ListBuilding Sucks…
Did that grab your attention? LOL Before I’m cussed out for being a slime ball and drama queen, let me get my disclaimer out there right now…I like list building. I think it’s a great way for all online business people to get a start and if you build your list properly, it can be the best asset you will ever have in your time online…
HOWEVER!
There is something even more important to list building, that is very much alive and well in this industry and that is relationship building. Sorry folks, no easy button answer for this one, you need to roll up your sleeves, get dirty and actually CARE about the people on your list.
Gone is the time of firing off emails constantly with the latest greatest. People are fed up! They want to be treated with respect and not like just another name on a list. That’s why ‘old school’ marketers are having such a hard time adapting to the new social rules in business. They come from the school of ‘hands off marketing’ where they just load up their auto responder and fire away at you.
It just doesn’t work anymore because relationship building > list building!
Think about how powerful your list would be though, if you treated it with respect and actually KNEW the people you were emailing. Take for example the latest (and very rare) promotion we did for List Surfing, we are leading the JV contest and to be honest we ‘know’ most of the people we have referred. We have relationships with them and they know they can contact us whenever they want.
It’s the new model and while a lot of ‘hands off’ marketers will tell you it’s too much effort and too much work. Well the results speak for themselves. Put relationships above EVERYTHING else in this business. Get to know your referrals, your customers and your circle. You may not see the dividends right away but here’s a little story…
Tim and me started TE Live about a year and a half ago. We knew, there would not be any immediate ‘income’ from us showing up, every day and interacting with our community. Looking back, it was the best investment in time we ever made. Because we put people before profits. No list, no sales, just building relationships one person at a time.
Very powerful business model when you put people first! Yes, I’m a fan of list building, but without a relationship with that list, it sucks…
