7 Tips to Successfully Changing Your Email Newsletter Service Provider

There comes a time in every online business
owner’s life when you will seriously consider
changing email newsletter providers. Making the
decision to change your email newsletter service
is never an easy one.  In fact, I tell my
clients to choose wisely the first time they
pick a provider, as their subscribers will tire
of list-hopping and simply leave the list if
they are requested to re-subscribe too many
times.

Why would you consider changing providers?

• to purge your list and retain your best and most active readers.  This
  is especially effective if you have changed or refined the focus of your
  business.
• to increase deliverability and/or reduce technical challenges.  Many of
  the more popular list providers are being blocked by major ISPs due to their
  users abusing the email system by sending out unsolicited emails.
• to incorporate autoresponder and broadcast technology in one place. 
  It’s much more effective these days to have a service in which you can use
  personalized autoresponders to follow up with your ezine subscribers and
  tell them about your additional features or offerings that they should
  explore.
• streamline your database into one location.  I’ve had 3 separate
  databases for a couple of years, and I’m glad to be migrating them all under
  one roof. as determining who gets what is becoming more challenging with
  each passing year.

This changeover can be a complicated,
time-consuming process. Here are 7 tips to make
the switch a bit easier:

1.  Make the change your primary activity. 
Don’t do as I did and choose to launch a major
initiative and change your list at the same
time.  Big mistake.  Choose a slow time in your
business when you’re not promoting a sale or a
new product to change your lists.  If you try to
do too many things at once, you’ll confuse your
readers, and a confused mind takes no action –
the person simply leaves.

2.  Leave yourself plenty of time.  Since
I send out a weekly ezine, I am choosing to take
30 days to complete the list changeover.  My
readers are accustomed to hearing from me
regularly, so I think that’s an adequate amount
of time.  However, if you contact your readers
only once a month or just once a quarter, allow
yourself 2-3 months to move the list.  If your
list isn’t accustomed to hearing from you often,
they may not be checking their emails regularly
or just may overlooked an unexpected email from
you.

3.  Tell your subscribers what’s going on. 
Let you list members know that you will send
them several emails over a period of time to
request the changeover.  Ask for their patience
in the process, and let them know that once they
have re-subscribed, they can just ignore the
next 2-3 similar emails that they receive from
you. If you choose to import your list to your
new provider, you need to email your list
beforehand to let them know to expect an
automated opt-in email from your new list
provider.

4.  Provide multiple re-subscribe methods. 
Make the re-subscription process as easy as
possibly for your readers.  If your new provider
permits, offer them the option to subscribe by
email as well as to go to your website and
complete a subscription form.  By doing so, they
can choose the process that works best for them.

5.  Give clear, step-by-step directions. 
Many of your readers may not be Internet-savvy
and will get lost somewhere in the re-subscribe
process. In both your verification and
confirmation emails and/or landing pages, create
a clear, concise set of step-by-step directions
of the steps that they need to follow to get on
your new list. Enhance the landing pages with
screen shots of the emails they’ll receive or
the landing pages to which they will be sent,
since pictures often speak louder than words.

6.  Create interesting and relevant follow-up
autoresponders. If you move to a service
that permits you to send out a series of
autoresponders upon subscription, take a few
moments to brainstorm what other pieces of info
you offer that would be of interest to your
readers.  You can introduce them to your blog or
podcast, ask them how they liked your fr*ee
giveaway that they received in return for
subscribing to your list, request that they ask
you their most pressing question about your area
of expertise, ask them to complete a survey, or
introduce them to a lower-end product or
service.  The key here is to keep them
interested in what you offer that will help them
solve the problems that keep them awake at
night.

7.  Expect to lose 50-75% of your list. 
I don’t have tons of evidence to support this
statistic, only a small amount of experience and
stories from other online business owners who’ve
experienced the same loss numbers in their list
transfers. I’ve discovered that the percentage
of your list that will transfer to your new
provider is roughly the same as your average
open rate of your ezine.  This makes perfect
sense to me — the ones who are already reading
your broadcasts will want to continue that and
be willing to transfer to keep receiving your
quality information.  The ones who don’t
regularly read your ezine aren’t going to read
your request to re-subscribe to another list,
either.  What’s the upside to this depressing
statistic?  You’ve purged your list of everyone
but your devoted fans, who are much more likely
to buy from you in the long-run than a bigger
list of unenthusiastic subscribers.

Even though switching your email newsletter list
providers isn’t easy, sometimes it’s the best
move to make for your business.  You’ll create a
smaller list of dedicated readers and open the
door to add additional subscribers who are
interested in what you have to offer.