Your List is Your Baby
I want to introduce you to my new kitty.
His name is Peaches (short for "Peaches and Cream") and he is a 3 month old tabby. I got him over the weekend and today (Monday) we are leaving him alone at home for the first time.
He is the most mellow (and clumsy) kitten I have ever met. But here's the thing... he's basically my baby and I wouldn't give him away to anyone.
Heck... look at him... a kitten that cute... if I didn't take care of him, someone else would!
In the same way, your mailing list is your baby. Giving those subscribers away would be a stupid, stupid thing.
Every once in a while someone asks why the heck don't I promote affiliate programs up the wazoo like so many other internet marketers with decent-sized mailing lists.
Why don't I participate in product giveaways... why don't I do lots of joint ventures...
When you promote someone else's product as an affiliate, you are building your list for them. Say you get a sale and get your $47 or $97 commission... your ride ends there.
Meanwhile that guy who runs the affiliate program captures the customer's e-mail address after a sale and gets to market to that person over and over and over.
So, when you have a list and you promote an affiliate program, you are copying some of your paying subscribers to someone else's list... that person can probably outsell the heck out of you too.
When you promote other peoples' stuff, you sacrifice future sales. What you want to do is setup an affiliate program and get others to promote it to THEIR lists.
Of course you can network with other people in your niche... but please, think twice about giving your list away.
Let me tell you something else about Peaches. He is spoiled, even after these first few days. He has a really bad cold... so I got him a humidifier.
He has fancy kitten food. Yesterday we fed him "California Roll" kitten food and tomorrow's flavor will be "Turducken" -- that's turkey inside a duck, inside a chicken.
I was reading some of the ingredients on his "Surf & Turf" kitten food... it contains lobster, and different kinds of apples!
Kitten food!
My question to you today is: do you spoil your list in the same way?
Obviously I have things to do so I'm going to draw the line somewhere. The same is true with my list. I don't treat my list like crap. I follow up with them. I unsubscribe troublemakers from my list.
When you have a mailing list, making money is the bottom line... but if you don't treat it like your baby, someone else could mine the gold out of that list before you can.
My list gets hungry and my best subscribers are more than happy to pay me for my information. There's nothing wrong with that.
Build your list using as many paid buyers as possible. Weed out the freebie seekers. Be very careful about where you send your subscribers and be wary of promoting the latest hyped-up product just because everyone else is doing it.
Honestly, if you train your list to only want free information, or low-cost information, you're going to fall flat when it comes time to pitch the big-ticket items.
Establish a sales funnel. Send automated follow-ups to your list to keep it from going stale. Promote one-time-offers to your other products.
Here is a way to improve your customer relations in one minute or less...
Just say "hi." If you haven't sent a mailing to your list in a while, take a second right now to say "hi" to them. It doesn't matter what you say. Tell them what sites you worked on today. Ask them a question.
You dont have to have some fancy, thought out message, you don't need to write a 70-part follow-up autoresponder series, just say "hi." Do it right now and come back to this blog post... it won't take very long.
My kitty is perfectly happy when I just say "hi" to him... I don't always need to bring a treat. I don't always need to get something out of it.
Comment below and share your favorite tactic to warm up your list... remember, I need 10 comments if you want me to continue posting blog entries.
Filed in: List Building
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Hi Robert
although your analogy with your kitten was a little forced, you make a good point. Somebody will treat your list well – why allow it to be somebody else?
I don’t pitch all the big product launches. Frankly, some of them are so hyped up they make me want to lose my lunch, but now and again there are things that might be of interest to my subscribers so I point them in the right direction.
Tomorrow I’m offering a traffic generation course just for my subscribers. I’ll be over-delivering (they don’t yet know that I have a killer little tool for them), but I’ll also be listening.
You’re definitely right that a message doesn’t have to be a perfectly crafted, highly polished mega-series. What it does need to be is honest, with a little personality.
Let’s face it, most loyal subscribers are there for the content, but also just as much for the person involved. There are people who will buy everything someone puts out, just because of the name on it.
Treat your list like your baby? Yes, definitely. Because with your baby you’d be your real self and ultimately that’s what people want.
Hello Robert,
Thats a cute little cat.
Which breed is it ? Is it a red point siamese breed ?
Thanx
Ani
Robert,
Congrats on your new kitten. Cats are pretty low maintenance so that fits with a busy online lifestyle. Great for mice and bug control.
Good point on lists. When I get bombarded with the “next big thing”, I unsubscribe from everyone promoting the product except the one that have provided me with value in the past. I refer to the former as product whores and though most of us want to make a buck, these folks are greedy used car salesman-like – ANNOYING.
Robert,
Send us all something free ok? Or how about the Robert Plank 12 Days of PHP Giveaway? Uh oh I might get labeled as a troublemaker.
Seriously, good points. Customer lists are gold.
Lowell
I have a list of about 500 from giveaways and have made at least 15 offers as an affiliate for products that are selling and that I personally purchased. THE RESULT?? 0 Sales. How about the rest of you? So Robert’s point is well taken.
Some people just don’t get it. Your list is your lifeblood. Looks like you’ve found another great use for a pussy cat, Robert.
Rod
Please stop posting blog entries thanks
🙂
Meow..
Hey Robert,
It’s been awhile, thought I’d add my .02 (or is that 2.0 ) lol
I’m commenting because it was just this weekend on a mastermind call with a friend, and in talking with my admin asst. and I was talking about this very thing, and how I’m so tired of being abused by this guru and that guru..just because they have my email it seems they’re ok to offer me everything because they are obligated by their other buddy guru’s to scratch back.
I guess when you have 50,000 or even 100,000 perhaps losing a few thousand isn’t a big deal?
To those of us however, who are building relationships with our list members, to those of us who don’t believe the money’s in the list..but in the POCKETS of the PEOPLE on our list, and to those of us who respect those things, the last thing we would ever want to do is give away that trust to some one time promotion.
It’s that respect, and the quality of information and products that you’ve brought forward Robert that has kept me reading your stuff..and buying your scripts. you show me value and respect, and that has taught me so much more than all the bunches of rehashed e-books and reports gathering dust on my hdd..
Thanks for that!
Tim
(working on the blackhat.php message as per your email – hope to have it done up here in a day or two)
He’s a chip off the old block Robert 🙂
Willie
you should only feed the kitten when you get 20+ blog posts 😀
(attention PETA… Just Kidding!))
Robert,
One more thing about the list, what I call the “reverse list”. For example, you are on my reverse list. I signed up for you posts (both through e-mail and rss) and I have you in an “exclusive” group of people I call my mentor group (with the likes of people like Don Lok and Perry Marshall).
When my products are ready, but before I market them, I send free copies to those in my reverse list I think might be interested in them. Who knows? I might get an endorsement or even a testimonial that carries some real weight.
The fact is mailing lists are gold in so many ways!
– David T. McKee
http://www.mckeecopywriting.com
http://www.celticcrosseng.com
I like cats, especially beautiful cats like yours but I like women better… Now those are are Real cats prrrr.
Treat ’em mean. Keep ’em keen!
Warmly,
Malcolm
BTW, Just a thought:
Don’t you Twitter?
Have a nice weekend. 🙂
Heck no! Twitter is a total timewaster as far as I’m concerned.
Heck Robert, your list *is* your baby yes, but if you refuse to promote other people’s products, why would anyone promote for you?
You seem to have missed the great big WIIFM here. As a product owner you know that the money is in having your own products, not having a big list. (Although it helps.) And just think of all those product owners out there who *would* promote for you, but *won’t* because they know you’ll never reciprocate.
Now I don’t promote many products myself, but I do promote those things that I think will be of most benefit to my subscribers. If I make some money out of it too, then that’s great.
And you never actually *lose* your subscribers because you promote other stuff you think is good, they’ll thank you for it. Subscribers are like love. Something you can give without losing.
A very wise man once told me that if you block the flow or try to resist it, you’re hindering your life and your business.
All the best,
-Frank Haywood
Frank,
I disagree completely with your comments.
“As a product owner you know that the money is in having your own products, not having a big list. ”
Really? News to me…
I’ve had my own products dating back to 2000, I only REALLY started making money when I started to concentrate on building my list.
It was then that I could promote MY OWN products or OTHERS…the key was that list and having a good relationship with it. Like Robert said, it’s like your baby…
“if you refuse to promote other people’s products, why would anyone promote for you”
Cause they’ll make money! If the offer is good and it converts people will promote it!!!
WIIFM? $$$
“Now I don’t promote many products myself, but I do promote those things that I think will be of most benefit to my subscribers”
This is interesting cause I feel Robert does as well. You won’t see him promoting the huge launch today, but you will see him promoting less expensive, USEFUL products like WordPress Magnet (My Product) and 7 Minute Articles (Jason Fladlien’s Product).
By the way Robert and I both met Jason an Internet Marketing seminar…if you haven’t been to one and actually MET the people you talk to online, you’re really missing out (on a friendship and a lot of cash!!!).
And I’m spent…
Ok Ok…
..I’ve joined the Robert Plank fan club!
It’s good to see someone actually regularly posted GOOD content to their blog and mean what they say, rather than uploading any old nonsense just for the sake of it.
Very good work my man.
Adeel
Robert,
you havent posted in awhile, or even sold any new products in awhile, it seems…
too busy with the new house?
🙂
Kinda, I was busy moving (all moved in now) then the cat got really sick and almost died, now I’m sick, just 2 videos away from finishing a new product. This has been my worst month (income-wise) all year.
🙁
sorry to hear…
but i just got your email about the relaunched updated Simple PHP Volume One….
good luck!
Izzy
Robert,
This is an excellent post and the illustration of the kitten and the list is quite profound.
You are absolutely right with regards to communicating with our list and that it can be as simple as just saying: “hi”.
Lots of good information here, thanks for sharing.
Cheers!