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You’re just starting out and your list only has 500 or 1,000 people.

While it’s true you would gladly trade your small list for one that’s 100 times bigger, it’s also true that if you treat your little list right, you can still make really good money.

How does that work?

By getting personal.

First, answer emails that you get from your list. When someone reads your latest email and takes the time to write to you – answer them. You’ve only got 1,000 people on your list, so odds are only 5 to 10 will ever write to you at a time. Yes, you can do this. Keep it personal.

Second, let your list members know that they are part of a very small, intimate, private community by telling them. Otherwise they’ll assume you’ve got a gazillion people on your list and don’t give a flying flip about any of them.

Third, email them daily. Yes, DAILY. Keep in constant contact with them. Update them on the latest news and give a tidbit here and there about yourself.

Fourth, care about their success. If you really, truly care, then it will show in your emails to them. Communicate how important they are and that you want to help them succeed in a big way.

Fifth, hold open Q and A sessions over webinars, Skype or your favorite platform. Don’t charge anything, and let your subscribers know it is only for your list. You’re creating the feeling that they belong to a small, exclusive, private group.

Sixth, send out emails that start with something personal, such as, “Hi (name) – I wanted to contact you personally because I think you might be a good fit for my coaching program.”

Seventh, ask for their help or opinion on something and then answer every response.

Doing these little things will keep your list engaged and interacting with you.

And when you send out an offer for just 10 people to get personalized coaching at $500 a month, what do you think will happen?

Odds are you’ll fill those slots in less than a day with no additional effort at all. You might even have a waiting list of people who didn’t make the first ten slots.

What happens when someone emails their list of 100,000 with the exact same offer? Surprisingly, there’s a good chance they’ll have trouble selling those ten slots, even though their list is 100 times bigger.

You can make great money with a small list when you take the time to get personal with your subscribers.

You work hard to write the perfect email – and then nobody even opens the darn thing.

Sigh.

What’s a marketer to do?

Try a new subject line using one of the following tactics:

Insert your personality and get personal.

Let’s face it – no one gets excited by dry toast, which is precisely why you need to let your own personality shine in your subject line.

True, some people won’t like your personality. So what? Others will love your personality because they see themselves in you, and they’ll become rabid fans.

Examples: “Three experts in our niche that are flat out WRONG,” “Why I loathe beets and want them exterminated from the planet,” “Why I check under my bed before going to sleep,” and “10 things the worst world leader in history taught me.”

Use numbers.

In a big field of words (think your Gmail inbox) numbers and symbols stand out.

For example: “7 ways to screw this up,” “3 people I hate” and “5 days in the doghouse.”

Ask a question.

For whatever reason, questions just seem to work better than statements.

For example, instead of, “How to do this,” you might ask, “Can you tell me how to do this?”

Other examples: “Why can’t you go to the bathroom?” “Where do you want me to ship this?” “Is the dorky look back in style?”

Invoke Curiosity.

Strange headlines get clicks – sometimes. This one is a little tricky, but if you can arouse enough curiosity, you’ll be blown away at how many subscribers open your emails.

Examples: “My Dr. told me to eat dirt,” “How to know you’re about to have a heart attack” and “The dessert only diet.”

Super short subject lines:

There was a reason why, for awhile, you kept seeing the subject line, “Hey.”

It worked.

But like anything else, once it’s used too much, its effectiveness wears off.

Still, every once in awhile try using either a one word subject line, or a short subject line that you use as a great opening to a story. Examples:

“Damn,” “That’s when I knew,” “Groan…” “Facepalming AGAIN,” “Yikes!” “Oh no!” “How did THAT happen?” “Unbelievable!” and so forth.

And one last sneaky but ultra-important tip: Always send out your emails a second time to everyone who didn’t open them the first time.

How this works: Nearly every autoresponder has this option now, and if yours doesn’t, ask for it.

Send out an email in the morning. Wait 8 to 12 hours, and then resend it to everyone who didn’t open it the first time.

Use a different subject line the second time, but keep the email the same.

Your second subject line can be entirely different from the first, thus (hopefully) sparking interest in those subscribers who didn’t open the first one.

Or you can simply say, “You missed this earlier email,” or some such.

Typically, I get nearly as many opens the second time I send an email as I do the first time.

It’s a great way to reuse your emails. You’re not bugging those subscribers who did open your first email. And you will get more clicks and make more sales with almost no additional effort.

You can even schedule the second email when you send out the first. Just make sure to send it only to those readers who did not open it the first time.

Okay, your competition has been around longer than you.

They know more than you about your customers, your products, your marketing…

…let’s face it – they’re race horses, and you’re a mule.

But what does that mean?

New marketers feel like they are coming into a race when it’s three-quarters over.

Seasoned marketers know more, have more tools, more contacts, more customers, bigger lists, more outsourcers and so forth.

How is a mule to compete against a tried and true race horse?

One step at a time, that’s how.

In 1976, the Great American Horse Race – 3,500 miles long through 13 American states – had 90 teams of purebred race horses competing…

And 1 team of mules.

That’s right, mules – competing with thoroughbreds from across the world in the perhaps the longest, greatest horse race ever.

Entered in the race were Viking horses from Iceland; Arabian stallions, favored to win by almost everyone; tall Irish thoroughbreds; striking Appaloosas; and horses from France, Australia, Denmark and Japan.

And then there was Lord Fauntleroy, the mule. “Leroy,” for short, was the choice steed of Virl Norton, a steeplejack from San Jose, California. Lady Eloise was the backup mule. And no one – no one – took them seriously.

3,500 miles later, you already know who won: The most unlikely victor in any horse race, ever. As Leroy crossed the finish line into the stadium, he flopped his ears and gave a victorious “hee-haw.”

The mule had won with 315.47 total hours. Second place went to an Arabian, clocking 324.6 hours. That’s right – it wasn’t even close.

When you think you can’t compete – when you’re sure you don’t know enough, have enough experience, don’t have the contacts or whatever thought is going through your head, just think of Leroy.

No one expected him to win except his owner and rider, Norton.

Maybe no one expects you to win, either, except maybe your spouse or loved-one.

That’s okay, because if you simply stay in the race and be consistent, you can outshine them all… Or at least cross the finish line with a lovely payday for yourself.