Everyone seems to be focused on numbers at the moment, don’t they?

How many followers can you get on Twitter? How many friends can you collect on facebook?  How big is your network on LinkedIn?

How big does your mailing list need to be before you can make any sales?

Numbers, numbers, numbers!

It seems that everywhere you look, everyone is obsessed by size of lists.

So, does the size of your mailing list really matter? 

Now, there is no doubt that the bigger your mailing list is, the more likely you are to make sales. After all, if you trying to sell 20 places on a workshop to a database of 50 people, the chance of you filling all 20 places is minimal.

Even if everyone on your database is interested in the topic, they may be on holiday, have a meeting that day or  just couldn’t justify the expense at that particular time.

Therefore the more people you have, the easier it is to market your events, products and programmes.

But all this focus on numbers can be demoralising, stressful and not a lot of fun when you struggle to get just one or two newsletter sign-ups every week.

There is one factor that many small business owners forget.  And that is the quality of those you attract to your mailing list.

That phrase “size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts” rings true for your mailing lists.

And putting more focus on attracting quality sign-ups will mean that what you do with your mailing list – whether that’s selling e-books, workshop programmes or 1-2-1 services – will work far more effectively for you.

So what are some of the rules when it comes to successful list building strategies?

1.  Know your target audience – the more focused you are on the exact client you want to work with, the easier it will be to attract them.

2.  Know the pains and worries of your target audience – the more you know about what the problems your clients have, the easier it will be to come up with a great give-away to encourage them to part with their email addresses

3.  Offer results, rather than the solutions – your target audience aren’t really that concerned about how you go about helping them. They just want results.  So a “Small Business Checklist” which is rather blah-blah, suddenly becomes desirable when it becomes “The 5 biggest mistakes that small business owners make – and how you can avoid them”. Same content – just presented in a different way

4. Be clear on the language your clients use – tone of phrase, images, how you address someone, specific jargon – all of this matters.  Write and present yourself in a way that relates to your target audience

5. Know where your target audience hangs out – one marketing strategy does not fit all so be careful of using marketing tools and networks just because everyone does.  The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to discover where these people hang out in numbers – remembering that the offline world is just as powerful (if not more powerful!) than the online world.

OK.  Coming back to my original question – does the size of your mailing list really matter?

The answer is yes but only when it is full of quality, targeted clients who love what they have signed up for and are ready to make a commitment to you when you make them a good offer.

What are your thoughts? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to build your list? Or do you disagree and have another view point?  Add your comment below.