sales.
For instance, if you are selling tents for camping, you want to advertise using the generic keyword “camping”. This is too broad a category to attract just tent buyers.
Instead, you’d better by advertising with specific keywords like “discount tents”, “tents for sale”, etc. This ensures that everyone who comes to your site, and joins your mailing list, is a targeted customer.
#2) Create a joint venture
A joint venture is where you partner with someone in your field who has a list of customers related to what you are selling. They will send out an email to their list promoting your product or service.
You’ll want to make sure your joint venture partner is selling a closely related and complementary product.
For example, if you are a wedding planner, you might joint venture with a bridal dress store. The best joint ventures are those where both parties get something out of the deal, so cross promoting to your list will benefit them as well.
#3) Ask for a lot of information
It’s no secret that the less information you ask for, the more people you’ll get to sign up for your list. This is why most sites just get the first name and email address of the person signing up.
However, if someone is willing to also give you their phone number and home address, this means they are likely a great prospect for you. This may be worth testing. You’ll want to offer a high value incentive to get people to part with that much information, so think about this carefully.
The bottom line is that so long as you focus your promotions and advertising on the right sources of traffic, you can be sure that 100% of your visitors are good prospects.
You never want to buy an email list from anyone no matter what they promise. They are too general and not targeted to your niche and will not make you a lot of money. Besides, any email you send to that list is essentially not something the person signed up for and you’ll most likely be seen as a spammer.
Instead, put your offer in front of the right people, make it clear on your site what problems you solve and what you are selling to solve the, and you will generate a large targeted list pretty quickly.
In the meantime, start marketing to your list – at least building a relationship with those people – regardless of how small your list is. If you don’t yet have a sign up form on your website or blog, get that done – now!
And if you’d like to learn a variety of techniques to Grow Your List in 31 Days (or Less) then you’ll want to attend my upcoming teleclass on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. Get more info here.
Hi Marty:
I think the premise of this article is very true. I have a client who is a doula (a woman who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and post partum). I’m creating her monthly newsletter and she has a list of about 180 subscribers. It’s grown steadily over the last 9 months (I’m not making that up!) from 136 to 180. Her open rate is three times the industry average. She recently told me that business is booming and it’s because of the newsletter. While I admit that I do a great job with it (LOL), I’m positive that it’s because she has an amazing list of targeted people who are interested in hearing from her. Seeing her success has made me determined to build my own list. I’ve signed up for your teleclass and am greatly anticipating it! You’re the best!
You know, I think one of the reasons that so many business people who are trying to make a living online find themselves so stressed out is that they are buying into the notion that all their efforts must be put into having a huge list. And you’ve given us a great example of how a small list can be just as effective at generating sales. The other thing is that I like having a relationship with people — a real relationship — and you can do that with a smaller list of people. Thank you for sharing and adding to this conversation. Oh, and I bet your contribution to your client’s newsletter has a LOT to do with her success.