Does size matter?

In my industry email list size is everything.

Men (usually guys, but some ladies partake too) will sit around the bar after a mastermind session and the conversation will invariable get to email list size.

“My list is HUGE!” one will proudly proclaim.

“Mine’s not the biggest, but it sure is responsive” another will gesture.

“I have 250,000 on my list and growing every week.” says the alpha list guy

But do you really need a big email list to make money on the internet?

I have found that list size is vanity and ego.

What REALLY matters is the relationship you have with your subscribers.

How many people who you e-mail to actually want to hear from you?

That’s the most important metric for email success.

So next time someone asks you “how big is yours?” let them know size does not matter, it’s what you do with it that counts.

A big list that’s been mistreated is not responsive and won’t make you happy.

Here’s the metrics that matter.

• Open rate
• Click rate
• Buy rate

Email Open Rate:

How many people actually open your e-mail instead of simply deleting it?

This is the electronic equivalent of getting a letter in the mail and either choosing to open it or to simply put it straight in the bin.

Problem.

Opens are not indicative of interest though. Many email clients register as open when you delete an email for instance.

So, yes, open rate matters.

But, Not As Much As Click Rate.

Click rate measures how many people actually read your email and clicked on a link. This is much more important.

If I send out 50,000 emails and get an open rate of 8% and a click rate of 5% then all of a sudden my BIG HUGE list is looking kinda puny.

50,000 x .08 x .05 = 200 people who actually clicked on my link…

But of course, what you ought to be really interested in is

The Buy Rate.

How many people will actually buy your stuff when you send them an e-mail?

This, is the holy grail of making cash online.

And this does not come from having a big list. No, this comes from having a great relationship with the people who have given you permission to send them e-mails.

In my next blog post I’ll get into how to do that.

For now though, just remember size is not everything!

Neil

P.S. My wife Natasha proof read this for me this morning and made the comment that you could quite easily insert a different word for list and have pretty much the same conversation with regard to most men… let me know what word you’d insert in the comments below!