I’ve got news for you.
Hard news: Your client prospect list is about your relationships. Your list is one of the most valuable assets of your business, but it is hard to do well. It’s like my favorite quote from the baseball movie A League of Their Own: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, then everybody would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”
Old news: You need to earn permission for people to join your opt-in list. And you need to keep earning the right for people to stay on your list.
New news. I am a marketing contrarian when it comes to lists. You cannot buy a list of prospects, no matter what the sales people at InfoUSA and other fine vendors say. You can buy lists of suspects, people you suspect might be interested in what you have to say.
Good news. Sure it is hard, but you can build a great list. Here are quick list-building tips:
- Use a contact management service like ConstantContact or MailChimp.
- Set up a form on your website.
- Ask people you meet at networking events for permission to put them on the list.
- Ask people you speak to at events if you may put them on your list.
- Make it easy for people to unsubscribe.
- Send something of value to the list on a regular basis (my recommendation is weekly and short).
- Never sign up prospects because you get access to a group list because you joined a group or attended an event and you got the spreadsheet.
- Know that open rates are dropping, get over it.
- Be a valuable resource for people, not someone always promoting an event or an offer.
- Think of the 80/20 rule, a.k.a the Pareto Principle, when you send out items to the list. Make it 80% content, 20% commercial messages.
One practice that can help you double your revenues in twelve to twenty-four months is to hyper segment and leverage your database. When it comes to taking advantage of the power of this underutilized business asset, I find consultants and professionals are at one of four levels. These are in ascending order:
Level 1. Use an email tool like Constant Contact or MailChimp. Maybe their website gathers email contact information and immediately populates that into an email outreach program like Constant Contact, MailChimp or Blue Hornet. Prospects, clients, and advocates are all pooled together. Maybe this is complemented by a list of contacts in a MS Outlook contact list.
Level 2. Send out a mass mailing to the big list twice a year. Maybe this is a big holiday card mailing or some notice to let you know you exist. Better than just collecting the names and doing nothing with them.
Level 3. Send an e-newsletter four to twelve times a year. This is at least getting your name out there on a regular basis. Maybe you are sending out tips to everyone and including invitations to speeches or seminars that you are hosting.
Level 4. Practice hyper segmentation by profit center and by type of prospect or client. Then you are able to tailor messages and offers based on your relationship. You can also target by geographic location. Now you can practice the Golden Rule of outreach: only send messages to people that they might like to receive (isn’t that how you would like to be treated?).
Last piece of news: building a client prospect list is a journey, not a destination. Bon voyage.
