3 Ways To Build A Great Relationship With Your List

How many lists are you on? No clue? Me neither. A lot of the time we sign up to email lists and then immediately our inboxs get filled with affiliate offers and crap. If you’re anything like me you quickly unsubscribe and get that junk out of your inbox. I like my list to be different. How so?

I try to treat every single person on my list as an individual and not just a number. If someone send me an email I respond. Sure, it may not be a long response, but I acknowledge their question and try to point them in the right direction. It takes only about 30 minutes a day for me to do this and it’s worth it because I’m able to create a valuable relationship with my readers. When you have this good relationship people are much less likely to unsubscribe to your list when you eventually send them affiliate offers. If you build trust with each individual reader then they will buy from you because they will know that you’re not ripping them off and that if they have questions they can reach out to you.

So here are 3 ways that you can build a great relationship with your list:

1. Send a personal email to each new subscriber

Every time someone subscribes to my list I get a message from Aweber. Most people just archive or delete that message, but I use it to help start building a relationship with my list immediately.

I use a free service called Rapportive that shows me more information about the person on the right side of my Gmail screen. Based on the new subscriber’s email I can learn what their Twitter is, what they look like,

 

their Facebook, LinkedIn, their job, and their location. Now what good is this? I use this information to send them a customized welcome email. Yes, I copy and paste part of it, but I add in something special about them in the first line of the email so they know it’s not an autoresponder.

I’ll give you an example:

Let’s say I sign up for your list. You’ll then get an email that looks like this: Click on it and take a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the right-hand side Rapportive gives us a ton of useful information about Mike From Maine. First off we can see his picture. It seems that recently he has swum with dolphins. Big whoop, right. Wrong. It’s useful. But let’s continue on. He’s from Bangor, Maine. He’s a niche website designer and self employed. His Twitter is mikefrommaine, and we can also see some recent updates about sites for sale. It seems like he has a Facebook account and a LinkedIn.

So there’s a lot of information here, so what can you do with it?

Here’s the message I send all my new subscribers:

 

Thanks for joining my niche site course.
I was wondering if you have any niche sites already.Do you have any specific questions about making money with niche websites?
That message could easily just be a Thank-you message in an autoresponder. Most people would just ignore it. I put a twist on it. With the information taken from Rapportive I can send the following message:

 

 

Mike,
How’s the weather in Bangor today?
It looks like you had a great time swimming with dolphins. I’ve always wanted to do that but I’ve never had the opportunity. How was it?
I’ve also checked out your sites for sale. How much does it cost you to make each one?
I’ve added you on Facebook and Twitter so I’ll be keeping an eye on you.
By the way ,thanks for joining my niche site course.
I was wondering if you have any niche sites already. Do you have any specific questions about making money with niche websites?
There’s obviously a big difference between the first one and the second one. With that extra information I’m able to send an email that no autoresponder could send. I’m able to engage the new subscriber and get their attention. I can use their picture to start building rapport. I can use their latest posts to ask about what they’re interested in. I can also truly follow them and start creating a connection with them on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I ask questions to elicit a response. This is a very powerful and effective way starting a relationship with your subscribers.
Do people like this? I’ll let my subscibers speak for me:
Hey Mike. I appreciate the personal email.

Golly! A real live personal reply. You don’t get many of those nowadays , so thank you very much for your interest.

Nice to receive an email from you. As an internet marketeer myself I first thought it was a very nifty autoresponder but I guess you’re real :).

Great idea on contacting your list members.

Thanks for the personal email.

Thanks for the followup note.

Thanks for the welcome message.

I am touched. By far the most personal touching message i have received from marketers. 🙂 Not the usual automated stuff. Thanks mate.

Thanks for the personal response to the AWeber form.

I’m impressed. I’m guessing you grabbed the location from my IP. 

Thanks for the personal contact. 

Thanks for the return email, was not expecting that, it’s nice to see that you took the time, much appreciated.

Ok, I think you get the idea. People really like the personal touch and it’s a great way to get a conversation started. I will say that I’ve only used this with my subscribers from the Internet marketing niche because most people are used to autoresponders. I’ve never tested it in less Internet savvy niches, but it could still be very effective.

2. Put a chat box on your site

In a recent post I mentioned how I put a chat box on this website using a free service called Olark. This has worked out really well for me so far because I’ve been able to chat with hundreds of visitors coming to my site. Most people just have a few questions, but it has created a whole new way to connect with current and potential subscribers. I’ve even been able to make a few sales through my Adsense Starter Sites For Sale page via the Olark chat box.

Another great thing I love about Olark is that you can connect it to your iPhone with BeeJive. For $10 you can keep in contact with your subscribers or potential clients even when you’re away from your computer. I love it!

3. Respond to every comment that you get

Your subscribers are the lifeblood of your blog. If they talk to you then you should respond. It’s only common courtesty. Whenever I get a comment on this site I respond back to it, no matter how short the comment was. Even if I’m just saying “thank you” it is still important to show the reader that you actually read their message and it was important for you.

 

I hope that you can put these 3 tips to good use. Everyone always says that the money is in the list, but if you don’t take care of that list then they won’t give you any money 🙂

 

 

  1. As always these are great tips. Especially the personal email thing. It will have a very good effect on your subscribers and they will definitely tell their friends about it. You treat them like they're your friends and not just lists.

    1. Yeah, Trent. You gotta treat them like your friends…and who knows, some of them may actually become your friends 🙂

  2. This is awesome post Mike
    I like this post especially first tip. I'll (should) use this tip
    And Olark Chat Box . This is so helpfull for me, When I have a question for you, I come this site and ask instantly. And thank you for your answer every time
    Thank you 

    1. Batuhan,

      Yeah, the first tip is really useful if you’re building a list. I’m glad you like the chat box 🙂

  4. I looked for free BeeJive and I found imo ( for iphone and ipad ) 
    I tested on my site and it's works
    Thank you

  6. Thanks for the clue on Rapportive.  Maybe I didn't look carefully enough at Olark, but I thought that it came with a monthly fee?  Going to look again…

    1. Mike,

      You’re welcome. I thought that Olark had a monthly fee, too, but that’s only for special services. After 20 chats it will send you a message that you’ve gone over your limit, but you can just ignore it.

  7. It's always a good idea to maintain great relationships with your list and be personable.  Rapportive is also an awesome tool and many people should really consider adding it to their arsenal.  

    1. Josh,

      Yeah, you and I know that we have to keep good relationships with our list if we want to sell them websites 🙂

  8. I was really impressed when I got this personalized mail from you. Thank you for sharing the tools. I really like the approach.

  9. Hi Mike,

    Great post! Fun to see my own reply to your first email in the list of replies :).

    Keep up the good work!
    Michiel

    1. Michiel,

      Yes, it’s sooooo important to build a good personal relationship with your list.You can’t treat them like a group…you have to treat them as individuals.

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