Most of us know what this is like…

We subscribe to a company’s email list, only to get bombarded by emails offering a “15% off” coupon. 

And then … crickets.

If you weren’t ready to buy from them yet, odds are you probably never will.

So as a business owner or marketer, why would you do the same thing to YOUR new subscribers?

The truth is, when you get someone to sign up for your list, you have a small window of time to start building a relationship. After that window closes, the subscriber will lose interest. Maybe they’ll even forget who you are! And when that happens, they stop opening your emails.

Now, some brand new subscribers will take you up on your 15% coupon … but those are mostly going to be “warmer” leads. These prospects heard about you from someone they trust, or they listen to your podcast or watch your YouTube channel. 

Sometimes they already knew they wanted the product, so they subscribed specifically to get the discount. However, even if someone uses your coupon and buys, that doesn’t mean they’ll be back to buy again!

That’s why it’s important to build a relationship right away — both with subscribers who are ready to buy now and with subscribers who need more warming up before they’ll buy.

So how do you build that relationship?

By doing everything you possibly can to make a new subscriber feel like they:

>>> Know you

>>> Like you

>>> Trust you

>>> Get value from you

And each of those relationship building blocks — know, like, trust, and value — are created by demonstrating a set of certain characteristics:

So let’s look at “value” as an example. 

One way to demonstrate value is to give your new subscribers a quick win. A quick win is a tip, strategy, or tool that gets them an almost-immediate result. For example, if someone is having trouble sleeping, you could tell them to try taking their vitamin D in the morning. (Vitamin D is the “sunshine vitamin,” and taking it at night can disrupt sleep.)

That’s something they can try right away. 

Another way to demonstrate value is to overdeliver. For instance, you could promise to give your subscribers a few little-known sleep tips, and then later surprise them with a free sleep assessment tool. 

That makes subscribers want to open your emails, because when they do, they get useful surprises and bonuses.

So to demonstrate value, you could do one of these two things: give quick wins OR overdeliver. However…

…the more building blocks you incorporate, the better your results.

Remember, you want to do everything you possibly can to build a relationship as quickly as possible.

That’s why in my First 7 Days Formula, I hit on each of the 11 characteristics in multiple ways. The trick is to do it in a conversational and natural way.

For example, sometimes the right photo can hit three different characteristics. A photo of a doctor wearing his lab coat speaks to “connection,” “competence,” and even touches on “character,” as doctors are equated with heroes.

Now a photo of a doctor isn’t enough to make someone feel like they know and trust that doctor, but the example demonstrates how every detail in your emails to new subscribers can build the relationship.

And the more you build that relationship — especially in the critical first days — the more people will want to read your messages and do business with you.