Personal mixed content list is a list gathered by you, that you don't use to sell outside ads to on a regular basis. Mailings contain research, new product information for your customers, a few articles that you write, the odd tips here and there, testimonial requests, and of course the ads for your own products. Mailings are very similar to an e-zine, except for the mixed content and the lower sales of ads to third parties. They also require less content on your part.
One of the most highly used list types by specialist marketers, and in my personal opinion, definitely one of the most interesting and robust of the lot. Imagine having a list of your own, which generally comprises of customers that know who you are, trust your word, many of them having bought from you before or subscribed to your list for the simple sake of following the progress and watching what you do as an authoritative figure in your chosen field of expertise. All of these factors come together to make a highly responsive list and one heck of a joint venture bargaining tool.
These types of lists are usually an evolution of some sort, either from previously published e-zines or newsletters, but of course you can go down this route right away if you think it'll be beneficial, and it probably will be. What we've got here is the quality without having to do the work, and in some cases, considering the content you'll be sending your list is solely related to you and the projects you get involved with, it's more personal and has higher response rates than even some of the best ezines, especially when your subscribers get to know you, or you make your mark as an authority. Bottom line is, you don't have to spend ages publishing a newsletter every week, packing it with masses of useful content to see a profitable list.
See if you play your cards right and gain the trust you need over time, you don't need to seduce people with masses of content, they're just happy to be receiving something for free from a respected marketer. That's great news for you, because the more you mail them, the more you teach them, share with them and have contact with them, the more trust you'll get. Usually this comes in the form of short articles, snippets or insights into what you're doing to succeed.
For example, many of these lists’ often owned by the well-known marketers, send small snippets of the letters they receive, their ad tracking results for a particular project, some small tips, and interesting story that applies to the subscribers interests that they learned that day. Contained within is the ad for a related product. Not all the time of course. It totally depends on whether your goal is to sell, educate, recruit affiliates or get them to tell their friends about you and talk (very powerful) etc. The fact is it's interesting. Reality TV even though on a larger scale is a big hit, but this is definitely similar with its entertainment value, but goes even further through education.
Who do you admire? Is there someone you want to be like or at least follow in the footsteps of, someone that is already doing something you want to do, and doing it well? If you had a choice, would you want to get on their e-zine list that sends you a list of outside published articles each week or on their personal list where you get an insight into what they're doing and what makes them successful? I know which I'd choose. So you see, again, the underlying features are the same. It's a list of people you're going to get to buy your stuff, but this time around it's far more focused on you, and the type of people that are subscribing here are the doers. The people that are interested in what you have to say. This is something very powerful that also contributes to the response rate that comes from these lists when selling your products.
So aside from the eased workload, more time to concentrate on your product creation, and developing new ideas, and the increased response rate and trust you gain from these valuable subscribers, what else do we have? Well, let me tell you that what you've just created here by choosing this method is pure money in your pocket. Your list, your personal list that you don't allow anyone access to, packed with people that trust you, ready to take your word that something is good, will help them, or is worth buying is an important bargaining chip.
See, once upon a time before you started list building here, you had to exchange products and high commissions for joint ventures solely related to sales. Now though, not only will your in demand list )that no one has access to but you) put you ahead in the bartering process of gaining joint ventures, but it'll also sell your products, increase your reputation and allow your resources to grow even further. So you see, once you start with this type of list, expect it to spiral and it will be far easier to build on this in the future.
But you might say to me “I don't have a reputation to go on. People won't listen to me unless I have one or they think I have something useful to say”. You're quite right too, but you can fix that. For example, back when I first started out with online marketing, a friend of mine started up a website with a free option and a paid option. I joined up and sat back for a few months being lazy like I was back then, when I had no concept of actual work. A couple of months later I dawdled back and had a chat with this friend. He informed me that he added a mail your down line option. I was told that I could mail them a training series or two if I wanted in an effort to convert some free members into paid members. I agreed.
The problem was I didn't know much back then. The only thing I knew for certain was related to lead-generation; hence all these free members piling up in my down line. So I figured I'd teach them what I know, and send them a few guides, which is exactly what I did, and they listened, for the simple reason I included a screenshot of my inbox from the previous weeks of free members signing up in my down line. It was a shot of my inbox with pages of 'You have a new member' subject lines and e-mail bodies. That was all. Everyone’s ears were pricked and paying attention. I started receiving requests to join my list, joint venture offers, people asking me what to do via e-mail, if they could have more, and when I'll be sending further issues. All I did was demonstrate that what I was saying actually worked, not to mention they were only free signups not paid ones that I was showing them, yet they were still so interested.
I've taken that lesson everywhere with me ever since that day, and it's served me well. Provide proof that you have the answers to others questions, even on a small scale, and people will listen to you. So you see, it doesn't matter if this is your first day in online marketing. If you sent me a mail in a week’s time telling me you've arranged 20 successful JV's in one week, come up with 10 new products and have already developed four of them, each one ready to launch and sell at $500, I'd listen in if you showed me it was true. See how that isn't even directly related to how much money you're earning? This is how to run one of these lists. Enough of that for now though, because I've got a lovely wad of text for you later on about how to make peoples ears spark up and listen, along with more examples. I hope that gave you a little insight to my thoughts and how you can get started without being a big well known marketer that everyone already trusts. This list is by no means out of anybodies league that knows what they're talking about in their current field of expertise.
So there we have it, great JV prospects, not too much work for anyone, great response rates, builds trust and your reputation. Amazing stuff, as strong as the upsides are, the downsides equal it. First up, your ad income is going to be cut drastically compared to the standard e-zine, unless you start actually selling ads, which defeats the object and devalues your joint venture prospects if done often or over long periods of time. This isn't really a huge downer though, because you'll likely be getting a lot more out of it than you would simply selling $200 solo ads twice a week through your e-zines, but in the way of JV income and resources.
Here's the real kicker though. If you screw up, you're in big trouble and may in extreme circumstances have to start all over again. You being an authoritative figure, taking all that time to build up trust, and after one bad decision, one bad joint venture with the wrong person, and your rep is in tatters, and you have a lot of groveling to the subscribers to do to make up for it. I can think of several examples where marketers’ reputations have been tarnished, some even to the point of them quitting the business, because this important resource they built up over the years was destroyed by a JV with someone unreliable or that has a bad reputation that they didn't know about. Do your research, don't take big joint ventures lightly, and this won't happen to you. The biggest risk, but with the biggest reward, as always.
Unsubscription Rate: ***** Generally you'll find once you've built the trust with your subscribers they won't leave unless you particularly annoy them or do something brash. Beware though, bad news travels faster than good, and a slip up here could cost you a lot.
Subscription Rate: *** Getting subscribers here can be a lot harder, but the rewards greater. As these lists are generally smaller than a large sized e-zine, the numbers can seem a little off putting, but it's far better to have a list of 1000 dedicated loyal customers that buy from you over and over, than a list of 100k who don't even read your mailings. Remember quality over quantity. Many subscribers may have also bought from you before.
Ad income: * Virtually zero direct ad income. It's possible to sell small ads to people if you get short of cash, but it can be harder to do if your list is smaller and more focused than some of the e-zines out there. It's even harder to charge the price its worth for this very same reason. If you do decide to sell ads here and there, keep it rare. Very rare, or your list will lose its purpose and subscribers will move on. Don't forget to push your response rate tracking stats too, or you may find people don't buy at your higher prices for smaller numbers and stick with an e-zine ad, which to an uneducated eye, provides better value for money.
JV Circle: ***** Due to the personal nature of this list, it's easy to start talking to people, specific subscribers even, and to become a target for other marketers with similar lists in the same category. Don't be surprised to find yourself in high demand as this is prime territory to create many a profitable joint venture. That list of people I was sending reports to that we talked about earlier, that were my first mailing, and I still have a bunch of them on my messenger contact list. From just one mailing. Not bad huh? This is what joint venture prospects look like and is by far the most effective way to get them.
Response Rate Over Time: **** Great response rates over time are expected due to the trust you build with these people in such a personal manner. Unless you mess something up big time, loose their trust, annoy them or suddenly stop offering them the insight and knowledge they're looking for, they'll keep reading what you have to say, buying your products, and checking out your recommendations. This is especially useful for inflating the value of your list to your JV circle. Watch what you mail very carefully though. One slip up or bad move and it could all be gone.
General usefulness: **** Who's more responsive, your friends and acquaintances or random people you put questions to on the street? Again, this is where the personal touch is handy. As far as they're concerned, they're getting something very important from you. Make sure to ask for something in return in the way of surveys which should be aimed in the general direction of assisting the subscribers in some way, even if you're publishing the results for their use, a great research tool at your fingertips.
Maintenance Time: *** Three stars and very variable. Sometimes it can take you ten minutes to write a mailing, sometimes less, sometimes a lot more, depending on what you've got to say, which makes maintenance time hard to judge unless seeing each circumstance in turn. Not as bad as a fully-fledged e-zine, though not as quick as some of the lists we have yet to talk about. This is a good bet if you're short on time, or want to dedicate your days to something more productive, or just don't like writing e-zines and doing research and using outside articles.
Important note here: These are base figures and your exact results may be higher or lower than the stated. 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.
Right, we're out of space here. See you in part two, where we'll be looking at two more list maintenance methods (the final two) and some general non-technical tips to keep your list pulling in the cash like crazy. Stay tuned.