The money is in the list! Why haven’t you built one yet?

If you’re just starting out on your IM journey, if you haven’t already, I’m positive pretty soon you will start hearing the adage “The money is in the list”. The more serious you become with trying to make this online thing work for you the more you will hear that phrase, either in your inbox, on other forums, blogs or even youtube videos if you haven’t already.

The true reality is that the money comes from the relationships you build with the people on your email list.

Although I’m not on this particular forum frequently, I’ve noticed from my overall experience with helping people online in general, that while most people understand the need for a subscriber list, most people are not sure how to go about setting one up and building it the correct way. Statistics show 97% don’t build a list ever no matter how many times they are told they should!

So my question to you all, the ones who want to take their online game to the next level, what road blocks are preventing you from building your email list? What fears, doubts, worries or concerns you have when you think or plan to build your first email list but put it off for a few more months?

 

Hey sarahk great post, but I was getting to the fact that a huge percentage are still on the fence about taking the first step towards building a list period despite all the resources available. It's like an invisible brick wall most stop at whatever their reason maybe.
I would admit many are bombarded with information overload from all the many shiny products. But then another portion isn't that serious altogether.

 

There are too many people who think their products will sell themselves. They think, "if I just created something that's GREAT, the rest of it will fall into place."

 

What I see is too many people starting a list and trying to sell to the people too fast. You have to help people first and the money will come.

 

Your "list" doesn't have to bombarded with sales pitch after sales pitch. There are many other ways to keep your subscribers form deleting your emails before they even read them. Try making your list relate to what you're talking about . Here's a few examples of "different " ideas other than SELL,SELL,SELL.
A Curation letter-maybe some cool info about a product or service that you didn't create yourself but will help your subscriber anyway.
An Invitation- to attend a webinar or other motivation related event.
Tell a story- this is a great way to get subscribers engaged and if you tell it correctly, a great selling tool as well (people love stories)
Results- people also love to hear results. If you niche is weight loss, tell how you or a colleague or friend has Lost __ Simply by doing____! (can be used in any niche)
A love letter- Yes I said it ..A love letter lets your subscribers know that you appreciate them being on your list.

If your subscriber only gets sales letters and "You have only 11 hrs to get this discount " emails, rest assured you're going to be spending more time building your list than making money from it

These are just a few examples of different email subjects, there are plenty more.

 

What is the success rate with email marketing anymore? If I send out, let's say, a newsletter to 50K subscribers and get 100 responses - seems like the money IS NOT in the list anymore. If someone deals with millions of subscribers maybe they get what they want from it. But who here has millions or even hundreds of thousands of subscribers and has the means to send that many emails out? I don't think anyone does.

 

If you send out a broadcast message to 50k subscribers and only get 100 to open them, something is amiss with your list. Maybe they weren't getting exactly what it was they bargained for from the get go. Or maybe they look at you as a spammer? I don't know the reason for your dismal numbers but that is not a typical "list".

 

No they do not look at me as a spammer, they are my legit subscribers. I email them once a month (or less). I just think that the brouhaha about the list is out of control because some want to sell their lists (useless ones at that) to whoever. What your responses are like? Can you give me some numbers from your personal experience?

 

Sarah, no bullshit, this is the best thing I've read on e-mail marketing.

We're in the process of growing our list at the behest of our data guy and I had no idea where to start. Thanks.

 

For what it's worth I found that 95%+ of my online revenue (single-website non-IM video tutorial program) came from Youtube and social media. If anything I received more revenue from affiliates than I did from email marketing, however that's probably a reflection of the obscure niche I was in (although it still made me four figures a month!).

I have absolutely no doubt that email marketing works, however it is a little niche dependent.

 

If your only emailing your list once a month or less, there could be your problem. You're either not giving enough value or they are forgetting who you are and what you have to offer. People are bombarded with emails and unless you are giving constant value, they arent going to open your messages.

 

So, to everyone who's been successful with e-mail,

- What open rates are you looking for and how often have you been sending out emails?
- How much time / effort / testing went into your e-mail layout?
- What else am I missing? I mean, I can kill social, but e-mail is a f***ing mystery to me.

 

I agree with boxerbuff. Once a month or less they will definitely forget about who you are and why they are receiving email from you.

 

It's all about what "value" is in it for your subscribers because people check their inbox to "delete" emails. It's true that email marketing is still the most effective but I find Twitter to be best when exposing your brand to your customers

 

List building and the environment has changed greatly over the last few years due to many factors including spam & as sarahk pointed out also due to overload ... too many emails and not enough time (or value) to read them all, every single day.

However, the situation is not so bad outside of overcrowded, shark infested, environments like make money online, IM and even list building itself

By far the best lists today are lists of existing customers. If you build a "viable" business using sound principles with correct marketing and generate a customer list, then that list performs well.

Note that: when a 'list' or 'list building' is mentioned, everyone thinks of email and email overload. Lists can also consist of your followers on social media or better still users of your mobile app, as long as being on that list(s) offers value.

Focus on building a viable business and then your customer list will will perform very well, if you approach them with value using a communications channel other than the overcrowded email ;-)

 

I'm the one who will disagree with 'list building concept'.

I don't know about others, and I agree with that too that money is in the list, but because of that you can't say that one cannot earn without the list at all.

In fact, my experience reveals something very different. These days, your list already knows your intentions, they know that you're going to make money through them. It was quite easy in the start, but now? It's rather tough as people are quite educated. Today, people know your all intentions.

What I feel, and what I've experienced, if you've something interesting to offer, which can satisfy the customers, all you need is to put your product/service in front of them, and they'll buy that immediately. Yes! They'll need some kind of proof, testimonials, or the comments on your video, but once they're satisfied, it's enough, and they'll buy you instantly.

Today, the game is more about how much credible you're and what exactly you're offering. I've many people who offer their products, but once you buy their products, their is nothing inside, it's like they sell lies. On the other hand, if you've some products/service which works and helps your customers, it will definitely sell. And, you customer will in fact love to stay connected to you by himself.

In the easiest words, it's same like Facebook Pages. They don't force you to join them. But, when we know that these pages are funny and they can make us laugh through their posts, we in fact find them and follow them, just because of their credibility and consistency. Amazingly, we're the customers for them, and we in fact find them for our own entertainment.

In 2016, it's same with the internet marketing too. If you are credible, and if your product/service works, people will stay connected to you. You don't have to impress them at all.