We’re all used to the experience of having to fly somewhere. We pack our things and head to the airport to be scanned, poked and prodded by someone making minimum wage prior to entering a steel tube and hurtling at 35,000ft to our destination.
But not everyone has that experience. For some people, they have a much better, much more civilized experience.
The lucky people on board are often sitting up in the first class section drinking champagne in seats where you can sometimes comfortably fit two people. They go to the bathroom to change into their airline provided pajamas and while changing, the cabin crew turn their seat into a fully reclined bed and set them out a bottle of water. These people pay for and get a much higher quality of customer service.
Then there’s the folks in business class. They too are sipping a glass of wine, eating with real cutlery and enjoying the inflight entertainment in their much bigger, more comfortable seat. The flight crew refer to them as “sir” and “ma’am” and check in on their well being and comfort throughout the flight. Again, the customer service is exceptional because these customers have a higher value.
We move further back in the plane, through the magic curtain and now we’re into premium economy class. These passengers have a fraction more leg room, their meal gets served first and their tray removed a bit earlier as well. They also have a more space in the overhead luggage compartment because it’s a little less crowded.
Finally, we’re back in economy class looking at the folks who are squeezed into seats that are much too narrow for a fully grown average adult and the look on their faces tells you that they know they are in for a long flight. The cabin crew occasionally chuck a bag of peanuts at them and if they’re very lucky, there might be some ice cream at the end of their badly re-heated meatloaf and powdered mash potato dinner.
This class structure is effectively how I think about my audience.
My Casual Marketer subscribers are sitting up in first class. They get the best information, they can access me by email and I am always thinking about how I can make their time in the program more beneficial to them. We have a good relationship and I try to make sure that their experience is always really good.
Then there are my email subscribers who I consider to be my business class customers. Every day you get an email from me with what I think (and others have said) is good information that’s designed to get you thinking about what you’re doing. They don’t have as much access to me and they don’t get my best information, but I try to take care of them.
From the daily emails I create blog posts. This isn’t my number one priority and at the time of writing this I’ve fallen a bit behind on updating the blog with my emails because I’ve been busy. The people who read the blog only and aren’t on my list are like premium economy class customers. They get some of the benefits but not all the perks.
Lastly are the people who float in and out, maybe they read a blog post here or there and genuinely they’re not regular readers or customers. They get to see some of the quality information and things that my more committed clients gets, but they have to make the decision to upgrade their engagement to take advantage of those options.
I think this is a vital element to Casual Marketer and one of the biggest changes I’ve made in my own thinking over the last year or so.
I’m willing and able to share good content freely and offer great advice to a wide range of people, but it’s up to them on how much they’re willing to commit in accepting what I’m offering. The newsletter subscribers are fully committed so they get the maximum benefit from my efforts whereas people who flit in and flit out reading the blog occasionally, they get a small dollop of wisdom to entice them to take the next step.
I used to believe like many people that you needed to put your best stuff out there for free and show people what you have. They would then, if you were lucky, sign up for your email list where, if you were a good boy or girl, they would let you maybe make them an offer to sell them something.
No thanks, that doesn’t work for me. With Casual Marketer, I’ve flipped that model on its head because I think it is stupid and broken.
First of all, my best stuff and my most attention is entirely focused on my first class customers, the Casual Marketer Newsletter subscribers. Period. Full stop. No questions asked. I’m not going to give my best stuff away for free, that’s stupid. I share it with people who are committed enough to pay for it.
Secondly, my emails (which become blog posts) provide pretty good quality information in my opinion (which is the only one that matters). I think of this like a conversation that I’m having with my email subscribers. Every day I share something that I find interesting or insightful. I send that via email because I believe that email is the most convenient way to read information when it suits you. I want you to read it, so I avoid making you jump through hoops to consume it like having to click on blog links.
I also make a pitch in pretty much every email. Mostly it is offering people the opportunity to join the newsletter, but every so often it might be to sign up for a Tech Talk session or to join my coaching. That’s the exchange of value we’re having, I’m offering you good information and at the end, I make a very clear offer for you to take the next step in our relationship if you’re so inclined.
Finally, I do turn those emails into blog posts. I do that because if you think of the daily emails as a running conversation, then there may be people who’ve come late to the party and this is a good way for them to look back and get caught up with what we’ve been talking about.
Every blog post has the ability for the reader to join my email list and get the daily emails (upgrade from premium economy or economy to business class for free!) and at the bottom, they also get the offer to stump and subscribe to the newsletter. Again, that’s the value exchange – I tell you what I have to sell as part of the offer of good quality information.
I like to think that I’m pretty transparent about this hierarchy. I know some people get all weird when they think of different classes and stuff, but you know what, too bad, that’s the way life works. I don’t give away my best stuff for free because I want people to pay money for that. It’s fairly simple really.
You know what else is really simple? Upgrading to get your first class seat on the rocketship that is the Casual Marketer Monthly Newsletter. To take your rightful place and get access to my best stuff, click the link below to subscribe right now.