The Critical Differences Between A “List” And A “Tribe”
I hear people say all the time…
“I need a bigger list” or “I don’t have a big list” or “I don’t have a list at all” or “My list is old!”
“How do you reinvigorate an old list?”
“Nobody’s born with a list!”
Everybody’s obsessed with the size of their list and building a list. But let me tell you, there’s a huge difference between having a list and building a tribe.
A list is nothing more than “data.”
A list is just a bunch of emails.
A tribe is a group of people.
A group of people who know you, like you, trust you, support you, buy from you, and stick with you through thick and thin.
A list is just data.
A tribe is an evolving community of people on a journey together pursuing a common objective.
A list can be bought and sold.
The right to lead a tribe is earned over time by adding value, listening, becoming a trusted resource, and through service.
A list can be lost.
If your server crashes, or your hard drive dies, or you lose a thumb drive… your list is gone forever!
A tribe can last for decades.
A tribe seeks you out if something ever happens and they lose touch with you (Facebook jail, server crash, database failure).
I can’t tell you how many people have reached out to me over the years to say “Hey, I haven’t gotten an email from you in a while. Did I get off your list somehow? Did your server crash?”
These are people who look out for you as much as you look out for them.
A list is measured by its size in sheer numbers.
A tribe is valued by its number of interactions and how much people actually pay attention to what you’re doing.
I’ve known people with hundreds-of-thousands of names on their lists, who could barely scrape up enough money to make the payment on their house.
I’ve also seen other people with small lists, but a very strong tribe, crush the competition in affiliate contests and just overall business. Why?
Because a list is just a thing.
But a tribe is a growing, living, breathing, emotional community that can sustain you in business and in life for a very long time.
So my question to you is… what would you rather have, a list or a tribe?
I think the answer is obvious.
One of the ways to build a tribe is by providing them with amazing value on a consistent basis.
The one thing at the core of countless tribe is a book… a manifesto… a textbook… a guidebook… a “bible”… a collection of ideas, principles, rules, and blueprints.
Something everyone in the tribe can read and feel a part of, almost like having the book gives them membership in a cool kids club!
If you are not the author of your own book yet… or if you’d like to write another book to build your tribe, I can show you NINE different ways to have that book done by this time next week. I’ve shown TENS-of-THOUSANDS of people just like you how to create their own books super-fast and go on to use their book to build a tribe!
Check out the “modern day classic” that makes all the difference — 7dayebook.com