“I want to treat my audience like friends and family instead of just customers.”

That’s Celia’s* number one goal for marketing her business. But she hasn’t sent regular emails to her list in years – only a few around the holidays. She doesn’t have a welcome series to bring new customers into the fold. Business has been steady, thanks to word of mouth and repeat customers, but she’s not making the impact she knows she can.

Celia wants to treat her audience with integrity, honesty, and kindness. She wants to empower them by sharing how she’s changed her life, and why it’s important to offer kindness and caring to others… and to ourselves.

What would it be like to treat your audience like your family and friends? I went into detail here, and now I want to talk about what NOT to do.

What do you NOT to do your friends?

Or, what kind of behavior turns you off from your friends? How can you avoid treating the people on your list that way?

• One-sided favors. Many marketers advise that you always have a CTA. Get them used to taking doing what you ask, the wisdom goes, so they will be primed to make a purchase. Actually, this sounds like one of those friends who always asks you to do stuff for her and never returns the favor. Good friends talk to each other, without asking for something back.
• Constant selling. Have you ever had a friend get involved in a multi-level marketing company, and try to sell you supplements or makeup all the time? It gets old fast, doesn’t it? I’m amazed by how many companies send sales after sales after sales email. No matter how glossy or minimal or sexy the design, these emails do not give any value to your customer.
• Navel-gazing. There’s a reason savvy marketers don’t call their marketing emails “newsletters.” If all you wrote to your list was your news, you’d have a dismal open rate and a bored audience. You know that friend who only ever talks about herself? Don’t do that. Friends share their news, but they also talk about current events and ideas, they ask for insight and feedback, they give and ask for recommendations.

Don’t be a lousy friend to the people on your list, no matter what the Marketing Experts say. You don’t need a CTA every time. You can just ruminate on a topic, the way you would to a good friend.

If you’re in the habit of using your blog posts as emails to your list, or if you haven’t written to your list in ages, this might seem awkward. In that case, it helps to pretend you’re writing to a specific person. It could be one of your client avatars, or it could be an actual human you know, whom you are friends with.

I knooooowwwww it takes dedicated time and energy to write something like this to your list! The kind of time and energy you barely feel like you have. Well, that’s where services like mine can be a huge help. But whether you hire support or not, remember that relationships are why we’re here. Connection is what it’s about. What more meaningful use of your time and energy than that?

This post is part of my 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days series. View the rest here.

Image by Sam Czeh.