Matt Bacak: Pissing Off Your Subscribers: A How-To Guide

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I’ve been an internet marketer since 1999. Throughout the years, I’ve learned how to make my subscribers happy by learning first what pisses them off. I didn’t learn this information from a guru. I didn’t buy this information from a friend. I earned this information straight from the source- my list. Take a good long look at these following mistakes before you become just another bad taste in somebody’s mouth.

Mistake #1: Confusing Subject Lines. I want to be clear here because I think there is an important distinction I must make for some of you reading this article. There have been times where I’ve sent out an email with a subject line that may have confused my reader, initially, before opening said email. Once they opened the email, however, the subject line should have suddenly made sense. What I mean by confusing subject lines is when you have a subject line that is a complete mismatch to your message. If subject line A reads, See Pictures of Pineapples, then there’d better be some dang pineapples pictures in my email. If I don’t include pictures of pineapples, I’m setting myself up for failure because not only do I look dishonest but whoever was excited to see those pictures is going to be pretty pissed off.

Mistake #2: Keeping Unsubscribes On Your List. This is a big, big mistake. Not only is this ILLEGAL but it’s also infuriating. Have you ever unsubscribed from an email newsletter only to keep getting that newsletter in your box every day? Talk about frustration! The fact is that an unhappy customer is way more likely to speak out against you than a happy customer is to speak out for you. And an unsubscribe still getting emails from you is going to be one unhappy customer.

Mistake #3: Forgetting About Mobile Devices. Huge mistake that a lot of older marketers don’t realize they are doing. Everyone is on their phones these days whether it’s waiting in line at the store, sitting a doctor’s office or even laying in bed. Not only are people on phones but they’re on tablets of various shapes and sizes a lot more often than they’re on their desktop or laptop computer. So take that into consideration when you’re drafting up your emails. Think about how your email will be viewed on a mobile device. If your emails aren’t mobile-device friendly or especially optimized to recognize the type of device viewing it, you could be losing sales and subscribers.

Mistake #4: Focusing On The Sales. I know a lot of you just said, “What?!” It’s good to focus on the numbers you want. I do that every single day. But, you can’t focus all your attention on sales because if you do, you aren’t going to make any money. Listen, consumers don’t care about whether or not you make money, am I right? I know I’m right. Consumers care about themselves and you should care about them, too. When you care about your subscribers, listening to their problems and what they need, you are building long-lasting relationships with them and you are building trust. And yes, you are also building your wealth. So focus on the sales but not ONLY on the sales.

Mistake #5: Writing Sales-y Emails. What do I mean by that? I mean writing emails that aren’t personable. I mean writing emails that sound like you’re a car salesman in a bad, third-rate movie. People are going to recognize if you aren’t being sincere and if you’re not being yourself. They won’t like it, won’t respond to it and won’t buy from you. So don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. You aren’t Zig Ziglar so don’t act like him! Be yourself.

Recognizing these mistakes when you do them and hopefully before you do them will go a long way for your business. I think the golden rule of thumb here is to ask yourself, would this be irritating to me? If the answer is yes, then don’t do it. It’s really that simple.