{"id":28597,"date":"2017-06-12T04:45:56","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T09:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=28597"},"modified":"2017-06-12T04:45:56","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T09:45:56","slug":"true-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/true-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Reach Is Not the Same as Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

One way you can reach a larger audience quickly is to piggyback on established email lists from bloggers and businesses with similar interests.
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\n\u201cThird party email marketing, whether for Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2C) is a great way of finding new customers and can be an awesome resource for new, fresh leads,\u201d Andrew Paul explains<\/a> in a post for Email Answers.
\nHe\u2019s right, but there\u2019s a catch. Social media experts often describe email lists in terms of size and freshness\u2014in other words, \u201cHow many people opted in to this email list and how recently?\u201d But there\u2019s a third factor at work as well: influence<\/em>.
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Paper Influencers<\/h3>\n

Back when we were launching 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever\u2122<\/a><\/em> the first time, I noticed something peculiar. A few affiliates who had the biggest lists did not get the greatest results. Several affiliates with smaller lists produced far more sales than we expected. The same thing has happened in subsequent launches.
\nI had seen something similar in book publishing when I was CEO of Thomas Nelson. An author might have a significant platform on paper\u2014big social media numbers, a large email list, and so on.
\nBut those numbers didn\u2019t always add up to action. Sometimes an author\u2019s new book would release, and people on their lists didn\u2019t seem to care.
\nI wondered, “Why the disconnect?” After some digging, I decided It comes down to three factors: investment, trust, and expectation. Miss these and you\u2019re not going to get the results you want.<\/p>\n

1. Is Your Audience Invested in Your Message?<\/h3>\n

Wired<\/em> magazine cofounder Kevin Kelly introduced the idea of \u201c1,000 True Fans<\/a>\u201d in a classic article. He argued that most creators won\u2019t ever see blockbuster success. But they can have enough success to sustain a profitable business if they cultivate 1,000 true fans.
\n\u201cA True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce,\u201d says Kelly. \u201cThey have a Google Alert set for your name. \u2026 They can\u2019t wait till you issue your next work.\u201d In other words, they are invested in you, and your message.
\nThis is critical when building a list because subscribers who aren\u2019t invested won\u2019t move the needle. The affiliates with smaller lists drove more sales because their audiences cared enough to respond when they spoke.<\/p>\n

2. Does Your Audience Trust You?<\/h3>\n

What the smaller affiliates in the launch lacked in size, they made up for in trust. When they said a product was worth buying, their audiences believed it and acted on it.
\nTrust comes down to one question: Can I count on you?<\/em> If audiences can rely on you for high-quality content and recommendations that interest them, then even a small list can churn big numbers. The affiliates with smaller lists drove more sales because their audiences counted on their recommendation.<\/p>\n

3. Does Your Audience Expect to Buy?<\/h3>\n

Some of the affiliates that were okay in the first two departments still had trouble making the sale because their audience did not expect the product pitch, the price, or maybe both.
\nTrue Fans are happy to buy when the offering fits their needs. Not everybody on a list is a True Fan. So when they see a pitch they ignore it or even scoff at it.
\nThat\u2019s why the size of the list almost didn\u2019t matter. A person with a small list of people who expect to buy from time to time will see far better results than a person with a massive list of people who expect everything for free.
\nYou\u2019ve got to train followers to expect the pitches. The goal is to turn lesser fans into True Fans. It takes time and practice, but eventually you can find and cultivate relationships with people who love to buy what you curate and create.
\nIn business as in life, the quality of relationships matters much more than the quantity. That\u2019s why hustling to build a big list is not as important as laboring to create greater investment, deeper trust, and eager expectation with your True Fans. They\u2019ll keep coming back for more.
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