5,000 on My Email List...What's to Do?

[HalfSwede]

Hi Folks:
First Question:
I have an opt-in email list consisting of nearly 5,000 emails. I was just wondering if that seems like a good size list. I've collected the emails by running a quarterly contest for a $100 gift certificate, but have done very little in the way of follow up email advertising.

Typically, I will send out a message after the conclusion of a contest saying "You May Have Won a $100 GiftEscapes.com Gift Certificate...". Instead of posting the winner's name in the email, I put it on the bottom of my home page. So, for the email recipient to see if they won, they actually have to click through to my web site. The good news is I get a 50% click-through rate. The bad news is I don't generate a lot of sales from this email.

Second question: Any suggestions on how to get some sales out of those that click-through? Maybe I need a landing page with some good sales copy with the name of the winner buried at the bottom of the page?

Also, I'm thinking I just need to "beef up" my autoresponder so that emails will go out to my subscribers on a regular and frequent basis (for brand recognition). I have also thought about hiring a "ghost writer" so that I could send out some travel-related content that might be of interest to my subscribers.

Third question: Is getting content out to the subscribers a good place to focus at this stage of the game? I found a site that will do articles for about $30/each.

Thanks,
HalfSwede

[Stayaz]

5000 is a great start for your mailing list. I like the layout of your site. Are you using Aweber or another tool to capture your lists? What type of SEO are you doing? I noticed when I did a search on Gift Escapes specific your site came to the top. Where do you fall if someone searches Travel Gift Cards? Or Unique Gift Cards?

While I am new to this whole arena of personal muses I have some experience building email campaigns for my full time job. I would definitely recommend that you work on your follow up email campaigns. You have to give people a compelling value to your product and a call to action. Reminding them to remember upcoming holidays, birthdays, fathers day, mothers day, etc is always a great idea. I would also suggest capturing demographic data on the sign up form as well to help you better understand your customer base.

You may want to tailor your emails to a special group of B&Bs during certain times of the year, example, phoenix during spring training season, LA during summer, NY in the fall. This would also provide you the opportunity to upsell the specific B&B on additional advertising dollars. As you can say to them for $x we will target an email campaign mentioning your B&B for 60 days. And then build your campaigns around those advertisers.

Just a couple thoughts.
Hope that helps somewhat.

Great job! Congrats!

[Peter Bowen]

The internet marketing myth has always been "The money is in the list". I don't agree with that.

I've heard it expressed far better (by Peter Carruthers) as "The money is in the relationship with the list"

Build the relationship the same way you would with friends in an offline business - you give before you ask.

Cheers

Pete

[FrozenCanuck]

I have to tell you I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH PETER. He hit the nail on the head here.

Do this:

Look up Frank Kern's "Mass Control" program and then look up Jeff Walker's "Product Launch Formula". Both of these guys tell you the SAME thing, that you must first build a list (by the way 5000 is AMAZING), and you must then build a relationship with the list by giving them all kinds of stuff that they will value (lessons, myths and stories about fundraising will work). You must make them LIKE you and then induce the law of reciprocity, where they feel they owe you something without you EVER asking.

Give them good product, and remind them they can always learn MUCH MORE by purchasing your program for less than a hundred bucks.

IF you want to do something interesting, do this. TAKE THE COURSE OFF THE MARKET, and start emailing your list about how you are re-doing the sytem to make it even more powerful. Give them some free content by posting it to a blog (videos work great) and then tell them you're re-launching the program on a specific date. Tell them that you will only allow 300 copies to go out because you are including FREE phone consulting with each customer (say you're offering up to 2 hours of free phone consultation), and that justifies your limit of 300 customers.

Most customers won't use the consulting but if half did, you'd need to spend 300 hours servicing people for revenue of $30k.

So obviously that seems a bit much, 300 hours (I doubt it would be that) is 7.5 full 40-hr work weeks. Screw that.

SO RAISE YOUR PRICE. Make it $299 and offer a full 110% refund for people who are not happy.

You will then be able to bring in perhaps 90k of revenue on ONE LAUNCH.

You absoultely need to "launch" your product.

You can pepper the launch with free content by interviewing people you've previously helped, and doing this in VIDEO format (phone audio interview + slides that you put to go along with the audio).

This works VERY well.

Do it.

[HalfSwede]

Look up Frank Kern's "Mass Control" program and then look up Jeff Walker's "Product Launch Formula". Both of these guys tell you the SAME thing, that you must first build a list (by the way 5000 is AMAZING), and you must then build a relationship with the list by giving them all kinds of stuff that they will value (lessons, myths and stories about fundraising will work). You must make them LIKE you and then induce the law of reciprocity, where they feel they owe you something without you EVER asking.


My mailing list with 5,000 emails is for my other muse...GiftEscapes which sells gift certificates for use at B&Bs and spas (mentioned elsewhere on the 4HWW forum).

I'm kind of working on both of these at the same time, so I understand the confusion. My fundraising muse email list has 0 subscribers at this moment! :) Still trying to polish up my sales page, and then will test with some Google AdWords.

Having said that, your points are still much appreciated and apply to my GiftEscapes muse as well...In both cases, need to develop the relationship!

Thanks,
HalfSwede

[webgal]

My fundraising muse email list has 0 subscribers at this moment! :)

Not true. You have one. <grin>

[HalfSwede]

Not true. You have one. <grin>

Not true! I REMOVED you as per my previous promise to remove any testers! :)

If you truly want to subscribe and receive the 7-part "Extreme Fundraising" mini-course (put on plaid jacket and slick back hair) at NO COST and NO OBLIGATION, just resubscribe...:)

Sorry, for removing you.

BTW, is your team still in the tournament?

Cheers,
HalfSwede

[webgal]

We were posting at the same time. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!