If you have been around internet marketing for more than a minute, you have probably heard the saying, “the money is in the list”. Well grab a chair and listen up, because it’s true. Even if you have hundreds or thousands of visitors to your website every day; you are still missing out on the best way to increase your profits: list marketing.
The Purpose of a List
A good email list allows your visitors an easy way to “know, like and trust you” which any salesperson will tell you is the quickest route from stranger to satisfied customer. Once you know how to build a list, you can use it to market to both a potential and current customer base.
4 Easy Ways to Build a List
(1) Offer a free newsletter or ezine – We all like a bargain. And a “free” email jammed pack full of solid information and useful tips is one the oldest and despite in the increase in spam, still one of the most dependable ways to remain in contact with your customers. In sales studies, over 90% of all customers said they would buy products or services again from the same vendor, “if asked.”
Use a free newsletter not only to build a list but build a list of repeat buyers!
(2) Make it Easy to Subscribe and Unsubscribe – Place your subscription link or form on each and every page of your website, not just on your homepage. Put it in an eye-catching and prominent position. You want your visitors to have every opportunity to sign up for your list. Also make it easy for them to see how simple it would be unsubscribe.
What…? But you want them to stay on your list as long as possible, right? Why would you make it easy for them to unsubscribe? Simple…most people don’t like getting into unknown situations with seeing the “exit is this way” sign first.
People don’t know you yet, and they are uncertain if you will fill up their inbox with yet more spam. So if you prove how trouble-free it would be unsubscribe then they will be more willing to sign and give you their previous email.
(3) Write Quality Articles – Writing articles is the most affordable way to both drive visitors to your website (to build your list) and to “prove” that you are an expert or specialist in your field. We all like to think of ourselves as being independent and strong minded, but if we get into trouble or are having a tough time figuring things; we all valve the input of “professional” or “expert” help.
Place your articles on your website, in your newsletter and submit them to article directories, and to other newsletters or blogs in related fields. Always include a resource box that links back to your list building landing page or to your main index page.
Don’t forget when you write articles to give away your best information! What? Yes, I know sounds counter intuitive but think about it just for a moment. If you give away your best “what-to-do” information, then you leave the world open for you to promote your best “how-to-do-it” products and services in your list. And people do think, “Dang, if they are giving stuff like this away for free, then their products/services must be first-rate!”
(4) Write a Free Ebook – Take several of your better articles or newsletter issues, polish them up, add a little bit more information and then combine them into a free, “best of ____” ebook. Some people may be reluctant to sign up for a “regular” published newsletter, will cheerfully sign up (and exchange their email address) for a 10-25 page ebook jammed packed with quality content and tips that they can use to solve a problem.
Now that you know how to build a list using these 4 tips, can truly understand make your email address book into a “money list”.
To Your List Building Success,
Bill Portnova
2 Comments
Everything in this post is absolutely true. I’ve been writing for many SEO types over the past year, and I’ve even written an e-book. However, the ironic thing about this post is that I’ve just finished setting up a my new newsletter less than an hour before being updated about this blog post. If nothing else, I guess I’m headed in the right direction.
Thanks
Great article, Bill. The way you simplified list building into four ways really takes the mystery out of “how to get started”.
A question about articles: How do you feel about purchasing/using PLR articles either in your mailing list or compiling into an ebook? Part of me thinks it would be best to write everything myself in MY voice, however, it’s tempting sometimes to save time/energy by using PLR articles. What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Cheryl