7 Tips to Successfully Changing Your Email Newsletter Service Provider
Copyright (c) 2007 Donna Gunter
There comes a time in every online business owner's life when you will seriously consider changing email newsletter providers. Making the decision to change your email newsletter service is never an easy one. In fact, I tell my clients to choose wisely the first time they pick a provider, as their subscribers will tire of list-hopping and simply leave the list if they are requested to re-subscribe too many times.
Why would you consider changing providers?
--to purge your list and retain your best and most active readers. This is especially effective if you have changed or refined the focus of your business.
--to increase deliverability and/or reduce technical challenges. Many of the more popular list providers are being blocked by major ISPs due to their users abusing the email system by sending out unsolicited emails.
--to incorporate autoresponder and broadcast technology in one place. It's much more effective these days to have a service in which you can use personalized autoresponders to follow up with your ezine subscribers and tell them about your additional features or offerings that they should explore.
--to streamline your database into one location. I've had 3 separate databases for a couple of years, and I'm glad to be migrating them all under one roof, as determining who gets what is becoming more challenging with each passing year.
This changeover can be a complicated, time-consuming process. Here are 7 tips to make the switch a bit easier:
1. Make the change your primary activity. Don't do as I did and choose to launch a major initiative and change your list at the same time. Big mistake. Choose a slow time in your business when you're not promoting a sale or a new product to change your lists. If you try to do too many things at once, you'll confuse your readers, and a confused mind takes no action -- the person simply leaves.
2. Leave yourself plenty of time. Since I send out a weekly ezine, I am choosing to take 30 days to complete the list changeover. My readers are accustomed to hearing from me regularly, so I think that's an adequate amount of time. However, if you contact your readers only once a month or just once a quarter, allow yourself 2-3 months to move the list. If your list isn't accustomed to hearing from you often, they may not be checking their emails regularly or just may overlook an unexpected email from you.
3. Tell your subscribers what's going on. Let your list members know that you will send them several emails over a period of time to request the changeover. Ask for their patience in the process, and let them know that once they have resubscribed, they can just ignore the next 2-3 similar emails that they receive from you. If you choose to import your list to your new provider, you need to email your list beforehand to let them know to expect an automated opt-in email from your new list provider.
4. Provide multiple re-subscribe methods. Make the re-subscription process as easy as possibly for your readers. If your new provider permits, offer your readers both the option to subscribe by email or to go to your website and complete a subscription form By doing so, they can choose the process that works best for them.
5. Give clear, step-by-step directions. Many of your readers may not be Internet-savvy and will get lost somewhere in the resubscribe process. In both your verification and confirmation emails and/or landing pages, create a clear, concise set of step-by-step directions of the steps that they need to follow to get on your new list. Enhance the landing pages with screen shots of the emails they'll receive or the landing pages to which they will be sent, since pictures often speak louder than words.
6. Create interesting and relevant followup autoresponders. If you move to a service that permits you to send out a series of autoresponders upon subscription, take a few moments to brainstorm what other pieces of info you offer that would be of interest to your readers. You can introduce them to your blog or podcast, ask them how they liked your free giveaway that they received in return for subscribing to your list, request that they ask you their most pressing question about your area of expertise, ask them to complete a survey, or introduce them to a lower-end product or service. The key here is to keep them interested in what you offer that will help them solve the problems that keep them awake at night.
7. Expect to lose 50-75% of your list. I don't have tons of evidence to support this statistic, only a small amount of experience and stories from other online business owners who've experienced the same loss numbers in their list transfers. I've discovered that the percentage of your list that will transfer to your new provider is roughly the same as your average open rate of your ezine. This makes perfect sense to me -- the ones who are already reading your broadcasts will want to continue that and be willing to transfer to keep receiving your quality information. The ones who don't regularly read your ezine aren't going to read your request to re-subscribe to another list, either. What's the upside to this depressing statistic? You've purged your list of everyone but your devoted fans, who are much more likely to buy from you in the long-run than a bigger list of unenthusiastic subscribers.
Even though switching your email newsletter list providers isn't easy, sometimes it's the best move to make for your business. You'll create a smaller list of dedicated readers and open the door to add additional subscribers who are interested in what you have to offer.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
Related Tags: tips, to, service, email, newsletter, your, provider, 7, changing, successfully
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com . Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- Planning A Childs Party
Birthdays are an exciting time for children, each year they want bigger and better parties so it is - Online Diwali Gifts Shopping Experience
India is a country of festivals. India is truly secular country and enjoys each and every festival e - E-commerce To Engine Wealth!
It is a fabulous experience to have technology at your side to leverage its advantage to boost the b - Diwali Is Celebrated Wholeheartedly Over Five Days
The Five days of Diwali is celebrated over five days in most of North India. All the days except Diw - Create Online Store With Ebay Integration - Get It Ready In A Minute
There are ecommerce websites operational with their 'Create Online Store' feature to help users get - Methods To Make Extra Income Working Online
With the current economic situation and problems many people are looking for ways to earn extra mone - Earn Extra Money Online Anytime, Anywhere!
Has the economy got you down to the point of no return? You have looked everywhere for a part-time j - New Credit Card Validation Service - Issuer Identification Number (iin) Database Lookup
Issuer identification number (IIN) - The first six digits of the credit card number are known as the - 5 Tips To A User Friendly Ecommerce Web Design
Design of a website plays an important role to attract more number of visitors to it. An eye catchin - Find Out On When To Offer Your Gadget And Get Your Money's Worthy Of
Let's face it , all gadgets can become outmoded within just a year or 2. A brand new version will be
Most viewed articles in this category:
- 3rd Party Merchant Accounts: Tips To Avoid Costly Chargebacks For Merchants And Buyers
Accepting credit cards online can be the most important decisions you can make to make money from - Gateway to India - a New Way
Internet craze seems to be catching on in India . From a low internet user base of about 1.4million - Accepting Credit Cards - Is It Necessary For Your Small Business?
This almost seems as if it is a rhetorical question nowadays. Customers all seem to use their credit - Important Internet Marketing Tips
There are 10 tips that are helping you to lead your site high: 1: Insulate yourself against t - What Makes Adsense Work
What does make Adsense work - there are as many ideas as there are theories. Some maintain i - I'm Going to Use Oscommerce - Now What?
When you decide to go with osCommerce for your e-commerce site, you can simply take their stock layo - Some Tips On International Business Marketing
Are you planning of economically expanding outside the borders of your native land? Are you thrilled - Why You Need An Ecommerce Merchant Account
You must obtain an ecommerce merchant account in order for your web site to be able to take payment - Monetize Blog - Learn the 4 Methods to Make Money From your Blog
There are many ways to make money on the internet, one of that is to monetize blog. Your blog is wha - Modeling Success
I am on a lot of mailing lists, and like to keep track of what's happening in the Internet M