Have you ever had this experience before? You're surfing the Internet when something catches your eye… it's a free special report about a subject that interests you. The only thing you have to do to get it is enter your email address.
And so you do. You type in your email address and hit "Submit." Within seconds the free special report is in your inbox and you're reading it with great interest.
But when you finish reading the report, is that where it all ends? Of course not. The next day you get an email from the guy who wrote the report. Surprise! He's got more valuable information to share with you.
You begin getting one email every week. Every one of them is interesting to read and provides information that's valuable to you. You also notice that almost every email offers something else for you to request. Often times, at a discounted price.
At first, you don't buy anything. You're too busy, the timing isn't right, you're not interested, you tell yourself it'd be silly to spend money on a digital product… you've got all sorts of excuses.
But fast forward a month or two down the road and all of a sudden you're filling out a form to buy a product that a short time ago you thought you'd never buy. You received the perfect email about the perfect product on the perfect day for the perfect price — and you simply couldn't resist.
So what happened?
The online marketer nurtured the fledgling relationship he started with you. He demonstrated his expertise and earned your trust. He stayed in front of you consistently so you couldn't forget him. And after a period of weeks or months, you finally decided to buy.
These online marketers realize that the real money is in their email list. Once they get your name, they will stay in front of you "forever" knowing you will eventually either opt out of the list or become a customer.
And so they've built highly profitable businesses simply by nurturing their lists over time and staying in touch. They're not looking for the instant sale (even though they get some of those). They're looking to nurture relationships with prospects. And they do that by sending out at least one valuable email every single week.
Think about this lesson for your business. How many good prospects have you met with over the years that didn't buy immediately? Did you stay in touch with them so that they would think of you when the time was right for them?
If not, chances are the next financial advisor they met is the one that they did business with. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
This business is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because you can make a lot of money off just one or two sales, and revenue per client is high. But it's a curse because it can make you lazy and inattentive to all the little inefficiencies in your business. The many opportunities that fall through the cracks.
