I’m a big fan of having an email or snail mail list, blog, YouTube channel, or some other way of staying in touch with the people that have raised their hand to receive messages from you.
It’s the smartest way to keep past, current, and future customers happy and engaged with your content.
Think of it as creating a mutual love affair.
Shy? Doesn’t matter. Not into selling? Doesn’t matter. Your industry doesn’t do stuff like this? Doesn’t matter. I don’t think there’s any business that wouldn’t benefit from staying in touch with their peeps.
It’s important to keep the connection alive in a format that feels fun and inspiring to you. If you stay true to your style and brand, your ideal customers will dig it… and it’ll be easy to make it a habit to follow through.
There are just six guidelines I suggest…
Lay it on the line from the start.
Show them what you have in mind from the start. If you like to share lengthy lessons, do it. If you’ve got a firecracker personality, let ’er rip and don’t hold back. You want your audience to know what they can count on from you?
Be consistent.
If they’re subscribed, they like you and want to hear from you. Give them what they want. Doesn’t matter if it’s every week or every day but set up a system to be consistent. Will your business blow up if you don’t stay on schedule? No. But systems and structure give YOU freedom.
See it as an experiment.
Until you nail the timing, format, and conversion to sales, keep trying different things. Nobody gave me a formula. My ezine has been going out since 1999. It’s changed a lot since those early years.
Don’t be attached to the results.
Just because you’ve been giving people value and your time doesn’t mean they’ll buy when you promote your latest and greatest service or product. But don’t give up! There are many factors that impact conversion to sales (that’s a whole other article!). Stay true to your heart, be clear on the benefits and make sure you’re making it easy for customers to say YES.
If you like feedback, ask.
If you want to know how people are liking or not liking what you’re giving them, ask them to let you know. Often people send me emails, comment on my blog or make a comment on Facebook letting me know the impact my article has made on them.
But sometimes I don’t hear a peep. Does that mean my article sucked? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But if you’re the type of person who likes to know, tell them to write you or leave a comment on your blog or your preferred social media channel.
Promote your “thang” more than once.
If you want sales through your list, give more than one shout-out. People are busy, overwhelmed, out of town, or not in the mood. But they might pay attention a few days from now. If what you have is of value, why wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to make your market aware of your amazing solution to their problem?
I think most businesses have to lighten up about connecting with their fan base. Keep it real and keep it fun. Be in love with the process of flirting, dating and being in partnership with your list. Whether you have two or ninety thousand names on it, make it a love affair that benefits all parties.
People who feel love in their hearts when they share content are highly attractive. 😉