A little while back, a friend of mine asked me how to sell to his e-newsletter list without coming off as being pushy, obnoxious and caring only about extracting as much cash as possible from his customers.

I don’t blame him for being concerned, either.

People are unsubscribing left and right from e-newsletters and lists who do nothing but sell, sell, sell.

But here’s the thing…

All the “selling” isn’t the necessarily the problem.

The problem is usually what’s being sold and to who.

Let me explain what I mean:

Three days per week I like to make a brisk, ten mile bike ride.

Only problem is, I live in an area that, during the summer, is full of annoying little thorns that get lodged into your tires and cause slow leaks.

This happened a few times to me over the past summer.

The first time I changed the tube myself.

The second time (a couple weeks later) I took it to a local bike shop. The guy fixed it and we went our merry way.

The third time (just a few days later) it happened yet again…and I brought it to the shop again.

This time was actually a pain for me, because I had a lot of stuff to do that week, and didn’t want to mess around taking a bike to and from the shop.

Luckily, there was a different guy working that day.

And before he changed the tube he said, “We get a TON of tire repair jobs like this in the summer. Do you want me to put on a tube with a sealant inside? It’s a little more expensive, but when a thorn gets in there, the sealant fills up the hole and you won’t even know it happened.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” I asked. I had no idea this thing existed (shows how much I know about bikes).

“And if you really want to make sure this never happens again, we have special tires that are almost impossible for these little thorns to puncture…”

Long story short:

I bought both the tires and special sealant tubes on the spot, and have not had a problem since.

Now, here’s what’s important about this for you as an Internet marketer:

When I left the bike shop, I was actually mad the first guy didn’t try and sell me the special sealant tubes or puncture-proof tires.

If he had sold me on the tube and tires I wouldn’t have had the hole, and I wouldn’t have had to take another day to drop off and pick up my bike.

And that’s the point.

Are you selling your list things they want?

Things that will make their lives easier?

Things they may not even realize exist right now… but will be happy and thrilled to buy once you show them?

If not, then you should be worried people thinking you’re just another Internet marketing “hawk” only out for money.

Because you probably are annoying people, and you probably are one or two emails away from a bunch of potential buyers leaving you at any given time.

On the other hand…

If you simply discover what your list wants and aren’t getting… and if you simply offer those things to your list for now on… then you have nothing to worry about.

You’re not inconveniencing anyone and you’re not coming off as a greedy, money-hungry jerk, either.

Chances are you’re a bright spot in their day — even as they fork over their hard-earned money to you.

If you don’t believe me, think about the ads you buy from selling you things you really want that genuinely solve a problem in your life.

Don’t you feel almost a sense of… well… gratitude… towards the company that sells it to you?

I know I do.

I can’t help but think the guy who sold me the tires and tubes did me a huge favor. I’m always grateful whenever I see one of those stupid thorns on the bike path.

And if you simply sell your list the things they want like this… you won’t have to worry about mass number of people leaving.

People will be happy to hear from you…instead of being sick of hearing from you.