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I know this isn’t going to be a popular post, but I’m writing it anyway.
I’m frustrated that most internet marketers out there say you won’t be successful selling online without an email list. Apparently, the premise behind it is that you can make huge sales by spamming people’s email lists in hopes to sell them something. Shame on you!
Perhaps that worked in the old days, but times are changing and people are getting wise to the spammers.
Just hear me out. I have an opinion on the matter, but it is just my opinion. If you don’t agree that’s okay. If you don’t want to read any further, that’s okay too. But for those who are curious about my take on it, and for those who may agree with me, please read on.
It annoys me to no end when marketing gurus on Youtube say you won’t be successful without the cherished email list to market your products to. If you want to sell your ebooks, or courses, or affiliate products apparently it is an absolute must. I call BS. It doesn’t have to be this way, and you CAN break the rules and decide not to believe this garbage.
Revolt and find another way!
In order to get this infamous email list, you must TRICK people into getting their email. Yes, I say TRICK! The reason I say this is because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re trying to lure unsuspecting people into falling for special offers like a free recipe, newsletter, or a free book by asking for their email. THEN they’ll send you your gift. But it’s not a gift at all, it’s them taking your email so they can spam you later.
Yes! The ONLY reason bloggers or anyone else online ask for your email address is because they want to sell you something later. Unsuspecting individuals give their email addresses and then become bombarded by ‘buy my product’ emails. That totally sucks for the nieve internet surfer.
How do I know this? Because I am one of those unsuspecting people, or at least I used to be before I started blogging and self-publishing my own books. I’ve wised up since then. I used to search the internet for my favorite topics like most people do because I love learning. I still do, that’s why I became a writer.
When arriving at a good website, suddenly an annoying popup window interrupts your read. Sometimes it even prevents you from reading anything until you deal with the popup. I don’t like that. It isn’t a good reader experience. I usually leave the website immediately.
I don’t know anyone who likes these popups yet many websites still have them. The popups really are going the way of the dinosaur, as is email marketing because people don’t like getting harassed, and Google is very aware of this problem.
I feel another Google algorithm change coming on.
I can see Google lowering ranks on websites that have popups meant to wrangle emails out of people. Google has done this kind of thing before. They are all about the consumer. User experience is pretty high on Google’s list of priorities. It’s only a matter of time before they crack down on websites like this.
And consumers definitely do NOT want to be fooled or bombarded by spammy people trying to get your email so they can sell you something. Especially nowadays with so much online fraud. Giving your email address out is comparative to giving your credit card out. You have to be careful whose hands it falls into.
I have several emails and they have become overwrought with marketers. The same thing has happened with telephone landlines. They have become a cesspool for scammy telemarketers on a daily basis. People are finding different solutions to get away from all these marketers that seem to be after you for almost everything. Times are changing and they’re changing fast.
Sure you can sort through your emails and send them to junk mail, but who has the time? I sure don’t. I have over a 1000 emails I haven’t even opened yet. It would take days to go through that many. Believe me, I’ve tried to do it more than a few times, and it’s hopeless.
You can even unsubscribe to all the newsletters you were unaware you signed up for. But like I said, who can even find the time for that? Instead, like a lot of people, I just don’t open them. Yes. I never open my emails, except for those I know, and even then I am very cautious.
Many people I know had their identity stolen or computer hacked because they opened an email from a scammer. It’s become a troubling epidemic and one that has got to stop! So, nope! I am NOT an advocate for email list building to sell products online.
I think the biggest thing that bothers me is the fact that people who build these email lists actually think they OWN your email. They call them ‘their’ list and refer to them when releasing a new product, podcast, or Youtube video. My email list is NOT your personal dumping ground or sales tool. If I want to be on it, that’s another story, but I can only speak from experience. Most of the emails I receive are unwanted. I want to shout it from the rooftops. “Stop sending me stuff! You do NOT own my email, nor did I give you permission to flood it with the products you are trying to sell!” STOP IT!
Even though the government has anti-spam legislation to protect the consumer from ‘unwanted’ email marketing, and you have the right to decline or delete yourself from that list, it still happens. Millions of online companies are not in compliance with anti-spam legislation or find a way to slip through the cracks. However, the fines are hefty if caught abusing this consumer protection law. If you are an online marketer and disregard the legislation or don’t know what it is, I suggest you do your homework so you don’t get yourself into trouble.
Or, just DON’T build an email list!
The consumer deserves better treatment than that! So many unsuspecting people don’t know that by giving your email to a website in exchange for a free ebook or whatever they are offering as a lead, will cause you to be harassed with spam emails for a long time. If you manage to figure out how to take yourself off that list, which most people don’t, you might be spared the harassment. But it doesn’t usually happen that way. Usually, we get so busy with our lives that our emails fill up with unwanted garbage and we don’t have the time or the know-how to deal with it. Again, I’m speaking from experience.
Many websites I’ve come across make it very difficult to unsubscribe from their email list. Granted, some make it easy, and you know they are the rare ones in compliance with the anti-spam laws, but they are few and far between. Most give you the runaround. I’ve unsubscribed to quite a few emails, just to find I’m still receiving the unwanted spammy sales pitches in my inbox.
The ridiculous part about it is those online gurus teaching people how to make a living selling affiliate products, courses, or ebooks, tell people they MUST build an email list. They say that a lot of money is lost if you don’t start building that list today. Nobody will ever buy your books, courses, or affiliate products if you don’t have an email list to market them to.
But is that even true?
After a lot of research into this controversial subject, I found out that the actual conversion rate for sales through an email list is only 2%. WHAT? You’ve got to be kidding me. If you wrote an exam in school and only got 2%, you’de fail. That’s the way I see email marketing. I give it a great big fail!
Yet, so many online marketers still hold value in this archaic, if not illegal, list building strategy. They still force it down other online marketers throats like its imperative to the business. Not with a 2% conversion rate it’s not. But still, they argue that even though only 2% of consumers actually buy from an email list, it still amounts to a huge profit if you have a list of 3000 people or more.
Um…no! I still call BS.
If the 2% shocker wasn’t enough to make you change your mind about email marketing, perhaps the ethical side will. I can’t bring myself to build an email list because I don’t want to push my books, courses, and products down peoples throats. I don’t like online marketers doing that to me, and I won’t do that to them. I won’t even have a popup on my blog because I don’t want to harass people. I want to give them a good reading experience and give them value.
If people don’t have a good reading experience on a blog, they bounce. Google doesn’t like that and immediately sees the problem and lowers your website ranking. You don’t want that. You want to grow your business not destroy it.
So, is there an alternative to an email list then? Are we destined to use an archaic system that doesn’t work? Is that the only hope we have to market our online merchandise?
There is another way.
Gain a relationship with people online instead. Create a Facebook group and tell them about what you sell. Be honest and upfront with people and they will appreciate it a whole lot more. That will earn their trust and generate sales for years to come without tricking them or harassing them. As I said before, times are changing and they are changing fast.
Get with the NEW program!
I have a group I’ve grown from scratch and it’s equivalent to the old-fashioned email list but much better. I still don’t own them, and they are free to go as they please, but I have never tricked them into joining the group as email marketing does. I have over 3000 people in my Facebook group. I interact with them and tell them about what I have for sale, but it’s not all about sales. It’s about the relationship, trust, and genuinely helping people solve their problems. I’ve connected my website called Crunchy Menopause to my group because it’s related and leads people to my ebooks, and products I have for sale.
I also have Youtube channels under the same names as my websites and have taken the time and energy to give value to my subscribers. Subscribers are the new email list. They WANT to be there. I didn’t TRICK them into coming to my channel or website, or Facebook group. That’s why Social Media is a marketers playground. It’s set up to get subscribers, eliminating unwanted spammy email marketing that has flooded society like the plague. Instead, why not do the hard work and gain subscribers in an ethical way? All you need is a following to market your business in a way that builds trust, friendship, and approval.
Sure it takes a while to build up a Facebook group or a Youtube channel and get subscribers, but it’s worth it in the long run. I don’t want to trick people and spam their private emails, especially if most people aren’t even opening them. That tells me it’s not working anymore. That tells me times are changing. I want to gather a group of people that know me and want to interact with me. I want to gather a following of people that are interested in reading my books. I want fans, not emails.
Other alternatives to email marketing are Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, Podcasts, and the list goes on. Do the hard work and gain a following. Give them value and they will buy whatever you have to offer them. They will appreciate your business and your expertise. Build subscribers and tell them who you are, what you’re selling, and why they need it.
There are so many good alternatives to email marketing. You really don’t have to use an outdated system like email list building to make a living online nowadays. You can even do it ethically without becoming an email stalker.
Perhaps you’ve found alternatives to the infamous email list as well. I’d love to hear what has worked for you.
The opinions in this article are solely that of the author. To read Kathleen Morris books, go to Author Kathleen Morris.
