Paul Lear
marcus passey
Lisa
James Howard
Ed Rubi
Kerie
Vance Sova
Benjamin Cip
Paul Wilson
Peter DaviesTo Mail Or Not To Mail?
By AndyM121That is definitely the question!
Today I’d like to talk about a topic that I have been thinking about for a while now and after reading a colleagues blog post on the same subject I decided that today I would make my own post and a promise to my subscribers.
The subject is “How many emails do you send to your list?”
Now anyone who has followed my progress will know that I have built my list quite quickly using the medium of adswaps.
The first part of the plan was to join giveaways until I reached approx 200 subscribers then to start ad swapping with other marketers (basically sending their offer to my list in return for them doing the same for me to their list).
Using this method I rocketed up to over 2000 subscribers in a very short space of time. I have also tried to take the time to build up the relationship that I have with my readers but I believe that I am negating that with continuing to put out so many adswaps. I have certainly cut down the number I send out but probably not enough.
Now although it is too late to do anything about my March ads that are already scheduled and arranged to go out I can make a pledge that from April onwards I will no longer inundate my subscribers with daily emails offering other members products.
No sirree bob. This is a transitional moment for me and no longer will I be one of “those” marketers. I will set my own agenda. I won’t get hung up on hearing other marketers whooping about reaching the 3k or 4k mark. Yeaaah for meeee!! Whoooo!.
I also pledge that I will not promote a product that I haven’t seen and tried for myself. And if I have tried it I will review it honestly for my subscribers and let them make their own minds up about whether it will be right for them.
No more. I have a lot more to offer my subscribers.
So what will I do instead to build my business?
Well I will attempt to keep you informed of my progress in this blog. I’ve never quite been in the habit of adding a post every other day but in order to keep you informed I will attempt to do that. And that will go out as an email to my subscribers. Lol
So if anyone wants to give me any hints or tips on how to build my list without the use of ad swaps then I’d be delighted to hear them.
So I am moving into a new stage of my business. I hope you’ll stay around to see how it goes.
Kind Regards
Andy
Keep it coming, Big guy!! Need all the help I can get
Hey Andy,
Great to see you moving another step up the ladder.
One less of “those” marketers has to be a bonus for us all.
Information overload doesn’t come close to describing the
volume of drivel we get day after day.
And it’s getting worse!
I’ve been following you for a while now and had a hunch early on you’d be worth sticking with.
Prove me right pleeease…
If things go the way you have planned I’m sure we’ll all benefit – you, me, and everyone else who is willing to go with you.
Good luck. We all need it, but hard work along with a plan goes a long way.
Cheers,
Michael
Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for such a nice comment.
I really appreciate it.
I just hope I can stick to not emailing out as much because there is
just sooo much that I want to share with my subscribers. Fortunately
I have started to build something that should hopefully solve that
problem. Might take me a while though!
I can’t tell you how important it is for me to succeed but I will tell all
in the next few weeks. But believe me, its important to me!
Andy
Thanks for pledging to swim against the tide. When I get enough of the same promos I start unsubscribing.
I have received some really crappy offers lately due to ad swaps. It’s clear that some marketers don’t investigate the quality of their swaps sufficiently.
One report was so poorly written (and contained such generically useless information) that I’m staying on her list just to see if her work improves. I doubt that it will.
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
I wish that I could claim to have checked all the offers that I’ve sent out but in all honesty, I
haven’t. When you start off building your business you are keen to take any offer of help
that is available. This has the result that you build your list but at the same time you
destroy the relationship with your subscribers.
I know that I am guilty of this very thing but the reason for this pledge is that I want to stop
that. I will continue to adswap but I will check the content of the offer and if I feel that
people would want to see it and/or it will be useful to their business then I will make the
offer.
From my own point of view the marketers that I read on a regular basis are those that have taken
the time to provide me with good, relevant information. And my aim is to become one of those marketers!
So folks should hold me to this and tell me where and when I am going wrong!
Andy
Hi Andy,
I have decided to check out everything before I send it as well! I don’t want to send crappy emails and have my subscribers think I am not thinking about them!
I would rather wait and review what I am sending before emailing the folks who have graciously subscribed!
I figure if something is awesome and cool, it will be awesome and cool after I look at it!
Take care and have a wonderful day!
Lisa~
P.S. Love reading your blog! I would welcome a post every other day! =)
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Best Weight Loss I Have Ever Seen! =-.
Hi Andy,
As you may remember from one of our recent chats about this, I am also going to be cutting down on the amount of emails I send out each week, if I can help it.
I’ve already cut it right down so I’m also looking for ideas to continue building my list, at a good rate without the need for so many adswaps.
I’m thinking of using eBay as part of my plan, and I’m going to do some WSO’s on the Warrior forum. It’s definitely a step in the right direction I think.
Talk soon mate,
Paul
.-= Paul Lear´s last blog ..How I built my List from 50 to 2000 in around 15 weeks! =-.
Hey Andy,
Great stuff, as you know I am doing the same thing with slowing down on all the adswaps.
I also need to check all the emails that are swapped as sometimes I have seen it after I have mailed it then sit in the corner and cringe at what went out.
I have even said sorry to my list before now after one mailing, but you live and learn.
Look forward to seeing this blog come to life with your new posts.
Talk soon,
James
.-= James Howard´s last blog ..Review of ‘Planetsms Digital Monthly Mentorship’ =-.
Andy… I am not sure how to build your list quickly without adswaps. You might try increasing your traffic… the more traffic you get the more people will pick up your products and in turn build your list.
.-= Darren´s last blog ..Online Marketing Promotion: 12 months… a dunce no more! =-.
Hi Andy,
I’m glad to see you determined to be posting more often on your blog and sharing great stuff.
If you consider the receiving end of too frequent emails then what you’ve decided to do is absolutely the right thing.
Your subscribers will thank you and it looks like some of them have done that already in the comments.
Regarding traffic as Darren suggests in his comment I wonder what everyone thinks of twitter and getting blog traffic from it.
And I see that you have a lot of twitter followers so your opinion would be great to have, if you wouldn’t mind commenting on my post about it.
I’ll come back soon to see another post of yours.
Talk soon,
Vance
.-= Vance Sova´s last blog ..Can You Really Get Blog Traffic From Twitter? =-.
Great topic here mate.
I’m only really just starting out on driving traffic and list building so haven’t done an adswap yet (or even done much mailing to my list – some have probably forgotten who I am LOL!).
I admire the stance you’ve taken!!
I do think right now with more and more marketers doing more and more adswaps it could lead to a link in peoples minds that internet marketer = spammer and that’s not good for ANYONE!
The common teaching is build a BIG list and build it FAST but what’s the point in having a massive list where no-one listens to your messages…so it brings us back to the QUALITY vs QUANTITY argument which isn’t going to be solved here and now.
I think that readers will appreciate fewer emails sent out and by making sure there is ACTUAL good content in them then they’re more likely to open a message from you. It’s just my opinion and it’s NOT what a lot of the ‘big guys’ teach so I guess let us know how it works out for you and we’ll watch this space.
Rob
=-.
.-= Rob Bradley´s last blog ..Traffic Myth Unmasked (LIVE PROOF)
Hi Lisa,
Its always good to hear from you. Thanks for visiting me again.
I have to say that it isn’t always easy to check everything but I am hoping that in the long run it
will turn out to be the right decision. It is actually easier to just send out everything as it comes and
then to play the numbers game, but that really isn’t the business that I am wanting.
And as you say, many folks have taken the time to subscribe to my newsletter and deserve to be treated
with respect.
Andy
Hey Paul,
I’m very glad to see more and more of us are seeing that the constant bombardment of information
is going to harm us all in the long run.
I already know that you hold high standards in your business and that this will be reflected in the success
of anyone who chooses to follow you.
Andy
Hi James,
You make a good point in there. When we start out its all about growing as quickly as we
can and we forget some of the good lessons about building the relationship with our
list.
But we can only learn from these experiences and I hope that we can become an inspiration
for other marketers who are still in the early growth stage.
Andy
Hi Darren,
Certainly since I stopped the daily adswaps I have noticed a real slowdown in my list
building and so far I haven’t had a chance to find something to replace it.
It is therefore important that I do not revert back to the “quick” fix of daily adswaps but instead,
I turn my hand to more cretive ways to build my list and learn something that will benefit my readers
and subscribers.
Andy
Hi Vance,
I did make it my mission to post more but so far I haven’t stuck to that promise. Doesn’t time
just fly by??
R.e Twitter for traffic. I can’t say that it has been a massive traffic generator for me. A few months ago
it was certainly bringing in a few readers but, possibly through my own negligence, it hasn’t continued like
that. But then it is probably the same as most traffic generating techniques. If you concentrate fully on it then
you will see rewards. Don’t try to spread yourself too thin. Concentrate on one or two methods and you
will be successful.
Andy
Hi Rob,
Good to hear from you.
In regards to the argument quality vs quantity. It always hits home to me that the marketers that I most
admire and look forward to hearing from generally send far fewer emails. A couple of them only send out
weekly and one has just gone to fortnightly. Of course there are a few that I like who send me
daily emails but there material is usually of a very high quality.
So I guess my answer is I’d like to be in the quality category but in getting started have probably
fallen into the quantity one instead. So its up to me to change that!
Thanks
Andy