The other day, out of nowhere, one of my coaching clients blurted out:

“Hey, I think I want to be able to send out offers to a list of subscribers like you do…  can you help me with that too?”

You see, the reason he said “too” and the reason I said “out of nowhere” is because, like the proverbial “too many irons in the fire” brain, he really didn’t have a focused reason to ask it, as a) the question didn’t relate to what I was coaching him on and b) he didn’t understand what the purpose of a list is in the first place.

After asking him a few questions, it turned out he’s been carrying around this pretty head-shaking, comical belief that list-building means “marketing” and that marketing means “pitching.” (Ah, Joe, I dig ya, dude, for giving me the green light to rip on ya some).

“What makes you think that I, or anybody under our LWL umbrella for that matter, uses opt-in lists as the email version of an advertising and pitching channel?”

I heard the long pause… he knew he’d stepped into something he thought, somehow, someway, that he’d be able to tip-toe out of. So, Joe took a deep breath and preceded to continue what he started:

“Aaaaah, a-hemmm, well, I guess I was just assuming, since everybody else who sends me emails sends me offers, that you guys do too.”

This, unfortunately, is the typical advice given to current-day, green-around-the-ears affiliate markers and anybody else who just wants to “make money online.”

And, like I told Joe, I’ll say it here too:

When you equate an email to an eyeball, the same way that Dot Com’ers did in the ’90s, you end up missing the ‘secret distinction‘ that most newsletter PUBLISHERS “get.” It’s the adoption of some time-proven principles that can take you BEYOND just being a so-called marketer.

The person who labels himself a marketer (and “just” or “mainly” a marketer), more often than not sees an email (and a name) as a target. A hit-or-miss part of the equation that’s gotta be in place to make a sale. It’s not far removed from the “one night stand” mentality.

The person who doesn’t like labels, but just a business that serves — through value-added products or by delivering focused newsletter-style content that synergistically leads into unique, usable products — sees email as a relationship. An ongoing way to communicate his/her interest, experiences, and knowledge. It’s not far removed from wanting to ‘marry the reader’ into his/her world.

But, therein lies either the disservice or the magic.

I explained to my curious, ambitious coachee that this is often where marketing stops and publishing begins.  Many people attempt to bring a reader (a subscriber) into their world, either for all the wrong reasons — by not being upfront about why they are — or by not even delivering what the subscriber subscribed for in the first place.

Actually, Heather wrote a post about this distinction, as it relates to congruency and integrity.

But, I’m going to pass along some quick rules — ah, nah, more like guidelines — that Joe asked me to write up so he could better understand how to command attention, interest and desire with  readers:

== Cont’d ==

♦ First thing to figure out is what you’ll be using an opt-in form for. Is it to give away a “preview” of a product, in the way of a report, audio, video, etc?

If it’s going to be put on a product-specific landing page, for the sole purpose of keeping people in the marketing pipeline, be upfront about that.

In other words, don’t call that campaign or list a “newsletter” if you’re mainly going to use it to “time drip” follow-ups and reminders to purchase that product. There’s nothing wrong with this approach. My advice, if you’re going to set it up for this purpose, is to create a serious of autoresponder emails that go out automatically, and ensure those emails KEEP the focus on moving the subscriber/prospect to customer.

I can’t begin to tell you how many lists I got on, to check out a person’s product offer, only to be emailed about something, sooner-than-later, completely not related to the reason the landing page was set up.

♦ Learn to teach what you know, instead of share what you’ve found. When you use the product-specific landing page technique above, preface your call-to-action with some personal knowledge, life stories, and something that the prospect can resonate with.  Share an opinion, pass along some wisdom and then subtly transition into the reason your product will solve a problem they may have.

Better yet, have multiple opt-in forms whose sole purpose is to ‘prove your worth‘ upfront, as it relates to what that ONE website or product can do for them.  If they opt out, have your email system/software direct them to a custom page that says something like:

Hey, FIRSTNAME… no offense taken.  I know my XYZ product doesn’t make sense for everyone on the planet.

I’m confirming that you’ll no longer receive updates and follow-ups about XYZ product. Also, I wanted to make sure you know that I write an ongoing XXXX newsletter that promises to ________ ( fill in a few benefits).

It’s not a product-driven list. If you join it, I promise I won’t fill your brain with endless pitches or advertising drivel. There is no set publishing schedule, either. We will only write commentary, add a resource link, or upload news items when we have something provocative, progressive, and potentially profitable for you to peruse.

Well, I’m passing on some of our secrets here. And, the last paragraph above is actually part of the verbiage we use ourselves to transition people who don’t want to learn anything about a specific product over to our “No-Limits Living Newsletter“.

You can see how we structure that newsletter HERE (one of our weekend updates).

If a subscriber goes through your cycle of  product-specific emails, doesn’t become a customer, and ALSO doesn’t opt out, then here’s where you can get creative.

Obviously, they still like what you have to say, and probably have an interest related to your product or niche.  Make one of the latter emails in the series an email that essentially tells them that you “Give Up.” Explain to them that you’re scratching your head wondering why they haven’t become a customer yet. Tell them that, if they choose to stay on XYZ list that you’re going to lay off on your own product-specific updates, but you’ll occasionally send them a few intriguing offers from friends of yours. Tell them you understand that these other related products / services may be a better fit for them.

Which brings me to the next and last guideline…

♦ Be a trusted resource — a connector, an expert, a researcher. People buy you, not endless hollow, non-personal emails about unrelated product launches and income-earning deals.

Meaning, people need to know your Killer Value Proposition BEFORE they’ll even pay attention to your name (the one that shows in the FROM: field in their email inbox) or care about your subject line.

If you’re doing MORE impersonal pitching than offering up your experiences, stories, resources, tools, ideas, and passion, do you think they’ll care about your NEXT email?

People care when they know you care.

So, my final thought is that the affiliates who perform the best for us are the ones who have a loyal following. Their readers see them as advocates for their success, their interests. There’s a common bond.

These affiliates sell because they really don’t sell. They’re instead going out of their way to research, write, and serve by being genuinely fascinated by our products/services that they have an interest in themselves, and products/services that they feel serve their subscribers/readers.

—-

LWL Worldwide Inc
Publisher, upcoming  ‘LWL Wealth Vault’ & ‘Renegade Money Guide’

* Amongst many other products that help
you think outside the box and live a
no-limit life.

So, as promised a few days ago via my email broadcast (it’s linked here if you didn’t read it), I’m going to share with you how CAUSE MARKETING comes into play via social media.

First, it’s important to NOTE that my definition and description of “cause marketing” isn’t going to be the same as the standard, dry academic one you may be aware of:

“the type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a ‘for profit‘ business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit.”

Nope… instead, what I’m talking about here is all about your REASON for communicating with one of your lists — your open statement of “here’s why this newsletter (or blog or list you’re asking people to join) exists.”

I can’t begin to tell you how many people online confuse “pitch marketing” with “endorsement teaching” (hell, sometimes I think some folks are trying to be the Billy Mays of Email).

Yeah, sure, I get it — I just made up the phrases above; yet, when you look at how the two words in “quotes” go together, you can begin to see the word play and WHY your readers  either run to OPEN your email or instantly CLOSE  it.

We’ve got some affiliates wondering WHY their conversions were LOW on our recent Interviewing Unwrapped promotion.

Yet, when I go to look at WHAT they’ve been saying to their readers in the recent past, and HOW they’ve been saying it, the commonalities between 4 to 5% sales conversions (which several affiliates achieved) and 1 to 2% conversions (which several affiliates achieved) are pretty clear.

The higher conversions come from lists where the writer, publisher, or marketer spends the majority of their time TEACHING WHAT THEY KNOW about a very narrow and niche-specific topic.

Let me ask you something:

If you create a landing page, or have an opt-in form on a blog, where the verbiage is all about how you’re going to teach “traffic techniques,” yet you pitch MORE THAN you teach, or you rarely give away your “traffic generation” knowledge, what d’ya think your subscribers are eventually going to do?

Uhmmm, let’s see: possibly wonder about your intentions, what your agenda is, and just who the hell you are?

Or, if you’re constantly pitching stuff that’s not really related to traffic-generation, what could be the ultimate backlash from the reader?

Let their fingers do the walking to the DELETE key?

Yup, probably.

Here’s the rub about all this:

I constantly see more and more UNFOCUSED pitches and canned endorsements about others’ products (including ours) — products that don’t sync up, resonate, or jive with the “marketer’s” list.

Whether it’s the need to be seen as one of the cool people who jumped on board a “buzz-filled” dated launch, or whether it’s just about fast cash, in the long run the shotgun strategy is going to do more harm to your business (hopefully that’s how you look at cultivating and nurturing a list of readers).

I do believe Dave Vallieres said it well when he said:

“A lot of online email newsletters are well nothing but sales machines — full of hype — or pure fiction. Here’s a fact: Of the 372 IM email newsletters I subscribe to, only 12 provide any kind of factual, un-biased advice or news about Internet marketing. I’m not making a judgment here, but those are the facts.”

And, of course, like Dave, I’m NOT slapping the verbal ruler at any LWL affiliate(s) in particular.

What I am saying, however, is this:

It doesn’t matter how spectacular, mediocre, or even bad a publisher’s sales page is (er, forget that — I know we need to present somebody with a proper offer and have compelling reasons to look at that offer); if you’re not open and clear with your list about what they should (and will) expect from you, it’s all a moot point.

If you’ve got a GENERAL “internet marketing” list and you’ve been explicit somewhere along the reader’s opt-in path about you being their advocate, their researcher, their investigator for QUALITY products… then, FIRE AWAY and strictly present them with offers.

Yet, do it with YOU behind the pitch. There’s a reason, by the way, I mentioned Billy Mays above.  He wasn’t the most-liked, most respected pitchman on T.V. just by chance.  He became famous and fabulously rich for one reason ONLY:

As his partner,  Anthony “Sully” Sullivan, said last night on the Discovery Channel’s tribute to Billy:

“He was the most authentic guy I know, only pitching products that he had a passion for. Everybody could see and feel how genuine he is on camera. It’s like he came alive in your living room.”

In other words, like Billy, if you are gonna “pitch” (sell your brains out), do it for all the RIGHT reasons — to serve your subscribers and customers by finding informational products that can make their life better, easier, happier, healthier, and more prosperous!

Now, as promised, here’s the excellent blog article about how someone with 2000 Twitter followers can be more powerful than a person with 25,000.

The article will give you two specific examples of how cause marketing (my version) endears YOU, your specific interest, hobby, or fascination, with readers who actually DO want to cheer you on and LOOK at you as their expert and advocate.

Talk soon… actually, I’ll talk to you tomorrow via a  QUICK video tour of some of our new “Affiliate Tools” associated with our product line-up.

LWL Worldwide Inc
Publisher, upcoming  ‘LWL Wealth Vault’ & ‘Renegade Money Guide’

* Amongst many other products that help
you think outside the box and live a
no-limit life.

We’ll be with you next week about the release of two new very unique, highly-anticipated PHYSICAL products you can promote, assuming they make sense for any specific list or customer base you have.

Speaking of that, it’s rare, we’re finding, that affiliates are spending time segmenting what they do or do NOT send to people.  In excerpt #2 below, you’ll hear more about that.

First, the introduction:

In 2005, a world-class copywriter, a high-paid marketing consultant, and a Guerrilla Marketing teacher got together to discuss seven steps that, when and if implemented, would produce a seven-figure business.

The recordings of these calls are still much-talked-about in the world of Internet Marketing, and you can listen to TWO excerpts that we feel will CATAPULT your online business and affiliate commissions, due to a few tweaks in how you “think” about your subscribers.

Both these excerpts RELATE to the impromptu message Barry gave a few days ago on “Cause Marketing.”

POWERFUL EXCERPT #1: (10:08)

POWERFUL EXCERPT #2: (6:57)

If you’re an existing (approved) affiliate — you ARE one if you’ve been sent a WELCOME email and/or you can log in using the instructions on the next page — click below to gain ACCESS to the entire recordings.

——————————

From John Carlton:

The Tactic7 calls were some of most solidly informative — and pure fun — teleseminar-type calls I’ve ever participated in. It was a short, and incredibly intense series of calls. Just five, total.

Like a meteor shower of info. Blazing bright, then gone.

Yet, there were nearly 4,000 people signed up to listen in. Judging from my email, the joint was packed with players and hotly-motivated marketers.

The whole concept was brilliant. My colleagues and I were sitting around one day, and realized that we agreed on the 7 basic tactics behind the most successful entrepreneurs and marketers we knew. Thus: Tactic7 was born.

You can still catch replays of the calls here:

http://www.copywriting.tv/1948.html

or

http://www.copywriting.tv/1953.html

NOTE:  If the files, via one of the two pages above, don’t work, USE THIS PAGE INSTEAD

I seriously am not sure how much longer they’ll be posted, for free, like this. There are four of us involved in this endeavor, and we’re all headstrong in our opinions. Okay, stubborn as mules.

If the embedded video above buffers — stops and starts — 
watch it via this page instead

>> Why a BIG opt-in list means squat if you’re not doing three essential things with it.

>> Meet two LWL contractors who help us grow our business. They can be available to you, on an “on call” basis too.

>> The $15,000 One-Click Upsell Module.

>> How our Graphics division can help you look gooooood, baaaaaaby !

——————————————–

Before we dive into this news update and training, here’s a memorable little acronym for M-O-N-E-Y that came across our desk recently:

M aximize your dreams
O rganize to overcome obstacles
N etwork to net worth
E njoy the moment
Y ield and abundance

So, let’s get right into it…

Our LWL (Life Without Limits) brand is all about doing the “right” kind of activity, not just any activity, to produce optimized RESULTS. Results that come about by operating in a way that makes things easy and fun for you while you’re doing it.

Then again, there’s something that sets the foundation for that too.

You’ve heard the old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and probably the modern variant on it, “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” We’re here to tell you it’s not that, either. A big address book or an even bigger fan base is worth next to nothing unless those people will do one thing: take action on your behalf.

It’s not your network itself that has value for you, it’s your ability to call your network into action.

Years ago, our friend and fellow info-publisher Marlon Sanders coined the phrase, “The money is in the list.”

You’ve heard that repeated so many times that you probably had no idea who said it first, and you may have even taken it as a gospel truth. After all, if you hear something enough, it usually becomes a part of your belief system (which is why affirmations, when done properly — with emotion attached to the words — can have some really profound effects).

Internet marketing was — and often still is — a game of “how big is your list?” Yes, just like kids play a sandbox game of “My dad’s bigger than your dad,” and boys grow up thinking that the size of their equipment is what’s important in the bedroom, and girls flock to plastic surgeons thinking bigger breasts will solve all their problems, many marketers are still under the impression that “bigger is better” when it comes to your opt-in list.

But you’ll always hear people in the know say, “It’s not about the size, it’s what you do with it that counts!”

And the same holds true, believe it or not, with your list.

A few years ago, Heather was hired to interview numerous list-building experts for a product called Opt-In List Confessions.

By that time, the landscape was starting to change. Gone were the days when only a few marketers were actively building subscriber lists, and those with 100,000 or a million followers were basically printing money at the push of a button by sending out a carefully crafted email.

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