Guest post by Michele Scism
The Results Lady from Decisive Minds
Congratulations! You have been working diligently to add qualified prospects to your email and/or direct mail marketing list. The number is starting to grow and you are quite proud of your list size – right?
Then you realize that although they have joined your list that doesn’t necessarily translate directly into dollars. The big question starts to run laps in your brain –
What Do I Do Once They Are On My List?
This is actually the breaking point for most small business owners. How do you utilize your list to grow your business? How do you Follow Up? How do you get those prospects to not opt-out of your list because remember they can opt-out as easily as they opted-in.
I believe that the answer lies in your ability to create or further a relationship with the members of your list. I love how Sandra Martini says that “you must nurture them.” The thought behind this is that you do not try to immediately sell to someone who has just joined your list. In relationship marketing the prospect becomes a willing, presold client only at the point that they trust you.
So how do you get them to trust you? You simply add value to their life without them feeling like you are a “pushy sales person.” You might send them a newsletter, tips which come in the form of written, video or audio, introduce them to others who would teach them, etc. None of this is necessarily selling. You may have an affiliate link here or there but you’re not “pushing” any of your products or services.
What specific steps can you take to build this trust?
Once someone is on your list, and I am going to talk more about email list at this point than direct mail, you must stay in contact with them. The easiest way is to create email sequences in your autoresponder program and yes this takes a little time but it is well worth it in the long run.
You should have several sequences but we will talk about a starter sequence here to give you an idea of what one should look like. Say for example, they have joined your list by requesting your free e-book. Your welcome sequence might look something like this and should cover about 3 weeks.
Immediate Day 1 – they receive thank you email with download of e-book
Day 2 – “Just wanting to make sure you got it and was able to open it” email
Day 5 – “Did you see tip #6 on page 8 – that is the most popular one” email
Day 7 – Newsletter – email
Day 9 – “Answers to your top 5 FAQ’s on (your topic)” email
Day 12 – 1 minute audio tip – email
Day 15 – “Thought you might enjoy this blog post” email
Day 17 – “#1 reason people ______” email
Day 19 – “Look what I just found” email
Day 21 – Newsletter – email
Once they have made it through 21 days and have not opted out they are starting to get used to seeing your emails. They are also more likely to open those emails because you are providing them with information and not selling. Remember these are examples of what you could do – you don’t have to do it exactly like this. Be creative!
After they complete this sequence they should automatically go into the next sequence which would continue to send them your newsletter and share valuable info and tips but might also start to talk a little bit about your products. Maybe you have a home study course or something like that.
I just wanted to make sure you noticed that we are not sending something every day. You don’t want to dominate their inbox you just want to have your presence known. I like to stick to the rule of 2 to 3 contacts per week. There are always exceptions to the rule – there may be something important come up and I have to send extra emails.
I know that you are probably like me. You probably went into business to help others either by providing them with a service or product that will improve their life. But my guess would be that you also have to support your family so there must come an opportunity to sell to them.
OK, now go out and write a follow up sequence and be sure to comment to let me know how it went.
Michele Scism, The Results Lady, is a Business Strategist who specializes in teaching service professionals and business owners how to grow and expand their businesses using better marketing strategies and business success strategies designed to increase sales and profit. She publishes a bi-weekly ezine called Decisive Success Strategies which, along with her website, provides how-to articles and lots of free tips for business owners serious about creating a powerful marketing strategy for their business. Get your success strategies and free tips at http://DecisiveMinds.com.
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