Not John Chow Presents “The Money is in the List – Are You Getting It?” Email List Cash Extraction Part 2

Overview of List Management – Part 2

● To introduce additional information and ratings on specific list maintenance types, and to show you who uses them for what type of business, when, where, how and why.

● To discuss and rate the personal lists containing solely affiliate and advert content.

● To look at the final potential list types (the ad lists) and to demonstrate which direction they will take your business in.

● To wrap up the section, and get practical. To have you select a list type and stick to it, whether you’ve started your list building already or not. Let’s pick the one that’s going to make the most of your success right now.

Personal List – Affiliate and Ad Content
A personal affiliate list is much the same as the previously discussed personal mixed list, however this time, you’re not sending tips, hints or content, but ads for programs that you promote yourself and of course your own products. This differs from an ad list because we’re clear here that all products that are promoted are yours and what you promote through affiliate programs. There are no outside sources sending ads to your list. Although no content is provided, this can be especially useful if you’re well known, and have a solid following.

Here we have it, list type number three. This is a great little earner for particular types of marketers who carry out a specific type of marketing, with a specific type of product. Now I know what you might be thinking on seeing the description of this, and you’d be right to wonder how the heck you’re going to keep subscribers interested, and keep subscribers reading when all you’re doing is sending ads. The key here we mentioned earlier, and that’s that the ads you’re sending are directly related to you, aside from the odd joint venture here and there.
You still get to promote your own products, but with minimal a amount of work. At the same time, you’re aiming to not just get signups, but grab affiliates who join under you in multi level based affiliate programs and promote for you. This is probably the best example list wise here that shows that to make a lot of money, you don’t always have to concentrate on instant sales, and making sales yourself. In fact, in this case, it’s far more profitable to be promoting for affiliates, as equally as you promote for sales.
Imagine this, your list consists of twenty other people exactly like you that have lists of people they promote to, either for sales or for more affiliates, and people to join under them in a particular earnings program. Now when your ad goes out, you’re likely to get a certain amount of sales, (depending on your list quality) and also a particular amount of affiliates, who will join under you, and promote to their lists. Keep going down this path, and before long, if you jumped in at the top of a multi level program, and your list is effective, you’ll have a kind of domino effect, and will get access to all sorts of people branching off in different ways from your original promotion.

See how this type of approach is angled towards a particular type of marketing? If you’ve been in online marketing for any amount of time, you’ll know that multi level systems aren’t all bad news. There are some great, simple two, three, four, or even more level programs out there that have both a good product, and allow earnings in this way. Of course, that’s another topic and for you to separate the good from the bad. I just want to demonstrate right now, how this type of list works.
So you might be wondering, how the heck you keep your list interested if all you’re sending them is ads and ads for other programs. Well as you can see from the above example, whereas the normal person might not enjoy these ads, like minded people with the same type of lists, and established marketers with promotion power may indeed feel that what you’re sending them is profitable.
Not to mention the fact that if you’re a big name already, or at least well know within your circle, people are pleased to know what you’re doing. It’s the smart ones that sit on your list, and watch you. Watch how you handle situations, what software you use, what you promote, how you promote. The catch? The catch is if you’re not well known to your list already, then this can seem like a simple ad list to the unstrained eye, resulting in a loss of interest and subscribers.
My advice here is simple. Even though the work load is low, you don’t really need to perform any other maintenance aside from your standard product creation, and of course searching for new products to create, you’ll probably want to leave this one until you’re established, or have a good base of people on your list that know your name, how much you earn and how darn good at your marketing you are. Of course there is a much faster alternative, and it involves getting yourself well known through joint ventures and through other people’s lists. Once you’ve done that, if people start migrating to your list, you won’t have to worry about them running off and leaving because they’re wondering who the heck this random person is sending them adverts that are no use to them.
If you’re going to be using this type of list, make one hundred percent sure that it’s right for your business, and the type of promotion you want to carry out. You’ll also find that if your subscribers don’t know you already, or have at least heard of you, they’ll be gone faster than the previous two list types for the simple reason is they don’t understand what you’re offering them with your mailings.

This is definitely a great list type, and does indeed work well. There are many marketers out there, who’s list I’m on right now, that utilize this effectively. Every single one of them however, was either established already when this list type came to life in their marketing efforts, or got established really quickly through recognition and other peoples lists to allow them to do this right off the bat. As you can see it’s a tough balance to make, but once you’ve got it, this can be a great little earner.

Unsubscription Rate: ** Two stars: Unfortunately many people may see this as a plain ad list and unsubscribe, especially if they don’t understand how powerful this list type can be. Once you’ve got a good base of people with similar interests however, you’re going to reap the rewards big time from many, many branches of promotion through your subscribers lists, your subscribers subscribers lists and so on. Be very wary when selecting this list type, because if you don’t have the right contacts, or the right name and expertise, it won’t work.
Subscription Rate: ** Two stars again: It’s far easier to get people to subscribe to your list when they know they’re getting something valuable in return. Of course standard follow-up and offering valuable freebies works here as with all other lists. The problem lies with trying to pull up a good quality list that will not only be interested in your products, but have lists of their own related to your target market that will benefit you on those big reoccurring income products with standard multiple level affiliate programs.
Your previous customers and affiliates are your best bet here, as they already know you and know your name. Not only are they more likely to stay subscribed longer, but they’ll be more likely to take an interest in what you have to say, and have promotion power of their own.
Ad income: *** Three stars here, although, this is a hard one to judge and depends entirely on how well your list is performing. Generally ads to this type of list are in demand for two reasons. One it’s your personal list that no one else has access to (always a real value adder that one) and number two, to sustain a list that works in this way for any length of time needs what we spoke about earlier. Good affiliates and sales stats.
Many marketers in the know are clued up about exactly how valuable such a list is. Generally it’s unlikely that you’ll be selling ads very often, but like the previous personalized list, if you’re stuck for cash one day, it’s a quick fix. Try not to do this too often, though, as we already talked about, your subscribers are there to make money. They’re there because they know the programs you create and join make money, and know you know how to make money. Starting to send out ads to offer ads to a very borderline list type like this, and you risk alienating your subscribers, and losing some really valuable people with that all important promotion power.
JV Circle: **** Four stars: This is a list type that despite what it seems on the surface holds a lot of value joint venture wise. The subscribers are quality subscribers, with list of their own, ready and eager to promote affiliate programs, and buy products all at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds, a short term money maker and a resource builder.
It’s also a list personal to you, most likely consisting of the people that have purchased from you before, or even affiliates who have promoted for you before. All of these factors bring in a high value and make your list a great bargaining tool when talking about or looking for new joint ventures.
There is one downside though, as with the pervious personal list, the more money you try to make short term by selling ads to subscribers, aside from the risks of alienating your subscriber base, the more you devalue your joint venture prospects. Now one or two won’t hurt, but start up on a regular basis, and you may find yourself subjected to a demotion to an ad list, which doesn’t hold much water joint venture wise. Keep it clean, keep it strict, and withhold access. Keep the quality subscribers and affiliates (the resource builders) up, and you’ll find that in JV negotiations, this list type holds much more water than the e-zine or ad list, in some cases as much as the personal list.
Response Rate Over Time: **** Four stars: In general, this list types response rate over time doesn’t seem to vary too much from the very personal list we talked about previously. There’s only two real times that this list type will falter, and that’s firstly if you alienate, like we talked about above, and if your subscribers don’t understand the purpose of it.

For this reason you may see a smaller than average list, but this is fine, because lets be honest, what good are people that don’t understand your list type, or just question your intent non stop? They’re not going to make you any money, and they’re not going to be making themselves any money either, so if you have to sacrifice quantity for quality, that’s a good trade off. Once you have these big resource gatherers, affiliates, buyers and list owners, and they know your name, and your game, you’ll rarely lose them unless you change your list type, in which case, they might all just scarper due to the fact the reasons for them staying in the first place have been removed.
General usefulness: **** Four stars: Because this list is also very personal, it’s not hard to get important tracking information from the subscribers. They’re happy to give it to you simply because they know it’s going to make them more money in the end, and of course many of them are on your list solely for the opportunity to join your programs and things you promote, and make wads of cash. They’re all too happy to reveal to you what turns them on, hence the four stars.
Remember, no matter what list you have (maybe with the exception of the one coming up), research is good. Ask them, find out what their own lists are tailored to promote, and you’ll see some big returns if you listen to the numbers at the end of the day. The only ones that won’t be forthcoming are those that don’t quite see the concept of this type of list, and it’s likely they won’t be hanging around for long anyway.
Maintenance Time: ***** Five stars: If you’re short of time, don’t like writing, or want to put more of your efforts into creating products, family time, vacations or whatever it might be, this list type will save you a few hours a day compared to e-zine lists. The only type of research that you’ll find yourself having to do is questions to your list to find out what makes them tick, and of course searching for products to promote. How do you find products to promote? Get yourself on some well know marketers affiliate lists such as this. See how it’s a big chain? The bigger your name gets, the more cash you earn, the more subscribers you pull, the more people are going to do the very same thing and jump on your list to find out what to promote and how, earning all of you a whole lot of money.

Important note here: These are base figures and your exact results may be higher or lower than the above. It’s more to give you some insight into aiming your business in the right direction than to give you exact figures and numbers and guaranteed base earning, response rate, income, number of JV prospects etc.

Ad List
An ad list is generally a list that you build and send outside ads to without any useful content at all. This is the easily the fastest method of list maintenance of all of the above, and despite a major a downer in unsubscription rates, and the challenge of getting people to subscribe in the first place, is still widely used solely for income from ad sales.
The ad list. Oh this one makes me shudder. It’s the bane of my existence, and the totally blatant amateur marketers club, the ad list. Take every example that we’ve used, and everything that I’ve shown you so far, from relationship building, to useful content, personal lists, and your reputation, throw it out the window, go fetch it, then throw it out the window all over again.
So, you may be wondering why this is even reviewed if it’s so terrible. Well, the reason for me doing so is to show you what your list can turn into if you’re not very careful about managing it. If things get out of balance and get out of hand, and your list turns into an ad list long term, you’ve had it, aside from the cash you’re going to bring in through selling ads, which let me assure you, doesn’t even compare to what you can earn to selling your own products, Jv’s, or promoting other peoples programs.
So what do you get from an ad list? Well, ads really, that about sums it up. All you’re doing here is getting a bunch of people together on a big list, saying ‘forget the relationships, forget JVs, forget my own products, forget useful content or anything of the sorts, my aim is to get the biggest list so I can sell ads for the highest price’.
Despite my apparent lack of enthusiasm for this type of list, some people do still seem to insist it’s the best way to go about things. Maybe if you didn’t know how to create your own products, or how much money is in affiliate promotion (when done correctly) or just didn’t have the time or wanted some quick short term income, this is choice of most with these kinds of attitudes. Let’s take a look at why I’m so harsh about this list type. Oh, and don’t be offended if you’ve been running an ad list, or have run one in the past, just let it be known it is not by far the best way to make money from your list.
Unsubscription Rate: * Ouch. One star: On an ad list where your main aim has been to sell ads over and over again to people for the highest price possible, with no other means of communication or content, it’s obvious many subscribers will get bored quickly. I would, and I do too. You might argue some want to see the ads, but would you rather see a load of random ads from random people, or see ads from someone that you know for sure knows what they’re talking about, what they’re promoting, and what they’re JV’ing? Start an ad list, and be prepared to have to top up often from the un-subscriptions, that is if your mail even gets read before it’s deleted or filtered.
Subscription Rate: * One star again: Now I one starred this because in all honesty, telling people all they’re going to receive is a bunch of random ads isn’t really the easiest way of attracting subscribers. Many of the lists of this type that I’ve come across don’t come from previous customers or valuable affiliates, but purchased leads (which also make me shudder almost as much).
If in all honesty you’re telling the subscriber what they get before they subscribe, they probably just aren’t going to bother, aside from the odd few who want the freebie. Buying leads still gets the one star from me, because one hundred thousand random subscribers has nothing on one thousand people who know your name, your reputation and speak highly of you. If you go down this route, prepare to either have a really small list that just doesn’t care about anything really or a really huge list that costs a lot that really doesn’t care either. What is there for them to care about, random ads? I think not.

Ad income: ** Two stars: Not that this makes up for the other huge short comings mind you, but generally the ad income can be ok depending on the size of your list. An ad to a list of a hundred thousand for a hundred dollars can look like a good deal to the entry level online marketer, or someone who hasn’t been around and seen the sights yet. Of course we know better though. The response rates tell the story, and when your customers don’t see any response to their ads, if they’re smart, they won’t be coming back to give your their cash ever again, bad news for your long term prospects.
JV Circle: * One star, once again: Unfortunately a list that isn’t personal, doesn’t have good subscribers, people that have bought from you, willing to spend cash, affiliates, or even populated with people in your target market won’t be a hot topic for joint ventures. Try to barter with one of these, and don’t expect to get very far unless your JV prospect is inexperienced. And in any case, if they’re inexperienced, it’s unlikely the joint venture will be profitable to you in any case.
Response Rate Over Time: * One star: If you receive a different ad every day for a year from a list, would your make the effort to open and read? Doubtful, unless you knew the marketer well or were interested in their work. (Some would argue it’s the job of the headline or the skill of the marketer that decides whether or not the mail gets opened. This is the case to an extent, however when you’re building a list for your own personal use, you want the most sales, and the biggest response rate possible, which you can play a big role in not just through your ads, but the way in which your list is built. Looking at things this way, the best ad in the world probably wouldn’t pull as good a response from an ad list compared to one just two thirds of the quality sent to a personal list.) It’s a big never-ending roll downhill. The more ads your send, the more people unsubscribe, the less people care, the more you’re filtered, blacklisted, and not taken seriously as a marketer. Your response rates will plummet. Fast.
General usefulness: * One star: Unfortunately even general usefulness here is a downer. Again, no one cares what you have to say or about your questions, because they don’t know you. They might have known you if they didn’t receive a load of ads from different people every day, or every week or whatever, but that isn’t the case here. It’s unlikely many will be reading, never mind be motivated to answer any questions you might have or research inquiries. And after all, why should they if they’re not getting anything out of it too? A daily bunch of random third party ads of varying quality from hundreds of different people don’t count.
Maintenance Time: ***** Yay! Finally, five stars: You receive the ad from your customer, cash lands in your account, paste in the ad, hit send and you’re done, the ultimate quick, not-much-to-do list maintenance method. I assure you, though, this will never ever make up for it’s shortcomings in other areas. Don’t bother if you’re looking for a serious online business. It’s just not the way to go about things, morally or logically.
Important note here: These are base figures and your exact results may be higher or lower than the above. It’s more to give you some insight into aiming your business in the right direction than to give you exact figures and numbers and guaranteed base earnings, response rate, income, number of JV prospects etc.
Divide & Conquer

Ok, that’s the reviews done with. Before we move on, I’d like to discuss a couple more points with you, and of course find out which type of list you’re going to be running. Before that, though, point number one. Remember to divide up your lists for tracking a relevance purposes. If you sell a piece of software and gain a load of subscribers, affiliates, sales and so on through your site, you don’t want to then try to mix it all up and sell them onto an online marketing scheme, because you’re going off track, losing the reason they subscribed in the first place, and will in the end lose subscribers.
Another reason for doing this is your tracking and testing. We already talked in several key areas about how important tracking and testing actually is using your list as kind of a market research tool. You don’t want to be asking about online marketing when your list is based on software, no one will have a clue what you’re talking about, you’ll get bad data, and a whole bunch of ubsubscriptions, and in extreme cases, strange phone calls.
Don’t be afraid to split your lists up and have two or three smaller ones related to different markets or different areas. This isn’t unusual at all, and the extra work and maintenance is worth it by far when you look at the possibilities and the clear research data you can gain from each targeted list individually. Of course, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with introducing one list to the other and inviting them to join if they’re interested. Don’t randomly mold them into one though, or you’ll confuse the heck out of people.
Another advantage here is something closer to home and more direct, and that’s simply it allows you to target people specifically for the type of products you’re selling. We all know how important targeting is, and how much of a waste of time it is selling golf clubs to someone who’s interested in fishing equipment, this is just the same. On a deeper level, you’re allowed massive flexibility too. It’s not just for show.
You’ll be able to get more relevant people to spend more on relevant products, earning you even more money and targeted affiliates at the same time. You’re even targeting indirect sales here and your future resource building by doing this in the way of additional subscribers and affiliates as well as direct sales. It doesn’t get any better than this, and it sure beats just throwing them all in the same hat, and hoping the right people read it. The power here is catering to your customers to your needs.
The Personal Touch
Finally, we have the personal touch. It’s something that’s always important when you’re running your own list. In fact, speaking of the personal touch, just four months ago I remember getting a Christmas card from one of the programmers that’s working on something for me. It wasn’t anything special, just an e-card sent via e-mail to all his customers, with a generic dear sir/madam at the top of it. It was nice though, and what’s nicer for him is I remembered it. Heck, I don’t even remember what I had for dinner two nights ago so it definitely did something. I’ve used his services four times since.
The same is going to apply to your subscribers. Send them Christmas greetings for example, and they will remember you. Many people do this already in some form or another, but a little graphic maybe, something fun that isn’t there to sell them on something. Remembering that programmer and his name, and his company name is proof that it works. (I have many more examples of this. It wasn’t just a one off) I’ve seen others do this too, and I still remember them from last year. How many ads do you remember that landed in your inbox say, three months ago? Be personal, but professional, and this will not only be relevant to your business, but more importantly, your reputation and your profits.

All Done – Now It’s Your Turn
Ok so we’ve been through four main possibilities. I hope that I got across to you what the pros and cons, the upsides and downsides are for each example. Remember they’re all categorized loosely here, you can modify and gel one into the other to make hybrids. What I hoped to have demonstrated though is a picture of what effects what and why, when choosing how to maintain your list. Hopefully also this will be super easy for you. Which one is the best to choose? The one that is best for you and your business, not just now, but in the future. Once you’ve gone down a path for a list, it’s not easy to change. Make the right decision now based on what you have in front of you, and you can sleep easy in the knowledge that your choice will benefit you not just from the day you start building your list, but one, two, five, even ten years or more into the future.
It’s your choice. There is no wrong answer. Pick the one that’s right for you and your business.

Summary

● Greetings and welcome to list maintenance part two. Let’s continue with our reviews and look at the final few main categories that lists fall in to.

● The personal list – affiliate and ad content. This is much the same as the personal mixed content list, however this time, you’re not sending tips, hints, or content, but ads however only ads for your own products, the affiliate programs you promote and through joint ventures. Although no content is provided, this list type is especially useful if you’re well known, and have previously released products of your own.

● Un-subscription Rate ** Two Stars: Unfortunately many people see this as a plain ad list and unsubscribe if they haven’t been in online marketing for a period of time. Once you have a base of experienced people however, you’re going to reap the rewards. Be wary when selecting this list type, because if you don’t have the right contacts and the right expertise gained through your own products, this won’t work. If you do have those things, no matter what you send people will listen to you, and it’s in this situation that your unsubscription rate drops off and I’d be happy to up this to three or even four stars.

● Subscription Rate ** Two stars again: It’s easier to get people subscribed to your list when they know they’re getting some serious content. Many people yet to reach their goals don’t understand that these lists are powerful, simply for following established marketers and learning about how they run their businesses. Your previous customers and affiliates are your best bet here, especially as they’ll be interested in what you have to say, have lists of their own and be ready to pack out your affiliate promotion on the second level. Beware however, if you have an inexperienced crowd at your disposal they may unsubscribe in numbers due to mistaking your list for a simple ad list.

● Ad Income *** Three stars: This is a pretty tricky one and it totally depends on how your list is performing. Ads to this type of list are in demand because first of all, it’s your personal list that no one else has access to, and two to sustain a list like this for any period of time is not easy, but if you pull it off, it’s going to be one of the most responsive lists you can find. Many marketers in the know are clued up about exactly how valuable such a list is. Generally it’s unlikely that you’ll be selling ads very often, but like the previous personalized list, if you’re stuck for cash one day, it’s a quick fix. Starting to send out ads and offering ads to a very borderline list type like this, and you risk alienating your subscribers, and losing some really valuable people with promotion power.

● JV Circle **** Four Stars: This list is typically what marketers are looking for when they come to joint venture with list owners. Highly qualified list owners ready and eager to both buy products and promote affiliate programs consisting of people who have purchased from you before, or even affiliates who have promoted for you before. All of these factors bring a high value to this list type and make it a great bargaining tool when approaching or being approached for joint ventures. Keep the quality subscribers and affiliates (the resource builders) up, and you’ll find that in JV negotiations, this list type holds much more water than the e-zine or ad list, in some cases as much as the personal mixed content list.

● Response rate over time **** Four Stars: Again, this list types response rate over time doesn’t vary too much from the mixed content personal list we talked about earlier. The only additional things you have to look out for is using too many ads from third parties in a short space of time (remember these people are here to hear about you and follow your business, no one else’s) and secondly, those who don’t understand the concept of learning through other marketers ads, or you happen to change your list type. If your list type changes, but the reason everyone is subscribed does not. This can be devastating.

● General Usefulness **** Four Stars: Because this list is also very personal, it’s not hard to get important tracking information from the subscribers. They’re happy to give it to you simply because they know it’s going to make them more money in the end, and of course many of them are on your list solely for the opportunity to join your programs and things you promote, and make wads of cash. They’re all too happy to reveal to you what turns them on, hence the four stars. The only ones that won’t be forthcoming are those that don’t quite see the concept of this type of list, and it’s likely they won’t be hanging around for long anyway.

● Maintenance Time ***** Five Stars.:The ideal list if you’re short of time or don’t particularly like writing. The only thing you’ll have to do is find out what your subscribers are interested in, which is a short job and beneficial to you anyway. Be wary however, if you haven’t gathered the subscribers though your own products and reputation, this list type won’t work. People jumping onto your list are interested in you and your business, what you’re promoting, and how much money you’re earning, using your list as kind of research for themselves.

● Finally, the ad list. Take every example that we’ve used, and everything that I’ve shown you so far, from relationship building, to useful content, personal lists, and your reputation, throw it out the window, go fetch it, then throw it out the window all over again. It’s a simple list that accepts all ads from everyone, your own products, other peoples products, affiliate promotion and so on. It’s very impersonal and sends no content. Very often, subscribers don’t even know who the publisher is.

● Un-subscription Rate * One Star: Most of these ad lists that I’ve come across either use unethical methods or promise things that they don’t actually deliver on predictably causing a high unsubscription rate. Granted some people may want to see ads, this is true, but from a specific person they know and trust and either work off the list owners marketing or follow in their footsteps. This list type doesn’t allow that either. Even when legitimate methods are used, giving away free stuff for example, it’s not unusual for these lists to be packed full of freebie seekers, who as you can imagine, are not very profitable to anyone.

● Subscription Rate * One Star: As you can probably plainly see, telling people all they’re going to receive is ads is not a good way to get subscribers. In general, these lists are shooting for numbers rather than quality so they can charge more for ads. In summary, they’re hard to get subs for ethically, and quality suffers either way through the sheer unfocused number and type of ads being sent.

● Ad Income ** Two Stars: Not that this makes up for the other huge shortcomings mind you, but generally the ad income can be ok depending on the size of your list. An ad to a list of a hundred thousand for a hundred dollars can look like a good deal to the entry level online marketer, or someone who hasn’t been around and seen the sights yet. Of course we know better though. The response rates tell the story, and when your customers don’t see any response on their ads, if they’re smart they won’t be coming back to give you their cash ever again. Bad news for your long-term prospects, which is what building a business is all about.

● JV Circle * One star, once again: Unfortunately a list that isn’t personal slips up big time on subscriber quality. People that have bought from you, willing to spend cash, affiliates, or even populated with people in your target market are in most cases missing. For this reason, you won’t be a hot topic for joint ventures. Try to barter with one of these, and don’t expect to get very far unless your JV prospect is inexperienced. And in any case, if they’re inexperienced, it’s unlikely the joint venture will be profitable to you in any case.

● Response Rate Over Time * One Star: If you receive a different ad every day for a year from a list, would your make the effort to open and read their mails? Doubtful, unless you knew the marketer well or were interested in their work. It’s a big never-ending roll downhill. The more ads your send, the more people unsubscribe, the less people care, the more you’re filtered, blacklisted, and not taken seriously as a marketer. Your response rates will plummet. Fast.

● General Usefulness * One Star: Unfortunately even general usefulness here is a downer. Again, no one cares what you have to say or about your questions, because they don’t know you. They might have known you if they didn’t receive a load of ads from different people every day, or every week or whatever, but that isn’t the case here. It’s unlikely many will be reading, never mind be motivated to answer any questions you might have or research inquiries. And after all, why should they if they’re not getting anything out of it too?

● Maintenance Time ***** Five Stars: Finally five stars. You receive the ad from your customer, cash lands in your account, paste in the ad, hit send and you’re done. It’s the ultimate speedy list maintenance method. I assure you though, this will never ever make up for it’s shortcomings in other areas. Don’t bother if you’re looking for a serious online business. It’s just not the way to go about things, morally or logically.

● Important note here: These are base figures, and your exact results may be higher or lower than the above. It’s more to give you some insight into aiming your business in the right direction than to give you exact figures and numbers and guaranteed base earning, response rate, income, number of JV prospects etc.

● Ok, the reviews are done with. All that’s left for me to do is give you a few tips that should be implemented from the start to avoid problems with administering your list later or having problems with response rates.

● Remember to divide up your lists for tracking and relevance purposes. If you sell a piece of software and gain a load of subscribers, affiliates, sales and so on through your site, you don’t want to then try to mix it all up and sell them onto an online marketing scheme, because you’re going off track, losing the reason they subscribed in the first place, and will in the end lose subscribers.

● Another reason for doing this is tracking and testing. We already talked in several key areas about how important tracking and testing actually is using your list as kind of a market research tool. You don’t want to be asking about online marketing when your list is based on software sales for example, no one will have a clue what you’re talking about, you’ll get bad data, and a whole bunch of ubsubscriptions.

● Another advantage here is something closer to home and more direct, and that’s simply, it allows you to target people specifically for the type of products you’re selling. We all know how important targeting is, and how much of a waste of time it is selling golf clubs to someone who’s interested in fishing equipment, this is just the same. On a deeper level, you’re allowed massive flexibility too. It’s not just for show.

● Next, the personal touch. Strange as it sounds, send Christmas cards, or a New Year card to your list. It’s important because it makes your list even more personal, maintaining high response rates.

● I remember getting a Christmas card from one of the programmers that’s working on something for me. It wasn’t anything special, just an e-card sent via e-mail to all his customers, with a generic dear sir/madam at the top of it. It was nice though, and what’s nicer for him is it was memorable, and that’s just plain profits waiting to be had that you’re missing out on if you’re not taking advantage of this.

● Ok, so we’ve been through four main list maintenance possibilities. I hope that I got across to you what the pros and cons, the upsides and downsides are for each example. Remember they’re all categorized loosely here, you can modify and gel one into the other to make hybrids. What I hoped to have demonstrated, though, is a picture of what effects what and why when choosing how to maintain your list. Hopefully this will now be super easy for you. Which one is the best to choose? The one that is best for you and your business, not just now, but in the future. Once you’ve gone down a path for a list, it’s not easy to change. Make the right decision now based on what you have in front of you, and you can sleep easy in the knowledge that your choice will benefit you not just from the day you start building your list, but one, two, five, even ten years or more into the future.

● It’s your choice. There is no wrong answer.

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2 Comments so far

1. Spence June 30, 2010 8:15 am

   Great info and advice.

   My experience with JV lists and campaigns have been very positive and I agree with your JV assessment if you’re new to internet marketing. However, for an established marketer, JV marketing can be great way to leverage your brand and product.

2. PPC June 28, 2010 8:41 am

   I wrote something along the same lines a while back on my whois blog and have always tried to make people understand it people you need to understand and deal with not lists of names.
   PPC´s last blog ..SEO Web Serrvice – Benefits of SEO Marketing