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online-business-dont-ignore-email-list-1Over and over, I hear people who want to have a successful online business tell me that they have a list of people in some email provider account but haven’t emailed them in months. They are rebranding or focusing on something else or didn’t have time or whatever.

Wow!

Ignoring an email list is like walking past diamonds on the ground. There’s no excuse for it. Nurture your list because it’s the basis of your business.

If you have other issues that arise, drop back to emailing them every month. Invite others to guest blog post and send out an email about that. Find an old blog post to email your subscribers about. Really, you can keep your email list alive with a few minutes a month.

And sometimes I see something just as bad. The person wants to make some money or is asked to send out a promotion for someone else, so the first email they send to this old list is a sales letter. Bad!

What happens when you don’t email your list

During the time that you don’t email your list, people change their email addresses. They forget about you. They move onto something else. This means that your list is no longer current.

For example, recently I got an email that said, “Looking back at 2014: my email updates were infrequent. Just seven (and one was a Review of 2013).” Guess what? I didn’t remember who he was, so I unsubscribed. Don’t let that happen to your list!

If you have a list from some long-ago project that you have ignored, start emailing them today! Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Contact your email service provider and tell them you’re going to send out an email to an old list that opted in. That means that they chose to be on your list. Tell your email provider that you’re sure there will be lots of bounces because it’s old and ask how to proceed. You might be out of luck – they might freeze your account if you send out the email and go over their limit of bounces. But you might be able to work with them. I recently did that with a small segment of one of my lists. Because I had discussed this project with my email provider, they let the email delivery go through even though the bounces were much higher than normal—I explained that this was a one-time mailing, which it was.
  2. At the beginning of the email, remind people that they signed up for your list/newsletter at your website (specify your domain name) and apologize for not contacting them for so long. Explain what happened and/or why you’re starting up again. Promise them great information and follow through. Remember, you’re in business, so don’t be flaky. Keep in touch with your prospective customers!
  3. Provide some great free download or link to a new content-rich blog post or just provide a couple of valuable tips in the email. Whatever it is, don’t sell anything, just provide valuable content.
  4. Do this regularly (I’d suggest weekly) for 2-3 weeks.
  5. Then, you’re ready to start suggesting products to them.
  6. Continuing mixing free content and offers. Make sure the offers are valuable in their own right. It’s possible to move to offers only. Although I don’t do that, many marketers do. You have to figure out what feels right for you and what is effective for your audience.

Following the above 6 steps can give you back a business!

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Do you have an old list that you’ve been ignoring? Could you bring it back? Leave a comment!

 

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    3 replies to "Don’t ignore your list!"

    • suzzane

      Great article Ellen. I often forget to keep up with my email lists. Like you say in the article “There’s no excuse for it”! I am making it one of my goals, to keep up with my email list! 🙂

    • Kenn

      I like the part about apologizing to your quiet list and promising to deliver content going forward. Awesome! Human! And sets a new exciting tone.

    • Ellen Finkelstein

      Kenn, thanks for your kind comment. Yes, you have to treat your subscribers like you would people that you’re talking to face to face — but with a little marketing thrown in.

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