List Building and List Raiding for Profit (and Fun) | Andrew Wee | Blogging | Affiliate Marketing | Social Traffic Generation

List Building and List Raiding for Profit (and Fun) November 20, 2006

Posted by Andrew Wee in : list building , trackback

Some Internet Markters harbor a sneaking suspicion that their list which they’ve studiously built up is being raided if they send out an offer like Mike Filsamie’s Death of Internet Marketing.

Somehow, they fear they might ’sell out their list for a measly $1.

(And some even fear they might not receive that $1).

One thing I’ve learned from sales is if you don’t provide your prospect with a list of options available (even if it’s from a competitor) you risk losing the sale, and even worst the customer.

I agree that you’d want to protect your list, especially if you’ve spent previous PPC dollars building it up.

bird cage

But consider this too. If you treat your list like a caged bird, your list members will flee the first chance they have.

Restricting their choices will hurt you in the following ways:

It leave them feeling manipulated
It affects your credibility
Your online reputation will be affected, dampening your future business efforts.

The solution?

Bump up the ‘stickiness‘ quotient of your list.
Keep your list happy. If they’re happy, they’re much likelier to stay with you.
Build your brand. Ultimately your list will buy from you, because you say the product is effective and a good investment.
Provide original content at least half the time. Although it’s alright to provide private label rights or resell rights items to your list, strive to give them something that they can’t get elsewhere. This may involve investing time to develop content exclusive to yourself. But if you factor in the long term benefits, you are investing in the longevity to your list.
Lists grow by word of mouth. Obviously the bigger your list, the more leverage you get out of your original content. And Internet Marketers will recommend other Internet Marketers to your list, even without a referral program in place because they’ve benefitted from the information.

The bottomline: Keep your list happy, and your list will remain loyal to you.