For a while now, you’ve been in the world of blogging.
You had a dream, a vision. Something you were so passionate about that you wanted to share it with the world.
You really want to help people who are in need of what you’re very good at, but you also want to make a decent living online while helping them.
Isn’t that true?
So right from day one, you began building an email list just like every expert out there says. A list you hope will empower you to live your dreams one day.
Then it was time to present your email list with your first paid offer. With enthusiasm and doubt combined, you anxiously waited to see what the results would look like. You couldn’t believe it! Your conversion rate was actually below 2 percent! It was frustrating to say the least.
Unless you’re offering a high end product, this could just be enough to throw in the towel.
Why Many Products Fail to Hit It During Launch
Most offerings, be they products or services, fail because either the marketing is poor, or the product isn’t really a good fit for your audience. So now that we know the problem, how do we start solving it? Should we try again with better marketing, or should we improve the product?
Well, chances are none of these options are viable once the product is launched!
Our best option as marketers is to get the basics of the marketing and product right from the outset – before launching it.
And the way to do that is by building a responsive list of subscribers.
It is the responsiveness of those in your list that actually determines whether they buy from you or not. It determines whether they like and trust you enough to want to do business with you.
More importantly, a responsive list will tell you what the right product is for them, as well as when they need it.
So now the question is…
How Do We Make Our Subscribers Very Responsive?
The responsiveness of your list is determined by the quality of the relationship you take time to build with those on your list.
It’s time to look into our own personal lives to understand the basic principles of relationship building, and apply some of the lessons to our businesses.
Before you launch a new product, if you want to sell more, remember these 7 surprising tips.
Tip #1: Kiss Your Email Subscribers
Have you ever experienced the troubles that can arise by ignoring your friend right at the door? As soon as your subscribers enter the door of your sales funnel, Kiss them.
Kissing them is all about acknowledging and understanding them. Let them know you guys are working towards a common goal.
One person that gets this very well is Sonia Simone.
When I was learning the fundamentals of internet marketing as a newbie some years back, I came in contact with Sonia. It was simply awesome. She took me by the hand and showed me the necessary things I needed to do to get to the next level. And I was grateful.
Though the Master Class lasted not more than a few days, I was extremely open to buying anything she might have suggested.
Such is the benefit of kissing your subscribers.
If you fail to do so, you may likely hamper the profitable relationship both of you would have enjoyed, a relationship that would make a tremendous impact to your bottom line.
Tip #2: Be Romantic
What is the best way to romance your subscribers?
Gifts!
A good gift opens your subscribers up psychologically and endears you to them. It could be a cheat sheet, checklist, blueprint or video. As long as it enables them to make a significant leap in their journey, they will love you for it.
Ryan Deiss is one person that has taken this four steps further. Almost every two months, he sends his subscribers about 4 different valuable gifts. He has so perfected his system that 7 times out of 10, buying seems irresistible.
The same applies to your subscribers. Romance them.
Hint: Make the gift incredibly valuable, and link that gift with some emotions to create something of a greater value.
You can send gifts to your subscribers on a special day like Independence Day, Children’s Day, etc. Just find an angle to tie that gift with that special day, and let them know how much closer it will bring them to their goals.
Such thoughtfulness will be much appreciated.
Tip #3: Communicate
You may be surprised to find that it is actually good communication that binds two people together within the context of a relationship. It’s no different between you and your subscribers.
A moment will probably come when the novelty of subscribing to your list will fade. At times like this, for the relationship to continue, you need good communication.
And by good communication, I don’t just mean talking and listening.
A lot of things can come under “talking and listening,” like lecturing, arguments, nagging, etc. And none of these is what you want as a marketer.
When you communicate, you do so on an emotional level with the aim to understand and help where possible.
One person I respect so much in this area is our own Danny Iny. His high level of communication always leave me in awe.
Danny has developed an efficient way of communicating this value in a way that is very useful. When I get a bunch of email in my inbox, I make sure to read all those from Danny and Sid first.
In the same way, make your communication with your subscribers valuable. If you suspect that the novelty of subscribing to your list is wearing off, you may need to redefine your business. Make your subscribers talk to you and listen to what they say.
Get to know their fears, frustrations and efforts. Empathize with them, and help them with advice and recommendations. Stay engaged.
This will help to prevent that “I’m sick and tired of this relationship” feeling.
Tip #4: Stay Cool
In every relationship, one thing is inevitable. Do you know what it is? It is the fact that conflicts will always arise.
And that applies to your subscribers too.
How you decide to handle them when they do arise will mean a whole lot to your bottom line, either positively or negatively. One day, one of your subscribers is going to have a bad day. Maybe it’s an expectation that didn’t come through, or an unresolved quarrel with a friend or spouse.
Whatever it is, keep in mind that a subscriber may unleash that frustration on you. This could happen when they read an email from you or perhaps when something in your product or services goes wrong for them.
When it happens, just keep your cool. Do not engage in a battle of words with your subscribers. If possible, don’t even reply immediately. Take a walk. Do something else. After a while, you can then come back and revisit the issue.
At every point, always try to understand that when you are battered unjustly, you are not the real target most of the time.
If you’ve ever experienced what I’m talking about, it will help to know that people will often look for an outlet to express their frustrations. That is one of the experiences of being in business. Operating online does not in any way eliminate that.
Always ensure that you do not take such criticism personally, because when things cool off, that person who is overly mad at you today can be your raving fan tomorrow.
Just like every marketer experiences, Marisa Murgatroyd this as well, and you can see how she chooses to handle it wisely.
Tip #5: Take Them Out
Once in a while, make time to “take your subscribers out”.
Danny employed this concept at Firepole when he endorsed the Firepole Funnies. It’s an entertainment package that aims to take away the hustles and frowns from running your online business and replace them with smiles.
The same thing can be applied to your business.
Invite your subscribers to a rock-solid webinar, or a highly focused forum to discuss just one crucial issue of everyday life – a kind of online get together.
This will provide some temporary relief from the daily stress they encounter so they can return to their businesses in top gear.
Tip #6: Lead Your Community
When people subscribe to your business, they often look up to you as a mentor, a role model, and more importantly, as their leader.
They trust you enough to guide them with your posts, updates and other facets of your business. It is necessary to always remember that when leadership is involved, team work is present.
It helps to view your subscribers as more than just a subscriber or a cash machine. View them as a team of people you lead, whose work is to make a living by making this world a better place in their own right.
Time and again, Dov Gordon has been recognized as a master in this arena. His simple and elegant way of making the complexities of internet business so easy is truly remarkable.
He has a way of making his subscribers realize that he can lead them from where they are to where they want to be.
You can do the same for your subscribers.
Lead them. Direct them. Inspire them. Help them get going in their own business. They will love you for it.
But that is not where it ends. As they trust you to lead them, they will make it a point to tell you their frustrations and problems. They will tell you what they really want, which if you can provide it for them, makes you a better leader and makes them keen to buy.
Tip #7: Provide For Them
Be sure to give your subscribers what they want. During the course of their work, your audience will often need some tools or resources to enable them to work efficiently.
Who will they look up to? You!
At this point they have told you want they want, all you have to do is to provide them with these products or services.
I’m absolutely confident that you can do this.
It could either be your own product or that of an affiliate. It doesn’t matter. What really matters is that you’re actually helping them move closer towards achieving their goals. And at the same time, they are actually helping you to move closer to achieving yours.
Do You Still Want to Live Out Your Dreams?
If the answer is yes, take action!
These are the 7 lessons I learned from my personal relationships that I apply in my businesses. Apply them in yours too.
You don’t necessarily have to apply all of them at once. Just take one or two ideas, and see how it goes for your business.
Is it simple? Yes. Will it be easy? Probably not.
But if you persist and test these ideas extensively, you will discover – just as I did – that the rewards are tremendous, because your subscribers will buy from you again and again. Most importantly, they will refer your business to their friends too.
And before long, you will see yourself becoming empowered to live out your dreams.
So… what will you do now? Take action or do nothing? The choice is up to you.
But if you want to enjoy the entrepreneurial lifestyle and put a smile on the face of those you love the most, then I challenge you to build a profitable relationship with your customers and lead them to where they want to be.
Which of the tips above have you had the most success with, and which has given you the greatest challenge? Let me know in the comments below.
