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Month: March 2012

List Building Basics 101

When it comes to Internet marketing there are many different ways to build and develop a business, but one way that can bring long-term results is the business of list building or what some refer to as building a list.

The ‘List’ is basically comprised of subscribers who have an interest in a particular topic or subject that the person specializes in.

The list itself is managed through an email auto-responder that the list owner develops and creates messages. These messages should be designed to communicate and connect with subscribers as they opt-in and subscribe to the list and offer products and/or services for purchase.

One great thing about building a list is that you don’t necessarily need a fancy website. All you need to get started is what’s called a squeeze page and then an email auto-responder account.

There are three main Benefits to Building a List of Subscribers:

  1. The ability to directly communicate with the subscriber as often as desired. (Versus offline where it’s generally cost prohibitive)
  2. The ability to sell the subscriber any kind of related products and services –either self-produced or someone else’s. These products and services can be digital or physical.
  3. The database of subscribers can be looked at as an asset of sorts – but only if maintained and monetized.

The interesting thing about list building is that it is possible to specialize in a niche and focus on specific sub niches where by searchers are attracted to the particular business, service, product or information.

Whether the list owner chooses to diversify or focus in on a particular product, subject or topic it makes no difference.

What is important is to only write & post quality content and then combine this with quality products and/or services.

To learn more about how you can develop a list of subscribers, check out the latest list building guide.

To your online success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Lead Generation Strategies for Small Business

I was recently listening to a recording by several legendary direct marketers and it made me again realize how the web has transformed direct marketing and the way we sell.

If you are an offliner, that is a business owner who runs and operates a business that is dependent on revenue from existing offline customers and prospects; one way you can accomplish this is by combining offline direct response marketing tactics with online resources like webpages and email.

This lead generation strategy is really great for new and established solo-practitioners and partnerships where there is limited time to develop new business.

Here are a few examples of how you can take advantage of this strategy:

  1. Create and mail a personalized letter to an existing list of prospects and include a URL (webpage) in your copy. This URL leads to a landing page or even a squeeze page where you can capture the prospect and bring him or her into your world.
  2. Create and mail three to four different postcards to a new list of your prospects  existing prospects.  The idea here is that you send the cards over a period of weeks and/or months. The cards can tell a story, make an offer or be the door for the prospect to receive information.
  3. Create several lead generating ads that are posted on local media sites and in printed publications. These ads should have different headlines and copy so you can test to see which ones pull the best and attract the most visitors.

The important thing about this offline to online strategy is that you understand about directing the prospect to an online webpage and/or web form that offers a phone number plus an email opt-in sign up form.

In addition to this you should spread out the campaigns over a period of weeks and maybe months depending on the size of your company and capacity to handle new inbound calls and emails.

Lastly – make sure to track all that you do. This is one of the most critical aspects of the offline to online lead generation strategy. Because if you are going to develop different lead generation strategies, then you need to be able to tell which ones work and which ones don’t.

Want to learn more about attracting new leads and building a list of subscribers, take a test drive with The List Building Guide.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Online List Building – Part II

One of the hardest transitions is for a person who has a job to start into their own business. Why – because usually the person’s mentality is one that says I work for someone else and receive a paycheck for the job that I do.

In order to make the transition, especially so online, he or she has to break the ‘job’ mold and change his or her thinking to that of an entrepreneur.

Breaking this mold, better known as thoughts and habits, can be somewhat difficult, especially for the person who has had it programmed into their mind that working for someone else is how you make money.

Making a go of it in an online business is no different. If you choose to start a business online – then you need to think as an entrepreneur, a small business owner, who is running and operating his or her own enterprise.

Here’s the conversation between two friends as they banter back and forth about ways to make money online. Joe is the instigator. He’s the guy who has all the answers but hasn’t done one hour of work yet. He’s just been searching and looking and searching and all he’s developed are opinions.

Let’s listen in as these two friends discuss one way of building a business online and that’s with a list of subscribers:

“Develop a List?” – Joe’s friend Larry says…

“Why?” responds Larry.

“Because you can make a lot of money,” Joe says.

Then Larry asks, “How do I do that with a list, and by the way, who’s on this list?”

To this Joe answers, “People. People are on your list.”

And the conversation continues until Joe’s friend Larry decides that he’s going to check out how he can build a list.

So this leads back into today’s topic of Online List Building.

Building a list is a simple concept: 

  1. Determine what market(s) you are going to be in.
  2. Research to find out what kinds of needs there are and how you can fill them.
  3. Setup a squeeze page with a lead capture form.
  4. Setup an email auto-responder and write messages to your subscribers.
  5. Offer a product or service to your subscriber and convert them into buyers.

Rinse and repeat…

Is building a list work? Yes, just like any other business it takes work. Is list building for everyone, the simple answer is no. But for the entrepreneur, list building can be a way of developing a long-term business that continues to grow over time.

All things considered, building a list of subscribers and clients is a great way to develop your own business. But like any business, it takes certain things to make the business productive and profitable.

If working online and building a list of subscribers is something you want to pursue, check out this list building resource and get your business moving in the right direction.

To your success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Online List Building Basics

Why build a subscriber list versus other methods of online marketing?

If you’ve been around online marketing for any length of time you’ve heard that the money is in the list. The truth of the matter is that the money (or profit) is in the product or service that the person (buyer) on the list purchases.

As a list builder you only make money when subscribers purchase products and/or services.

Other methods of online marketing or online businesses are more or less transaction related and may or may not have a list component included in the business model. These models can work really great but if there’s no subscriber list then you are not able to resell the buyer.

When it comes to building and developing a list, the one thing to remember is that you are in business and the list is the vehicle to connecting with the buyer.

If you connect with the buyer then they will most likely stay on your list and continue to purchase. But only if you continue to further the relationship and then offer something of value that the buyer is in need of.

Here are three things to consider when it comes to building your subscriber list:

  1. First you must develop your own email list of subscribers. In other words this is your own list, not one that you purchase or barter or trade for. The subscribers are ones that you attract and cultivate.
  2. Second – you must have an email auto-responder account. If you don’t already have an auto-responder and you are serious about building a list, then I recommend that you set one up as soon as possible.
  3. Third – you must have something to offer the searcher/visitor when they arrive at your website. Whatever it is you decide to offer (an e-book, report, guide, audio, video, etc…), make sure it is quality and offers value.

You need to have patience because you won’t build a list in a day. It takes time.

With all that said, list building isn’t for everyone and it might not be for you.

If you want to learn more about how to build an online subscriber and client list, check out the list building guide.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

List Building with Affiliate Marketing

This article is an overview of using affiliate products and/or services in your list building efforts.

List building or what is commonly referred to as building an online email list is one of the many options you can take advantage of as an online marketer.

Affiliate marketing is generally referred to as selling someone else’s product or service. The product or service may be offered by an individual, a small company or large corporation.

For someone who is building a list of subscribers, affiliate marketing is one option for generating revenue.

How the process works…

First the searcher subscribes to your list and then you place affiliate products in the follow up emails. Another way is to have the searcher subscribe to your list first and then redirect them to whatever affiliate product or service you are marketing.

The great thing about affiliate products and services is that you don’t have to produce and create any of the products or services. All you do is send your subscriber to the affiliate offer (usually a sales or landing page) and then when your subscriber makes a purchase, a commission is then paid out.

There are a lot of different ways to make an income with affiliate marketing. Doing so through the process of list building allows you one big benefit and that’s the simple fact that you have the subscriber in your database, versus just sending them directly to the affiliate offer.

One other thing to mention here is that you need to make sure that the affiliate products are related to the list that your subscribers are receiving information from.

If the affiliate offer doesn’t have anything to do with what you are sharing with your subscribers, then your conversion rate will most likely be much less than if the affiliate offer (product or service) directly relates to the information you share with your subscribers.

So choose your affiliate products and services carefully and make sure you test and track all your pages and advertising.

Thinking that affiliate marketing may be for you but you and that building a list with affiliate products or services sounds like the way to go?

Here’s another resource that might be helpful in your list building efforts – List Building Guide.

Enjoy,

Dave Krygier
Publisher