Are You Building An Email List Or A Tribe?
You are using email marketing as part of your business strategy, right? I am sure you are but thought I’d ask because some folks get distracted by the next best thing and tend to neglect using email as part of their marketing strategy and they are seriously missing out.
Let me say this now, email marketing is not going anywhere, and is a simple, effective way to reach and engage your readers, but it must be done correctly to be optimally effective, and hopefully this post will help with the way you approach email marketing and nurturing your list in future.
Now, if you’ve been doing online marketing for any length of time, you’d have heard the line, “The money is in the list” repeated ad nauseam. Yet, it is true. The money is truly in the list, especially if you have a large and responsive one.
But it shouldn’t just be a list of freebie seekers; the real money is in the buyers list, as you know they are much more likely to be serious, take action and see results.
Because of this obsession with list size, thousands of marketers resort to a myriad of methods to grow their list. They focus on the numbers and the size of the list but often fail to realize that quality beats quantity.
It is a fact that there are marketers who have a list of about 10,000 subscribers and are able to generate six figures a month from this list as compared to many other marketers who have 10 times more subscribers but can’t make even half of what those with the smaller list are making.
If You Are Just Building A List And Not A Tribe, You’re Doing It Wrong
The secret to getting the most out of your list is to build a tribe and not a list. You may be wondering, “What’s a tribe… and what’s the difference?”
The difference is that a list is just a group of subscribers who’ve either opted in to get a freebie or they’ve purchased a product of yours and landed on your list. At this stage, the list isn’t too familiar with you, and they don’t really know you well.
If you do not establish a relationship with them and you just keep hitting them with email after email, many will unsubscribe and leave because they do not feel a connection with you. You’re just another marketer to them.
A tribe, however, is loyal. It takes time to nurture a list till it becomes a tribe. You’ll need to provide value to your list and help them progress towards their goals. Your emails will need to be entertaining and yet, useful.
You’ll need to be honest in your emails and your personality needs to shine. The products you recommend should be good and you must always look out for your tribe because in a sense, since it’s your tribe, you’re the leader. Your vibe attracts your tribe.
Just like any leader knows his tribe well, you’ll need to understand the needs of your list. Create a subscriber avatar. For example, if you’re in the weight loss niche, you must know who your target subscriber is.
It may be a middle-aged woman who could be juggling her career and her family and trying to get her body in shape. Or it could be a busy mom who has had no time to exercise and she’s trying to get rid of a few pounds.
Or it could be an overweight man who wants to get in shape so that he can gain confidence and ladies will start looking at him in a whole new way.
As you can see, all these are different types of people with different needs. You cannot help all of them. You need to pick one specific group or niche and address the needs of these people.
Trying to be everything to everybody is a surefire recipe for failure. Speak in a language that your subscriber can identify with. If your list is mostly comprised of women trying to lose weight on their tummy but you’re talking about getting ripped and muscular, you will not form a bond with your list.
You need to be on the same page as them and know what their needs, goals and dreams are. Now you can help them and provide them the value they need. Once they see that you have their best interests at heart, they’ll trust you and anticipate your emails. You now have a tribe of people who look up to you and want your emails.
It is inevitable that you will get unsubscribes along the way. Do not take this personally or lose sleep over it. To become a navy seal, one needs to go through a series of rigorous of tests and must make the final cut. Many start out but only a select few get through. However, these few are highly trained and have a bond like no other.
In the same way, the people who do not ‘get you’… are better off on someone else’s list. You can’t please everyone. You should be glad to see them go because not only will your autoresponder fees be lower but you’ll also have a list that’s ‘tight’ and a bunch of subscribers who hang on to your every word.
That is definitely a good place to be. Keep building your list and while you’re doing that, always establish a relationship with your subscribers so that you have a growing list that becomes a tribe.
Many marketers, especially affiliate marketers, simply pound their list with offer after offer and provide absolutely no value. This inevitably results in a high unsubscribe rate, so they must be constantly trying to build their list to replace all those that are leaving.
Just thinking about that makes me feel exhausted! Wouldn’t it be easier to nurture your list, look after them and offer them products and services that will genuinely help them, instead of thinking purely selfishly about your next commission payment?
Take time to grow your list, nurture them, look after them and always have their best interests at heart and they will reward you and your business.
If you want to know more about nurturing you list, check out the featured resource below for a free Simple List Building report; download, read it and take action 😊
