List building is big business; it is the goldmine and key to business success both online and offline. A profitable business needs a hot and buying list that grows and stays hot and buying. The care and feeding of your list is often a bit of a mysterious art. There are as many models for this as there are marketers and it an be overwhelming. Here are just three fast ways to lose your list fast. Stay tuned for future articles on growing your list.
#1 Message/Market Mismatch
This occurs when you send your market (your hard earned and well build list) a message that doesn’t match their needs, their pain, their desires, and their priorities. Case in point, I’ve been approached at least three times by a teleclass company who wants to partner with me to grow my list and at the same time tap my list with their products. They are selling a high end program to teach individuals how to be health coaches. I know my audience (my list) and this isn’t a fit for them. While there may be one or two that want this, I won’t jeopardize my priceless goldmine by blasting all of them with a message mismatch. Could I make money off it? Sure I could but the goodwill I’d lose and the reputation damage I may incur isn’t worth the risk. I treasure my peeps and strive to give them the content and value they want and need.
#2 Ignore Your List
Shockingly I hear this confession way too often from “busy” not always “productive” (and often not profitable) business owners (offline more often than online.) This seems to occur when making the transition from old school marketing techniques to new media tools and strategy. List is just another word for your database and if you aren’t touching them regularly (think every other week at a minimum), they are going cold and stale rapidly and going to ripe for the picking by your competitors. Care and feeding isn’t about pitching and selling; it is about sharing business tips, product trends, topical news, personal nuggets and the like.
#3 Spam Your List
Now, I know what you are thinking, why would anyone do this. I agree, but they do. I just climbed off one marketers list that has just become NOISE. I like him as a person, we’ve talked by phone and it surprises me he has taken this tack, but he has. In fact, he isn’t the first I’ve unsubscribed from in recent weeks. There seems to be a trend where marketers when not making impact just turn up the NOISE instead of taking a step back, surveying and finding out what their list really wants (rarely is it more pitching.)
Your list is your gold, treat them right and regularly with consistent and persistent value and goodwill and you’ll be able to mine them profitably for years to come. For more list building tips and social media secrets check out www.superchargesuccess.com. You deserve riches in your niches, find them easily and comfortably with the knowhow to build your business the right way today.
