I receive too many emails! On any given day I may receive 1,000 emails. Yes, you read that right. Of course, many of them are totally unwanted and unsolicited. Most of those are caught by my Spamarrest account.

Even with weeding out those first 800 or 900 emails, I still have 100-200 arriving in my inbox. This is a result of having been in business online for the past 17 years – and from the Fear of Disconnect. Perhaps you suffer from it, too?

As I tried to clean out some of my email subscriptions lately I found these thoughts going through my head.

Thought: I really like this person. I hate to unsubscribe from their list. It might hurt their feelings.

Response: It’s okay. They will not take it personally. If they are an actual friend, you’ll hear from them on social media or personal email. If they’re an online business person you like, you can always find them again online.

Thought: I’m on this list because I bought something from them. If I unsubscribe, I won’t get product updates.

Response: Is this product critical to your success online? If so, you may want to continue to receive hundreds of marketing messages “in case” there is an update message.

If this product is not something you use daily or it has a built-in updater, then unsubscribe.

Thought: I have no idea who this person is or what I may have bought from them.

Response: Unsubscribe immediately!

Thought: I enjoy the emails from this person and always find them valuable. They help me build my business, even if they are marketing something in every email.

Response: You may want to keep it for now. Just pay attention as to whether or not you actually READ the emails.

Thought: This is part of a series of emails. They are even numbered! And I would hate to miss any of the series.

Response: If you are reading them, great. But if you are saving them so you can read them back to back, go ahead and unsubscribe. You can always start the sequence over if you really miss it.

Thought: This email is from Jeanette.

Response: Well of course you can’t unsubscribe! I WOULD miss you.

Actually, I’m grinning because I know that sometimes you DO need to unsubscribe. Sometimes we’re not going the same direction. I know that I have certainly changed MY direction several times. If you are one of the many subscribers who joined me in 2001, you have seen that.

Just know that if you need to unsubscribe for a while, I understand. You can always find me here at JeanetteCates.com and get reconnected.

Your Action: Go clean out your inbox. Unsubscribe from at least 5 emails today.

I hope to see you in my next update!

It started with tires. That was the first time I noticed that there are a LOT of tire commercials on TV and a lot of tire ads in the newspaper. But you don’t notice them – until you need tires.

It’s the same with all cars, be it a used Camry in Albany, NY
or any of the new-model cars. It seems that every other commercial on TV is about new cars. But you don’t pay attention to them until you are looking for a new car. Then suddenly EVERY commercial is one you watch. When purchasing a new car you should get a car vacuum to help with cleaning.

Of course, if you already have a car brand preference, then you tend to only “see” those commercials. You may even replay them just to be sure you got all the details on your potential car.

Then there are the car sites. Kelly Blue Book, new cars, carmax, auto-trader. If you’re truly looking at cars, you will be searching each of those.

As you narrow your search, you will only focus on the brands that interest you. But when you are looking and wanting those details depends on timing.

And when the timing is right, you will buy your next car. After that, you’ll go back to not searching the online sites or watching the commercials. You won’t need what they are offering at the present time.

So how does the concept of timing apply to marketing your online business? What you sell and when you sell it is all about timing.

You may send an email to your list, telling them about your latest product. But if they don’t need it right now, the timing is off and you won’t sell many products.

Likewise, if another product, perhaps from a bigger name in the industry or with more emotions tied to its sales, has recently been released, then you may not sell many products.

It’s all about timing. And that’s the importance of follow-up in your sales cycle.

Smart car sales professionals know that a timely phone call, a postcard, a letter, or an email can make the difference in whether or not you see that prospective car buyer again. The same applies in your business.

By setting up an automatic set of email messages spread over a period of time, you are more likely to remind the prospect of your product when the time is right. That’s one of the reasons we send 10 messages on the first 10 days after someone has asked for more information about the product. That’s when they are looking for that type of information and therefore, it’s more likely the timing is right for them to buy.

Timing also means that you should not beat yourself up if people are not buying your product on the day you announce it. It could be the timing is not right. Be patient and follow up.

Finally, because timing determines when they are interested (although you can help create that interest with good marketing), you want to be available when they are ready.

One of the strangest trends in recent years online has been the “scarcity” tactic of offering a product for a week, then taking it off the market. What are the chances everyone who could buy that product is ready for that product during that one week. Sure you can sell more because of the fear of loss, but that’s not how you build a long-term business.

Instead, have a steady site (generally your main blog) where people know they can always find you. Have a list of your products, with links to each of them. Be there for them so that when the timing is right, you ARE the solution!

If you don’t yet have your autoresponder follow-ups written and in place, then you need Autoresponder Basics. If the timing is right for you today, pick it up now!