I'm in Orlando this weekend for a live event with my friends Kelly McCausey and David Perdew – and a couple of hundred other marketers, too, of course.

Before I took off “leavin' on a jet plane”, my friend, Alice Seba told me about a new course she's teaching about List Building.

I asked her if I could send her a few questions for a quick blog interview. Not surprisingly, she graciously and generously agreed.

So I'll hand it over to Alice Seba – who is a pretty smart cookie when it comes to building an email list and making money with it.

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Alice Seba

List Building Q&A

with Alice Seba

Nicole: Why does every WordPress site need a list? Isn’t RSS enough?

Alice: That’s a great question and I know it’s one that a lot of people need the answer to. It’s so easy to set up the little RSS button and then just forget about any other list building. But really, it’s a big mistake to do that. If you rely on RSS only, you’re missing out on some very powerful marketing opportunities. Email beats RSS for a variety of reasons and are here are just a few:

• Just about every online user has email. Not nearly as many people use RSS readers, so you’re likely shutting out a huge chunk of your audience by offering an RSS feed only.
• An RSS feed only updates your audience about your new blog posts. You can’t send them special offers, promotions and other unique marketing messages which are crucial to real business growth.
• It’s also important to realize that email is simply more commercial by nature. People expect offers and sales pitches, but on blogs, they mainly expect content. Sure, you can add promotions into your blog posts and they can be effective, but you’ll experience better conversions by sending the offer directly to their inbox.
• And speaking of sending email directly, email definitely is a much more direct way to communicate with your readers. It goes right into their email inbox and you can personalize the emails to create a deeper connection and get more results. An RSS reader is something people tend to check less often and is saved for when they have time. Email gets checked because it has to get checked.

An RSS feed is definitely important because it caters to certain preferences. If someone just wants your blog updates, they can get them. Then you can continue to wow them with your awesome posts and present them with compelling reasons to opt-in to your list. Make your ultimate goal to get them on your email list, even if they start with your RSS feed.

Nicole. What's a big mistake you see when you do look at people who have lists – where they're losing out?

Alice: I’ve got two, if that’s okay.

Nicole: Nope. Just one. Just teasin'. Let us have them.

Alice: #1. People are often so concerned about having a large list and not losing subscribers that they forget about crafting their IDEAL target list of subscribers. Many people I’ve worked with over the years tell me they hesitate to send out product promotions because when they do, people unsubscribe. So they just keep sending content and wonder why their list doesn’t make them any money.

At this point, I always have to remind them if someone unsubscribes because you tried to sell them something, they will NEVER become a customer anyway, so let them be on their way. Having people leave your list is fine because you want to attract and keep the people who are interested in your products and who want to hear about them. We’ve trained ourselves to believe we have to satisfy everyone, but it’s a losing battle. Satisfy the very specific group of people who love your content AND your products.

#2. One other thing people seem to forget is their CUSTOMER list and it’s the most valuable list of all. A satisfied who has purchased from you once is much more likely to purchase from you again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with people who tell me they don’t actually add their customers to a mailing list. When someone purchases a product from you, a commercial relationship has formed and you can (and should) start emailing them. But even those people who have customer lists, don’t use them to their fullest potential. Treat your customers like gold. Send them better offers than everyone else gets, give them advanced notice of products and secure discounts for other people’s products for them.

Nicole:  Why should everyone reading this sign up for your training?

Alice: Everyone comes from a different place when it comes to their email marketing.

• Some people are just starting out.
• Other people have lists, but don’t email them (GASP!).
• Still, others have a list and email them, but aren’t making any money.
• Then there are others, who just want to bring it to the next level.

Our “30 Days to a Bigger Email List, Better Relationships and More Results” includes something to PUSH you to do more, no matter where you are now. Each day includes 2 challenge tasks to help ensure you’re both GROWING your list and COMMUNICATING with them regularly and effectively.

But outside of that, we offer a unique opportunity to:

• Ask questions and get plenty of feedback along the way, ensuring you stay on task and keep growing your email marketing skills. And this opportunity doesn’t stop after 30 days. You can come in and get help anytime you want. For life.
• Get access to handy brainstorming sheets, templates and other tools to ensure your list keeps working for you long after the 30 days are over. We’re here to make it easy for you to command the power of email in your business.
• Receive valuable discounts and special offers to make it easier to create your winning content. Members get some pretty sweet perks!
• We even get together online live for a couple of training/brainstorming sessions to ensure you’re on track for a bigger list and more sales.

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Well there you have it, my friends.

Take what you want from what Alice said above. I agree with it all.

And, if you are interested in her course, you can see more details here: 30 Day List Building with Alice Seba

Gotta get back to the fun.

Talk soon.

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

PS.. Just for fun, here's a picture of (from left to right) Dennis Becker,  Alice, me, Kelly McCausey, and Connie Ragen Green.