A Cautionary Tale about List Building

How not to kill your response rates

Hi again…

You need a list. That’s what everyone tells you, right? And they’re right. You do need to build a list.

You need a list because it’s the only communication you control, and because nothing happens on the first visit or view. The relationships that lead to anything— whether that’s sales or loyal readers—happens over time.

You don’t control the feeds on Medium or Facebook or any social media. Email is the only thing you have 100% control over and can decide when or if people see your message. So yes, you need a list.

When I started my list, the invite was kind of lame…

I just added a little note at the bottom of my stories on Medium. It said; Hey, if you liked this post, you might like my Friday newsletter. We talk about marketing and writing. You can sign up here

That was it. Nothing fancy. No razzle dazzleoffer. No freebie for signing up. No pdf or cheat sheet. Nothing. Nada. Just an invite to stay in touch.

My response rates were killer!

Not even joking. Open rates were over 70% on a bad email day. Like if I had a lousy title. We all know titles really matter, right?

Most of the emails I sent, I’d get more reads than subscribers. You know how it feels to get a 75% read rate? Or a 120% read rate?

It feels freaking awesome. Like you’re doing something right.
How often do we get to feel like Omg, I’m doing this right!

The down side…

Of course, my list grew pretty slowly that way. That was the down side. Because if there’s an up side, there’s also a down side. My list was growing slowly. Just trickles of subscribers here and there.

Guess what happened when I added a freebie?

After awhile, I admonished myself. Good grief, woman, create a darn opt in. Get with the program. That’ll speed things up!

That’s what everyone says to do, right? Offer an opt in.
So I added an opt in offer to my sign up. Know what happened?

Bwahahahah.

My list grew faster. And I could watch them...
— Sign up.
— Get the welcome letter.
— Download the freebie.
— Unsubscribe.

*sigh*

It was like my subscriber count had the hiccups.

Sometimes, they didn’t bother to unsubscribe.

They just don’t read any of the emails I send. Or click. Or engage. They just wanted the freebie. Once they got it, they couldn’t even be bothered to unsubscribe.

[Side note: If you’re reading this — no worries. You’re not one of them. I can tell who they are. Zero reads after the welcome email. Also? Thanks for reading. You are so appreciated! ]

I’m sure a lot of those people signed up with a “throwaway” email address they don’t even check. You know. Their “freebies” email address. Many of us have one of those. Heck, *I* have one of those.

Freebie seeking is real.

And I get it. That offer looks great, right? But how many people can you really read and follow along with? We have more to do with our life than read email.

My response rates took an instant nosedive…

Now I’m getting a 45% read rate. By industry standards, that’s still excellent. I can’t complain, really, and I know that. Not when average read rates are under 20%. For a lot of people, even under 10%

But still. It kind of sucks.

Because, frankly, I want more of YOU and less of “them” if you know what I mean.
That’s what I want for you, too.

In hindsight, there’s a better way to offer free gifts to your list…

You could give them a welcome gift, right? And not tell them in advance?

Don’t use it as an opt in. Don’t use it to “hook” freebie seekers that are going to sign up with that throw-away email they never check.

What a great surprise, you know?

If you were to give that “free” thing to the loyal readers who actually wanted to follow your work in the first place. As a surprise. Like a thank you and welcome gift.

Happy subscribers will be surprised to get a gift they weren’t expecting, without the freebie seekers who are just going to kill your read rates.

Talk about brownie points.

In the long run, you have to choose what’s important to you…

But don’t just take my advice blindly. You have to figure out what’s important to you.

If you’d rather have a big list and you don’t care what the read rates is, then go ahead and capture those freebie seekers.

But if response and connection is what really matters to you, then growing a little slower might be the right path for you.

All depends what’s important to you, and only you know that. :)

---

Here’s an odd one:

I don’t usually write in the personal growth space, but I got tired of seeing all the lame and regurgitated advice so I cobbled together 5 strange little things that actually do make a difference. And yes, I actually take my own advice. I “do” all 5 of these.

This is a public link, so you can read it even if you’re not a member of Medium…

5 odd habits that actually will make you healthier and happier

---

If you enjoyed this, please click the little heart to let me know.

Take care, stay safe and see you next Friday.

xo
Linda