For most people list building takes same basic steps... They set up a lead page that is dangling an attractive lead magnet, and set up an autoresponder sequence. Then they sit back and wait for the big bucks to roll in.
And they wait and they wait and they wait.
Because you know what? Doing the bare minimum isn’t going to produce extraordinary results. And doing the same thing as everyone else – even if they’re succeeding – is going to end up making you feel like a hamster running on a wheel. You’re going to expend a whole lot of effort, but you’re not going anywhere fast.
The good news is that most list builders are making the same set of mistakes that’s harming their bottom line. If you’re already working on growing a list, then you might be making these mistakes too. And if you’re still in the planning stages, then you’ll definitely want to check out this guide so you can save yourself time and money by learning how to recognize and avoid these costly mistakes.
Take a look…
Believing Your Audience Thinks Like You
A lot of marketers believe their prospects are just like them. This is often the case because the list builder is a part of the target market, so they assume they’re part of the same exact segment as their audience. This ends up being a costly mistake.
For example, some people just hate video, while others absolutely love it and prefer it above all other formats. Now suppose you have an audience that loves video, which means you should be posting videos on your platforms to generate traffic, putting videos on your lead page to convert traffic, and selling video products to create some revenue.
But what if you personally don’t like videos, so you don’t do any of that?
Yep, you guessed it: you’re going to leave a ton of money on the table.
Now that’s just an example, but there is a nearly infinite number of ways you can shoot yourself in the foot simply by believing you are your audience, and that they think like you, like the same things as you, dislike the same things as you and so on.
Let me give you a couple more examples:
- You don’t create or promote high-ticket products in your niche because you personally would never buy anything over $X.
- You don’t send an email more than once per week because you personally don’t like receiving more than one email per week.
Get the point?
What you need to do is research your audience and survey them to find out what they like, what they think, and how they feel about various things related to your newsletter, your business, your products and your niche. Then set aside your own feelings about these items, and deliver what your audience wants (not what you personally want).
Here’s the next mistake…
Playing the Copycat Game
Part of delivering what your audience wants means you need to figure out what they’re already buying and consuming, and then serve them up more of the same.
But heads up…
This doesn’t mean you should be a copycat. This isn’t about cloning popular lead magnets or paid products. Not only is that illegal, but it’s not going to get you the results you desire.
If you want to enjoy success in your niche, then you need to set yourself apart from your competitors. You need to create FRESH lead magnets that impress the heck out of your prospects.
Let’s say you’re creating a report on weight loss. There are about a bazillion weight loss reports out there, right? That’s because it’s a popular topic. But you need to find a way to set your report apart from the crowd. One way to do that is by creating and naming a diet.
For example, there are bunches of reports named something along the lines of, “How to Lose Weight” or “The Secrets of Fat Loss.” But imagined if you set yourself apart by naming a diet, such as “The [Your Last Name] Method for Fat Loss.” The unique diet would have prospects flocking to your lead page to download your report. And if your method was truly unique in some way, then you’d further set yourself apart and cement your reputation as a thought leader in your niche.
End result? Your list would grow like crazy, because everyone will want to download and try this fresh, unique dieting method.
Here’s the next mistake that will sink you…
Valuing Quantity Over Quality
Once you get into this whole list building and marketing thing, you’re going to quickly realize you need a LOT of content.
You’ll use content to:
- Generate traffic (SEO, guest blogging, social media marketing, etc.).
- Attract leads (lead magnets, blog content, etc.).
- Convert traffic (lead pages, case studies, emails, and relationship-building content).
- Make money (paid infoproducts such as reports, memberships, courses, etc.).
What often happens is that a marketer starts out crafting really high-quality content, but within months the quality drops because they have so much content to create. Then suddenly they find themselves focusing on quantity rather than quality – and that’s when things begin to fall apart.
So listen carefully…
It’s better to have fewer pieces of high-quality content than it is to sacrifice quality in the name of publishing as much content as possible. Many of your prospects very first impression of you and your business are going to be formed when they run into a piece of your content online – and if that content sucks, you can bet that prospect isn’t going to be in a big hurry to join your list or seek out any more of your content. Instead, they’ll click away from your content and never return.
Point is, you need to find ways to speed up content creation without sacrificing quality. You can outsource, you can use speech-to-text technology to making writing faster, or you even start with high-quality PLR content. But just be sure that every piece you publish is high-quality and something you’re proud to attach your name to.
We suggest https://www.automatedlistprofits.com/ if you need quality content.
Next…
Doing What’s Fun Rather Than What’s Effective
Take a moment and think of all the things you need to do in the next six months in order to build a big, profitable mailing list. There should be a lot of items on that to-do list if you’re aiming for success. And truth is, not every item is something you’re going to enjoy doing.
That’s completely normal. But where a lot of marketers make a mistake is by focusing on doing what’s fun, even if those fun things aren’t entirely effective or aren’t particularly important. Every day they’re working like crazy trying doing all of these tasks. It’s fun, yes… but their business is growing at a snail’s pace, if at all.
Yes, growing your list IS fun, but that doesn’t mean every single moment of your work day is going to fill you with joy. For example, maybe you really don’t like social media that much – but if you want to grow your list, you’re going to need to do some social media marketing and engagement.
That’s just one example. The point is, you need to get the work done, even if you dread it. That doesn’t mean you need to do it yourself, though. You can outsource just about any task, and that’s a good choice when you find yourself procrastinating on certain tasks.
Trying to Figure it All Out Yourself
In just about every other part of your life, you probably save yourself time and money by following in the footsteps of experts. For example, I’m betting you didn’t learn every facet of cooking all by yourself. Maybe you learned from a parent, or from watching the Food Network on TV, or even from reading recipes. And sure, you add your own twists to recipes, but you don’t completely reinvent the wheel every time you want to make dinner, right?
Same goes for building your list. If you want to shortcut your success and get great results, then you absolutely need to follow in the footsteps of experts. And yes, you can and should add your own unique twists to the process, but you’re just wasting your time if you try to completely reinvent the wheel or learn from trial and error.
And that’s why I recommend that all list builders pick up Simon Hodgkinson’s and Jeremy Gislason’s new course, “One to Ten” which teaches you how to get your first 1000 subscribers, and then how to scale up to 10X the size of your list and profits.
Check it out here: https://promotelabs.com/one-to-ten/
This course is different than everything else you’ve seen, because it teaches you some of the very best scientific and psychological tips and tricks you need to know to build a big, responsive list. But don’t take my word for it – check out the link now to see for yourself.
