I’ve been doing this whole internet marketing thing for quite a while.

And I’ve been reading about it for even longer.

And I gotta say: there’s a lot of garbage out there you can read.

(In fact, I would recommend reading books more often and web content less often. My latest read? The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton)

And here’s a HUGE myth I keep reading about over and over and over again.

And it’s time we blow this myth out of the water!

“The secret to success on the web is in your email list size”

You’ve got to be kidding…

That’s really what we’re going to tell aspiring web entrepreneurs?

This is really the best advice we could come up with?

This is the secret sauce?

The real key to success online

Here’s what I know:

You can send content to an email list of half a million people (I’ve done it) and not see any real results.

You can also send content to 10,000 people or less (also done it) and have a HUGE impact!

Because the real secret to success online is not found in the size of the list.

It’s found in the caliber of the people you are in contact with.

I unsubscribed from your blog

Let me share two stories to explain what I mean:

I did a little experiment.

I subscribe to many major internet marketing blogs around the web.

So I tried to find two that were similar in age, popularity, content, success, etc. and I tried something out.

About a year ago, I sent an email to Blog A (that I’ll tell you is Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income Blog) and Blog B (that I won’t tell you who it is) asking for some help on a challenge I was facing (diversifying my income online).

Here are the responses I got…

Blog A responded kindly with some extremely helpful advice on how to approach my problem. He offered actionable advice and encouraged me.

Blog B didn’t respond.

So I wrote again apologizing for the inconvenience.

Still no response.

Really?

Nothing?

Is this was I am to this blogger? Just another email on their list of tens of thousands?

Well, I consider myself to be a human being.

And I was a real fan of this blog.

It gets hard

But it gets harder and harder to read posts about their success in building email lists and selling ebooks only to be ignored when I try to interact with them.

I ultimately unsubscribed.

Not a rant

Now, believe it or not, this is not a rant.

I’m over it.

I’m ok with it.

And as someone who manages large email lists too, I get it.

But the myth that all you have to do is build an email list and you’ll have immense success online is a bunch of boloney.

It’s a lie.

And I want to warn you.

The real secret to having success online (and I’ve tested this theory time and time again) is to engage in meaningful conversations and build relationships with your fans or potential subscribers.

Help them.

Give them advice.

Care about them.

Treat them like they’re the only person on your list. That’s the true secret to success! (tweet if you agree)

Those are the fans that will stay subscribed to your blog.

Those are the fans who will buy your products.

And those are the fans who you can really influence for good in this world.

It’s not about the list.

It’s about the people.

If you’d like to join the small but extremely significant group of people who have subscribed to this blog, I promise to treat you like a human and always stay in touch.