Get ‘em While They’re Still Smoking!

If you’re of a certain age — like I am — you probably recognize the phrase, “strike while the iron is hot” as an admonition to take action right now. It comes from the days of blacksmiths who had just a short amount of time to work with the metal that came out of the forge while it was still hot enough to shape.

I was reminded recently of why this is important to remember particularly when it comes to following up with people who have just put themselves on your email marketing list.

At the moment they sign up is when they are most interested in what you have to say and what you are offering. So you must jump in quickly and start to nurture that relationship immediately.

A few months ago, when we first moved in to our new house, I was very much in decorating mode and was interested in seeing the various decorating items available out there in Internetland so I signed up to a number of email and catalog lists for companies that offered products for decorating a home.

Virtually every day I got something from most of them. Emails promoting one to dozens of products I might be interested in. And interested I was. I looked carefully at each one of those emails and placed a few orders here and there.

Now, as the decorating phase has waned, I’m not so interested in those emails anymore. Oh, I’ll look at one once in a while just to see what’s being offered, but for the most part I’m not as interested. I’m staying on those lists for now, because later on down the road I might be wanting some more decorating stuff.

Your subscribers do the same thing. They jump on your list because they believed at that moment that you were the answer to their problems.

If you don’t remind them over the next few days and weeks that yes, you are indeed the answer to their problems, they’ll forget who you are, and most certainly will ignore your email messages when they arrive.

If they unsubscribe it’s likely because the moment has passed and they’ve lost interest in you. Or they simply stay on your list and ignore most of your emails. If you’re lucky, they’ll look at them once in awhile.

So strike while the iron is hot! Make a connection with them right away, give them a reason to visit your website again, offer them something else they might find of interest like really good tips, remind them about the freebie you gave them when they signed up, and when the time is right, make them an offer to work with you or buy something.

The absolute best time to sign someone on as a new client or customer is when they’ve first expressed interest in what you offer. If you wait too long to build that relationship, they’ll likely have bought from someone else before you get around to it.