List Building – The Importance of a Good Relationship – Get Your Emails Opened

Hey how are you doing today?

What do I really mean by that? Do I mean how are you feeling or how is your Marketing progress coming along? And do I really want to hear your response? Do I really care?

Do you ever notice we ask people how they are doing and then just kind of walk on expecting them to say, “It is going great!”

I had someone ask me that question today. When I begin to tell them just how it was going they did everything that they could to get out of the conversation.

So why do we ask if we don’t want to take the time to actually listen to the response?

Why do we say it is going great when it isn’t? Maybe we don’t figure the person we are talking to really cares like they are trying to come across as, or we really don’t want to get into the discussion ourselves

It would require some kind of relationship, some kind of Investment if we take the time to really share or to actually listen to the response from the one that is sharing the answer to the question you just asked them.

I have found that building relationships with others takes time and it takes a special skill. Some relationships seem to come natural, and some relationships seem to take a lot of work and effort.

I want you to think of the amount of lists you are currently subscribed to right now.

Out of all of them why do you open some emails and others you delete before you know what was inside?

It is because some email lists owners have built a relationship with you, others have not.

So how do you build a relationship with your subscribers?

When you have an email list of subscribers who have Chosen to be on your list, or as we call it, have “OPTED IN” and have agreed to you sending emails to them, you have an asset that can be leveraged over and over again. This is why you must cherish your list like your best friend. The better you treat your list, the better the return will be when you want it.

If you are to have a profitable list, you simply must build a relationship with your subscribers. You want them to “LIKE” you,”KNOW” you and “TRUST” you, feel comfortable buying from you and most importantly you want them to look forward to and enjoy reading your emails. If you can, not if you can but “you must” build a strong relationship with your subscribers, then you have more chances of getting them to purchase your products and services.

Know that building a relationship with your subscribers occurs over time, it will not happen overnight. It will begin with the very first contact. That might be an article you submit that takes them to your squeeze page, or it could be your sales Page of your product. Whatever kind of contact that you had with your subscriber that ended them up on your opt-in list is just the start.

By building a relationship with your subscribers, you are wanting to show them that you are a good source of information, that you are their friend and not just another salesman.

Think about the stores and restaurants you visit. The employees that take time to build relationships with the customers are usually the ones that you want to have take care of you. You will stand in a line at a checkout for your favorite clerk to check you out, just because you know they will take the time to care about you. If you are like me I will try and sit in the section that my favorite waitress is working in. I know I will have a good dining experience. The relationship we have actually makes the food taste better than it really does.

So how can you go about this relationship building? You could possibly offer a free course to your subscribers that contains valuable information on a subject that you know something about and that could help them solve a problem. Make sure it is something that you would want someone to send you. If your subscribers come to know you as someone that always gives worthless content you will never gain their trust. You need to get to the point where your subscribers just know that what you give will be good. This will allow them to trust the products you promote and create.

I had a valuable lesson today on this that came in a way of God. We had the most beautiful sunset tonight. I found myself thanking God for giving me the sunset just for me to enjoy. He provided the sunset in a way that made it feel like it was just for me and I found myself responding back to his gift. He sure knows how to do it right when it comes to relationships.

Another thing you will want to do is, always supply contact information in your e-mails so that they can contact you with questions. If you are providing content make sure that you are open to providing the best customer support you possibly can. If they have a question do your best to provide the answers.

Your contact information also needs to include a unsubscribe link. This promotes trust that if you do not deliver what you promise or your customer is unhappy and unable to find a resolution to their problem that they can opt-off of your list just as easy as they subscribed.

Make your emails feel like you are writing only to the person that is reading. Use their first name in the subject line. Start out your email like you would to your best friend or family member. I would stay away from “Dear” {firstname} But something like “Hey” {firstname} I just thought I would check in and see how things are going. Start your first few lines telling them something about how your day is going or something personal you can share. Talk about your family. They don’t need to see pictures, but make them feel like they are part of your life.

Now I know that there is so much more to relationship building than what I have provided. I will be adding more post on this subject. We will eventually get to the importance of building relationships with JV partners and How to do this, and where I feel is the best place to meet them and begin your relationship building.

By: Jeff Wellman

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