Comments on: Yes, I Asked My Readers to Unsubscribe

By: Alexis

Alexis — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:22:47 +0000

That’s it exactly, Eugen. Thanks!

By: Eugen Oprea

Eugen Oprea — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:20:50 +0000

I have the same opinion about quantity vs. quality.

I would rather have fewer readers/subscribers who engage than having thousands who don’t even read my emails.

Thanks for sharing this with us. It’s good to hear that the unsubscribe rate was not too big.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:45:17 +0000

Thanks for the feedback, Marc. And thanks for signing up for this list. I hope to keep sending you guys really useful stuff.

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:17:52 +0000

Love it – In fact, I just subscribed to your list to see what other cool shizzle you got ging on.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:16:30 +0000

Thanks Catherine and Pamela! Strangely, very few have unsubscribed so far. I’m going to resend the email to those who haven’t opened it by Monday. Love Aweber for allowing me to do this

By: Catherine Caine

Catherine Caine — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:02:35 +0000

Great idea, Lexi! Gutsy, too. What was the response like?

By: Pamela Wilson

Pamela Wilson — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:47:49 +0000

Lexi,

I think it’s smart to check in with your list every so often to be sure they really want to stick with you. I’ll take a small but focussed list of interested followers any day over a large list of uninterested folks. This was a great idea. Did you get many unsubscribes?

By: Alexis

Alexis — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:40:09 +0000

Hi Mike, Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments. I didn’t think to add links to recent posts. I guess I thought, if they haven’t been to the blog in a while, then that means they’re not that interested. As for soliciting advice, I really only wanted one action from my readers: do nothing or unsubcribe. That’s it. I didn’t want to give them too many options

And finally, I don’t have a product for this particular list, so no coupon. And besides, I didn’t want to “bribe” them anymore. They either love me or they don’t.

By: Mike Korner

Mike Korner — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:33:41 +0000

Hi Lexi,

I’m NOT a subscriber of your Natural Parenting list, so I’m just commenting in general.

<<>>
* If I love your newsletter, I would have just ignored it.
* If I don’t love your newsletter, I may have unsubscribed just because you made it easy.
* If I hadn’t read your newsletter for awhile, I probably would have stopped and read a couple of your recent e-mails and then decided to stay or go.
* If I didn’t want your e-mail anymore because I’m getting the information via RSS feed, I probably would have unsubscribed just because you made it easy.

<<>>
* I think it never hurts to remind readers that you want them to feel engaged, and to remind them how your newsletter or website helps them.
* Having some links to recent articles or newsletters would help the decision process.
* Given that you were stirring the pot, so to speak, and were forcing me to think about the coolness of your newsletter/site, it would have been a natural place for you to solicit ideas for future topics, too.
* A 10% off coupon might have enticed people to look around for a while.

Hope it helps!