Why Buying An Optin List Is The Worst Thing To Do For Your Business

Writen by Matt Callen

The title is a strong statement, I know. But it needs to be addressed.

Some email marketers – the self-proclaimed "email marketers" – will tell you that the easiest and best way to build your list is to simply purchase one. Sure, it's real easy to acquire a list for your email marketing by just buying one. They're not too expensive, and they provide you with a long list of names and email addresses. Ok, I'll buy that…it may be the easiest, but it's certainly not the best. In fact, it's the worst way to build your list.

It may be easy, and you may quickly gather a large list of email addresses – but all of those email addresses are nothing more but addresses. You don't know the people on the receiving end of those addresses. Essentially, the people on the receiving end are uninterested people who will deem any information you send to them as SPAM.

If there is one major concept that I've learned from all of my mistakes (yes, I've made my fair share of mistakes…but learned from all of them) as an email and Internet marketer, is that the easiest road is never the one that brings you the best results. The problem with buying an email list is that none of the people on that list know who you are. More than likely, since they didn't directly sign-up for your free newsletter or eCourse, they will see your message in their inbox, look to see who sent it to them, realize that they have no idea who you are, and will hit the "delete button" before even reading what you have to say.

That's exactly why it is so beneficial to build your own opt-in email list. Yes, creating a list from scratch is the more difficult and time-consuming solution, but at least it is a solution. Purchased email lists rarely (if ever) bring the desired results, so the money you spend on them might as well be flushed down the toilet.

The most important thing to do when trying to build your list is to make sure that your subscriber really is interested and willing to read your messages to them. Because if they're not eager to read your first message, then they certainly won't read your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 10th message.

Email marketing isn't about blasting a bunch of strangers with sales pitches and information they don't want and didn't ask for. If you really want to achieve results with your email list, you need to build your own.

Here is a list of questions you need to ask yourself when building your email list:

§ Who is your target audience and what do you have to offer them?

§ What kind of relationship do you want with the recipients of your mailings?

After deciding on your target audience, this is probably the most important question to ask yourself. Your emails should not be a salesletter. Let me repeat that, "Your email messages should NOT be a salesletter."

Your website is where you sell them on your offer. This is where you put into effect all of the "Salesletter Strategies". NOT IN YOUR EMAIL LETTER. Even if you're not blatently throwing advertisements at your subscriber, but you're intentions are to "sell to them" in your letter, they will know. They always do, and this is what leads to your email (and future emails) being sent almost immediately to the Deleted Items folder.

Your newsletter and emails are a way to build TRUST and a lasting RELATIONSHIP with your potential customers. Email marketing isn't a "wham, bam, thank you mamm" sort of approach. It takes a little time to really gain the trust of your future "marketing partners" (as Jimmy Brown calls them).

Respect your subscribers and they will return the favor – guaranteed.

Just simply share your research and knowledge with your list and only recommend top-notch goods and services that you've personally checked out and that you honestly believe will help your prospect.

§ What method or methods will you use to collect email addresses?

If you haven't looked back at Lesson 3 of "7 Days To Building a Booming Email List" in a while, please do so now. Lesson 3 practically answers this question for you. And if you haven't received this 7-Day eCourse yet, you should sign up at the bottom of this page.

§ Will your emails come in the form of ads, newsletters, deals and specials, company announcements and press releases, or discussion lists?

I think the best way to present material in the BODY of the email is to make it short and sweet. You want to lead the reader somewhere else other than the email.

Don't boggle it down with tons and tons of info. Simply right something catchy that will show your reader where to click "Check out Lesson #1" of the eCourse they just signed up for. Then, in each email following, you can do the same. They will get used to your email style and won't delete them.

The link that you give them to click on should send them to a page containing the eCourse lesson, free eBook download, newsletter in HTML format, or any other sort of offer they opted-in for.

The BODY of your email SHOULD NOT contain gobs and gobs of text. Think about it - do you ever read all of that crap when you receive an email from someone other than your friends or trusted individuals? I know I don't.

Think about this…if you tried to send a message to a random list that you just bought, what would you say? The message can't be personal. You can't talk to them like you know their interests. It's impossible. And if you try to talk to your "purchased list" like you're their friend, they will see right through you. They'll know you're trying to sell to them every time!

I can't think of one person who wants to be "sold to". So why waste your money on buying email lists when they don't work? Once you build your own list of loyal subscribers, you'll start to realize that each one of them trusts you, the information you're giving them, and the recommendations you suggest. You'll be able to talk to them like a friend or partner, instead of like a random person you "bought".

Like I said in our last strategy, "Respect the people on your list and they will respect you – guaranteed." A trusting relationship goes a long way, even with email marketing!

Matt Callen has been working online as an Email Marketing Expert and Internet Marketer. He has experience consulting small online business owners by using advanced tactics he had taught himself and learned from the great marketers of our time. From this knowledge and expertise in email marketing concepts, Matt has recently developed a powerful marketing software that creates attention-grabbing, unblockable popover ads at InstantPopOVER.com

Learn more about building your email list and tapping into an undiscovered gold mine of profit. You can start with a few dollars and a good idea to make lots of money online! I did and I'll show you how. To find out more and receive a 30% OFF DISCOUNT on my new popup creating software for reading my article, please visit http://www.instantpopover.com/articleoffer.htm

6 Techniques To Get More Email Addresses Into Your List Part 1

Writen by Brian Lam

Today I shall be revealing the first three of the six techniques which you can immediately apply to your website in order to get more subscribers into your list.

1) Compelling name for your ezine

For any subscriber to really get attracted to your ezine list, you will need to get their attention when they first visit your website. But to do that would be require some clever ideas from your part.

As this will require you to come up with a catchy name for your ezine so that the subscribers can easily recall your ezine without much effort to search through their past activities to see if they really do subscribed to your ezine.

For example, a catchy name which is also descriptive for a website related to building great marriages might be "Marriage Builders". At once, your subscribers will be able to understand what your ezine is all about just basing on the name alone.

So this helps your potential subscribers to understand whether the content will be relevant to their needs. In this way, your subscribers would not hesitate and sign up immediately for your ezine. Thus, you will need to come up with a catchy yet descriptive name for your ezine.

2) Show your ezine back-issues

Now you would really want to get in touch with your subscribers, so it is recommended that you show a few past issues of your ezine to your potential subscribers.

This is to show them what kind of content is really inside the ezine and they are also able to gauge whether your writing style suits them.

With a real feel of what they can expect, this will really bring up the quality of your subscribers if they are really interested in what you are providing and recognize that it is of value to them. They will definitely stay on your list for much longer.

3) Make your ezine ad standout

How to increase your subscription rate if you do any promotions of any sort? Well, all you do is to make you ezine ad standout from the rest of the ads.

Here is the part where you will really need to think of how to take advantage of where your ad will be advertised. There are many different ways to make your ad outstanding.

For example, you can always use some CAPITALIZED words to catch the attention of potential subscribers or use symbols such as these "?^&*%#$~!" to add a little creativity to answering your main benefit from your ad.

Well, that is about all for Part 1...

Hope you can really put into use of whatever you have learned today.

Stay tuned for part 2 for my next issue on which I touch on how you can boost your subscription just by a 5 minutes "tweaking" on your sign up page.

Brian Lam, author of many articles and ebooks at Email Marketing Solutions, provides a new opt in email marketing system plus many Free Internet marketing resources, Courses and Bonuses.

Building A Quottargetedquot Email List Of Your Own

Writen by Vic Bilson

Building a quality "targeted" opt-in email list is the most important thing you can do for your business.

Did you get that?

Building a quality "targeted" opt-in email list is the most important thing you can do for your business. This is where the game begins... to find leads or to find people to talk to.

The quality of your opt-in email list will determine the future success or failure of your online business.

If your business is faltering - if your car is sputtering for lack of gas - if you're not seeing much activity going on in your business.... the reason is most likely because you are neglecting this very important part of building your business.

There are lots of ways to build your very own opt-in email lists and I cannot cover them all here, but I will introduce you to some very basic list building fundamentals that will get you started.

"Opt-In" Visitors From Your Web Site - sometimes called "Lead Capture"
This in one technique you absolutely must use if you have a website. The technique is a very simple: You would place a "form" or a simple "email" link on your website with a short message that tells visitors to subscribe to your mailing list. In return for doing so, offer them something for free! A free report, newsletter, or ebook will work great here.

The reason why doing this right now is very important is because you are missing out on a great opportunity to capture your web site visitor's email addresses. Since you already are spending time and money to promote your site, why not get them to leave their email address with you before they leave and never return again. Most visitors will not buy from you on their first visit. Unless you provide this option on your web site you will lose most of these prospects forever. Most of your marketing efforts and dollars will be spent on classified ads, banner trades, search engines, etc. will go down the drain forever.

If you are familiar with creating web sites and forms or know someone who is, you can easily put a simple form anywhere in your web site. If you don't know how to create them, most autoresponder services provide subscribers the ability to easily create their very own web site with custom lead capture forms connected to an autoresponder so people can get your free report sent to them automatically within minutes of requesting it.

Lead Capture is a PRIMARY strategy I use for building my prospecting list. In fact, just about everything I am doing online is to create a steady flow of "opt-in" subscribers using lead capture pages.

In addition to my lead capture pages, I also purchase inexpensive list building services to regularly get new subscribers to my automated email series.

Vic Bilson is a home-based Internet entrepreneur that helps others launch and promote their own home-based business. Discover everything you need to know about Lead Generation

Three Easiest Ways To Get Lead And Selling Product

Writen by Erny Setyawati

One-step marketing is the most common marketing strategy used by marketers online. You send an advertisement by email, or a flyer, and expect people to immediately purchase your product or service.

This strategy totally disregards the 'psychological buying sequence of consumers' - and is regarded as the least effective way to market online.

It's very much like walking up to a stranger at a party and asking 'Would you marry me?'

What do you think the response would be? To increase conversion rates, you must develop a sales process which involves multiple contacts with your prospects. If marketers still continue that marketing strategy, of course marketers will spend much money and times useless. Let's see obstacles below:

1. Building sand castles on the beach:
Sand castles do not last, they get wiped out by crashing waves and blowing winds. To guarantee future success for your web-business you'll need to use strong materials to build upon.

2. Barking up the wrong tree:

If you are unaware of which paid advertising sources are actually getting good returns for your investments you'll dry up your wallet in no time by spending too much on unproductive and worthless advertising.

How to solve the obstacles above! Many marketers don't know how to solve them. According to us, building list is the best to choose. Questions will come to our mind how to build list as easy as possible, because many promotions offer to give guarantee that many leads will come to your site. Let's see a strategy below:

1. A way to capture qualified leads.

To capture qualified leads is not easy. There are many marketers get many leads easy, but as matter of fact is only spam. Many third party have been planning, testing, preparing successfully building the strategy. And success to overcome these challenges. There is a guarantee also that every member will get free qualified leads during still member.

2. A way to follow up with these leads.

What will you do after building list. Publish a Newsletter is a wisdom way. By publishing the Newsletter, you can communicate with your list and promote your product, program. Content of your Newsletter is dominant to attract your list to stay as your contact list. You can take many qualified articles from the others electronic magazine freely.

3. A way to introduce other related products to your clients and potential clients.

After publishing a Newsletter, the way to promote a product and program is opened. You can place banner Ad, word ad and stand alone solo ad on your Newsletter. Offer free ad to attract new subscribers is strategy marketing also. Amount of subscribers are dominant factor beside value of Newsletter content.

The value of your content can represent your capability to manage a Newsletter, so that you can begin to sell your advertisement. Using credit card for paying your service is easier for your customer. There is the third party will help you to solve about payment solution. It is cheaper than others and saved.

Erny Setyawati is the Web Master of http://www.baliglobalmarket.com and the Publisher / Editor of Bali Global Market Ezine. The Newsletter is full freebies, articles and free advertisement for member. If you are tired of spending money for advertisement and needed responsive subscribers. Join us today and let's me spread your product and services to our subscribers. Let's visit free at: http://www.baliglobalmarket.com

Developing A Highly Profitable Optin List

Writen by Shelley Lowery

An opt-in list is the absolute most effective marketing tool available on the Internet. Not only do they provide you with a direct line of communication with your target market, but they also enable you to develop a trusting relationship with your subscribers.

The key to using an opt-in list effectively is to develop a large subscriber base. Not just a large subscriber base, but a list of targeted potential customers.

Although a large opt-in list is an important part of your success, the quality of your publication is even more important -- both will play a very important role.

If you really want to build a massive opt-in list, you MUST provide your potential subscribers with an incentive. The competition on the Internet is fierce. No longer can you simply tell your visitors what your publication will provide and expect a large percentage to subscribe. It simply won't work. You MUST give your visitors a reason to subscribe.

Incentives

Using incentives is a highly effective method of obtaining new subscribers. However, your incentive must be of value and be of interest to your target audience.

Some popular incentives include:

=> Exclusive ebooks that provide valuable information
=> Special exclusive reports
=> Special software programs
=> Provide access to a "members only" area of your website
=> Provide a service
=> List their website within your Directory or Search Engine.

In order for your visitors to receive your incentive, they must agree to receive your publication.

Pop Windows

Although pop windows can be irritating if not used correctly, they provide a highly effective means of obtaining new subscribers. The key to using pop windows effectively is to combine them with your incentives.

If you would be interested in adding a pop window to your site, I highly recommend the "Pop-Window Generator" at Willmaster.com. This powerful online utility will enable you to fill out a simple form and instantly generate the pop-window code for your pages. This generator will enable you to select the type of pop-window, set the length of cookies, and completely customize the look and feel of your window. The only requirement to use this free utility is that you must be a subscriber of WillMaster Possibilities. This is a great publication and I highly recommend subscribing.

http://willmaster.com/possibilities/members/

This is a prime example of using incentives...

Keeping Your Subscribers

Now that you know how to develop a large subscriber base, we'll focus on how to keep them.

Developing a large subscriber base is the easy part, keeping them will be a little more difficult.

The key to keeping your subscribers is to provide quality content that teaches or informs in regard to the subject matter. You must provide your readers with unique content that can't be found in any other publication.

Although providing original content can be a lot of work, it is well worth the effort. Not only will it provide your readers with unique content, but it will also enable you to build your credibility and gain your readers' trust by sharing your expertise.

Although providing some original content is an important part of a great publication, it is perfectly acceptable to run articles written by other authors.

You can find a wealth of quality, free articles on a variety of subjects at the following web address: http://www.web-source.net/free_articles.htm

Editor's Note

Another very important part of a successful publication is an Editor's Note section. This section will enable you to talk to your readers and develop a trusting relationship. You can also use this section to provide recommendations. There's absolutely no better way to develop a relationship with your readers than by including an Editor's Note section.

Advertising

A great way to increase sales with your publication is to run sponsor ads. Not a list of classified ads like you see in many publications, but instead, run five or six sponsor ads depending on the size of your publication.

These sponsor ads can be ads promoting your products, your affiliate or even ad space you sell. Place one ad at the top of your publication, a couple within the article you run and work your way down the publication.

Sponsor ads should be clearly marked and only promote legitimate products and services.

Conclusion

No matter how many new subscribers you may acquire, the key to a successful opt-in list is keeping them. The relationship you build with your subscribers will determine your success. Above all, you must provide your readers with quality content. They subscribed to your publication for a reason. If it doesn't meet their expectations, they'll simply unsubscribe.

Once you've developed a trusting relationship with your subscribers, your personal recommendations will be a highly effective means of closing sales. However, it is very important that you only recommend a product or service that you truly believe in. Your professional reputation depends on it.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, "Web Design Mastery" (www.webdesignmastery.com) and "eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book" (www.ebookstarter.com)

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley's acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

Where Oh Where Did My Subscribers Go

Writen by Donesia Muhammad

Not getting the amount of subscribers as you were used to getting? Thinking that it is the quality of your ezine or a bad promotion campaign?? No, that's not the reason...

Your email is bouncing and not reaching your readers. Due to new spam filters installed on ISP servers and web host servers, something as simple as using the word "Free" in the subject of your email may cause it to be blocked.

When an address bounces, you can't just automatically chalk it off as a bad address and then remove it.

First you need to know the differences between a hard bounce and a soft bounce.

HARD BOUNCES are messages that can never be delivered because either the account is not valid or there is a spam filter blocking your message.

SOFT BOUNCES are when the mail sever is having some type of problem getting the message through. They may be flooded with a lot of mail at once and when things like that happen, the server tries to send the mail a few times but eventually gives up and returns the email back to you.

A lot goes on when you hit that Send button..

As a subscriber, have you noticed lately that you are not receiving all the ezines and other email that you are subscribed to?

There are various reasons why your email may not make it to it's destination, such as:

>> THE EMAIL MESSAGE MAY BE TOO LARGE

This can happen especially when sharing large files between people. If you have a website, it's best to let them download it directly from the site instead of sending it as an attachment.

Think about this the next time one of your friends or family members sends you a large .gif, or .jpeg picture file.

I once had a friend send me a program that was 26mb large, without realizing the consequences of this. Every time the server tried to download it into my computer it would freeze up and therefore any other mail going to that address was blocked as well. So that was my first lesson in the world of sending emails.

>> THE RECIPIENTS' MAILBOX IS FULL

When you don't check your email for a period of days or weeks, your inbox capacity will fill up very quickly and depending on the size allotted from your ISP or web host, once it's full, that's it. Until you go and clear out the messages, no other mail is going through. You ever wonder why publishers always say to please clear out your inbox. This is why.

>> THE RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS IS NOT VALID

Self explanatory. The address is either not in a correct format ( name@domain.com ) or the user name doesn't exist with that domain. This can be because this was an address used by Spammers, or just people who just enter any address to sign up to receive any type of freebies and doesn't care about anything else.

Or maybe the person just entered the address information incorrectly.

You see when it comes to determining who is valid from who isn't, it's not all black and white. There are many gray areas in determining when to remove a subscriber from your list and when to keep them.

You see more and more companies are tired of dealing with spam messages clogging up their servers and using excessive amounts of bandwidth so now they are cracking down.

This is a good thing except now we are all suffering. It is getting harder and harder for the legitimate publishers to get their message out.

So what can you do about it?

Give the bouncers a chance..

Huh, what if they are Spammers??

What I mean is most publishers wait for the same email message to bounce at least twice before removing the address, plus here is something else to consider..

Ever change web hosts?? We all know how much of a hassle that can be to set up everything again and no matter how much you prepare, your email is going to be down at least a few hours while mail is still going through and getting bounced back.

Try explaining that to the hundreds of ezines you are subscribed to?

Now should you be penalized because your email was down while waiting for the DNS change on your domain??

Cut them some slack. We are all trying to adjust..

Copyright (c) KDM Publishing

Donesia Muhammad has been doing business online since 2001. Sign up For her Newsletter My IBiz Weekly ==>http://myibizweekly.com The Business Ezine For All Netpreneurs. Learn how to start and maintain your internet business and ezine, and stay sane while doing it. Read Our Archives and Learn with Valuable Resources. Helping Readers Online Since 2001... And Counting.

http://EzineAdHelper.com
http://KDMPublishing.com

How To Build A Responsive Optin List That Delivers Profits

Writen by Gerrick W

You have heard enough times "the money is in the list". Having read many articles and successes of other people profiting from their opt-in lists, your appetite is whelped. So, finally you are convinced that you need an opt-in list. One that is responsive. Now, you are ready to take the leap to build your own opt-in list.

You learned everything there is to know from the experts about building opt-in list, and followed their advice religiously. Yet at the end of the day profits are not rolling in though you have into the thousands on your opt-in list.

You may even hire the best writers to provide content for your publication but your Return on Investment is pathethic. Despite a huge opt-in list, only a small percentage of subscribers actually bought your goods or services.

What happened Mac? What went wrong? Why have you failed where others have succeeded? Why is it others are making money from their opt-in list like a breeze and you are struggling to stay afloat?

All is not lost. You can still breathe life into your opt-in list by following 4 simple but effective tips. These 4 tips are also applicable for those of you who are starting to build your opt-in list.

1.Gain the trust of your potential customers first. Before people buy anything from you, they have to trust you and the products you are promoting. The strategy to gain trust is to write as many articles as possible relating to your niche business.

Next, submit them to reputable and high traffic article directories. If your articles are widely accepted and read, it would quickly establish you as an expert in your field. This is an essential pre-requiste to starting your opt-in lisT and making money off it.

Sign up for forums that are related to your business. Trust will be gained if you provide answers and solutions to other people's questions and problems. Post a link to your website so that people may get to know your business.

The truth of the matter is potential customers and subscribers will spend money with you only if they trust you. They want value exchange for their money, so do you. People are not simply going to buy something just because you recommend it unless they know and trust you.

2.Know the needs and wants of your potential customers. Signing up for forums or setting up one on your site is a good way to learn about the needs, wants and concerns of your potential customers. Then you can effectively target those needs, wants and concerns.

The problem is many times either we are trying to provide answers to questions that nobody is asking or fail to forsee any impending need.

Feel the ground, know the needs, wants and concerns of other people and fill them. Better still if you are able to forsee potential needs in the near future. This will put you in the forefront.

You will naturally have a following if you are able to identify and meet the needs, wants and concerns of potential customers. Your business did not exist for itself or to boost your ego. It exists to serve your customers.

3.Develop or source for a product or service that meets that needs, wants and concerns of potential customers. This may require research on your part if you are not well-versed with the product or service in question. Invest your time, effort and money to develop or source for the relevant products or services.

Do your research well and you will see profits roll in.

4.Befriend other opt-in lists owners. This is beneficial especially if they have already launched successful opt-in lists. These are people to tap on for experience and expertise. Though you can read articles available on the internet, nothing beats getting a first hand account from someone you can trust and has been there and done it.

Experience is a good teacher. Successful opt-in list owners will be able to tell you the dos and don'ts of building an opt-in list.

Building a responsive opt-in list that delivers profits does not happen overnight. There's hard work involved especially if you are building one from ground zero. Next, is the maintenance of your list.

As long as you keep your subscribers happy and satisfied, they will remain lifelong customers.

Go ahead and build your profitable opt-in list with the tips provided above.

Gerrick W
mailto:gw@1stinternetmarketingsolution.com
Information and Software Tools You Need
to Effectively Promote Your Online Business.
Visit: http://www.1stinternetmarketingsolution.com

What Are Coregistration Leads And Why Should You Use Them

Writen by John Barbour

You're about to enter into and learn all about the little known world of co-registration leads. Quietly, insiders have begun to focus on this method of building a list to market to because of speed, lower cost, and large quantities of opt in leads. Most people don't know about co-registration leads, or co-registration services. They're used by some of the biggest corporations, and the biggest internet marketing experts, yet not widely written about in courses or ebooks.

The fastest, most cost effective way to build a list of any size you desire, no matter what your budget or your target audience, is to use co-registration services.

Here's how it works. You can contract with owners of sites (or a network of sites) with traffic to collect a list of names of people visiting their sites who request information based on your offer. You pay per name for each person who responds, and you tell the site in advance how many names you want (or can afford). Some sites will have a minimum order, but that can be as low as a few hundred dollars.

You decide how many fresh email leads you want, and what you can afford, and place your order. Depending on how much targeted traffic the site has relative to how big your order is, you will have your order filled within a few days or weeks.

Sometimes these ads appear on "popups" or "popunders", while other sites prefer to use the technique of getting their own subscribers first, and then offering additional subscriptions from their own "thank you" page. Still others will place your ad right on their site. Techniques vary, but the concept is the same.

These opt-in leads can be quite targeted because the visitor is already on a site that has something to do with your offer, they will have read about your offer, and, if they like the idea, they'll elect to ask for more information.

The website will then collect the information from all those who want more information, and charge you per lead. This fee can be as low as a few cents, up to a dollar or more each, depending upon the quality of the lead, how targeted the visitors are, and the size of your order.

The benefit to you is simple: you don't have to concern yourself with getting traffic or getting a banner clicked, you just have to insert your offer on a site that already has people on it seeking more information on related topics.

The end result? Using co-registration leads, you can get a targeted, fresh email lead for much less than it would cost you in time or money to create the same result on your own.

Here's the best part: some of these sites can get you thousands or even tens of thousands of names very, very quickly, according to your budget. As soon as you have received the amount that you need, they pull your listing and you stop getting new leads.

Once you have your list, then you provide (via autoresponder) the free information you offered in your listing.

Just imagine how much simpler your marketing can be from here on out. You won't have to fuss with search engine optimization, pay per click positioning, banner design, or list rental. You can simply determine what your budget is, pick one of the vendors in the directory, and within a defined period of time you'll have a list to market your offer, ezine, or newsletter.

Then, instead of wondering how your site is listed in the search engines today, you can focus on improving your offer, setting up JV deals to hit your list with, or simply take the day off and let your autoresponder make money for you.

If you want to market a product, service, or affiliate program, you simply must at least explore this opportunity. You could rather quickly have list of 500 to 5000 names, even on a limited budget.

Remember, the money is in the list, and it's a numbers game. The more people you have reading about your offer, the more money you stand to make with the right offer, and a good presentation of that offer.

John Barbour runs a co-registration leads directory and also sells work from home leads from his own fresh email leads vending site. John is also the author of "The Email Profit Formula", an ebook which details his method of targeted direct email marketing, and publishes the "List Profit" email marketing blog

The 1 List Building Strategy

Writen by Andrew Stark

As I'm sure you know, the money is in the list, but how do you go about building yourself a list from scratch?

My #1 List Building Strategy is Lead Capture or Squeeze Pages...

A lead capture page is a single page designed to squeeze your visitors into giving out their e-mail address in exchange for further information, or perhaps a free gift.

To start using lead capture pages you need to invest in your business, you will need to pay for your hosting and a good third party autoresponder such as aweber or emailaces.

Now the best results are obtained by giving away a follow-up series / free gift related to your niche. Most of the top affiliate marketers will give you something like this in the members area of their sites.

Do this well and you can go from a 1% conversion on an affiliate sales page to a 10% opt-in on your lead capture page - which do you think will be more profitable for you?

But wait, lead capture pages can also help you generate more affiliate sales. When people opt-in into your list they go to a thank-you page. Lets say you're building a list related to google adsense, the thank-you page will now take your lead straight to your adsense affiliate website, and this sort of highly targeted traffic converts very well.

What's more now you have the e-mail address you can use the autoresponder to follow-up in a few days, so you no longet have to rely on impulse buyers to make your affiliate sales.

So in summary the #1 stategy for list building is find a free gift or educational series related to your niche. Create a page to give this information away, and finally promote this site instead of the affiliate website.

Happy List Building

Andrew Stark has been online marketing since early 2004. His list grows daily thanks to multiple lead capture pages.

Please visit his latest site - http://www.shugsdownlineclub.com

You Never Really Appreciate What You Get For Free Online

Writen by Jim Green

It's true; you never really appreciate what you get for free online.

Sure, you download the stuff; then more often than not file it and forget it.

Different story though when you shell out hard cash; then you value your download, you savour the content, you delight in your new found discovery, you anticipate the wisdom it is about to impart.

Then nine times out of ten…

1. You discover you already know all this stuff, or
2. You realize it is total hogwash, or
3. You have to shell out again for an upsell to make it work

Now you compare it with similar free stuff you downloaded earlier and are surprised to learn there is intrinsic value attached; value you failed to spot first time around – if you even bothered to look.

Free stuff can be good if it follows these criteria…

 It emanates from a genuine source of expertise in its genre
 It does not set out to sell you something you neither need nor want
 It contains content of genuine value

Free stuff can make you money when you dispense it yourself if…

 Your offer is presented in good faith
 Your offer does not attempt to persuade the recipient to make a complementary purchase
 Your offer provides a genuine solution with no strings attached

Above all resist the temptation to infest your offer with a proliferation of thinly disguised affiliate links; they will just hack off the beneficiary.

Free stuff will build you a priceless resource if…

All you ask in return for your free stuff is an email address where you can relay a message with the download link.

Treasure your flow of freely given email addresses; compile them daily into a priceless asset; your ever-growing voluntary optin list.

Now you can think about upselling…

Jim Green is an entrepreneur and bestselling author with an ever-growing string of niche non-fiction titles to his credit. http://free-stuff-xl.com

20 Ways To Convert Visitors Into Subscribers

Writen by Rojo Sunsen

1. You could offer your visitors a discount on all the products you sell if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

2. You could offer your visitors a free ebook if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

3. You could offer your visitors a free subscription to your private web site if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

4. You could offer your visitors a free advertisement in your free e-zine if they subscribe.

5. You could offer your visitors a free tangible gift if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

6. You could offer a free automatic entry into your contest or sweepstakes if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

7. You could tell your visitors that you offer original content in your free e-zine.

8. You could tell your visitors to read a sample issue of your free e-zine on your web site.

9. You could offer your visitor's free software if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

10. You could offer your visitors a free sign up to your affiliate program if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

11. You could offer your visitors a free web service, like free e-mail, if they subscribe to your free e-zine.

12. You could publish some of your current e-zine subscriber's testimonials on your web site.

13. You could publish any positive reviews you have received about your free e-zine on your web site.

14. You could tell your visitors what's going to be published in your next e-zine issue.

15. You could tell your visitors that they have the right to republish your e-zines content on their own web site if they subscribe to your free e-zine

16. You could publish a list of well-known famous, or respected people that have subscribed to your free e-zine.

17. You could tell your visitors what a subscription to your free e-zine is worth in dollars.

18. You could tell your visitors all the major benefits of subscribing to your e-zine.

19. You could tell your visitors how many people have already subscribed to your e-zine.

20. You could tell your visitors that a subscription to your free e-zine is only available for a limited time.

About the author:

Rojo Sunsen is a specialized bounty hunter who prefers to work quietly/confidentially for the benefit of her clients.

Web Site Is Email Newsletters Best Friend

Writen by Dejan Bizinger

Many people know about that famous song that says that diamonds are girl's best friend. It is the same with web sites and email newsletters. You can't have a great email newsletter without great web site. At least it is very difficult.

In our previous articles you can read about best practices in choosing your domain name and web hosting, which are one of the most important steps in having a successful site that will generate new email subscriptions.

In this article you will learn how you can design your web site and which techniques to deploy in order to increase subscription for your email newsletter.

Location, location, location

You should place a notice about your email newsletter on visible place on your web site. However, it is quite obvious if you visit many corporate web sites that you can have a hard time to locate their email newsletter. So how they can expect to have a good subscription rate and stay in touch with their visitors!?

Beside visible notice on your main page, you should put your email newsletter info on every page, preferably on side bar. Companies who know principles of successful Internet marketing make a special resource section in their main menu. This section is also great way for persuading your visitors to become your subscribers. There you can include value-added content for your visitors like best practices guide relevant to your business, tutorials for your products, white papers, newsletter archives and useful the page with useful links from your industry. It is very important that your visitors can read previous issues of your email newsletter in order to decide whether or not to subscribe to your email newsletter.

Subscription forms

Subscription rate is very much connected with subscription form. Many email publishers make mistake and require you to fill many fields that can turn your visitors away from subscribing. People are concerned with privacy, especially on the Internet so it is not wise to ask questions like "What is your salary?" If you still want to ask those kind of more private questions you can make them optional.

You have to focus on several most important questions like First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Gender, and Country. Of course it is recommended to offer your visitors to choose to receive your email newsletter in text or HTML format. For example, if you sell email marketing (or other any other) software or service you can place additional fields with question like "Do you plan buying or changing your current email marketing software?" If their answer is Yes and they chose to be contacted, you can contact them via email and ask for the best time to call them and to discuss possible arrangements regarding buying your email marketing software.

It is not recommended to ask only for email address because this way you won't be able to do personalization and segmentation which is very important for creating successful email campaigns.

Some publishers use pop-ups to increase their email newsletter subscription. Although, this way you can get many new subscribers, you have to be aware that many people (especially more experienced Internet users) consider pop-ups annoying and unprofessional. However, if you still want to use pop-ups to place your subscription form make sure to include a standard "[x]" character for closing your pop-up window. The best technique if you use pop-up for getting more subscribers is to use cookies in order to track new visitors. This way you can display pop-ups only to your new visitors. It is not recommended that your visitors see your pop-up more than once.

Techniques

There are several great techniques that you can use on your web site to increase your newsletter membership base. White papers are great way to turn visitors into members and members into buyers. White papers are considered as more "valuable" than "common" articles. You can create white papers full of quality content and offer it free only if your visitors subscribe to your email newsletter. You can include download links in your Welcome message. Studies show that this way subscription rates increase several times.

Of course, there are other techniques like incentives. You can announce that you offer discount coupon for your subscribers only. In every issue you can include unique promotion code and offer discount on all of your products. For example, you can always offer to your email subscribers 10% discount, but on some special occasions you can raise that discount. This way, you can be quite sure that they will read your email newsletter very carefully. It is a win-win situation.

When we are talking about improving sales using email newsletters you can promote your newsletter in your shopping cart, too. For example, at the checkout when you summarize their orders you can write something similar like this:

_______________

Total price: $100

This price can be even lower. Click here to subscribe to our Messaging Times email newsletter and get 10% discount on all orders. You will find your discount coupon in our Welcome message. This is our way to say "Thank You!" for subscribing. _______________

So you see that shopping cart is also a great way to get new email subscribers. Giving discounts exclusively to your email subscribers are proven way to have loyal customers and to grow your newsletter base.

Dejan Bizinger is a Contributing Editor for Infacta. Infacta is email messaging services company providing powerful, yet easy-to-use award-winning Group Mail, software for sending highly-personalized email messages and Group Metrics, software for email tracking. For more information visit: http://www.infacta.com

Excellent Optin Promotions For Traffic Exchange Sites

Writen by Zhen Yang

First off, putting up a page on traffic exchange websites is a good way to test out how well your advertisement does before paying for pay-per-click ads from search engines.

Traffic exchange advertisements have a lot in common with pay-per-click ads. In a typical session, websites are displayed for 20-30 seconds, and viewing each website in turn gives you credits, which you use to promote your own website. Traffic exchange ratios such as 2:1 mean that viewing 2 websites earn you enough credits to advertise your webpage once. A long webpage that takes at least 5 seconds to load is definitely not good to attract prospects, nor is a webpage full of banners and text advertisements. Viewers only want to glance through webpages before the 20 seconds are up and they surf on to the next webpage.

Some of the traffic exchange sites:

http://www.trafficswarm.com
http://www.clickvoyager.com
http://www.trafficpods.com
http://www.RealDealTraffic.com
http://www.ClicksMatrix.com
http://www.TrafficG.com

The next question is, should you put up a product for sale? People don't like being sold to, and they need time to read through the benefits of a product. Its much too long for them to do in a short 20 seconds. So the best things to do for a traffic exchange site is to capture leads or write a compelling headline to attract propects to read later.

There is a term for pages which load fast, and get responsive prospects: splash pages. A typical splash page has a headline, an image, and a link to click for more information. The message is clear, to-the-point and effective. Even the image sets the tone as to what audience the Advertisement is targetted to.

Remember this rule of thumb:
"the best headlines qualify your prospect in 6 seconds or less."

To be effective in attracting prospects, we need to think out of the box to create our promotional splash pages. Not just any ordinary splash pages that everyone uses, but what I like to term creatively-self-made splash pages (or CSPs for short).

Your CSP promotes your USP! That means your unique selling point. Put a unique, personal twist to your message. Your aim is to get your message across in 20 to 30 seconds. Here's an example of a splash page I use to promote a free but valuable download:

http://zy51fw.active.ws/phpoptin2.htm

Other headlines or catch phrases might go something like:
"Be different this Christmas, make more money than you spend"
"Had enough of heaps of marketing guides? Here's an integrated low-cost solution that works."

Lastly, check out the website below for a list of cliches / popular sayings that would come in useful:
http://www.westegg.com/cliche/

Zhen Yang is a writer who does Affiliate Marketing & List Building part-time. Find out more about Optin List Building at http://zy51home.active.ws/phpoptin.htm and http://ideasandvision.blogspot.com

You are welcome to reprint this article. Please do not change the original text or the Author's about box in any way.

How To Increase The Value Of Your Mailing List

Writen by Theresa Cahill

109 in 20 days
61 in 9 days
43 in 24 days
33 in 20 days

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what the above numbers signify?

If you guessed mailings from any one source - bingo! You win!

When exactly is enough enough? When does something cross the fine line from useful to ridiculous?

The art of communication is just that - a fine art. To grab and hold anyone's attention online for longer than 2 minutes shows you've got something going for yourself - you understand how and why people do what they do and read what they read.

While advertisers and marketers look for outstanding and affordable resources - and 9 times out of 10 choose mailing lists to receive that information - the list itself must maintain a particular level of quality to ensure it is a mailing worth reading.

The last thing in the world anyone with a mailing list wants is an unresponsive list. So, how can we go about ensuring, to the best of our ability, that that doesn't happen?

Priority number 1 should be restraint. While having a list appears to put potential customers at one's fingertips, without restraint that list begins its slow (and sometimes not so slow) slide into degradation.

What can one do to avoid this erosion? Is it possible?

I believe it is...

While not everyone will read everything every time, by one's use of restraint the opt in reader will stick around because when they do read, they are receiving what they asked for - information, resources, tips, help, etc.

They'll even read the specials.

But how can you make sure your list retains its value?

Consider dividing your list into "demographics" or "subscriber interests."

Now stop groaning... it's really not that bad and can be a great boost to your potential sales and a real plus in the eyes of your readers.

Since I am a publisher, I'll use the ezine or newsletter as an example. Subscribers join to receive one's ezine daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc. Right up front, by the very act of subscribing, that person knows what to expect. They receive it, hopefully read it, respond to it - a publisher's dream subscriber.

Then, the "special" mailings begin to arrive. With restraint this is typically a solo here, a special announcement there. This is still manageable in the eyes of your list. With luck your resource continues to maintain it's value.

However, push the envelope with more than the occasional extra weekly mailing or two, and the slow slide begins. No one has time to open that many mailings. Physically it is not possible, and it goes without saying that mentally no one is prepared to cope with them all... it's just common sense.

So, here's the "How-To" to help yourself and your readers.

Make GOOD use of your autoresponders!

Your first signup box or mailto link would sign the new subscriber up to ONLY your ezine or newsletter (or any customer mailing list). Then, because autoresponders are so good at this, on the Thank You page, you just add a SECOND signup box!

This second box, using a 2nd autoresponder, could say something like:

"In addition to our ezine, would you like to receive special standalone advertisements? These solos are purchased by readers just like you about new and existing programs. The solo is a great way to stay on top of what's new on the net. They do they work for you by delivering themselves right to your inbox!"

Or,

"By adding yourself using Box B below, you'll also be placed on our "Breaking News Only" mailing list. This is my personal way of contacting those subscribers interested in hearing about what I've personally located online! I work hard, and these occasional emails are well worth receiving!"

Of course use your own words :)

Consider, too, telling your new subscriber to use a DIFFERENT email address for EACH opt in!

This way they are sure to find your PRIMARY publication, and can peruse the rest at their leisure from different email accounts. [Be sure to tell them that as they enter your Thank You and see your next subscribe box.]

I know personally I would love this option!

So, you get the idea? You've just geometrically increased the value of every mailing you do, simply by making good use of your autoresponders. Your readers will thank you as you let them pick and choose what they agree to receive :)

For the ezine publisher in particular this can be a great boost to your own sales. Who wouldn't want to purchase from someone who's taken the time and effort to ensure the advertisement is going to someone who OPTED IN to receive it. (I'm not talking about the ads that appear inside a regular issue, but the special and solo type mailings.)

Think about it... a little extra work (and by setting up your autoresponders in this fashion VERY little work), on your part on behalf of your readers, and you've more than doubled the effectiveness of your own mailing list.

This same idea works for any website selling anything. For example, you have a gift shop that sells stained glass and crystal figurines. One person loves stained glass but could do without your mailings about the crystal. TARGET the list! Increase the potential sale by giving the person only what they asked to receive.

Too much of any one thing can, and does, turn people off. Ensure your online business success by paying attention to detail, and help those receive what THEY need and want.

It's all about good, responsive customer service :)

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html

Ad Swaps To Build Your Mailing List

Writen by Mark Flavin

Time and time again, internet marketers have mentioned how "gold can be found in your mailing list." It has become a cliché or sorts, so it seems, given the many times the maxim has been repeated over and over again, in many channels, in many articles, in many eBooks, and in many newsletters.

But there's a reason why it's a cliché. It's because it's true.

The bigger the size of your mailing list, the higher your chances are of bagging some sales. It's a numbers game, one which you could easily manipulate to your advantage.

Why Your Need A Mailing List

Let's go to the specifics.

As an online businessman, a mailing list is almost an indispensable requirement for your success. Here are the reasons why:

* Experts say that it takes 7 to 12 contacts with a prospect, at the average, before you could convince him to make a purchase. A mailing list would allow you to keep in touch with the said prospect.

* Your prospects have to be warmed up before they could make a purchase. You have to win their trust and confidence before they could part with their hard earned money. A mailing list opens the doors for a variety of strategies that would allow you to prime them up for your sales pitches.

* A mailing list would likewise make it easy for your customers to contact you whenever they need answers to their queries. In a way, a mailing list can also become an excellent vehicle to provide post sales support for your customers.

* The size of your mailing list reflects your credibility as a joint venture (JV) partner for profitable undertakings requiring a partnership between two or more internet marketers. Your mailing list is not only a well for potential customers, it's also your badge of how much you have achieved in the industry.

Few are the internet marketers who do business online without a mailing list. This is a testament to how valuable your own subscriber base can be.

The Trick Is In Flooding Your Mailing List With Subscribers

Clearly, success with your mailing list depends on how many subscribers you'd manage to garner. The more people who will sign up for your follow-up system, the higher your chances will be in earning a lot of profit.

The question is, how do you explode the number of subscribers for your mailing list?

Driving traffic to your opt-in page is the number one strategy to implement. Online marketing tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), article marketing, forum posting, direct advertising and reciprocal linking are keys for your traffic generation purposes.

But there's one other strategy that would provide an almost instantaneous arrival of signups.

We're talking about ad swaps.

Ad Swaps?

Ad swaps is an inexpensive but highly effective technique that involves two or more online businessmen with sizable mailing lists. One marketer would simply have to exchange ads with another marketer in their respective mailing list.

The result?

An exchange of ads that would result in an exchange of subscribers.

For example, marketer A has a mailing list composed of 5,000 members. Marketer B has a mailing list composed of 4,000 subscribers.

An ad swap simply means that marketer A would run marketer B's ad in his newsletter, which would lead marketer A's subscribers to marketer B's opt-in page. Marketer B would have to do the same favor for marketer A.

Marketer A potentially stands to earn 4,000 new subscribers. Marketer B potentially stands to earn 5,000 new subscribers. Such would be a profitable exchange of members that would increase the size of their respective mailing lists!

Ad swaps usually are free. All you have to do is to find a willing partner, which would be easy once you have built a sizable subscriber base.

Offering freebies as rewards for signups would also ensure the success of ad swap campaigns.

Mark Flavin Is The Owner Of Mark Flavin Marketing. Mark Is An Expert In Online Marketing & All Make Money Online Topics. Mark Recommends You Visit eMail Secrets To Learn How To Increase Your Subscriber Base & Make More Money From Your List.

You Can Sign Up For Mark's Free eCourse at http://www.markflavin.com

3 Innovative Ways To Build An Optin Email List That Stands Above The Crowd

Writen by Kori Puckett

With so many optin email lists out there, your really need to come up with a hook to attractive subscribers. It needs to have something special or different. It could be something you offer inside every newsletter issue, like interviews with experts. Or the hook could be a unique incentive that website vistors can take advantage of immediately when they sign up.

Here are 3 ideas you can use for your own sites, or use as inspiration to get you thinking a little outside of the box:

-- Build an Optin Email List by Creating a Private Members Only Site or Section --

Create a private web site and have people sign up to get free, immediate access. For example, you could say, "Subscribe to our free e-zine and get free access to our private membership web site!" You can choose to have them receive a username and password every time they want to login, or you can just provide a link to the site in your welcome email.

Your private members only site can be as big or as small as you want. Some of the things you can include inside are: reports, software, articles, ebooks, etc. Inside the site, you can advertise your affiliate programs, as well. And you can follow-up to let them know about updates, new products they might be interested in, the latest news in your industry, etc.

-- Build an Optin Email List By Giving Subscribers a Free, Tangible Gift --

Instead of offering a free ebook (or a whole package of them) like most everybody else, promise to give your visitors something they can hold in their hands if they give you their contact information.

For example, you could say "Subscribe today and get our new report mailed to you via First Class." You could print out your report on standard 8 x 11 sheets of paper, fold it up, put it inside an envelope, and mail it off.

Or you can offer a tips booklet and mail it to new subscribers. Or you can create your own CD full of information targeted toward your market and mail that. Or if you have a wholesale supply of a product of interest to your subscribers, then you can send one to each new subscriber. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Follow-up possibilities include: articles (your own or written by others), tips you pick up, news in your niche, reviews of products or other interested, related websites, etc.

-- Build an Optin Email List Through a Contest or Sweepstakes --

Hold a free contest or sweepstakes at your website where they must give their contact information, including their email address, to enter. Make the prize something that your niche market will be interested in. Otherwise, they'll never want to enter.

If you already have an ezine up and running, you could offer free automatic entry for new subscribers. For example, you could say, "Subscribe to our free newsletter and get automatic entry into our contest." You'll also want to retroactively include current subscribers.

You can announce the winner(s) at the end, as well as send any new contest announcements or product announcements. Or you can make this an ongoing contest, where you give away the same thing to one (or more) lucky people every month. That way you'll entice many subscribers to stay on your list.

You can find niche products to give away through wholesalers or dropshippers. Or you can create it yourself. One of my favorite ways to do this is create a CD-Rom with a guide or report (or sometimes several) that my niche market will find interesting.

Once again, you can follow-up with tips, articles, news, new product announcements, or just an announcement of each monthly winner(s).

Hopefully, now I've inspired you to take some action or encouraged ideas of your own with these tips. Any idea, the more popular it gets, requires you to think outside the box every now and then in order to be effective. Building an optin email list is no different. And with newsletters and ezines saturating the Internet day by day, you need to offer something a little different to make them want to sign up to yours. Or you'll just end up getting left behind.

Kori Puckett provides more self-help and success oriented articles, which can be found at http://www.KoriPuckett.com. Find out the secrets of success of a mastermind group, and pick the brains of real people just like you who've discovered how to get everything they want. Visit: http://business.koripuckett.com

Top Secrets Of Profitable Email List Revealed

Writen by Andreas Obermueller

Building a good email list of customers or partners forms is the integral part of doing business in long term. All websites cannot make it to the top of the search results of major search engines. Building a mailing list of interested customers can evade many of the ill effects of not getting to the top of search listings. With a little effort you can collect the email addresses of potential customers. But to build a good mailing list, you need to give something before you get the email addresses. You can offer free tips related to the products you sell or careful advices regarding the service you give. Offering a free e-book with useful information is also a good method of building a business mailing list.

With the stringent laws to fight the big enemy called spam, business houses need to take extreme care that the emails they send out don't fall to the category of spam mails. You need to implement good measures for careful email list management. With each email you send out, you need to provide an 'unsubscribe' or 'opt out' option. This is mandatory by the rule of the land.

Managing a business mailing list is always going to be a tough task. Updating, omissions, categorization of the list is necessary. While building an email list or mailing list, the categorization based on location, products and the income stream of the potential customers is important. New enterprises always shall take time to develop a profitable mailing list.

While maintaining a mailing list, it is always necessary to send only targeted mails according to the preferences and interests of the receivers. If you use the mailing list only to promote your products, chances are higher that the receivers will opt out of your business mailing list. Mailing list management is also about sending out useful tips and information that is important for the receiver.

Building a long mailing list from which you can reap profits is a time consuming task. You need to do some search engine optimization works so that your website appears in front of the interested users while they make a search. Give a solid reason for the visitors to sign up for your periodic newsletter. Make the suggestion that you regularly come up with useful suggestions, tips and techniques related to their field of interest.

The spending capacity of the individuals, geographic location, preferences of making online purchases etc need to be assessed to gauge the efficiency of your mailing list.

Giving enough stress to building a strong email list through which you can promote your products or affiliate products somehow minimizes your dependency on costly pay per click advertising to attract traffic to your site. All the receivers may not make a purchase every time you send out an offer. You can also go without a minimum number of sales if you maintain a strong mailing list of qualified customers.

Copyright © 2006 Andreas Obermueller

About the Author:

Andreas Obermueller is webmaster of Hit4Biz.com - Marketing Related Information and recommends Marble Host for reliable Web Hosting.

5 Optin List Builders

Writen by Genesis Davies

Anyone who is in e-commerce should have an opt-in list. Sure you can get some petty cash from Adsense or affiliate links, but if you don't have a list, you are losing money.

Building an opt-in list can seem daunting to the first-timer, but it's not really that hard. Here are five ways to get that list started.

1. Offer a free e-book that requires visitors to leave their email address. You don't even have to write your own e-book anymore, there are more than a few out there that turn over full resale rights to the user. Find a good e-book to offer your visitors, hype it up and set up a form for them to order and download it.

2. Start your own e-course. A free e-course is fast and easy to put together, you just need a topic. Again, if you hate writing, you can just grab free content from sites like www.ezinearticles.com or www.constant-content.com. You'll need five to seven days worth of material to send out and an auto-responder. I recommend Aweber or Royal Responder.

3. Give away free reports. Do you have special knowledge on a topic that your visitors are interested in? Turn it into a list builder by writing your own report (or hiring someone to do it for you at www.elance.com or www.freelancewriting.com/jobbank). Just offer the report for free, to be emailed to your visitors. Again, an auto-responder makes things easier here.

4. Give away free gifts. It doesn't have to be a big, expensive item, just something that your visitors will like. Require them to sign up for the gift and you add rapidly to your opt-in list.

5. Start your own e-zine. A newsletter can be a great way to draw people into your list. Once again, you can use free content and don´t have to write a word, although your newsletter will probably benefit from some original content. The good thing about a newsletter is that it accustoms people to seeing emails from you in their inbox. So you can advertise to them (within reason, of course) and not get accused of spamming.

All of these options are easy to set up. If you want to really super-size your opt-in list, use ALL of the above and watch the emails pour in!

Genesis Davies is a freelance writer and runs 3 websites. She lives and works from the side of a volcano in Guatemala.

Get an auto-responder and boost sales today!

Genesis Davies is a freelance writer who currently runs 2 websites and an ezine. Check out her business site. Sign up for her free Create a Sizzling Ezine course

Newsletters How To Build Your Subscriber List

Writen by Justine Curtis

If a visitor comes to your web site looking for information and doesn't sign up to receive your e-mails, you have missed an opportunity to turn that browser into a customer. This month we will be concentrating on how to build your subscriber list using the tips and techniques below. Increasing your newsletter subscription list with new subscribers will therefore increase your potential new customer database.

More detailed information about how to establish yourself and your business as an expert in your field, including how to set up and maintain an electronic newsletter, can be found in our downloadable guide "Building Online Relationships" which can be found here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_4.html

If you would like help with how to write content for your newsletter, why not read last months article on "Newsletters – Keeping Your Customers Informed" which can be found in our newsletter archives here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/internet_marketing_newsletter_.html

For more detailed information on how to write an effective sales proposition you need a copy of our guide "Writing Text That Sells" available for download here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_3.html

1. Streamline subscriber registration. Streamline the sign up process by asking for as little information upfront as possible. You can always give customers an incentive to provide more information after they have experienced your newsletter. A simple sign up box that requests only an email address works best as it's quick and not off putting to potential subscribers who often have the perception that companies are just trying to extract personal information from them.

For a simple sign up process, I would recommend Vertical Response whom we have used for several years to manage our lists. They can be found here: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EavljUFQjXk&offerid=52409.10000007&type=1&subid=0

2. Giveaways. Put together a genuinely useful giveaway item that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, you could give away discount vouchers for your products or services or you could offer a free downloadable report or guide related to the products or services you offer. Downloadable information products like these work very well for most businesses, as once written, delivery costs are minimal. The practical freebie really works for your potential customers too, provided that it is relevant and useful to them.

3. Put a subscribe box on every page of the site. If possible add a simple sign up box in the top left hand corner of every page of your web site, as that's where the eye naturally travels first. Don't bury the registration form on a page deep within your site and make it is as obvious and easy as possible for your potential customers to see it and sign up. Don't forget to mention the giveaway you are offering here too.

4. Advert swaps. Exchange adverts for your newsletter with other newsletter writers and web site owners and run them in each other's newsletters and on your web sites. Don't forget to mention those free giveaways! Doing this on a regular basis with a wide selection of web partners will keep your subscription page busy.

5. Cross-registration. Subscribers can also be found by having an advert for my newsletter on the thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) website. This offer is made to subscribers who have just signed up for another newsletter and are therefore deemed 'in the mood for more.' Offer a swap with an advert on your sites thank you page, but try not to list no more than one or two other newsletters and make sure they are quality, reliable publications that interest your target market.

Keep the copy brief and simple, i.e.: "If you like our newsletter, you may be interested in one on a similar topic provided by our partner...."

6. Create a bonus product for other web sites to use. Similar to the giveaway point above, why not put together a selection of your previous newsletter articles and package them as a free ebook. Let other web sites give this ebook away as a bonus with sales of their products or services. Make sure you include sensational descriptive copy about your newsletter, and a subscribe link at the end of your ebook.

7. Allow reprints. Allow any newsletter that wants to reprint your articles do so. You can end each article with the line: You may reprint this article in your own magazine or website provided that it is reproduced in its entirety and all links are left intact. You may want to keep track of who is reproducing your newsletter so that you can email them future issues for publication. In this case, simply ask them to email you for permission. Alternatively, you can submit your newsletters to syndication agents and let anyone who wants to use it pick it up from there.

8. Add a registration button or link to all e-mail correspondence. Make sure you add an advert for your newsletter to your email signature. Don't forget to include it on all responses to enquiries, customer service correspondence, confirmations, and invoices, etc. More broadly, request e-mail addresses at every customer touch point. The aim is to broaden customers' view of your firm. Integrating e-mail addresses acquired offline may be a manual process, but research shows customer purchases increase with the number of channels used.

9. Include a "forward to a friend" button. Put a forward option on every newsletter. This way your current subscribers, often trusted sources that wouldn't steer friends wrong, act as your spokespeople.

10. Add a registration box or link to all e-newsletters. Add the box or link to the top and bottom of the newsletter. Although this may sound redundant as the recipient is already receiving your e-mail, consider the pass-along effect.

Building an e-mail list is an ongoing process and the possibilities for expansion are endless. Always try new initiatives to improve results, and if you try even half of these techniques on a regular basis you should find your subscriber rates improve dramatically.

Don't forget, as your list grows you will find it easier to outsource the management of it. I would recommend Vertical Response whom we have used for several years to manage our lists. Using your browser you can build your opt-in mailing lists, publish your online newsletters and manage your direct email advertising campaigns.

Click the link for a free trail: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EavljUFQjXk&offerid=52409.10000007&type=1&subid=0

For a complete guide to marketing on the Internet, including:

· The General Principles of Internet Marketing
· Start at the Beginning
· Writing Text that Sells
· Building Online Relationships
· Maximising Your Pay Per Click Campaign
· Measuring Success

Why not purchase the whole series of downloadable guides for the discounted price of £64.95. Click for more information: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/promo_ebooks.html

To catch up with previous issues of this newsletter, visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/internet_marketing_newsletter_.html

Coming up next month, "How to Write Your Newsletter".

If you have any questions about any of the topics raised or any other Internet Marketing issues, feel free to email me at Justine@enable-uk.co.uk. I do my best to answer all emails or to cover the issues in future editions of this newsletter.

Justine Curtis
Enable UK
Internet Marketing Information and Resources
Make your web site work smarter!
Web: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk
Email: info@enable-uk.co.uk

Feel free to forward this newsletter provided that it is sent in its entirety with all links intact. To use this newsletter in any other format, please email for permission to Justine@enable-uk.co.uk

Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter is a monthly publication of Enable-UK

Copyright © 2004 Enable-UK

Creating Managing And Building Your Optin Lists

Writen by Shelley Lowery

An opt-in list is a list or database containing email addresses of individuals who have chosen to receive your email messages. Your messages may be web site updates, product updates or an ezine. They provide you with a direct line of communication with potential customers and enable you to promote your products or services.

In order for you to start collecting email addresses, you'll first need to set up a system that will enable your visitors to submit their information, automatically subscribe them to your list and enable you to send out messages.

Before we go any further, I want to make sure that you understand that this article pertains to "Opt-In" lists. Not Spam. Under no circumstance should you ever add anyone to your list without their knowledge.

Collecting Email Addresses

There are many free list services on the Internet that will enable you to set up a mailing list however, they won't allow you to personalize your messages, they require that your subscriber reply to a confirmation message and they can choose to shut your list down at any time.

Your first step in setting up your system will be to get a good form processing script. This script will be used to enable your subscriber to submit their information via a form and send the information to a specified address.

The best form I have found is called, Master Form. This form will enable you to have the results emailed to you or to a specified address, can write your information to a database file and even have a personalized thank you page. In addition, you can even have multi-page forms with no limit on the number of pages. This script costs $35.

Whatever form you select, make sure that it will allow you to use email templates, as you will need each subscription request to contain certain words in the subject for processing. Email form templates will enable the email messages sent to your subscription address to contain any information you'd like.

After you've gotten your form set up, you'll need to set up a pop email account on your server just for your list(s). You can name it "lists" or whatever you'd like. In addition, you will need to create two email aliases for subscription requests. Example, yourlist-subscribe@yourdomain.com and yourlist-unsubscribe@yourdomain.com.

Setting up a database

Your next step will be to set up a database to enable you to store your subscriber's information, process subscription requests and email your subscribers. I use a great program called Group Mail by Aureate. This program will process the information from your form, process your subscription requests, store your subscribers information in a database and enable you to send personalized email messages. You can find it here: http://www.group-mail.com/

Once you've gotten Group Mail, your next step will be to create your mailing list. Simply follow the instructions provided. After you've set up your new list, click on "Plug Ins" then on "Subscribers." You'll now have to set up your subscription filters to enable the program to process your subscription requests.

Now that you have your system set up and ready to collect email addresses, you'll need to place a form on your web site. Create two input fields for your form; one for your subscribers name and another one for their email address.

Your new system will take some time to set up, but it will work for you continuously. It will take care of all of your subscription requests and undeliverables and will store your subscriber's information in a database for easy access. In addition, you'll be able to send personalized messages with any of the following:

first name
last name
user name
email address
address
company
contact
four additional customizable fields

Now, you're ready to begin collecting your visitors email addresses and start building your targeted list of potential customers.

Building Your Subscriber Base

There are many powerful ways to build your subscriber base however, we'll only focus on a few of the best ways.

• Place your subscription information in your signature

• Place a sign-up box on every page of your web site

• Offer a free gift just for subscribing

• Write articles and include your subscription information within your bylines

• Create and distribute free ebooks with your subscription form on each page

• Provide a free service and require those using your service to agree to receive your publication

• Create a member's only site with special resources, content or downloads for subscribers only

• Create a contest and submit your contest to all of the free giveaway sites. Place your subscription information on your contest page

If you're not collecting your visitor's email addresses, don't wait another day to start. Opt-in lists are one of the most powerful marketing tools on the Internet.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, "Web Design Mastery" (www.webdesignmastery.com) and "eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book" (www.ebookstarter.com)

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley's acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

How Avoiding This Mistake Will Save You Thousands Of Dollars In Profits

Writen by Chadrack Irobogo

If you're reading this article right now then I'm sure you are interested in making money on the net. I decided to write this to save you the pains I suffered sometime ago.

Yes, I made a silly mistake at the start of my online marketing career and I paid dearly for it. Now as I said I'll want you to avoid it. So if you're really interested in making your living from the net, spare some time and read this through.

Here is my story.

When I started, being the newbie I was, (I think I'm still - frankly) and wanting to make some quick buck in affiliate programs, I picked on some well paying ones and with every ounce of zeal I could muster, I steadily promoted them. My expectations were high. I knew I was doing fine with my promotions. And why wouldn't I deserve the rewards?

But how disappointed I was when the stats came in.

"Something must be wrong," I cried; for that was all I could really say at the time.

And of course something was wrong. But it was not with the program. It was something I was doing. This, I was to learn was my #1 silly mistake, which has cost me a whole lot of bucks.

Now if you're promoting some affiliate program, you may be making this mistake also.

Don't believe me? Okay think about this.

While promoting the affiliate program do you have access to the list of prospects? Let's assume while promoting your assigned link, your efforts yielded 600 visitors to the affiliate website. Out of these 42 made a purchase. That is just 7%! So you receive your commission checks for those 42 persons who purchased. But what about the 558 who did not buy at first contact? Is there any way you can bring them again to make that purchase?

Is it possible for you to promote other profitable programs or products to them?

Remember that is 93% of your effort. Is that wasted effort?

Now that was the #1 Silly mistake that cost me thousands of dollars in profit. In almost, if not every case, by promoting my assigned affiliate link, I LOSE MY LEAD. And may I inform you that by doing the same you're losing yours.

You must understand that, "WEALTH BUILDING is equal to LIST BUILDING!"

So what is the solution; build your list - now!. With a list you're able to promote not just one but as many programs as you deem fit.

I'm sure the scales have fallen from your eyes. :)

So let's take some steps of creating a list of your own.

Step 1: Give away some free content - This could be anything from free reports, to free ebooks. When you provide valuable information you would soon turn browsers to buyers.

Step 2: Pull for traffic - Now ensure that there is a continuous flow of traffic to your free content. Whether this is to be gotten in your website or an email address, go for traffic and plenty of it.

Step 3: Capture the email address of those who receive your free content - of course this is done automatically by your auto responder.

Step 4: Promote your affiliate link - You now have a database to which you can promote again and again. Put before them your affiliate programs. You may have done this in your free content. You can do it continuously until they buy.

Step 5: Your back-end product(s) - take your program to the next level. Have you created your own product? You have all the right to promote this to your list. You can do this as much as you can.

That is it.

If you don't want to lose your hard earned bucks the way I did go and implement my suggestions.

Here for your success,

=======================================

Chadrack Irobogo is the owner and webmaster http://market4profit.awardspace.com A website committed to delivering well researched, quality content and free tools, e-Books and other indispensable and beneficial information to you again and again.

Is your marketing strategy missing a vital link? Will tested and proven low/no cost marketing tools that will skyrocket your bottomline be of interest to you? Marketing in the right place is the guaranteed step to profiting in any business. For a FREE report "Unlocking The Secrets of Successful Website Marketing!" and a tested and proven system that will help you market more effectively visit =>http://emarketingsecrets.awardspace.com

=============================================

* You have free reprint rights to this article. Feel free to post it to your website, in your email promotions etc as long as the resource box is not altered.

Copyright © 2005 by Chadrack Irobogo. All rights reserved.

How I Started Building My Own Huge Optin Lists On Autopilot With A Slick And Easy Tactic

Writen by Jim Green

They all say it, do the online millionaire marketers, "The Money's in The List".

And of course it's true; more sales are made from lists than any other form of promotion.

But how and where do you make a start on building huge opt-in lists on autopilot?

It took me three years to build a list for just one product using conventional methods like website opt-in forms and email signatures, etc. Today that list has just over 1000 subscribers which works out about one new opt-in per day over the period.

Friends tell me this is a reasonable result but with the inevitable drop outs it will never be huge.

I looked at a myriad of systems and software on offer but found them either too pricey or too complicated to operate; time is money and vice versa and I only have so much of both at my disposal.

Then just recently I happened across the slickest and easiest tactic for building multiple opt-in lists on complete autopilot that I have ever seen...

Best of all, I found the whole concept incredibly simple to comprehend and I didn't need finished produce, lots of money, expertise, whatever, to get it up and running.

And so, as I have several new products in various stages of production, I decided to put my new-found tactic to the test on one of these by inviting subscriptions to a list for a product that has still to be launched.

Within just ten days it had attracted 500 subscribers with an ongoing average thereafter of not one but twenty-five opt-ins daily…

Thus heartened, I set about applying the tactic to the remaining embryo products (they won't see the light of day for time yet) and was rewarded with a similar set of results.

So now instead of just one list I have six with the facility on tap to produce as many more as I like at little or no cost.

Jim Green is an online enthusiast and bestselling author with an ever-growing string of niche non-fiction titles to his credit. http://www.profitfunnel.com/a/jimgreen_secret

How To Set Up Your Landing Page

Writen by Karl Stadler

We are all working our buts off, or so we think, trying to make a living or an extra income on the internet. Many of you are affiliate marketers promoting someone else's products, through your web pages, websites or PPC campaigns.

I am quite sure that you have heard by now that you have to use landing pages in your marketing efforts. You may, or may not, have given it a look or a thought, but few have implemented this useful marketing tool.

Why?

It is extra work, you are very busy just getting your ads to work never mind tracking, doing split testing and priming every other ad to get the best results for your money. Which of course is the way to do it.

But think for a moment, if you could half this work, take 25% off your costs, and still make 25% to 50% more profit, would you be interested?

That is the beauty of landing pages. At the beginning you will have to put more time and effort in creating and refining them, but once you've got it all up and running you can certainly expect more profits.

The basic purpose of a landing page is to gather email addresses and build your list. The list is where the money is, all successful internet marketers will tell you that.

By building a list through landing pages you will gain the knowledge of who the people are that are interested in a specific type of product or service.

So the next time you market a new product in this line, you already have interested people who can easily become customers.

So you see, the landing page is an essential tool in any marketers arsenal of marketing armory.

Now let's look at the elements of a landing page.

The all important heading.

It has the same purpose here as on a sales page, you have to catch the attention of the reader to read on.

• A sub-heading leading your prospect into the page.
• A short sales message containing 5 to 10 benefits of the product you are

  promoting.

• A submission form where he or she can enter their details.
• After submission they are taken to the sales page.

So,. how am I going to write a sales letter on my page asking for a name and email address?

The best way of going about this is to offer something for free, a report, ebook, some useful software, subscription to a newsletter, anything relating to the product you are selling.

Lets look at an example of a landing page for a new keyword analyzing software program.

In Search Of That Perfect Keyword Phrase Getting All The Sales?

The headline catches the visitors attention and also qualifies him for the product.

How would you feel if I told you now you can:

• Find out how many others are using the same word you are aiming at.
• Know what they are paying in an instant.
• What you should bid to rank first.
• Know which phrases have the best sales conversion rates.
• And which keywords are just going to cost you money.

The bullet points highlight the important benefits the user can expect when he is using the software.

Get yourself in the FIRST place in the race for sales, and easily beat the top guns at their own game.

A summary of the bullet points again referring to the benefits

Just fill in your details to receive weekly tips on keyword analysis and how it can increase your sales. You will then immediately be redirected to 'Name Of Your Product'.

Your call to action. You ask for their details in exchange for their email address. The bonus or subscription will be of value to anyone who purchases this product and you say what will happen as soon as they submit so they know what to expect.

A very valid argument is that if I have a landing page that is not well written, a person landing on the page might just leave the entire site and could have purchased if he or she was sent straight to the sales page.

If this is your feeling there is a way around this problem. If you feel uncertain about your writing or asking someone to give you their email address, just add a button with text below the form saying something like 'click here to go directly to the product page'.

Be assured though that by building your list will ensure more customers and sales for your products. It will also give you the opportunity to get to know and communicate with your subscribers.

Don't obliterate them with product emails every day, only send them quality products addressing their specific needs, that you either use yourself, or know is good, and write a small review on how it has helped you solving a certain problem.

Long term good relations with your subscribers will turn into good long term good relationships with paying clients.

Many of you might still be scared to make use of landing pages. If you are still one of this group you are sending a lot of money to someone else's account.

Karl Stadler is a author and internet marketer. You can view or download a video showing step by step how to create and implement landing pages here.