{"id":469,"date":"2014-07-27T13:11:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-27T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debradalgleish.com\/blog\/?p=469"},"modified":"2016-07-10T16:11:36","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T20:11:36","slug":"dont-waste-money-on-your-email-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debradalgleish.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/27\/dont-waste-money-on-your-email-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Waste Money on Your Email List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, I\u2019m frugal, and hate wasting money, whether it\u2019s a personal expense, or something for my business. So I was annoyed when I ended up paying extra for my AWeber mailing list service<\/a>. Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 there is great value in having an email list service, but don\u2019t waste money on your email list!<\/p>\n

Maybe this article will help you avoid that mistake, and a few others that I made in getting my mailing list started.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Getting Started Online<\/h3>\n

My Contextures Excel website<\/a> started in November 2000, with a contextures.on.ca URL, and I was able to get the contextures.com URL in February 2001.<\/p>\n

For years, I posted articles on my main site, and eventually started my blog<\/a>, but never thought about building a mailing list, to keep in touch with people who were interested in my Excel tips. The sites were getting lots of traffic, but I wasn\u2019t making it easy for people to get the latest news, or find their way back to my sites.<\/p>\n

I remember learning about RSS feeds at one point, and managed to create a feed.xml file for my site, so people could get updates via RSS feed readers. Those were exciting times!<\/p>\n

When I created the blog, there was a Feedburner option, so I set that up too, and it included an email alternative, so that was my first foray into the world of email lists. I didn\u2019t do much with it \u2013 just a few customizations for subject lines, I think.<\/p>\n

Setting Up a Real Email List<\/h3>\n

I had read about email services, and knew that it could help my business grow if I set up an email list, but avoided making a decision about which service to join. Eventually, I took the plunge, and signed up for a $1 trial month at AWeber<\/a> , on August 3, 2010 \u2013 almost 10 years after starting my website. No, I certainly don\u2019t rush into things!<\/p>\n

For the next few months, I poked around the AWeber website, and set up a couple of sign up forms, and paid the monthly fee of $19. So, that money was pretty much wasted, because I wasn\u2019t really using the email list service.<\/p>\n

Finally, on November 29th, 2010, I sent out my first newsletter, which was just feed snippets from all the blog articles that I posted in the past week. It was better than nothing, but not much better!<\/p>\n

Anyway, don’t delay like I did! If you’re worried about starting an email list, because you don’t know what to write about, this free guide from AWeber might help: What to Write in Your Emails.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sending My First Real Newsletter<\/h3>\n

My first real newsletter went out on January 14, 2012, and it had some personal touches, and links to a few Excel tools at the bottom, with my affiliate codes. The newsletter was finally turning into a business tool!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been tweaking the newsletter format since then, and the subscriber list keeps growing. I have to pay more to AWeber when then number of subscribers goes over a set number, but it is worth it, if I\u2019m reaching more people.<\/p>\n

However, as I eventually discovered, at some points I was wasting money by moving up to the next level, when I didn\u2019t really have to.<\/p>\n

Unsubscribers on the Mailing List<\/h3>\n

If you make it easy and appealing to join your mailing list, people will actually subscribe. Woohoo! A few people will unsubscribe too, for a variety of reasons. Try not to take it as a personal insult, although it might hurt a bit when the first person unsubscribes.<\/p>\n

To see a summary of your mailing list counts, log into AWeber, and scroll to the bottom of the Home page. The Unsubscribed column shows the totals for that category, so keep an eye on those numbers.<\/p>\n

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Why does that number matter? Well, those people are still counted as subscribers, even after they have unsubscribed, as I was shocked to learn.<\/p>\n

So, when I got enough subscribers that I had to move up to the next payment level, I was paying for people who weren\u2019t even getting my messages. Ouch! That hurt my frugal heart \u2013 and pocketbook.<\/p>\n

If I had cleaned up my list when it was close to the 500 mark, I might have avoided that extra $10 fee for a month or so. It\u2019s not a lot of money, but it\u2019s money!<\/p>\n

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Video: Don’t Waste Money on Your Email List<\/h3>\n

You can see the steps for deleting unsubscribed names in this short video, and read the detailed instructions below.\u00a0 That way, you won’t waste money on your email list!<\/p>\n