How much is too much?
It’s a question I probably should ask in many different areas of my life.
However, in this instance, I want to talk about communication, and specifically that of the emailing-your-list variety.
If you have a list, how often do you email them? Is it just me that gets fed up with emails every day from the same people trying to sell things to me? Even if, in some cases, it’s a freebie that they’re offering – is it *really* relevant to me and my life? Or am I just being sent things as an attempt at building the list, or adswapping, or selling me some sort of affiliate product?
It’s a tricky balance isn’t it. On the one hand, we’re always told that ‘the money is in the list’ and that’s how you’ll get people to buy things, by using your list to send out details, promotions, freebies, and just generally keep up the communication. On the other hand, we just get email after email promoting the same stuff in some cases (particularly at product launch time), giving away freebies that are quite often either not relevant, or fairly useless – and who wants to clog up their hard drive with more clutter?
I have to admit that I just skim read the names and the email titles as they appear in my inbox – I’m on so many lists that it would be a full time job to read them all. So unfortunately, if I don’t perceive a value in it for me – either by the title or by the name – then it gets deleted. Some people think that they have to hang on to all these emails, just in case they miss out on the one email that gives them that opportunity to make a million dollars overnight in their sleep (sidenote – the emails might promise the dream, but it isn’t going to give it to you). I don’t (and I’m sure you don’t) have time to go through every email just in case there’s something in there. Hence my use of the delete button. So far, I haven’t died a death of a thousand plagues by just going through and deleting all the emails that I don’t have time to read.
Now, unusually for me, I am sending a link to this blog post out to my list. But then I haven’t emailed my list for a while, and I don’t want them to completely forget about me. That, and I do genuinely want to have other people’s opinions on this matter. Therein lies the other part of this. There’s the question asked by my title – how much is too much? But then there is also the question ‘how little is too little?’
What are your thoughts on this? Do you find you’re getting daily emails from people, do you read them all, what gets you interested to open the email and find out more?
Nikki
Filed under: Internet Marketing • Online Business
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Hi Nikki
I think that once or twice a week is enough. In some cases maybe a third if something
very useful for my list or a product launch is about to start.
Two of my favorites are John Carlton and Clayton Makepeace. They usually email their list(s)
twice a week and often is a mix of useful info and smart marketing.
My in-box has about 495 unread emails right now, only because I want to keep some of them to
study their styles and add them to a swipe file. Otherwise, I delete them.
If I feel like I going to delete that 1 million overnight opportunity then I ask myself –
Estani do you have time to read all those 300+ email msgs.
Of course the answer is NO, I don’t have time for that. Then I delete them
without the slightest remorse.
Nikki, you have a great voice and style. Continue sending your emails.
Have a great time
Estani
[Reply]
Hi Nikki
Funny how you should mention this because I was just thinking today that I haven’t actually emailed my list for a long time.
In fact, many people have probably forgotten that they are even on my list!!
The other thing to consider is what do you email your list when you do contact them. Are you emailing affiliate offers in the hope of sales to make money or are you emailing them informational emails??
Much like yourself, I hate those people who constantly email me offering free stuff only to find that there is almost always an expensive up sell attached.
Anyway, great post Nikki
Regards
James
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
I too have signed up for so many newsletters or offers, that I don’t know half of the people who send them, so their emails end up getting deleted.
I remember you from the Alex Jeffries course and your eBook was useful, so I’ve come across to your site to red your latest post.
So I’m all for less frequency and more quality content.
Speak soon, John
[Reply]
Nikki,
Great topic. I was just in the process of deleting myself from several lists I’m on.
I’m really tired of the all the emails I get. It seems that some people are sending out several
emails a week . . . they’re the first to go.
Then there are all the folks who send emails promoting their “good friend” and their free
gift to encourage you to sign up to their list.
Once a week is good enough in my opinion. I’ll remember you and remain a loyal subscriber if
you send me something that will help me or amuse me and my memory is not so short that
I’ll forget you if you haven’t sent something in the last five minutes.
Thanks for bringing up this subject, Nikki. Hope you’re doing well. I’ve been down for the count
the past few months recovering from chemo and radiation treatments. My journey’s not over
but I am feeling better. Stop by for a visit and cuppa tea.
Warmly,
Theresa
[Reply]
Twitter: Richard_Moloney
says:
Hi Nikki
How could one forget you – It’s just not possible
Some people do ad swaps on a daily basis and with getting so many emails I study the title and delete most of them unopened. One subject line that definately gets deleted is “Thanks Richard here is your download link” especially when I have not ordered anything for over a week or longer.
These people are just trying to line their pockets at your expense. If I see a subject line that does attract me or if the email is from someone I want to hear from then I will open it but quite often after scanning it I will also delete it.
To me once a week is plenty or even once a month will do.
Richard
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
Very good question. I have definitely unsubscribed to many lists. My unsubscribes are mainly because I’m tired of the author or perhaps they just don’t have what I’m looking for.
Most of the time it’s because their marketing the same stuff that everyone else is selling. So if they have nothing different to offer, I just look for the BIG dog to follow.
I did a quick review on a video made by Kevin Hill for Russell Brunson of Dotcomsecrets.com where he said he follows a format of…
The first 7 emails being sent every 2 to 3 days
Then, 1 a week for 4 weeks followed by once a month for a year. The concept is, if your gonna make a sale it’s gonna happen in the first 30 days.
I have always enjoyed reading your work and have even passed your ebook along to other consultants. You would be a perfect trainer for our consultants on how to use social networking. If that’s of interest to you, I’ll give you the list of social sites we have widgets for. Like facebook and blogger…
Just because we have widgets for social sites doesn’t mean we (consultants)know how to use the sites effectively. There’s around 3900 fans on the corporate site and it’s getting bigger. It’s a targeted market. Sometimes it’s all about timing. We’re ripe for the picking.
Private message me, if you want more info.
[Reply]
Twitter: TheGazzMan
says:
Nix!
When I saw the purple haze in my inbox I just had to come over.
This has been something that I have been pondering and wondering for several months.
I’m guilty of sending out LOTS of emails but… I have built a pretty sizeable list from it. Having said that, MOST of the people on it are only freebie seekers.
THE list and the REAL list are two VASTLY different lists. And that goes for everybody’s list.
The thing that annoys me (and I try to keep this to a dull roar myself) is when a big launch happens and every man and his dog just sends out the standard email. Oh, but they add BONUSES. Bonuses my foot! Most “bonuses” are total J-U-N-K. I have a real thing about something allegedly worth $97 but propped up with 83 bone-head bonuses (ALLEGEDLY) “valued” at $7,652.93. Like DUH!
Besides, I just want what I want – NOT a bunch of cobbled together rubbish PLR attached to the main offer to prop it up (because it aint worth $97 or probably even $67, or $47, or $27 <— are you recognizing this technique?)
[Marketer's mind: "What junk can I scrape together to make this look a whole lot better? Ooooh theres some PLR I haven't used from 2001. Oh, there's a 1994 report on Adsense. There's a..."]
TGM has had his say!
Gazzman
TEMPLE
PS: Howdy to Estani, James, John, Richard and Renee (I thought you had walked away! LOL!). But a big HOWDY to Trees. I hope you are well on the road to recovery honey-bunch. I’ll never forget the ginger-breads you baked and sent to me at the Luxor in las Vegas. That was so sweet. And so werre they. And so are you.
[Reply]
Good evening everyone, and thank you all for your responses so far.
It seems that we all share the same sort of thoughts on this – send us some information, but only if it’s genuinely relevant, you’ve actually reviewed it yourself (rather than just “my great friend X has released this product…”), and it isn’t all the time.
Estani, good to see you over here. Yes, you’re right – when a product is launching then you expect to receive more emails, and provided it’s a product with some relevance to me, then I can kind of cope with those emails. Particularly as you know what they are about when the product name is mentioned in the title – makes my life easier then as well! Thank you for the compliments by the way, I’m glad to hear that you enjoy my style.
James, it was only because I was deleting so many emails from my inbox today (had a long weekend away from the computer) that I thought about the number of lists I’m on, and the number of emails that I just never get around to reading. I think there has to be a mix of the type of emails that a person sends – if it’s always ‘buy this product from my great friend’ then I will delete them without much thought, as I’m not interested in having blatant selling thrown at me. It’s like when I go shopping (oh come on, I’m allowed to reference shopping – this is my blog!) and you see those stalls in the middle of shopping centres. I may be interested in what’s on offer on those stalls, but you can bet I won’t be going too close to them because you get jumped on by some predatory salesperson. Is it an English thing? I don’t know, but I don’t like people being in my face and in my space. If I have a question about the product, I will ask. I don’t need you to try to persuade me that my life is incomplete without it. So they lose their marketing opportunity there. Phew! Rant over, time to climb back down from my soapbox.
Theresa, how lovely to see you here. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been suffering and my thoughts are with you. It sounds like you’re coming out of the worst of it now though, so I hope that your recovery is swift. As for the offer of a cup of tea, I’m certainly not going to turn that down! I know what you mean about the endless emails that come through, some of them all with the same subject lines so you know it’s just affiliate marketing, some with irritating lines (as Richard mentions) about the “Thanks Nikki, here’s your download” – those get deleted straight away. I’m not having people thinking they can trick me into opening their emails and downloading their products that way. Yes, I’m sure it’s tried & tested, but I find it irritating & presumptuous! (I know, I’m still opinionated!). I agree with your point that if you have had something of value from someone, you will remember them even if they haven’t emailed you for a couple of months. I’d much rather that, than I have emails day after day just desperately trying to get my attention.
Richard, your first line made me laugh! True, for those that know me or have spoken to me previously, I am probably quite…(searching for the appropriate word) memorable. As I’ve just mentioned in my reply to Theresa above this one – I completely agree with your point on subject lines that get removed from the inbox. Another thing that annoys me is overusing my details e.g. writing an email that has my name in it as much as they can fit. We all know it’s an autoresponder series and that you aren’t emailing me directly, so don’t make out that you’re my new best friend. Let’s all behave like adults and talk to each other as colleagues / acquaintances, not as if you know me, my life, my family etc. Wow, I really am on my soapbox tonight!
Renee, how nice to see you over here. The butterfly has not been flying around that much lately (offline world took over the online world for a while). It’s funny isn’t it, when a launch is happening and you see all these emails that are written by the same person but promoted by many – all the same subject lines, the same spelling mistakes in the email content etc. That just annoys me then because I think ‘so you couldn’t even be bothered to have a look at the product and write an independent review of it, it’s just your friend X and so you’re just hoping someone on your list will buy it without question’. That isn’t helping the people or building a relationship. Your analysis of the video by Kevin Hill for Russell Brunson is interesting – I wonder what everyone else here thinks of those timescales for contacting people? While they may be useful, and are no doubt proven to work, I wouldn’t follow them religiously (that would be my rebellious side again, doing as I please and as I think is appropriate!). In my case, it might be that I sign up for an ebook but I don’t have time to read it for a month. I’d get the flurry of emails to start that would then tail off, all before I’d even read the book that I’d downloaded in the first place. But then that’s just me.
Your compliment on my book is very kind of you, and much appreciated. Knowing that people have used it and have found it helpful makes it all worthwhile in researching and writing it. Your mention of the other sites that weren’t all featured in my book is interesting – perhaps it’s time for a Part 2 for my book. I would definitely be interested in knowing which sites you’re looking at using, as I don’t need any excuse to broaden my knowledge.
Thank you all for leaving your comments here.
Nikki
[Reply]
TGM,
No sooner had I written and uploaded my reply, you’ve come along to add to the mix! So the purple haze drew you over here? Check out my reply above – I’ve kind of gone off on one there as well. I’m guessing it was something that was just annoying me today!
You raise a very important point – how many people on our lists are freebie seekers, and therefore literally just in it to see what they can get from us, versus those that genuinely find the information that we present to them useful and educational? We may have lists of 1000, but of those, how many are genuine responsive people that we want to look after and have a dialog?
Oh yes, the bonuses. As you say (or rather, I’m going to paraphrase) – bonuses my donkey. Oh heck, this is my blog, if I want to say arse I will. So there. Bonuses my arse. So often you look through the list of these $90,000 alleged bonuses, and you think – I wouldn’t pay $5 for that. The thing that a lot of these people forget is that perceived value is only relevant to the buyer. It’s pretty much irrelevant how much the seller believes their product is worth – it’s the buyer that dictates whether the perceived value of the product is accurately reflective of it. You may tell me your ebook on cat worming is worth $90,000, but I’m afraid I will only see it as worth $9 as a maximum.
More importantly, you’re right about Theresa’s cookies from the first Las Vegas adventure…what a kind and generous act that was, and very much appreciated by everyone there.
PMW / Nikki
[Reply]
Twitter: TheGazzMan
says:
ROTFL @ this Nix:
Cat worming! Euwww. $9?
Is that a buck for each life?
TGM
TEMPLE
[And if the TEMPLE is a rockin' - please keep a knockin']
[Reply]
Hey Nikki,
I have missed the melodouis sound of your voice (Calvin and Hobbs). Well, the melodious tapping of your keyboard, I guess.
I guess I can’t add to what’s already been said. I think once a week is good as long as you have something to offer, not just stuff.I almost dread checking out something that interests me because I know I am going to end up on yet another list. And, yes I hate launch times as I get the same thing from lots of people. I need to edit how many lists I am on again. When one is still trying to get this IM thing right, ADD kicks in and I start seriously looking at stuff, when I know I just should hit delete.
Liz Tomey is a master of her list. She always gives something of value as well as an offer.
I tend to stay on the lists of people I trust and respect. They are usually the ones that don’e abuse their lists as well.
Gene
[Reply]
Hi Nikki
I can see judging by your responses this is a very emotive subject and its one I have been raking my brains with myself.
Nice to see the Gazzman getting his two pennies worth in!
I have built a reasonable list with a heck of a lot of emails so now I have decided to do no more than 1 swap per week, 1 blog post and the odd promotion – so 6-8 emails per month is enough to keep the list warm but hopefully not enough to swamp them.
My last 2 blog posts really touch on this subject.
[Reply]
Hi Nikki
I have just spent the morning de-cluttering my inbox – junk, junk and more ‘offers you can’t live without’! Oh yes I can. There is so much hype around this business but to be honest I believe in telling it how it is – if people want to buy what you are offering then they will buy if they don’t want it then that’s life. Surely by now people have got so used to the hype and bs that they know that’s what it is.
I have a really small list at the moment and I email them when I have something that I really think would benefit them. A very interesting thing happened the other day – I usually write emails that are plain and simple telling them about the offer and with a link – I get no spam complaints. I swiped an emailed copy from a well known marketer and sent it to my list – it was full of hype – but I liked the product and I was hammered with 0.77% spam complaints. These were all double opt in. Is hype really the way to go?
That’s my pennyworth for what it’s worth.
Love your posts will definitely be back to see what else you are up to!
Regards – Barbara
[Reply]
Hey Sweetie, long time no see or hear. I know it’s been a while but nice to see you still posting. I know that if you wait too long to email your list you may get that dreaded “SPAM” complaint since they may not even remember your name or why they signed up to begin with.
I personally think that 2 or 3 times per week of strictly content would do along with slipping your Free offers, affiliate links, or adswaps in there. As long as I get value, I don’t mind opening the occasional offer.
I am on the list of some people who mail out daily and for some reason I stay subscribed. In the end it all comes down to the fact that everyone is different and everyone will perceive the emails in different ways.
Decide what you don’t mind getting and that can help determine what you end up giving. Hope all is well with you and miss you tons.
Love ya,
Michael Ottman
[Reply]
Nikki Reply:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
TGM, Ok, so it was a slightly facetious example, but still…I thought it illustrated my point! It got your attention anyway.
Gene, I love Calvin & Hobbes! Especially the snowmen that Calvin builds – genius. I think I should have done some of those when it snowed over here.
Peter, I think it can be quite a fine balance and you’ll never be able to please everyone. I guess it’s more what we feel comfortable with sending to people as well – if we obviously believe in the stuff we’re promoting, then that’s a whole lot better than just promoting something for the sake of it hoping to make a quick one-off sale.
Barbara, I know, there’s all this hype & “only 3 left” and that sort of nonsense (how can something digital have scarcity unless someone deliberately removes it from the internet?!). It just annoys me, as I find some of it patronising. That’s interesting that once you stopped being ‘you’ with your list, and used someone else’s copy, that people complained. It implies that the people on your list have built up a relationship with you, and like your usual writing style and way of promoting products / information to them.
Mike, it’s been far too long! I was considering sending out a search party for you! How are things? I see from your blog that you’re busy as usual – always trying to give something back. You’re right, it is all a matter of personal preference and perception – if I see emails from people I know, then I don’t mind so much, but then you get all the emails from those where you can’t even remember why you are on their list.
Thanks everyone for adding to the feedback here.
Nikki
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
It looks like your blog is being redone. It looks like you had posts you have taken down. So in trying to make a constructive comment, the only thing I can notice is “lair of temptation”…one comment on that is that temptation is something all of us have fought with in one way or another…I think it has a somewhat negative connotation…I don’t know that calling your website a “lair of temptation” is such a good idea.
Incidentally, my name is Cheryl Jones and I am one of Mark Terrell’s students. He has asked me to check out some blogs and post to build traffic and also to learn from other people’s blogs. I’d really appreciate it if you would vist my blog and write a comment and tell me what you think.
Thanks.
Cheryl
[Reply]
Nikki Reply:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Cheryl, hello and welcome to my blog. I’m a little puzzled by some of your comments, but then everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course. Allow me to answer some of your queries here.
My blog was redesigned a year ago, as the old free theme that I had wouldn’t let me do what I wanted with it. So I had this one custom-designed for me.
All my posts are still in existence here, I’ve just checked in case for some reason they weren’t displaying. If you click on Blog at the top of the page, you’ll see teasers of the last few posts that I have written, and then if you click on Read More at the bottom of each post summary, then you can see the full post including all the comments that I have received. I use the Post Teaser plug in to allow this to happen, so that visitors here can browse the last few posts that I have written without having to scroll down forever (I do tend to write quite long posts!).
As for the Lair – well, that comes back to the first cohort of students from the Alex Jeffreys course. Gary Simpson has the Temple (I see you’ve commented over there already), Denis Caron has the Portal, and I have the Lair. I can appreciate of course that my name / taste will not be to everyone’s approval, but I can assure you there is nothing malicious about my intent.
Thanks for coming over and commenting.
Nikki
[Reply]
Hi Nikki
The how many times you should email your list is a tough one because you’re always gonna get told different answers from different people.
Personally…I think once a week is quite enough to email your list with the odd broadcast mail been sent every now and then.
I think the most important thing to remember is not that the money is in the list but that the money is in the relationship that you have with your list and if you keep bombarding people with promotion after promotion every day that relationship won’t be good and you’ll loose the subscriber.
Thanks for the info I really enjoyed reading your views
Regards
Dawn Kay
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
Your post was very informative, I am a new student of Mark Terrell’s and the one thing that is important is relationship, but I would agree with most once or twice a week, I get so much email it comes to a point where you want to just delete it. I would appreciate it if you would stop by my blog and let me know what you think and please leave a comment.
Thanks
Karen
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
A pleasure to meet you this weekend as well.
I wrote about this subject myself recently and just wanted to give my perspective on the question that you are asking.
When we got started building our lists we have learnt to send out an email every day and that will condition your subscribers to receive and email every day but it isn’t necessarily effective.
My favourite emails come from folks like Ian Traynor, Jon Street and Tony Shepherd. These guys aren’t adverse to sending out a couple of emails a week but their newsletters are always interesting and informative and when I buy, its often from these guys.
I believe with your personality and your writing style that a weekly email that informs and entertains in equal measures is definitely the right approach. I intend to go that way in my future approach as well. That may mean I lose a lot of my list but I believe that I and my subscribers will ultimately benefit.
Andy
[Reply]
Nikki Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Hi Dawn,
I’m inclined the agree with your thoughts on once a week, with the occasional additional message thrown in. However, that additional message should *only* promote things that you have experienced – too many people send things out & you have to wonder whether they’ve even looked at what they are promoting.
As you’ve said, the aim is to build a relationship with your list, not just flog them to death hoping to make a quick sale.
……………………….
Hi Karen,
I know what you mean about the overload – it’s got to the point that the first thing I do when I log in to my emails is delete everything that I know I will never get around to reading or that doesn’t catch my eye in some way. It isn’t anything personal from me that I do that; it’s just for my own self-preservation.
………………………
Hi Andy,
That’s interesting that you’ve found that while the adswaps etc gave you a fast route to a bigger list, you’re now starting to question that and are cutting down on the amount of emails you’re sending. I guess that relates to the concept of ‘quality, not quantity’.
I’ve been thinking about your suggestion, and I am considering doing a weekly or possibly fortnightly email with a mix of my usual randomness and then the potential to include a promotion if I genuinely believe it will help my subscribers. That way, I get to build a relationship with my subscribers which can ultimately only be a good thing.
……………………..
Thanks everyone for popping over here and commenting.
Nikki
[Reply]
Twitter: sallyneill
says:
Hey Nikki,
I am terrible for not mailing my list, but it doesn’t seem to bother them.
I packed in the online stuff for over a year, came back, sent an email and got a great response.
So I really don’t know what’s a good amount is but I bet I don’t do it enough.
Sally
[Reply]
Nikki,
Hey!
I’m just starting out so I still don’t know much but you make a great point! I can think of so many times where my inbox is just full of mail (from lists I opted into) that just seems to be pushing stuff on me that I don’t want so it never even gets looked at.
You said it all here:
“So unfortunately, if I don’t perceive a value in it for me – either by the title or by the name – then it gets deleted.”
I don’t think it’s unfortunate, it’s a fact of life for everyone. If there is no perceived value in someones email then it will go by the wayside. I think we would do good to keep this in mind when sending mail out. Make sure we give people value.
Peace,
Darren L Carter
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
I found you through Sean Beadmore’s blog. (I think that’s correct)
Great info on emailing. I have been a very slack one in that department. I don’t think my list would remember they have actually signed up with me. Oops on that one. I really need to set myself a better schedule.
Great looking blog and good to see some more women online!!
See you back here soon!
Jacinta
[Reply]
hi nikki love your site loads of useful info i found the internet selling for newbies really good info from that im waiting on my cd to come out
Thanks
davy
[Reply]
Hey Nikki
I have found that once a week is probably enough, unless you are participating in a product launch and need to mail out to a specific sequence. I have also found that Thursday is a good mailing day too. Not sure why, but it seem to work for me!
Try playing with different styles of e-mail subject and monitor your open and click rates to see what works best. Also take a note of the subjects that make you open e-mails and swipe the ideas.
Best of luck!
Jules.
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
As a newbie and suffering from information overload before I got into Alex’s coaching program I had tons of email in my inbox. I have since cleaned it up and unsubscribed to lists from people that I was not getting good and valuable information from.
Alex teaches to stop being the prospect and start being the marketer. Luckily I have saved emails from lists that I thought had value and I am going to copy them so to speak and look at how they are marketing to me as opposed to what they are marketing.
I am going to be prepared for when I have a list and ensure that I provide value to them in every way I can.
Anna
[Reply]
Wow, I walk away from my blog for a couple of days & look at the comments coming in! Thanks everyone, it’s always good to get your feedback.
………………………
Hi Sally,
That’s very interesting that you left your list alone for a year and then when you came back to them, they were still responsive – you must have built up a great rapport and relationship with them for that to happen.
It’s tricky isn’t it, trying to decide the frequency of these messages. I think a lot of it comes down to the niche that you work in as well – there are so many variables to this.
….
Hi Darren,
You’re right – it’s all about the value. How may times do we see “my close friend X has just released…” and you wonder – do they actually know that person, or have they just agreed to do a mailshot for them & are therefore trying to trick us into believing there’s a connection?
….
Hi Jacinta,
I’ve seen you on John Thornhill’s blog and as one of his case studies as well, I had the pleasure of meeting him in Bristol last weekend. Thanks for the compliments on my blog, much appreciated. I’ll pop over to yours shortly to have another look around (in between cooking Sunday roast at the moment!).
Let me know when you do email your list, and what sort of response you get – it’d be interesting to see if it’s a similar story to Sally (a couple of comments above yours here).
….
Hi Davy,
Yes, I also found ISFN useful, as I mentioned a few pages back on my Viva Las Vegas post (along with some pics and a video that ends with me talking absolute nonsense!). Let me know how you get on with it.
….
Hi Jules,
Thanks for sharing your experiences here. I wonder why a Thursday has proved most popular? Perhaps I shall have to investigate this further…
You’re right about trying out different things to see what gets opened, what doesn’t, and coming to your own conclusions about it. Again though, I’m sure this will all vary according to your niche, your chosen product / service, and any other number of variables. I think the key then is to just keep testing it all, again & again!
….
Hi Anna,
I think I need to go through and unsubscribe from several lists, and abe put some automatic filters on my email for those lists I do want to be on, so that when I want to see what’s going on I can just check in the relevant folder, rather than scrolling through the hundreds of emails in my inbox.
Yes, Alex is right – observe what works and what doesn’t, and learn from it. Why did that particular headline work for you, and what made you delete that email without a second thought? These are all valuable lessons, particularly if they relate to emails being sent by marketers in the same niche as you.
………………….
In fact, all these comments and my replies have a common theme – it all comes down to the relevance to the niche that you’re in. There are no hard & fast rules about this regarding frequency, time of day, anything along those lines. That being said, within particular niches there may well be some commonality.
Thanks for all your comments.
I shall go back to cooking my Sunday roast now!
Nikki / PMW
[Reply]
Hi Nikki,
This is an interesting subject. I have asked several people regarding how often I should be e-mailing my list. Some say everyday..and some say every few days and yet others seem to do it less often and still seem to get good responses. I am trying now to give good content and yet occasionally send something that I think will benefit those on my list. I do not want to bombard those on my list so I have not been sending them a note everyday. I find I need to do adswaps occasionally because otherwise the list just dwindles little by little and never grows. I am not sure that I have found the right balance but am working on it. I found your post and the comments from others to be very insightful. Thanks for bringing up this subject. I will re-visit from time to time to see what other great content you have to offer.
Best Regards,
Alice
[Reply]
HI Nikki!
I was just discussing this with another marketer. How often is too often or too little.
My conclusion is, how often does your list want to hear from you? I think that depends on the quality of your content.
I’ll be damned if I’m going to bombard my list with daily ad swaps or the latest joint venture launch. I don’t open those, why would I expect my list to?
So, while I may seem to neglect my list, I find it preferable to boring them and wasting their time with emails they have no interest in and will not even take the time to open.
The point is to be relevant. What do you think?
Lesley
[Reply]
Twitter: barry_wells
says:
Hey Nikki,
You make a very good point. I now use a web based email account for joining lists and if they’re in my face to much i just delete them. To many promo’s and they’re wasting their time on me. There are some list that I’m on that are proper in their approach, a mix of advice, free and paid offers and they tend to get their own folder.
While I understand that we need to make the list pay for itself I am very cautious in what I send out. I do email my list for every blog post and if something special comes up I’ll send another.
I still need to work on that aspect
Nikki I have to congratulate you, without meaning to be rude in any way at all. Your blog has come a long way recently hasn’t it. I know it’s the LWS (as it is in my case too) and isn’t it good to go over old posts and see the journey you’ve been on? I had great fun doing it
Take care my Purple Princess
Barry
Barry Wells recently posted..Learn With Sally: All Good Things Must Come To An End
[Reply]