coolin my problem is I try not to ‘promote’ too much to my list. I mean I have a small list probably compared to you but I was able to grow it with my super plugin I created (optincomments). but do you think readers that are subscribe are different from the users that read daily on your blog?

@Charles, if your list loves you because you consistently send them great stuff, they’ll prefer to buy from you over your competitors. Not easy, but you can do it.

@ChrisG, I find that email newsletters and blog content share a lot of the same best practices. Do you agree? The audiences can be different, but I think the same basic principles apply–quality content, build a relationship, promote trust & interaction.

@Steven – Yup, you have to keep your list “warm”, even if it is once a month, send them something useful but do NOT aplogise for not sending anything

@Charles – You can sell even when in deep competition by knowing the customer best, and by creating a bond with readers. Check out this article on using customer sales objections to sell more for more information

When there’s someone who created a new product to sell online, I often get to see different marketers promoting that same product to me at the same time because I am on their list. Sometimes, I can feel how competitive email promotion marketing is. Some marketers turned to give away their own product or service as an incentive if you buy through their links.
My question is: How can the minority of us compete to get our list to buy from us instead of other people?

I think for now, I’ll simply list my recent 10-15 blog entries, with a couple of sponsor ads at the bottom until I get something else going.

I definitely don’t want to lose readers because I’m not putting something out there.