Your Mailing List: Building Trust

I'll bet you've heard that you need to build a list of your own in order to succeed countless times.

Well, it's true. In order to have long-term success, you really do need a mailing list.

But having a mailing list is only part of it.

It's what you do with mailing the list that really matters.

The real earning power is in the relationship you have with the people on your list.

You do this in:

The messages you send.The products you choose to promote, and when you promote them.The information you provide and how you respond.

No one talks about that. That changes today.

Here's a question: If I gave you a list of 50,000 real people and told you it was now your mailing list... what would you do?

How would you create sales from that list?What would you say first, second, third?How often would you email them and what would you promote?

To answer these questions, I give you my TRUST formula.

Without trust, your mailing list will not respond how you want them too. Ever.

In the real world, people must get to know you before they can like you; they must like you before they can trust you. Once you have earned that trust -- some very good things can happen.

Yes, it takes work. But believe me, it's worth it. Building a mailing list and gaining their trust is THE key to experiencing freedom.

Here's the formula:

T - Teach

R - Reward

U - Uncover needs

S - Sell solutions

T - Trigger actions

TEACH

Many people worry about his word. They do not consider themselves to be expert enough to teach, because they have not yet experienced success.

Thing is, you don't have to be THE expert to teach; you just teach from a place of experience or investigation.

While you shouldn't wait to share until you know everything on a subject, don't write about things you know nothing about either.

REWARD

A vital, often overlooked part, of developing trust with the people on your mailing list is rewarding their continued readership.

The person who joins and stays on your list, consistently opens and reads your messages is more than just a customer. They're a friend.

To reward them, you don't need to spend a lot of money. Use the Private Label Rights products you have on your hard drive, share (with permission) the strategies and ideas you receive in your personal email from the products you buy.

It's always best to give your list something of real value from which you can't profit. This is a sincere gesture that will be remembered when it comes time to buy.

UNCOVER NEEDS

I'm talking about really knowing what your audience needs.

How? By asking! Simple, but true!

To really be effective, you must have pure motives to do this -- it's not a marketing tactic.

Here are three ideas:

Read your blog comments and look for patterns.Ask your list what they need with no ulterior motive.Set up a "reply" email for your list so people can hit "reply" and ask a question.

SELL SOLUTIONS

This goes back to the features vs. benefits discussion.

Once you know what your list members need, it's time to find and offer the right solution.

Make a recommendation based on experience and research, not the latest and greatest trends.

Selling solutions is what it's about. Sell what the product will do for the buyer, not just what the product can do.

TRIGGER ACTIONS

After the hard work of gaining trust, it's time to suggest products that might help your readers.

Based on my own experience, here are a few suggestions:

Only promote what you know works and you do yourself.Be very specific about why you are making a recommendation to take action.Tell your reader the specific action they should take. This could be subscribing to a new list or downloading a free trial.

The most profitable and rewarding thing I've done online is getting to know the people on my list, serving them and having them reward me when I make suggestions.

If you are one of them, and I suspect you are, thank you. I consider you not only a subscriber but a friend.

And friendship is perhaps the most beautiful thing indeed!

Charlie Page owns the Directory of Ezines and is the author of 10 books about Internet marketing. Through his membership sites and personal consulting, Charlie helps people achieve their goal of independence in record time. Can Charlie help you? Find out at http://www.charliepage.com/

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