Tag: list building

April 20, 2012

Traffic for List Building – Part II

Targeted traffic is today’s message in part two of this three part series about traffic for list building. If you missed part one about traffic for list building, click here so you can follow along.

As a list builder, targeted traffic is really what you need if you desire to build a list of subscribers and monetize it over time.

It’s best to find traffic sources that are targeted towards the niche market you are in versus massive amounts of traffic that may not even be interested in your information, products or services.

Remember we are talking about ROI – return on your investment in the traffic source. So choose your traffic carefully and always test each traffic source to ensure that you know if it works or not.

These first two traffic sources I have listed are ones that you can setup and do yourself and essentially trade hours, if you are on a limited budget. Once your business is profitable you could choose to outsource the work and still utilize these two traffic options.

Article marketing – is where you write and post articles to directories, blogs and sites that pertain to your niche, subjects and topics. This method takes time and effort but can pay off in the long run if you know what you are doing.

Social Media Marketing – uses social media outlets to display and show your content for searchers to preview and then decide if your info is what they are searching for.

This next traffic source is one that you will have to pay for:

Pay Per Click (ppc) is one of the most widely used advertising methods online and there are lots of people who specialize in it, so I’m not going into detail about it in this article. When PPC is mentioned it usually means Google, Yahoo, and even Facebook. The thing with PPC is that it takes money, time and knowledge of how to make it work, if you intend to see ROI.

It’s great for testing headlines and copy but true ROI is another story. If you have high converting sales pages or high-ticket products, then PPC might be worth checking into, but tread carefully. It can suck the cash out of your accounts really fast if you don’t know what you are doing.

Why – because the last thing you want to do as a list builder is to waste time and money on traffic sources that don’t pay off and bring you ROI.

Still not sure about list building or maybe you are uncertain about how to monetize your existing list? For more on list building tips, strategies and tactics, go get your self a copy of the List Building Guide here.

April 12, 2012

Email Marketing – “The Offliner’s Quest”

Email Marketing is one of the most powerful mediums that a small business can use to capture new prospects while better communicating and selling products and services to existing clients. Yet the more I research, the more I see offline and online businesses missing the boat and not using email marketing at all or very minimally. Some offline small businesses I’ve worked with only see email marketing as a way to blast their sale and event info to their existing list of customers.

Their perception of email marketing is simply adding the new customer to their email list and then on a monthly or quarterly basis they send out an e-blast. They yearn for more business and desire to use email, but still they search for the magic bullet that will bring new clients with wallets open.

You see us people don’t just want to know about the next biggest sale event or product launch. We like helpful, useful, quality information, especially when it pertains to a topic or subject that interests us.

Marketing via email is not just about sales, events and promotions. The idea is to connect and build a relationship with the subscriber and client.

In some cases the new client just needs more info and can be warmed up to an upsell with high quality content. So these content messages need to be mixed with sales messages allowing for the small business marketer to build up credibility and not just be a sales promoter.

Which means the better quality the content is, the more likely the subscriber is to open and read your messages.

With high quality content you need to focus on connecting with your subscriber so he or she looks forward to receiving, opening and reading your emails. And if you create the content right, then you can lead right up to your offers with credibility and keep the subscribers attention at the same time.

As an offliner with little or no experience in online marketing, you can market with email and develop a list of new subscribers and clients. Just remember to build value with high quality content and learn how to connect and cultivate the relationship, just like The List Building Guide teaches.

In the end it’s all about conversions and return on investment. If you build the list of subscribers, really connect and then offer products and services that meet their needs, then you should see more conversions and this should equate to $$ in your pocket.

Until next time,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

March 26, 2012

Traffic for List Building – Part I

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic. One of the hottest and most debated topics online.

For list building – traffic is key. But traffic for list building has to be the right kind of traffic.

So I felt it best to use offline examples to show you four different kinds of traffic and how they relate to online methods:

City traffic can be massive if you are positioned in the right area.
Freeway traffic can bring massive quantities but only at certain times of the day.
Suburban traffic is much more targeted and can bring very qualified prospects.
Rural traffic is somewhat targeted but you need to be able to capture the prospect.

Each one has it’s own patterns and volumes.

The commonality amongst all the above options is that you need to capture the prospects attention, hence different methods work for the different kinds of traffic.

For years the saying in retail was location, location, location…and depending on your location determined what kind of traffic you received.

The beauty of the web is that you can dial in just about any kind of traffic that you want and along with the right amount.

The question you need to ask is, what kind of traffic do you want? Massive quantities but un-targeted or lessor quantities but more targeted. This all depends on your niche(s) and needs.

Here are four of the many online traffic sources you can use to build your list:

Pay-per-click can be turned on & off – which works great for some marketers.
Banner Ads work great and can bring tons of traffic, if you are positioned well.
Articles work like a charm for targeted traffic, especially if you like to write and already have knowledge about your subject and market.
Videos can bring searchers who are very targeted and have interest in specific niches, products, services and information.

Traffic for list building all comes down to ROI. Is the traffic bringing you ROI or is it just TOE (tons of eyeballs)?

Return on investment is the key. Without ROI, you are spinning your wheels. So make sure you test your traffic sources and work towards ones that produce ROI.

Tired of spinning your list building wheels and want to finally get some traction? This might be just what you need…check it out here: List Building Strategies & Tactics

March 22, 2012

What is Affiliate Marketing and How does it Work?

What is affiliate marketing and how does it work? And is it the right online business model for you? These are two questions that I will answer in today’s article.

There are many different ways to make money online and one of them is affiliate marketing. This model has been around for years and basically there are two side to the affiliate coin. One is the affiliate(you), who markets the product or service and second is the merchant or who provides the product or service for you to market.

When marketing as an affiliate you receive commissions when a transaction takes place. The amount of commission can vary depending on the merchant and kind of product or service.

One of the ways of utilizing affiliate products is through building a list of your own and then marketing to your list of subscribers. The biggest benefit here is that instead of you sending the searcher to the merchant’s site directly, they opt-in and subscribe to your site first. This way you maintain the relationship with the subscriber

As an affiliate the merchant will provide you advertising and promotional materials like banner and text link ads that can be used to promote the products or services. You can then use these ads on your websites, in signatures and on other people’s websites to generate traffic to the offer or your subscriber lead capture page.

So how do you the online marketer promote affiliate products and services so you can make commissions on the sales that occur?

1. Find affiliate products and services that are directly related to your niche or business and promote them on your niche based website. You will need to find an affiliate network so be prepared to research and have your sites ready so you can be approved.

2. Promote the affiliate products through content that you write and post on different websites and blogs.

3. Promote the mix of products and services to your list of subscribers in an automated email campaign. This way you can control what is sent to the subscriber and when it is sent.

Hopefully you can see that affiliate marketing can be a workable web-based business model and in some cases be just the right fit for list building online.

For more information on how you can build a list of subscribers – check out The List Building Guide for tips, tactics and strategies.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

March 19, 2012

List Building – How to Connect with Subscribers-Part III

In part one and part two of this ‘How to Connect’ series I covered my first two rules when it comes to connecting and building relationships with subscribers and clients.

This article is about Rule #3 – Be available.

Be willing and open to connect with those people that opt-in and subscribe to your email list.

What this really means to be available is that when a subscriber sends you an email, you respond to them. And do so sooner than later.

This is one of the first tests that I do when I subscribe to a marketers list.

I send an email to inquire about something. If the message comes back as undeliverable, no response, with an automated reply, or with a support ticket system, then I know this marketer is not available. Or he or she has chosen to outsource email inquiries.

What this tells me is that the marketer is not really interested in connecting with subscribers and clients.

I did this just recently and the individual never replied. But then the next day his new message showed up to pitch me another product. The funny thing is that the product didn’t have a thing to do with why I subscribed in the first place.

The no reply and then follow up sales message didn’t do much to get me to buy his product. In fact it did the exact opposite and turned me the other direction.

When a subscriber contacts you, it’s usually because the individual is searching for more information or has a question about something pertaining to your product or service.

What you should do is make the personal connection and start the cultivation process. Because after all you are building relationships and if the relationship is strong, the better chance you have of selling your products and services.

Of course there’s the easy way out and you can simply say that … Shortcuts are the way to go. And then you look for ways to automate the replies or setup support ticket software.

I say – take the high road. Be available and Connect with your subscribers and clients until the day comes that you have so much business and are overwhelmed with emails that you have to search, hire and personally train someone to help you. More on this topic in another article.

To summarize our three part series: Be real, add value and be available to the people on your list –online or offline.

And if you still haven’t picked up the List Building Guide, go now and get yourself a copy.

To your continued success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

March 16, 2012

Best Practices for List Building

Best practices for list building applies to any online and offline businesses. In this series I am going to cover how best practices can be used and implemented in your list building business.

First, let’s start out with the topic of content.

If you are building a list of subscribers then the content that you post needs to be original. Buying repurposed or second-hand articles is not the way to go.

You are better off outsourcing your articles to a professional article writer but this too has its pit falls as some writers will not deliver totally original content to you. How do I know this – because I’ve experienced it first hand and on more than one occasion.

Just recently I had yet another marketer sending me a message that said he was offering a certain number of prewritten articles that could be used to promote his product.

Now why on earth would he do that? A whole bunch of people on his list will be using those articles and most likely without rewriting them. This puts a whole bunch of the same content all over the web until the engines clean it all up.

Let me ask you this…

Do like to search and find junk content or content that is obviously not well thought out or just plain awful? Does this make your day or do you hit the back button and get frustrated?

It boggles my mind that people think that they are going to use second hand content just to make a buck. But really all they are doing is taking a short cut. And I understand this – find the easiest path. It’s just human nature.

But for you the list builder who is building a business, I am suggesting you take the high road and produce high quality content that your subscribers look forward to receiving.

The people on your list do not want regurgitated, repurposed, rehashed content that has been around the block several times. They want original, quality content and by you using best practices and producing such content, your subscribers will come to appreciate you.

There are other ways to build your list. You don’t need to have articles circulating all over the place, but should you choose to write articles and blog posts, make sure they are all original.

With all that said – take the high road and produce content, products and services that speak quality. Your subscribers will thank you and will be more likely to stick around for the long-term.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

PS- If you need some insight and tips on list building – subscribe here.

March 13, 2012

List Building – How to Connect with Subscribers – Part I

When it comes to list building you need to connect with your subscribers and clients.

This three part series is about the three rules that I employ in my business. The reason I have these rules is to keep myself accountable to you my subscriber and client.

My rules are simple and the first one is to Be Real.

Yes, Rule # 1 is to Be Real.

This is not the normal run of the mill series about attracting new subscribers, or how to convert and increase sales. This series is about how develop, cultivate and connect with the people on your list.

So let’s begin…

Some marketers I’ve run across in the last five years seem to think that connecting with the people on the other side of the computer screen is just a pain in the you know what. They hide behind their websites and avoid any kind of contact with their subscriber and client.

Recently as I was doing research for a project I came across some very well written content but the writer (marketer) chose to hide his or her identity on the article page, and even on the associated blog site.

The funny thing is that this individual seemed to be working on developing a list of subscribers, so why would he or she hide and avoid contact?

This strategy might work for certain web based businesses, say if you are in content or CPA marketing, but when it comes to building a list of subscribers, why would you make it difficult for your ‘customer’ to connect with you?

This immediately brought up a red flag and put up a barrier that lead me to be very cautious. So this marketer lost a potential subscriber and who knows maybe I would have become a client if the products offered met one of my needs.

This brings me back to the point about my rules…

Even though we are marketing our businesses through a web-based model, it is still important to create the connection and be real. We humans have a built in desire to connect with other human beings. So hiding behind web pages and avoiding contact is breaking my rule about being real.

It’s one thing to squeeze the searcher at your squeeze page. It is very obvious and the searcher has options. They can opt-in, save the page or hit the back key.

It’s entirely another to hide and avoid contact – especially if you are in the business of building a subscriber and client list.

Rule #1 – Be real. Being real helps you to better connect with the people on your list because list building is really about the relationship. The connection.

I’ll dig more into rules #2 and #3 in parts two and three of this series.

Stay Tuned,

Dave Krygier

Publisher

PS- If you are thinking about building a list of subscribers or are already in the process of doing so and haven’t picked up a copy of my List Building Guide, go get yourself a copy here.

March 12, 2012

The List Building Mindset

List building in the online world is a wonderful thing if you have all the pieces of the puzzle and know how to put the puzzle together. One of the most important pieces of this puzzle is the ‘mindset’ that you need in order to develop and build your business.

Now I refer to this as the ‘list building mindset’ but really this works for all small businesses.

The bottom line is that you are running and operating a business, unless of course you have decided that building a list of subscribers is for philanthropic reasons or just a hobby.

This article is written from the business perspective and is focused on the mindset that the business owner needs to have.

So first you need to ask…

Do I have the mindset of a business owner or an employee?

Maybe you already have a business mindset and understand what it takes to build and develop a successful business?

Maybe you have never been in your own business and this is your first go at it.

Here are three things or what I’ll call components that you need to put in place in order to build your business:

#1 There is no get rich quick here. You need to do the work and put the pieces of the puzzle together just like any other business. It needs to be a do whatever it takes attitude.

#2 You need to have a long-term mentality. In other words – you need to understand that it is going to take time to bring in enough subscribers, so you can convert them to actual paying clients. Building a list of subscribers and monetizing it takes time. It is not poof and the money shows up.

Note: You can see some success right out of the gate, but it all depends on how you position yourself, the product or service you are offering, the market you are in and the kind of traffic that you send to your pages.

#3 You need to have ‘The Why’ solidified in concrete, so when frustration, delays, issues, complications and life in general gets in the way, you still keep moving forward. The Why is your goal(s), long-term and short – term.

If any one of these components are off kilter or out of line, then you may not make it.

So ask yourself, “why am I building a list of subscribers?”

What’s the purpose?

Is it to be free from a job you don’t like?

Is it to have part-time income?

Is it to pay off debt?

Is it to support a church or charity?

Is it to run your own business on your own terms?

What exactly is it? What is your why for building a list of subscribers and clients?

So, with all that said…Are you willing to do the work?

Are you willing to take the necessary steps to put all the pieces of the list building puzzle together so you can have a successful business?

The mindset that you have will determine if you are going to make it.

The mindset needs to be – I am going to do whatever it takes to get the work done, so my business is a success and continues to grow.

The mindset needs to be – I am a business owner and what I offer to my subscribers is the best information, products and services available.

I hope this all makes sense, because your mindset will determine if you are going to make it and build your business or stay in whatever it is you currently do.

For more information on list building and how you can develop your business, check out The List Building Guide.

To your continued success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher