I'd like to thank Janet Legere for inspiring this post. I was watching a replay of her weekly webinar for her Contact List Builder as I often do and her topic this week sparked some thought process within me.
She spoke about "Follow Up's".
Remember when we were in high school and we had to learn how to fill out a resume and the proper way to apply for a job? Do you remember what we were taught when it comes to handing out your resume to possible employers? Don't just drop the resume off and forget about it. That employer will receive possibly hundreds of resumes. What will make yours stand out? FOLLOWING UP! Guaranteed not everyone will.
Email marketing is like that high school lesson.
Following up is often a key component of email marketing that gets over looked but it's actually one of the most important part of list building. It's extremely rare that you're going to make a sale on the first email. It just doesn't work that way, most of the time. You may get one here or there but the truth is, people rarely spend money unless they trust you. Period.
How do you get your list to trust you? By getting to know them. That's just not something that can be done in one email. In fact, it takes several sometimes. So if your idea of email marketing aka building your list is just spamming affiliate links over and over, you're probably not going to have much success.
There is a much better way, I promise!
One of the most basic ways is to create a follow up series within whatever auto responder you use. This is a great way to explain to your readers who you are, what your intention is and provide value to them. Not every email has to have an affiliate link.
One of my most active, responsive emails in my email series is an email where I give my social information and ask the reader to reach out if they have any questions, need anything or just want to chat. I get consistent feedback from that and it's a great opportunity to get to know WHO is on your list.
Just last week I got a response from a gentleman in Western Canada named Jaswinder who shared with me his basketball blog called 3 Point Play that he's started. You can check that out by clicking here. He really didn't need anything specific, had a few questions and we emailed back and forth and got to know each other a tiny bit. He sent me some suggestions and ideas regarding advertising on my blog and I sent him some suggestions (like to join #Hive :D). But that small bit of interaction resulted in a sign up at Hits Connect & Plus 1 Success (Thank you, Jaswinder!).
Also, when I moved auto responders I was able to email him directly and invite him to come with me and he responded immediately with a positive yes.
This is huge to me and exactly what I want when it comes to my list!
It's not about making a sale. That will come in time. It's about having engagement and knowing that my readers are with me!
If you are in need of a reliable autoresponder, I highly recommend TrafficWave. Check it out here.
