List Building 101
How
To Build & Run
A
Successful Opt-In List
Chapter
1- Introduction
The
Role Of Building Lists In Internet Marketing
Introduction
One
of the most important things in an Internet Marketing business is a
list of contacts. Just as in any other business, online businesses
also need to build relationships with their customers. Subscribers
are the contacts on your lists that are the most valuable asset of
your online business. Therefore, list building leads to building
relationships, which in turn encourages prospects to visit your
website, sign up and get closer to buying your offer. But people are
not just going to flock to a website and leave their contact
information! To attract them, they must perceive some value. The
first thing they are going to think about is how they will benefit
from giving you their contact details. That’s why every business
that does online marketing must build its own lists, targeted at
specific prospects. It is time consuming. You have to work really
hard. But in the end, you will directly enjoy the fruits of your
efforts.
Lists –
The Online Marketer’s Treasure
Everyone
talks about his or her ‘optin’ lists. It’s their treasure. They
are always looking for new and innovative ways to build their lists
to keep visitors coming to their sites continuously. They offer
various things to the prospective customer like free reports, ebooks,
software, memberships, services etc. just to get their email address
and other identifiable information. It is essential to keep
following up with people who might be interested in what you are
offering. Only when you have a growing list can you facilitate your
users to visit your site. It grabs their attention and takes them to
those areas of the site that are of particular value to them.
Why
Have A Growing List?
Is
it not sufficient to have a few hundred contacts? In online
marketing, not every visitor buys from the site he or she is
visiting. Sure you may have built a huge database of contacts, but
unless each one is a qualified contact, there is no guarantee that
they will take any purchase-related action when they visit. Even in
the offline world, you usually cannot get a buying decision out of
your prospect right away – it takes not less than 5 visits unless
they are desperately in need. Again, if you deal with more than one
product, different visitors may be interested in different products.
That is why you have to get your visitor’s email id and name as
they browse through your site. This will let you plan a frequency at
which you can remind them and keep them updated about current offers
to keep the sales coming in. You must use ethical methods to build
your lists. The worst thing in Internet marketing is acquiring a bad
reputation, because that will ensure that you can never do business
again.
Chapter
2
What
You Need To Build Lists
The
people on your list are your target customers. You must convert them
into a base that looks forward to what you want to tell them.
You
yourself must be easily reachable. When you do this, people slowly
begin to have faith in you. When you communicate with your contacts,
you must sound approachable and friendly rather than seriously
formal.
Let
us talk about the basic things you need before you actually
experiment with different methods of building lists and stick to the
ones that work most profitably for your particular line of activity.
A
Website
The
first thing you must set up is your website, so that your contacts
have a place to come to and find you. They also need a place where
they can securely leave their email and name. You must ensure that
they do not have any difficulty in the process. Not only that, you
want to give them something of value to remember. Your website is
practically your main point of contact with your users. So make sure
you build a site that is good to look at. That does not mean graphics
rich and jazzy, but something that is designed to be professional and
effective. It must attract your users enough for them to want to
browse around and check out what you have for them. Use pleasant
colors and relevant images, a good layout and useful information.
Your
site must provide crisp content. Write it in such a way that it draws
their attention – like a magnetic headline, bulleted points, etc.
On top of everything else, it should endorse your own image.
Do
it in a way that is unique and memorable for your visitor. They are
only going to be there for seconds before they move on to browse
elsewhere. It must have something special for your prospect to
remember and come back. The number of sites on the Internet is
growing rapidly and it is up to you to make yours look special.
A
point to bear in mind here is that even after you’ve drawn the
visitor to your site, there is no fixed rule that says they must
purchase from you the first time they go by your site. Which means we
must make sure there is some way by which they can leave their
contact information behind before they go? You do need to remind
them and follow up, don’t you? You can do this by asking them to
sign up in exchange for something valuable to them – like a free
download or newsletter. In this manner, your list continues to build.
You must find a way to follow up with these contacts to that they
become your customers.
Autoresponder
The
next thing is your autoresponder. (We will talk about this more in
detail in a subsequent section). Subscribe to one that suits your
needs best. These are a wonderful way to automate your follow up,
when you have to keep in touch with your customers regularly. You
might find it easy to keep in touch with, say 200 or 300 people, but
when the list runs to thousands, just imagine the amount of time
you’ll spend, time that you can devote to more creative activities.
Instead, a good Auto responder can help you tremendously in keeping
up with your reminding and emailing.
Ways
To Bring Traffic To Your Site
Coming
to the main purpose of this ebook – unless you bring traffic to
your site, how will you build lists? Right. But bear in mind that
your traffic must be relevant to your requirement. In Internet
marketing, the pay per click advertising campaign method is
effective. What you really need to take care about is the keywords
you use; they must especially relate to your unique product. Also,
writing articles about topics related to your business and posting
them on online directories can bring in traffic. You can tie up with
an allied business so that together you can offer a range of services
and mutually benefit while building those lists.
Relevant
Content
It
follows from the above that you must be attentive to what you write
in your emails. You users will look for information that is useful
and relevant to them. If you don’t send them messages that are
meaningful, they will cease to read them. On top of that, they will
unsubscribe. So make sure you provide value, because it will be a
worthwhile investment. And, though it seems obvious, each contact
must be able to sign up with you easily. Which means, every official
communication that goes out of your office, whether online or snail
mail, must contain your web URL, and encourage them to get on your
list.
You
must remember that it is not just for size that you are growing your
list. Why you are doing it is so you can convert it into business.
You can start with a strong small list and build it as you go along.
If
you haven’t already decided what you are going to offer and to whom
you are going to sell it – your product and your target market- do
it now. Pick something you are interested in and get familiar with
it. Some people even select products sold by others, and when they
become confident, choose something similar and market it.
Chapter
3
Kinds
Of Lists
Obviously
the best list you can maintain for your email marketing is the one
you build from your own customers and visitors who browse your
website. But it is not enough to only have a list of those you know.
You also want to bring in new customers all the time. Lets talk about
different kinds of lists in online marketing.
Opt
In lists
An
opt-in list is your list of subscribers who opted to receive your
email, ezine, newsletter or whatever you offered when they signed up.
It means they have allowed you to contact them via email. Here, a
targeted opt in list would be a list of users who have been
qualified for your specific
market. Your subscriber becomes a part of your email list.
How
Does An Opt-In List Differ From An Ezine?
Opt
in lists are informal and brief. They are full of tips, etc. and have
limited period offers. Invariably opt in lists are mailed when
something new is to be introduced or to tell its users that a
particular offer is available only for the next 48 hours, or
something like that. Ezines, on the other hand, are formal. These
carry articles and other hints. The periodicity of Ezines can be
anything from a daily to once in two weeks or once a month. Actually
if you really look at it, you’ll find that both opt in lists and
Ezines are quite integrated. Ezines have opt in lists built into
them, in the sense that along with their usual features, they include
a section where they announce a new product launch, perhaps offering
it to their subscribers at a special price or as a free download in
the next 24 hours.
Double
Optin Lists
Double
opt in is when your subscriber opts in two times. How? First on the
website when he/she click and confirm their subscription after giving
their email id and name. After this they click on the link sent to
them at the email address which they signed up with to confirm their
subscription. So it means not only opting to be on the list, but also
confirming it by verifying their email ids.
Opt
Out Lists
Opt
out is when your subscriber asks for his/her email address to be
deleted from your list when they no longer want to receive messages
from you. They can do this through the “unsubscribe” link that
you include in your emails to them. But did you know that some online
marketers provide their users an unsubscribe link that does not work.
When the user clicks the link, it sometimes goes into the wrong hands
adding the user to some spammer’s list under the assumption that
the email address is being validated.
These
days, reputed companies make sure that they only send email to
subscribers when they permit them to. By sending email to those who
opted not to receive them will only end up irritating the user and
mess up the credibility of the online business. Why lose all the
effort you put in by simply not respecting your customer?
Chapter
4
How
Do You Build A List?
There
are numerous ways in which you can build a credible list. More are
evolving through the experience of innovative online marketers all
the time. We have discussed the most widely used methods in this
ebook and how they can work for you. Almost all of them are simple to
get in place to get you going on your path to profit.
Auto
Responders
The
online marketing business wouldn’t be where it is today without
autoresponders. It saves a tremendous amount of time by completely
automating the process of communicating with your subscribers. An
autoresponder uses software that can be programmed according to your
requirements. Once you set the parameters of how you want things
done, it just follows instructions. You can be as creative as you
want. You don’t even have to make a major investment on one these
days – several sites offer them for free.
Why
Is An Auto Responder So Important?
Autoresponders
save time and time is money while building your lists. If you send
promotional emails from your ISP, you will be reported as a spammer.
The next thing you know, you might have to close shop. Autoresponders
can be exclusively used to send these routine follow up emails to the
thousands of contacts on the list. You can plan and keep your emails
ready, and set the autoresponder to send it at the specific intervals
you want. It can keep track of subscribers signing in and even
respond to let them know they have been signed in. Practically every
single routine emailing activity can be handled by the autoresponder,
which is why no online marketing can do without it.
How
It Works
You
can use a follow up autoresponder that can keep the follow up work
ongoing with your contacts. No subscriber is going to worry about
when your next email is coming, and you certainly cannot expect them
to remember your particular message among the hundreds they must be
getting on a daily basis. That’s where an autoresponder comes in.
To keep your business information alive in the subscriber’s mind.
Program
It And It Does The Rest
You
only have to keep your messages ready, decide on a sending schedule
and your autoresponder takes care of the rest for as long as you have
set it. This will mean that you can concentrate on other equally
important issues while your sales keep coming in, thanks to your
autoresponder’s faithful follow up. In fact, it even lets you go on
holiday while it keeps your office practically running!. Your
autoresponder can help you send out useful information to your
contacts. Instead of using the same: dear subscriber: for all your
contacts, you can make your autoresponder address each contact by
name and send the email. It is always nicer to receive an email
addressed to us personally than get the feeling that we are one in a
massive group of recipients. The autoresponder can even be programmed
to wish your contacts “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”
List
Tracking
It
can track your lists. This means you can make carefully thought out
offers to your target audience. They just want to know what is in it
for them. So you can structure your message accordingly so that it
appeals to them. Experienced online marketers recommend that it is
better to use autoresponders that give you an update about contact
statistics. This can be split into month/week/day to tell you which
of your leads are active and which ones have opted out, helping you
in healthy list maintenance.
Keeping
In Touch
Autoresponders
help you in keeping in touch with your subscribers, giving them
relevant information about your business, say, when you get fresh
stocks or if you are planning a discount sale. Or you can even make
your new subscribers some kind of special offer. This will keep your
contact list alive and help you turn them into continuous sales!
You
can also get your autoresponder to get activated when a contact signs
up at your website. After they write their name and email address,
when they send the information, it goes to the autoresponder URL that
will send an acknowledgement right away.
Factors
To Consider While Buying An Autoresponder
When
you decide to use an autoresponder, you want to ensure that it is the
one best suited to your needs in terms of performance, customer
support, features and cost. These parameters must be balanced and
convince you that it is the right one for you.
In
terms of performance, the main thing to consider while getting
an autoresponder is delivery of email. The higher the ability to
deliver emails, the better. The provider of the autoresponder must
support you with prompt customer service that knows what it is
talking about. Just imagine getting stuck half way through your
campaign! So look for one that is accessible easily and responds
quickly.
Features
are only as useful as you find them for your business. It is possible
that you may not use all the features your autoresponder provides.
But you can have it working efficiently for you when you are clear
about what you want and set it accordingly. Next, you want to check
that what you are paying to use your autoresponder does not
cut into your profits. After all, you are trying to find ways to
build your lists, not incur losses. So check what it will cost you in
service, set up, monthly expenditure and other costs that may not
have been mentioned. There is no use getting an autoresponder that
you can’t afford.
Sequential
Auto responders
Technology
is advancing all the time to make the online marketer’s life
easier. Many online business use what are called sequential
autoresponders. These collect and save the names and email addresses
of your contacts. This enables it to continue to send messages in
sequential intervals, set by you, to your potential contacts. It can
also take attached documents.
To
summarize, your autoresponder can help you build massive lists
depending on what you use it for. It helps in building an impression
of your reliability, makes your customers have more faith in you and
keeps them thinking about you. This will lead to more profits through
frequent sales.
E-books
A lot of online
marketers have tested and tried this strategy to build their lists.
The main thing here is to make a good ebook that the user will want
to get for free. This is usually offered as a sign up bonus – when
the customer leaves his email id and name. As a next step, the user
is taken to the website URL to download the ebook from there.
In fact, these
days you need not even go through the trouble of writing your own
ebook. You can outsource it to writers who then give you the full
resale rights of the book. After you get your ebook ready, ensure
that you add your optin page or autoresponder URL to every page of
the ebook, to help the user find you right away.
You can make an
ebook that runs to several pages or just a few, there’s no standard
length. People like to receive free ebooks, particularly if they are
interested in the information it contains. Ebooks are inexpensive to
give away because you don’t have to maintain physical stocks since
they are in the digital format. You can send them to your users
through your autoresponder, so delivery is quick. You don’t incur
shipping charges. What’s more, you can give away as many copies as
you like.
Ebooks can be
given away for free as an incentive to sign up with you, or you could
also charge a nominal fee and give away the reprint rights to your
subscribers. They, for their part can also give it away for free and
make money by doing this. But these tend to be hot for a while and
then the excitement wears down. The trick is to keep writing new
ebooks all the time to keep your audience eager. You aim here is to
increase your list size with more subscribers. By increasing the
number of links pointing to your own website, you can also rank high
with the search engines.
Ways In Which
You Can Use The E book To Build Your Lists:
You can use your
ebook to build your lists in different ways. Many people enjoy
receiving relevant information that they are interested in.
An ebook given
away free draws the visitor to your website. Ebooks can be used in
the following manner:
-
Offer the
complete ebook in return for referral email ids or testimonials,
which you can use.
-
Writing your
own ebook makes you look like a specialist or professional in your
field, and builds credibility.
-
You can post
your ebook on various free websites, which will ensure an increase
in the number of downloads.
-
Some
marketers offer just the first two chapters of the ebook, giving the
visitor the choice to buy the full ebook.
-
Make your
ebook work for you to build your lists by making it a limited offer
for that particular topic. You can inform your visitor this ebook
will only be available for the next 24 hours for free download,
encouraging them to take advantage of the offer right away by
signing up with their email id and name.
E
zines
Ezines
are not only useful as great list builders, but are an inexpensive
and efficient way to keep in touch with your subscribers and interact
with them. You can keep them updated with what is happening in your
organization, telling them about new product launches and other
innovations you have introduced. Not only that, it’s a good
publicity tool for your website. Ezines help in following up with the
customer on an ongoing basis. Through its content, the subscriber is
encouraged to visit your website often. People don’t take action on
a single message. They need to be reminded constantly before they can
consider buying your product. Ensure that you have an online version
of your ezine on your website. This will help it to be indexed by the
search engines and bring lots of visitors to your site. In each
issue of your ezine, use keywords related to your business because
gradually your ezine pages will get into the search engines.
Theme
Based Ezine
When
you plan your ezine, decide on a specific theme that suits your
market, and the kind of people you want signing up with you to buy
your products. This will enhance the type of list you want to build.
You want the people who opt to receive your newsletter to read them
and recommend them to others, who will also build your list by
subscribing to your ezine. Initially it is better to just have an
easy sign up box where your visitor needs to only fill in email id.
Some people tend to think that online marketers are always looking to
get personal information. You don’t want to put them off. Your
subscribe link must appear on every page of your website, preferably
at the top left hand corner as everyone tends to look there first.
Remember to mention what you are offering for free near all the
links.
Exchanging
Ads With Other Ezines
You
can use your ezine to expand your lists by putting an ad for it in
other ezines and websites, preferably related businesses that are
non-competitive. Here also, remember to include information about
your freebie. You can in turn carry ads for those websites/ezines and
divert traffic toward each other and benefit mutually. The more web
partners you have, the more busy the traffic will be on your website.
And
by the way, you can use free content on your ezine as well if you
cannot write your own. The biggest advantage of an ezine is that you
will make people get used to seeing communication from you at
frequent intervals. Your ezine can carry special offers without the
risk of spamming.
Over
a period of time, you can skim through your old ezines, make ebooks
out of similar content, and use these as free gifts. We all intend to
save some of the information we receive but never really get around
to it, what with the volume we receive. So this will be a nice little
idea to use. You must make sure you write/use good stuff in the
ezines; otherwise no one will bother to read it.
Every
email you send out must have your registration/subscription link. Add
a registration button or link to all e-mail correspondence. Also have
a “if you liked this, recommend it to a friend” kind of link in
every ezine. That helps in spreading the word about your products
ethically.
Interacting
With Your Prospects Through Your Ezine
The
reason why your prospects signed up for your ezine is because you
said that you would give them information they can use. It is
important to stick to this promise over and over again to maintain
this list. Make sure you provide the content you promised. They must
look forward to your next ezine. Let the tone of your ezine be
informative, instead of as a tool to increase sales. This will give
it a sort of consultative approach and build good relationships with
your list. So how can you use your ezine to interact with your
prospects? Read on…
-
Ask
questions in your ezine. Request your subscribers to answer the
question from a choice of 3 answers, which they can do by clicking a
link.
-
Encourage
feedback from your subscribers; you can provide a link where they
can post their feedback and other remarks. Make sure you acknowledge
these and maybe even have a small giveaway to those whose feedback
is included as a tip in your next ezine. How’s that?
-
Invite
questions and suggestions from your readers. Ensure that you reply
to these in subsequent issues. Ezines give you the image of being an
expert, which in turn brings you respect, making you look
trustworthy.
With
this, I am sure you can come up with some more effective ideas!
Articles
Yet
another proven method to build substantial lists is by writing
keyword rich articles, pertaining to your line of business. This can
work whether you post them on your own website or in other big
article sites and directories. These article directories and other
site owners look for content they can share with their readers. These
sites get continuous targeted traffic from people, who are looking
for different kinds of information, and when you post there – it is
almost guaranteed that your article will come up in the search
results if it is related to the search. When you include your opt in
URL at the end of every article you post, this ensures more visitors
to your site. A brief message with your URL will also trigger your
reader’s interest, making them want to visit your site for more,
putting them in a receptive mood to sign up with your list.
Let
other ezines and sites reprint your articles, insisting that they can
do so as long as they keep the links to your site. You can keep
track of these users so that you can continue to send them subsequent
issues. You can also ask them to send you an email asking for your
permission to use your material. This makes more validated contacts.
Just
like other information you post in the form of ezines, ebooks, etc.,
your articles must also be concisely written and loaded with the kind
of ideas your reader would like to see. If you cant write articles,
you can also get free content from various sites across the Web.
Blogs
Blogs
are a terrific method of building lists, extensively used by online
marketers. They are the current trend with most organizations to keep
in touch with their customers – both old and new. It is an
interactive tool, and what’s more, the search engines like blogs.
Your other list building tools can be included in your blog by
providing links to them.
What
Are Blogs?
Blogs
or weblogs are websites or parts of them where there’s information
on a regular basis. This is related to the target user and reflects
the main website of the business. Its almost like talking to your
visitors through a diary. Blogs are written in an informal manner.
They use what are called RSS feeds to update your user on what is
happening on the site. Blogs are also permanent, since all the
content can be archived. This means the person visiting your blog can
get hold of everything you’ve done so far. Blogs can be linked to
your other promotion URLs. When this is done, every time you put new
information on your blog, your entire network of links will bring in
visitors who can then be followed up using your autoresponder.
Most
smart online marketers post and offer and invite their visitors to
leave feedback. We always tend to identify with fellow-buyers – in
that way this interaction is valuable, authentic and a great way to
increase your sales.
Content
On Your Blog
What
you post on your blog is up to you. As with all other communication
material, you must take care to post keyword-rich content so that it
is picked up by search engines to attract traffic.
Some
people even hire professional bloggers to do this work for them.
You
can post information about your products, news relevant to your
industry and even personal experiences. Its basically an ongoing
conversation that builds trust in the long run and keeps your
visitors coming back if they liked what they saw.
How
To Let Your Contacts Know About New Content?
Your
blog is a web page. So unless your contact visits it, he or she won’t
be able to read new content. How will you let them know you have
added new information? You can email your list through your
autoresponder to let them know. In fact, include a couple of lines
from your post with the link to the blog so that they can reach your
blogsite through the link and read the rest of your post. Some
marketers go further and send the new content fully via email, just
like you would send an ezine, to the subscriber’s email.
Even
in the offline world almost all businesses maintain a blog of some
sort. There was a time when they were not taken very seriously, but
now, they are viewed as one of the best marketing methods. Every
business must maintain a blog, since it is extremely easy to manage,
particularly in the online business. There are many marketers who
start a blog even before they build their website, because of various
free blogger sites available.
E-courses
E-courses
are much like ebooks, except that they keep your subscribers
anticipating the next part. They are sent to them in series at
varying intervals. This is easily possible through an autoresponder.
This is feasible when you want to maintain steady contact with your
users. Ecourses can be of any frequency. They are easy to put
together. Once you decide on the topic you can write your own ecourse
or outsource the work.
How
To Organize
You
would want to organize a week’s worth of daily material to keep the
flow. Suppose you are sending out an e-course on say, how to build
lists. Each issue must have the link to your website or autoresponder
and also give your subscribers the option to unsubscribe. If they are
not interested, there is no point continuing to send them content. At
some point they may report you as a spammer and that’s an
unpleasant situation. It would be a good idea to begin every issue on
a personalized note, introduce that specific part and end it with the
title of the next issue. Sending one part every two days will give
your user time to go through the content.
When
The Course Comes To An End
At
the end of the course, you can ask them to recommend other users to
you, if they enjoyed what they read, so that it can grow your list.
But why would they do that? What’s in it for them? Tell them that
they have a chance at winning a special giveaway – mention what it
is – and then ask them to forward it to three people for a chance
to win it. This is also a good time to give them a special
introductory offer to encourage them to take action toward purchasing
your product. Don’t forget to ask them for feedback regarding the
ecourse.
Squeeze
Pages
Squeeze
pages are an interesting concept as list-building tools. They have
revolutionized the online marketing business by their utility in
increasing traffic. With a well-designed squeeze page, the marketer
can enjoy limitless benefits. Assuming you have a website, you can
make a squeeze page that will have something attractive for your
visitor to want to be on your list. It has a web form, through which
your autoresponder can subscribe them automatically and send them
further information.
What
Squeeze Pages Do
Squeeze
pages let you get your visitor’s contact information so that you
can send them information at their email id. They are a prelude to
your main website, almost like an advertisement – with an
eye-catching headline, good content that is relative to your main
website along with a sign up form through which the visitors can give
you their email address, permitting you to send them more information
regarding your products or offers. The content should preferably
bulleted points so that your visitor can quickly decide to sign up.
But
again, why would your visitors volunteer contact information to you
just because you want them to? You have to offer an incentive. So
come up with something that they perceive as valuable to them that
can convince them to agree to receive your promotional emails and
give you their email ids.
The
entire idea here is to tempt your visitor to want to know more about
what you have written on your squeeze page, and therefore sign up
with their contact details to receive that information. You are
trying to bring them to your main website. The advantage here is,
even if they don’t end up buying something during the first visit,
you’ve got their email addresses – so you can remind them from
time to time.
What
If You Don’t Have A Web Site?
Now
suppose you have no website. What can you do? One of two things –
get one right away, or else use your autoresponder URL. So your
squeeze page will carry your autoresponder URL, which means your
visitors will sign up by using that link to subscribe. But it is
better to get your website as soon as possible since you will need
one anyway.
Free
Reports
This
is a good method that will build your contact list. If you have
expertise in a particular field or are knowledgeable about a subject,
write interesting reports and give them free as sign up bonuses. Send
the report only after they leave their email and name. This way you
also make sure that you have their permission to send them the
report. Your autoresponder can take care of mailing this.
The
report could be a generalized report on your industry or a specific
topic that relates to your business, that gives information of value
to the reader. It can also summarize the results of a survey you
took. Make sure it contains links to your ezine, website,
autoresponder URL, blog, etc. Also include a link, which enables your
contact to pass the free report around.
Free
Classified Ads
The
very first place we all look when we urgently want a service or
product is the classified ads section. They are effective and
specific resources for a wide range of services and products.
Classified ads are inexpensive, especially when you haven’t set
aside a big marketing budget. That is why they are a good method for
building lists. With the number of websites mushrooming all the time,
there are scores of them that allow free classified ads. Most of us
spend a majority of our work time at the computer, which makes it
very easy to just search for a particular item we want. As an online
marketer you can use these sites that host free ads. It is a
successful way to get through to millions of prospective users.
So
let’s look at the mental state of the people who browse the
classified sections. They want what they are looking for and they are
ready to spend. They are your hottest prospects, ready to buy and
the most important people you can draw to your website.
How
To Reach These Prospective Customers
It
is not as if you can just post an ad in the classified sites and sit
back and wait for them to visit your site. What can we do to get the
correct kind of response, the one we are looking for? Consider the
business you are in, and decide what you are offering. Think about
the most appropriate sites your ad would fit in to. It should be with
other similar categories because that is where your customer will be
browsing.
The
more number of classified sites you post your ad on, the more will
your response be. That is obvious, because of extra exposure and more
people seeing it. Even though it may take a little while to post your
ad on different sites, you will benefit from it through increased
business.
Most
local businesses advertise in their specific area. If you do that
too, you will also build a reputation faster.
How
Should Your Classified Ad Look?
Actually
text ads are effective enough. That is what most people do. You can
jazz it up a bit by using a couple of bold colors. A difference in
appearance attracts attention, though it might cost a little extra.
What to say in your ad? You must include the name, address and phone,
email and URL of your business, plus a very briefly worded offer.
Posting
Classified ads ensures a continuous flow of traffic to your site
because of the simplicity with which they work. They don’t cost
much, and are considered an investment well worth it considering the
kind of audience reach they enable.
Gifts
The
age-old traditional method works in online marketing as successfully
as it does in offline marketing. Free gifts are attractive to
contacts when they have to sign up – you don’t really have to
offer costly gifts – just think of something that is useful to your
visitor. Give it to them after they sign up and grow your opt-in
list!
Coupons
Gift coupons,
discount coupons or coupons that your visitor can download and print
to exchange for a product or service is a very good idea as a sign up
incentive if you happen to be in the retail market. Make it so that
they can redeem it for something that is likely to appeal to them.
They will remember you when they enjoy the gift coupon.
Contests
We’ve
all entered contests at one time or the other. And isn’t it really
exciting when we win? Everyone enjoys the feeling of winning a prize
– so why not try running a contest on your website or through your
ezine and emails to get your users enter for a chance to win? It’s
a valuable way to get a huge optin list. Ask your visitor to give
you their name and email id for a chance to win. Your autoresponder
can send a confirmation email back to them saying that they are in
the running to win a prize. Let the prize be some kind of useful
information or tip or idea.
Different
Kinds Of Contests You Can Run
You
must again think about what is relevant in your business and what can
suit your readers and use the following ideas:
-
How
about an essay-writing contest? Give your readers a particular word
limit and tell them that the selected ones will be published in your
ezine. This will also ensure that they sign up to receive your
ezine. Who doesn’t like to see their name in print? Give them a
limited period within which they must submit it, with guidelines as
to what is acceptable. Make it clear whether it will become your
property or whether the writer can feel free to post it elsewhere as
well. This can generate a lot of enthusiasm and create rapport with
your visitors.
-
Some
online marketers run photo contests, according to the theme of their
sites. Works in the same way as essay contests.
-
Get
your visitors to link to your site – that is, put your link on
their site. Ask them to give you the URL where they’ve put the
link. Every fortnight or whatever timeframe suits you, have the
draw. The winner is the name you have drawn!
-
A
much simpler version is having a draw of your contacts’ email
instead of the essays and photos and links. The email you draw is
the winner.
Make
the entry free for all these contests, but be sure to get the name
and contact email id before they enter. There are several contest
directories where you can post your contests, in case your site
doesn’t get that many visitors.
What
About Prizes?
You
can give away information in various forms – they are simpler to
handle because of the sheer numbers. An ebook you would normally
charge for can be promised to get the visitors to take part in the
contest. Be sure to mention the value of the ebook or whatever you
plan to offer. Merely saying ‘valuable’ is not enough. You have
to say it in terms of specific $. If you run a paid ecourse, your
winners can be offered that for free. If you have premium paid
memberships to your site, offer your winners the same for free. Give
your contest a catchy name, get those entries and go build your list!
Trade
And Exchange Ads
You
can build your lists by exchanging ads with other ezines. After a
substantial number of contacts have been added, you can do this with
a different set of publishers.
Pay
Per Subscriber
We’ve
all heard of Pay Per Click. This is an instant traffic generator. As
a cost based method, what you do is put an ad with the keywords most
relevant to your business in the search engine results page. You make
a fixed payment every time a user clicks on your ad. This is an
effective and widely used method that draws targeted traffic to your
website.
How
It Works:
You
make a good list of chosen keywords, which you think are popularly
used by users to look for information in your line of business and
bid for them. When you win certain keywords, if you are the highest
bidder, you are put right on top of the search engine results. The
next bidder goes second, and so on. The biggest search engines are
Google and Yahoo. Yahoo operates Yahoo search marketing while Google
has its Adwords program. It is okay to bid for as many keywords as
you want – you will be paying per user’s click. You use the
keyword in an ad that will bring in your visitors to your site. The
biggest advantage of pay per click is that you do not need any
expertise to run it. You see results within minutes of having
launched it.
Google
Adwords
Works
like the classified ads. When your visitors browse Google, they are
prepared to buy when they find what they are looking for. While it
can cost you some, you can certainly increase targeted traffic to
your site and get them to sign up. You need to be effectively doing
your homework in terms of which ad works best among the ones you
have, and bid carefully on the keywords you select. You must be able
to forecast how much you will be paying per click and how much you
will get in return. In other words, you not only need to break even
real fast, but start getting profits at the earliest possible time.
Your ads must appear in a suitable spot. Response tracking to find
out the result of putting your ad will help you decide on its
effectiveness. Sometimes there may be too little response, in which
case you will have to revise your ads. Try using different
combinations of words for your ads. Use the ones that work best.
E
zine Advertising
Just
as you can benefit from ad space in your ezine, so can you advertise
in other ezines. Choose an allied business that does not compete with
yours directly. When you advertise in those ezines, you will reach
focused audience in an inexpensive way. The Internet is full of
businesses that use the ezine method to expand their lists. If you
select the right ones and advertise in them, you can multiply your
contact list. You can invite these people to read your ezine as well
as consider buying your products.
Another
big advantage is that most people archive their ezines online. So
every time people browse, they are going to be seeing your ad, giving
you more visibility and mileage. This works great in the long term
without spending additionally. You also benefit from the trust built
by these ezines with their own contacts. The audience will readily
read your ad because it is reaching them through an ezine they have
consented to receive. Without spending much, you can use this method
of building your lists with hardly any risk involved.
Choose
Your Partner
You
mustn’t go only for the least priced ezines. Rather, you must
choose the ezines that are related with your business in some way.
Your products must be attractive to your partner’s audience.
Placing your ad in the right place in the partnering ezine is also
vital. Select as many related ezines as you can – since the more
you are exposed, the more people will see your ad and get converted
to sales.
Track
Them
You
have to track every method you use when you are building your lists.
All those emails you are sending out reach a mix of contacts. Among
those that signed up, some could be active, and some could be
inactive ones. How will you handle this? You can do it through
putting tracking links to all your outgoing messages, so that you can
find out how effectively your contacts respond.
Search
Engine Results
A time
consuming way to build your lists, but the point is when you increase
the number of sites you are linked to, you go up in the search engine
page ranks. This in turn builds your contact base thanks to the high
visibility.
Co-Registration
Many
online marketers have started buying leads. Done with caution, this
can be quite time saving in the long run. It will also help you get
started on your own opt-in list. We all know that we must constantly
build our lists to be successful in online marketing. Unless there
are fresh prospects coming in continuously, business will come to a
standstill. When buying the list, you are basically buying the right
to contact the people on the opt-in list. But take care you don’t
end up buying harvested names – names that are built
illegitimately. You have to ensure that you include an ‘unsubscribe’
option in each of your email messages.
How
Co-registration Leads Work
When
someone signs up for a free membership or ezine, and then gets
offered something more on a related topic, co-registration leads are
collected. The visitor may be visiting a particular website, when
they get a pop up asking them if they would like to sign up for more
free information. Another method is when the visitor signs up for one
service, like a free email account asking them whether they want
information to be emailed to them about various connected topics.
Hotmail does that. As soon as you sign up for an email account, you
are taken to a page that asks you to check the various checkboxes for
certain categories of relevant information. Whether you choose to
receive that information or not is up to you. But the general
tendency is to get subscribed without even realizing it. This happens
when the boxes are pre-checked. The visitor must remember to uncheck
these boxes if you don’t want to take up the offer. They have the
option of opting out. You see, you are not actively requesting your
visitor for information. When they opt in by default, they are asked
to confirm through a link in their email, this is called a double opt
in. So, in co-registration leads, the cost of the lead is higher with
higher levels of confirmation.
What
About Spam In Co Registration?
There
is worry of spamming in this method, but not if you pay attention to
the quality of your list. There is every chance that someone who
opted to receive information might not remember that they did. So
when they receive mail from you, they may report you as Spam. This
is a risk especially with pre-checked boxes when the visitor does not
uncheck them. It is better not to provide pre-checked boxes as this
will avoid being called a Spammer.
What
Is The Timeframe Needed To Build A Contact List With Co Registration?
This
depends on several things. You need to place your ad, after which the
visitors contact information will come to you. This can take up to 2
weeks. Suppose your ad does not get the expected traffic in a
particular span of time, another could replace your ad. This is
possible especially in sites that are in demand and have limited
space. So take care to ensure that your ad is composed in a way that
will invite people to click on your link. After your contact list
comes in, let your autoresponder follow up and send the information
that you promised to send.
What
Kind Of Co-Registration Leads To Avoid
You
need to be clear about what kind of leads you want. Here are some
tips you can use to check the quality of your lists:
-
Keep
on getting new lists. You don’t want to use the same list over and
over again. You cant keep pestering the same people many times.
Also, small lists are likely to give you a low response. Instead
have a list that is very big – so that even if a small percentage
of contacts on it buy from you, you make substantial sales.
-
Don’t
pay money to your contacts to sign up with you. Such people are not
usually reliable.
Pop-Ups
We
know what pop-ups are – those little windows that pop up and open
when a visitor clicks a link. This could while entering the site or
leaving it. These can be great list builders. But traditional pop ups
have a problem –they can be easily blocked, what with the number of
pop up blocking tools on the Internet. This brings us to the question
of how to solve it. It is possible to get past the blocker! There are
what is called unblockable DHTML pop ups. These are used by many
online businesses when they partner with other sites to share
traffic. These are a very valuable way to collect visitor’s email
ids to enable you keep in touch with them to send them promotional
information.
How
To Add Pop Ups To Your Site
You
can create these DHTML pop-ups using free software downloadable off
the web. They are simple to make without having to use the services
of a professional. The most important thing is what you write in the
Pop-up. Your words must be convincing enough for the visitor to take
action, namely fill in his or her contact information in the form.
How can you get your visitors to do this?
-
You
can offer something in exchange for their email ids. This could be a
free report or an ebook.
-
The
title of your pop-up could be an effective keyword that can also
help in taking it up in the search engine ranking. Make it catchy.
-
Then
write a really attractive headline. Your visitors are not going to
wait for long while they browse through the Internet. You must get
their attention in the first few seconds – so write something that
will capture their eye and make them continue to read. It should be
something that will excite them enough to want to sign up.
-
Minimize
the graphics or use none at all. If your pop-up takes forever to
load, there is every chance that your visitor will simply close the
pop-up and keep moving on.
-
Your
pop-up must look good and appealing. A simple design can have the
desired effect.
-
Often we find
that some pop-up windows do not have a close option. Make sure you
give it one. There is no point in forcing your visitors to sign up
just so that your pop up will go away! Those that are not interested
are not going to buy from you anyway. Why have a fake contact list,
then?
Part 2
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