Start Building Your Optin Email Lists Today

Writen by Pam Jenkins

No matter what product you are marketing on the internet, your own opt-in email lists are a crucial part of the success equation. You have probably heard this before, but did you take action?

Your opt-in list is the vehicle you will use to contact potential customers and build a relationship with them. You promise useful and valuable information in exchange for their email address. Once you successfully deliver on this promise, they will begin to trust you.

If you over deliver by providing even more than was expected, they will not only trust you, they will begin to like you. This sets the stage for the all important conversion from prospect to customer.

This process takes time and patience. It is the stumbling block that almost derailed my internet marketing dreams. Thank goodness, someone told me how to speed up my list building.

There are many list building programs on the internet. Some are free, some cost more than others, and some just don't work. Here are a couple of quick tips to help you choose.

If you need a commercial size inbox, you will read very few, if any, of the thousands of emails you receive. The recipients of your email, will probably respond in the same manner. Make sure your will receive a manageable number of emails each day.

If you can only mail those you bring into the program, it is unlikely they will read or respond to the same offers from you for very long. Look for a list building program with a rotating pool of recipients.

Find a list building program that is focused on growth. Does the owner provide incentives for introducing people to the program? More important, are you comfortable recommending it? At the very least, only join programs that offer a free trial. This will give you an opportunity to evaluate their services before making any financial commitment.

Your singular goal in any list builder is to steer every contact to your opt-in page and get them on your list. Everyone on the internet is looking for information to solve a problem. Provide that solution in a free report, newsletter or ezine and your prospect will gladly give you their email address in exchange.

Never forget that these programs place you in contact with folks interested in your product, but you do not own the list. Make those prospects yours and prosperity will follow.

Pam Jenkins of What Worx! Marketing recommends The List Machine as a great starting place for list building.

4 Tips On List Building

Writen by Dirk Wagner

List building, is something that any online marketer must know and learn about. List building, is essential because your mailing lists determine the amount of people who receive your newsletters. The "list, is a list of your prospects and customers, if your list starts increasing and then plateaus (does not increase after a period of time) you might be doing something wrong with the newsletters or whatever it is that you're doing. Here are good tips on building your lists, and probably improving on your sales too.

See the Value of Every Email Address

Not every e-mail address is important. Yes not all email is important, just because you have a long list, doesn't mean that it will be useful to you. Realize the availability of each e-mail address owner to buy something from you, not everyone wants to buy something. In order to pump up your list building, look for e-mail address owners that have a high possibility of either buying from you or promoting you to other people, this makes your list not only long but of quality.

Make Every Moment an Opportunity to Get E-mail Addresses

Always include an opt-in box for your e-mail list wherever and whenever you can. Try to make your list available anywhere possible, this way, when people are looking, or even not looking for you, they will find you, and will have more tendencies to be on your list.

A good way to make yourself known is to put your URL on all company stationery, business cards, letterheads, brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, advertisements and magazines, this way as the previous one goes, people will see you even if they're not looking for you, building your list, increasing your profits.

Use existing connections

Never underestimate the power of advertising by mouth. For a long time that was the only way to advertise and it kind of worked, in some silly sort of way, but still, encourage people who know you and your quality to tell other people about you. One good thing to do is to add an e-mail to a friend option in every one of your sites or news letter, this plus the opt-in function will build your list higher than you'll imagine. And this makes sure that the people, who find information about you, are people who are actually interested in what you do. To improve the e-mail to a friend option, make it big, flashy and highlighted.

Another way is to take advantage of current events, and activities, give out information sheets on events that are related to what you do, more awareness greater list building, and remember, tell them to forward it to friends.

Make informative and Interesting Newsletters

Most members on your list are probably those who were just interested and not really active in you cause. Try to give them newsletters that interest them or may tickle their fancy, this will make them more interested in what you have to say, and make them read more of the newsletter. When the time comes when an important announcement is to be sent, they're sure to read it and not let go straight to the trash.

These are just tips on starting up, and probably maintaining the quality and size of your list, but remember stagnancy is never far away, so never stop from doing what you can in list building, improve strategies, make a system, analyze statistics, just to make sure that everything is in order, and so you could find ways to improve it. Look at bouncing addresses and remove them immediately, give people the option to be removed from your mailing list so that you could focus more on the people who actually want to be there. Remember list building never stops.

Dirk Wagner is the CEO of http://www.internetmarketingoasis.com a powerful resource for needed marketing tools and creator of the #1 IMO Marketing Toolbar. He also is the publisher of a free home business online course at http://www.team4success.biz.

10 Great Ezine Content Tips To Increase Your Sales And Readership

Writen by Ken Hill

1. Write articles that provide your readers with a list of tips.

Depending on the topics your ezine covers, your tips could be on customer service, autoresponders, or you could provide your subscribers with a list of tips that help them to increase their sales or market their businesses more successfully.

You could also provide your readers with a list of your top tips on a specific subject such as "Top 7 Ways To Promote Your Website" or "Top Ten Ways To Promote Your Ezine."

2. Write "how to" articles.

This type of article shows your reader step by step how to reach an objective such as how to write effective ad copy, get repeat traffic, or how to write effective metatags.

3. Publish interviews.

Contact experts on the topic your ezine covers and request interviews. Most people will agree as it provides them with promotion of their businesses at no cost. Publish your interviews in article format or use the popular Q&A formula.

4. Write articles that focus on a current hot topic, trend or that are "seasonal" in nature such as how to increase sales during the holidays.

5. Provide polls for your subscribers to partake in.

Publishing polls will help you to increase the number of people that read your ezine because your subscribers will be interested in seeing the results.

Your polls can also be used to help you decide on changes in your content, publishing schedule, or to decide on new things to add to your ezine.

6. Provide your subscribers with resources related to your ezine's topic such as places to promote their businesses, ezines, etc.,

You could add these in a recommended resources section. You could also provide a list of your favorite resources such as your top 5 books/ebooks on ezine publishing, marketing or web design with a brief description of each of your resources.

7. Publish an editor's note at the beginning of each issue.

Use your editor's note to increase your profit by announcing any new sales or discounts you have on your products or services.

Also use your editor's note to increase your credibility by providing tips on the topic your ezine covers and by telling your subscribers how you've helped your clients or customers.

8. Provide endorsements within your ezine for your products from respected experts in your field or list testimonials from your satisfied customers.

9. Add an "Ask The Editor" section.

Write out thorough, detailed answers to your subscribers' questions within this section.

This will increase your status as an expert in your field, which will lead to more sales of your products.

You can also use questions you get from your subscribers to get ideas for articles that your subscribers will enjoy and that will keep them reading your ezine.

10. At the end of each issue, tell your readers what your next issue is going to be about such as the title and description of your feature article or anything new that you have planned.

This will help you to increase your readership by getting your subscribers to look forward to your next issue.

About The Author

Article by Ken Hill. Pick up Ken's new informative course on ezine publishing. Discover tips to successfully promoting your ezine including ways to increase your subscriptions by participating in successful joint ventures with other ezine publishers. Pick up your free course today at: mailto:ezinecourse@netpromarketer.com

Fishing For Ezine Subscribers

Writen by David Leonhardt

The Bible tells the tale of the fishermen who were just not catching a thing. Jesus came along and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, which they did. Surprise! They caught so many fish their nets began to tear.

Jesus had a strategy. He thought outside the box. And he knew where to go. Of course, when you're God, you tend to know a lot of things.

What about fishing for ezine subscribers? Don't expect Jesus to tell you where to cast your subscription net. You will have to build some other strategy. In the meantime, here are the six steps I sued to grow my free online Happy Class ( http://thehappyguy.com/self-actualization-happy-class.html ) list by 27 last night, and my Daily Dose of Happiness (http://thehappyguy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html) by 10.

Step # 1: Sign up for Subscription Rocket ( http://thehappyguy.com/SR.html ) and install the code on every page of your web site. SR is a small pop-under offering your visitors free subscriptions to newsletters. Unlike some pop-ups, this pop-under is unobtrusive and nobody has ever complained. Every time the screen pops under your site, your ezine pops under four other similar sites. Most of my ezine subscribers had never even heard of me or visited my site before they signed up.

Step # 2: Get lots of traffic to your site. The Internet traffic gurus will tell you to attract only TARGETED traffic. But, with SR, any traffic will do. 1000 non-targeted visitors might be useless to you, but they will trigger 4000 appearances of your ezine notice to targeted visitors of other sites. Get the most targeted traffic possible, yes, but whatever you do, get traffic. More on this later.

Step # 3: Get sub-affiliates, and get lots of them. Every time web sites you referred get visitors to their sites, you earn three credits. So 1000 visitors to www.Looky-who-I-referred.com means YOUR ezine gets seen by 3000 targeted visitors at other sites.

Step # 4: Replace some of the SR codes with Subscriber Drive codes. What's the difference? Not much. They are almost identical. You can see how SD works at www.TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articles.html . Why use both? Two reasons.

First, you don't want to run out of targeted subscribers. For instance, if you run an Internet marketing newsletter, you don't want one service to run out of similar sites on which to display your ezine and start showing it to visitors of vampire-slaying sites.

Second, if you can get multiple credits for each visitor to your site ... if you stagger the two services along the well-worn surfing routes. I have SR code on my home page, and SD code on my Self-actualization Resource Center, where the largest number of home page visitors tend to gravitate.

Let's start thinking way outside the box.

5. How do you get big traffic to your site? Suppose, for instance, your ezine and web site are about Internet marketing, competing with 4.5 million savvy entries on Google. Slim chance getting a top ten ranking, or even a top 100 ranking.

Consider your hobbies. Suppose you like horseback riding. Why not have a page on horseback riding, optimized for a couple juicy equestrian keywords, where you compete with just 700,000 not so savvy web sites? What does horseback riding have to do with Internet marketing? Everything, if it is about the publisher (you!). You might also post a page on Italian cuisine, where your keyword optimization competes with only 200,000 other Google entries. These could both be under "About the publisher".

In addition to the untargeted traffic who will bring you targeted subscribers from other sites by tripping the SR and SD codes, your visitors will get to know you better as a human being, a key factor in building trust with them. You can also add affiliate links for related products (want to sell a horse?) and actually make some money from these extra pages. (If you like happiness, why not use one of my happiness articles and sell my two happiness ebooks through affiliate links from http://thehappyguy.com/earn-money.html?)

6. Another way to boost traffic to your site is to keep sending your subscribers to your site. If there is a free ebook download (or software or puzzle or graphic or recipe) or a contest to enter, you can have subscribers visiting your web site each week. I set up a Daily Fun page http://thehappyguy.com/l/daily-happiness-fun-page.php for subscribers to Your Daily Dose of Happiness. Every time one of them visits, she earns me four views of my ezine notice to targeted traffic on other web sites. This page is getting an average of 100 hits a day, and that will increase as my ezine readership grows.

Jesus could help you catch way more subscribers than I can. But until he offers some alternatives, these are the steps you can take to turbo boost your subscriber catch.

About The Author

David Leonhardt publishes Your Daily Dose of Happiness http://thehappyguy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html. Learn more about ezine publishing at: http://thehappyguy.com/ezines.html

Info@TheHappyGuy.com

The Benefits Of Monitoring Link Popularity And Quality

Writen by Dylan Downhill

Most web site owners know that the number of links pointing to your site (link popularity) is very important. However, often the source of these links (link quality) is overlooked.

That is why it is essential for every web site owner to continually monitor both link popularity and link quality. Using a tool such as the Checker and Link Quality Checker from Elixir Systems will give you the necessary statistics on your links and your competitor's links.

Here are some of the statistics you should monitor:

Total Inbound Links to your Home Page
Most sites linking to you will be to you home page. This statistic should show the total links both including and excluding internal links.

Total Inbound Links to Your Whole Site
You should know the total amount of links going to you whole site. This is a good figure to compare with competitor sites.

Quantity of Deep Links
These are links to pages other than the home page. These links are a valuable indicator of the quality of a site. Bought links tend to go to the home page whereas organically grown links tend to go to internal pages. These internal pages get a boost from these offsite links and are an often overlooked by web site owners.

Deep Linking Percentage
The deep link percentage is the number of deep links as a total of the overall links. This generally ranges from 5% to over 80%. Having a deep link percentage of over 30% appears to indicate a nicely linked site. This is the minimum you should strive for.

Yahoo Directory
Does your site have a link from the Yahoo Directory? One of the most important directories on the internet currently is the Yahoo directory. The Yahoo directory is seen as a trusted link and is worth more than links from most other sites. The nice thing about Yahoo is you can get a link fairly easily for the price of submission. Once in the Yahoo directory it's not uncommon to see 40 or more links listed here as your site will be listed in all English language Yahoo directories i.e. Singapore, India, UK, Ireland, etc.

DMOZ Directory
The other important directory is the DMOZ directory. This directory is used by Google. Unfortunately it is currently extremely difficult to get into DMOZ.
Links From .gov and .edu Sites
Links from .gov sites and .edu sites are very valuable. These sites carry a harder level of entry and more importance.

Pages Indexed
If you do not have inbound links the search engines cannot index your site. However, there may be other technical reasons why your site is not being indexed by one or more of the search engines. Therefore you should monitor how many of your site pages are indexed by each of the three major search engines Google, Yahoo! and MSN. In addition you should look out for the search engines indexing both the www.sitename.com and sitename.com sites which can cause duplicate content issues.

By Dylan Downhill and James Peggie of Elixir Systems who have a free Link Popularity Checker and Link Quality Assessment Tool that you can use to monitor the links to your website. This tool will send you a weekly email with all your link statistics. You can access the tool at: http://www.elixirsystems.com/tools/linkpopularity.php

Passively Acquiring New Subscribers By The Boatload

Writen by Bill Platt

First off, don't be lulled in by the title of this article into believing that anything can be acquired by doing nothing. People are always sending us emails telling us that we can make millions online without any work.

Hogwash.

Stop to think for just a moment about the person who sent you that garbage. How in the world did he send you the email you are reading without first investing work to create the email, and then investing hundreds of hours to send his garbage to the masses?

Every person selling the "sitting on your ass" approach to online success is busting his ass to sell you his garbage. Think about that.

The truth is that success in anything requires hard work… lots of hard work.

Having said this, let me now return to the subject of this article:

"Passively Acquiring New Subscribers by the Boatload"

By using this method, subscribers CAN be acquired by the boatload! However, it must be noted that while these subscribers are coming to you in a passive method, you have in fact done a considerable work to position yourself to take real advantage of this technique.

It is like the people who promise that you can make $5,000 in a week by using a particular method. That may be true, but what they did not tell you was that they had invested as much as 5 years work ahead of the $5,000 per week earnings! Nothing happens overnight, not even on the web.

Everyone has pretty much seen by now the pop-ups that appear on sites you visit on the web. These pop-ups offer all kinds of goods and services to you. A lot of people complain that these pop-up ads are really annoying, but the truth is that they do work.

While it makes sense to offer a pop-up that tries to get your visitor to subscribe to your ezine, it makes even more sense to have this offer made on dozens of other websites. By joining an advertising co-op, you can get your ad to appear in the pop-ups on the sites of other folks, when you agree to do the same for the co-op members.

The kind of pop-up ads I am talking about here is the pop-ups that ask you to subscribe to any of ten ezines listed in the pop-up ad. These pop-ups show a list of ezines with checkboxes in front of them, so readers can pick and choose the ezines that appeal to them for a new subscription.

Now, let's take this concept and apply the multiplication power of MLM to the equation. Imagine a system that lets you advertise the program and anyone who signs up to the program from your site is placed in your downline, permitting you to gain exposure credits from those you recruit to complement the exposure credits you earn from your own site's traffic.

In the old system of pure pop-ups with no matrix program built into the system, your exposures in the program are limited by the amount of traffic you can generate to your site and your site alone. With the matrix built into the program, your credits are determined by the exposures that you produce on your site plus the exposures the pop-ups get on the websites of those you recruit into this free program.

Add to this program cookie technology so that your pop-ups do not serve to annoy your visitors. With the cookie, the pop-up will only repeat itself on the same system after a two hour delay.

This system I speak of lets you attract new subscribers for any opt-in list for absolutely free! You can even begin earning impression credits within a few minutes of signing up to the program. For each exit pop-up page that you show, you get your newsletter subscription box shown 4 times, which in turn will lead to new subscribers through a passive means!

Once you have the ball in motion, this method will pretty much take care of itself. The one thing to keep in mind here is that you earn your advertising credits based on the traffic that you and your downline is capable of generating. With this having been said, let us look back to the $5,000 per week example again.

The more traffic your site generates, the more opportunity you have for your ad to be seen and for you to get new subscribers through the system. This is where the hard work comes from. You need to generate the traffic to improve your ability to be seen.

I loaded this program into my highest producing webpage. The page by itself generates three thousand unique page views each month, and has done so every month for the last three years. I just did some updating to the page to improve even those numbers so that I can gain even more exposure for my ezine.

I am able to log in each day to the page to check my current statistics outlining impressions and new subscriptions to my ezine. My ezine subscriptions had been kind of flat for the last year or so because I had pretty much stopped advertising it. However, with this one method, I am now generating a 2% increase in subscriptions every week!

Now that is what I call Power Marketing!

To sign up for the program yourself, please visit: http://www.subscriberdrive.com

Whether you are earning your credits from the ad impressions that you give the co-op or the ad impressions that your downline gives the co-op does not matter. What matters is that each of these credits go towards helping you expose your ezine to the new subscribers that you are looking to acquire for your ezine.

Copyright Bill Platt - All Rights Reserved

Bill Platt is the owner of http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com

• When you are tired of the struggle of the link building process, it might be time to consider our "Links And Traffic" services.

• When you are ready to employ more Natural Linking Strategies in increasing your link popularity, "Links And Traffic" can help.

• When you are ready for your links to actually generate click-through traffic, we are here.

This is not a link rental system or a reciprocal linking scam. We Guarantee our results.

Guaranteed Ways To Build Up Your Ezine List

Writen by Suzanne Falter-Barns

Here are tips gleaned from roughly 5 years spent building up an ezine list. I've also incorporated comments and tips from Jenna Glatzer, who successfully built her list up to 75,000 at her excellent site, www.absolutewrite.com

1. Free Stuff. Pick genuinely useful free stuff that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, my brand new ezine, Expert Status, attracted 600 readers in just a few weeks by offering a report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents". The practical freebie works. Jenna Glatzer offers two free ebooks/reports to subscribers on agents who are receptive to new writers, and on writer's markets. She notes: "Before I did that, my subscriber numbers were in the hundreds, not thousands.

2. Put a subscribe box on every page of the site. This has worked for both Jenna and me. Mine is parked in the left hand column of the site. Experts advise putting a simple sign up box (with freebie mentioned) in the top left hand corner, as that's where the eye naturally travels first. A simple sign up box that requests only email address works best.

3. Ad swaps. Exchange plugs for your ezine with another website, to run in eachother's ezines. Be sure to mention those freebies! Doing this on a regular basis with a rotating selection of web partners will keep your subscription page busy.

4. Cross-registration. I've found subscribers by having a plug for my ezine on the thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) website. This offer is made to folks who just signed up for an ezine, and are therefore deemed 'in the mood for more.' Offer a swap with your site, and try not to list more than about two other ezines. Also, make a point of including only really good, reliable publications that reach your target market.

5. Give away a bonus for other sites to use, based on your ezine. A popular web marketing technique is the special one or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. (I cover this promo technique in more detail in my ebook/binder, Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert.) So collect some of your best ezine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based e-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your ezine, and a subscribe link at the end of your ebook. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and much traffic to my site.

6. Announce ezine 'events' on PRweb.com and other PR sites. There's an entire world of web-based press release distribution services out there, some of which are low cost or even free. So use them. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully file you as an expert for future use.

7. Use discussion boards or groups. These are sites frequented by gangs of people interested in the same thing. Avoid the unmoderated sites, because they're likely to be spam targets that generate little bonafide traffic. Boards found on member sites are the best. Don't spam the board with your subscribe message. Instead, offer some genuinely helpful info. Then sign off with a signature line that includes ezine and subscribe info. You can find some of these groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com, mail-list.com, and listfool.com for starters.

8. Sponsor other people's contests. Jenna Glatzer gives away products like her paid newsletter, Absolute Markets Premium Newsletter, to writers' groups, contests, and conferences that request it, regardless of size. I've tried this too, to good effect. Simply run an announcement in your ezine that you'd be happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL for an event description so you know it's legit. Then offer up your gifts, and ask for a plug for your ezine and for them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. Jenna notes that groups she sponsors "often send out ads for us to their lists … just as a thank you."

9. Run quality content. There's no substitute for heartfelt writing plus solid information about a subject that matters. Jenna writes: 'The main reason our list stays so big is our 'letter from the editor' … Each week, I chronicle my writing life and my triumphs and failures … when an article is killed, when I'm having trouble finishing a book … And I share personal things, too, like when my grandfather died…. People write: ' I feel like I know you so well.' And I think that's why they stay on the list, even when their mailbox fills up with dozens of other writer's newsletters.

10. Allow reprints. Allow any newsletter that wants to reprint your articles do so. I like to have an email requesting permission, so I can enter their info into a big database I use to track where I can send more articles in the future. I end each article with the line: You may reprint this article in your own ezine or website. Simply send an email requesting permission to EMAIL ADDRESS. Please be sure to include our full bio box at the end.

11. Create a survey or contest. This would be one of those newsworthy 'ezine events' I mentioned above in point # 6. Make it a fun, relevant question that you could really develop a good, newsy story from. I did a survey asking people what they fought with their spouse/partner/boy or girlfriend about. The results made for the kind of reading offline media enjoy running short, 100-word pieces about (fillers.) I made sure to attribute the survey to my ezine, The Joy Letter, with a mention of the site's basic URL. You can get the technology to run your own survey and collect responses at surveymonkey.com (for a fee) or bravenet.com (for free.)

I think I could actually go on and on here. The possibilities seem to be endless. If you try even half of these techniques on a regular basis, you'll find your subscriber rates double and even triple. Here's to building your list … the foundation that much of your traffic and success rely on.

Suzanne Falter-Barns' website, The Self Help Salon (www.selfhelpsalon.com) offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her free ezine, Expert Status, and receive her free report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents

Optin Lists For Events

Writen by Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

Opt-in lists for events are similar to the signing up for a newsletter. You ask people if they want to be notified when a special event or sale is happening. Although some may look at this as a permission to send junk mail, you can let them know that you are not selling your list to anyone and you will use it only for the stated purpose. Then do not abuse the privilege of having them sign up. Do not overwhelm them with sales and event notices—make sure that you schedule the notices and let them know when to expect them. As with a newsletter, you can tell them whether it will be daily, weekly, monthly, or otherwise. You should also inform them of the day to expect it.

I know that you do not commonly see much scheduling happening on the Web in general, but you will find that your clients appreciate your scheduling. It gives them a heads up when to expect the information so they are more likely to read it. You want them to read it and take action from what you send. In order to make this happen, schedule your mailings and make them exciting and enticing.

If people opt in, they will also want to have the option of opting out. Let them know at any time they can do so and give them a link so they can follow through. I have opted out of some lists with ease and others only with great difficulty. As you can imagine, I feel respect for the companies that make it easy and lose all patience for those that do not. Consider, too, that people change addresses, and they must have an easy way to opt out of the old address and opt in with the new one!

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprints for Success - Networking: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprints for Success Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2006. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com

Have You Ever Tried Any Of These List Building Techniques And Got No Results

Writen by Ryan Blake

I've been doing this for a while let's and thought I'd mention 2 list building methods which I suggest you STAY AWAY from. You might get different opinions from other people, but as for me, I've used some of these techniques and burnt my fingers

The first method is buying optin leads. There are some services which will send you a list of subscribers along with their full names, I.P. addresses and date/time stamp. While having all of these as proof that someone opted into a list, it doesn't mean that they opted into your list. If you buy a list of these leads and email them and get a Spam complaint, which will surely happen, you can stay out of trouble because you have all the information as proof that they opted in but it's a continuous fight. Still, I wouldn't go this route. I once bought a list of 10,000 names and after trying to show them that I'm a nice guy and want to help them, I didn't get much of a response from the list. I gave them lots of free stuff but they weren't interested.

The second method is to use Pay per lead programs. These programs are a little better than the above method in that they list your optin form along many other forms, and people have to check your form and fill in their information to get placed directly on your list. Let's say you pay for 500 subscribers for $50 you pay that money first and then they will list your form on one of their partner sites until you get 500 subscribers or the number that you ordered. The better the description you create, the faster you will get to that number that you paid for. The bad thing about this form of optin, which I've also tried, is that people see a bunch of checkboxes, and they just click through each checkbox impulsively. That means that they'll be getting emails from many other people all at the same time, and then they end up getting overwhelmed and unsubscribe from all lists. Heck, I've done this myself.

Those are the two methods of list building which I've tried and will not try again because they produced poor results for me and will do the same for you. You might get different results, but if you don't want to risk being disappointed, rather try some more successful methods to do so.

Copyright 2005 Ryan Blake

One thing I find extremely helpful in finding the latest cutting edge Internet Marketing information is a website called the Affiliate Classroom it contains many resources which cover all aspects in extreme detail. Here's a link to join their highly informative FREE newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/dt4rb To your future success. Regards. Ryan Blake.

10 Sure Fire Ways To Get More Ezine Subscribers

Writen by Ken Hill

1. Place testimonials for your ezine on your site.

Your testimonials will help you to increase your circulation by showing your visitors how your ezine has helped your subscribers.

2. Give your visitors the chance to see what your ezine is all about before subscribing.

For instance, you could provide an archive of your past issues on your site or you could make a sample issue available by autoresponder.

3. Write articles.

Your articles will increase your subscriptions by showing people that are unfamiliar with your ezine what kind of valuable content they can expect from you.

Promote your articles by submitting them to article directories, article announcement lists, and also to ezine publishers directly.

4. Swap articles with other ezine publishers and webmasters.

Publish other ezine publishers' articles in your ezine in exchange for those publishers running your articles in their ezines.

This can help you to successfully increase your subs by getting your articles run in targeted ezines on a regular basis.

You can also participate in ad swaps where you post other publishers' or webmasters articles on your site in exchange for them doing the same for you.

In addition, to helping you get more subscribers, these swaps can help you to keep your site updated with new content and increase your search engine rankings by increasing the number of reciprocal links you have.

5. Add bonuses for subscribing to your ezine.

Your bonuses will help you to successfully get more subscribers by giving your visitors an incentive for joining your ezine.

Increase the value your visitors place on your bonuses by adding an honest dollar amount to them, by telling your visitors the benefits they provide, or by telling your visitors how many people have already received them.

6. Swap advertising space with other ezine publishers.

Your ad swaps will give you an excellent way to increase your subscriptions at no cost. When possible, swap your ads for at least three issues in a row to maximize the number of new subscribers you get.

7. Swap "thank you" page ads.

Promote other related but non competing ezines on the page your new subscribers are taken to after subscribing to your ezine in exchange for those publishers doing the same for you.

This will give you a powerful way to continue to increase your subscriptions for as long as the other ezines are published.

8. Swap welcome message ads.

Like your "thank you" page ads, this type of swap can give you very good ongoing promotion of your ezine. The main difference is that not everyone that subscribes to your ezine will read your welcome email while all your new subscribers will be directed to your "thank you" page.

9. Swap recommendations with other ezine publishers.

You could recommend another publisher's ezine within your ezine in your own words in exchange for that publisher doing the same for you.

You could also swap recommendations in your welcome message or on your "thank you" page.

In addition, you could run a recommended ezines section in every issue where you recommend a few or several other ezines in exchange for those publishers doing the same for you.

10. Submit your ezine to ezine announcement lists and ezine directories.

Your submissions will provide you with an easy way to start getting more new subscribers.

Getting your ezine listed in ezine directories can also help you to find more people who would like to purchase advertising in your ezine as well as more publishers who would like to do a joint venture with you.

About The Author

Article by writer, Ken Hill. Would You Like To Publish Your Own Successful Ezine? Get Affordable Email List Hosting at: http://www.netpromarketer.com/sf.html FREE 30 day trial. For more articles by Ken Hill visit: http://www.netpromarketer.com

Why Your Leads Arent Working And What You Can Do About It Now

Writen by Keith Scheafer

You placed ads all over Google, you bought leads by the thousands from a service, you even had a sales letter sent to a big opt-in list. Then you couldn't believe it when nothing much happened.

Your site probably got a LOT of hits, but nobody bought anything.

How could that happen?

Experts have been arguing over that one for years. If you had that experience, you're not alone. Adsense, opt-in, and purchased leads often deliver poor results. Why? Most often the reason is these leads aren't NEARLY as powerful as leads you build yourself.

Send out an article like this one, get people to read your good information, then come to you as warm leads -- and you'll have a HOT lead that WILL buy something. What's the difference?

The prospect read your information, got to know and trust you, THEN came to you sales information. At this point, the prospect has created a mental bond with you and your ability to help them achieve their goal. This lead, gathered with YOUR lead building system, is FAR more prepared to buy than any other kind of lead.

Don't believe me? Look who is making good money online year, after year, after year. It's people who have a big weekly newsletter, have sites filled with good information, spend a lot of time talking with prospects on the telephone, offer an e-book, or send repeated autoresponder messages.

These methods all build a RELATIONSHIP with the prospect, making them 20 times more likely to buy. While Adsense might get you thousands of hits, building your OWN leads can get prospects who will actually BUY something.

"But I can't write an article and don't like to talk to prospects on the phone," you say. No problem. Today there are lead building systems that pull in huge numbers of prospects, then use advanced Flash web movies to convert the best of these prospects into hot, pre-sold leads.

These systems are the new cutting-edge of online marketing. They have become so highly developed and easy to use that thousands of people just like you are earning big commissions non-stop with them.

It's not at all unusual to set the lead building system in place, then watch the sales stack up at $1,000 per pop.

Clearly, building your own leads, then using an advanced Flash selling system is the easy way to profits these days. Don't pass up this marketing method for your business.

Keith Scheafer is a veteran online entrepreneur who offers a complete automated lead-building system at http://www.leadbuildingsystem.com Earn THOUSANDs per week with almost no work. Reach Keith at Keith@KeithScheafer.com or 541-368-7315

The Amazing Power Of Marketing To A List

Writen by Wendy Maynard

You may think your biggest business assets are your equipment or your inventory. But, you have two assets even more important than these. One of these is your expertise...your brainpower and the specific manner in which you help your clients.

And, the other is your list of satisfied, loyal customers, as well as your pool of warm prospects with whom you are building a relationship of credibility and trust. Building this list of warm prospects and satisfied customers is your ticket to a steady stream of income.

Here are some tips to build your list:

1. If you have a website, make sure you have some kind of name capture mechanism. In exchange for people's contact information, offer a subscription to an ezine, a free report, an e-course, a free forum, or some other perk.

Make sure you have an effective online system to collect the names of your customers and prospects. It should be able to manage your lead generation and follow-up activities with the ability to create a name capture form for your website, as well as auto responders to automate the process of communicating with your list on a regular basis. Set it up and let it work for you as your online salesperson - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2. If you have a physical location, place a sign-up form in an obvious place for your visitors so you can stay in touch with them on an ongoing basis. You can offer an incentive to sign up such as special coupons, discounts, or a print newsletter with tips.

3. When you give speeches, presentations, and attend trade shows, collect the names of people you interact with! Offer a prize like a free product or a discount. You can do the same thing if you offer telephone seminars or online courses to your clients.

4. Grow your list by conducting a joint venture with a like-minded business. For example, a mortgage broker and realtor can offer a free seminar on home buying. Both businesses can collect the names of the attendees.

5. Submit articles to various websites and ezines. Make sure each article has a resource box with information about your business and a link to your name capture page.

6. Of course, anyone and everyone who has ever purchased from you should go on your list. It is much easier and cost effective to cross-sell and up-sell to past, satisfied customers than it is to convert a prospect into a customer. Regularly keep in touch to ensure your company stays in the forefront of their awareness.

Be sure to track your marketing activities with your customers and prospects. This includes direct mail, phone calls, estimates sent, and meetings. You can use something as simple as Microsoft Outlook, which has client relationship management (CRM) functions. You can also use software with more robust CRM capabilities such as ACT! Or Goldmine. If you don't need to have the latest version of these, look on the Ebay for great deals on an earlier release of the software.

Action Item: Take a look at your current system for collecting names and following up with prospects and customers? How do you store your contact data? What actions will you take in the next three months to improve these aspects of your marketing?

Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven

Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing ezine for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you're ready to skyrocket your sales, easily attract customers, and have more fun, subscribe at http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine.html

Would You Like Free Leads To Build Your List

Writen by Rolf Bratli

Independent of the market you are serving -- all state that 'THE MONEY IS IN THE LIST'.

But when you are starting out new in Internet business, without a name, without any joint venture partners and with virtually no money to spend, how you can build a responsive list without it costing you a fortune?

By applying the best method available in the industry you can make money while building yourself a huge list of responsive prospects. The secret behind this is duplication; - if you help others make money you will yourself make money online. It is the perfect business model - I don't succeed until YOU make money. And you will succeed when you help others to make money.

To set this business model in motion will require that you present the prospect with a model that is possible to duplicate by your prospects. And the prospect must be able to teach their prospects how to duplicate the system and so on.

To make such a system possible you need a 'funded proposal', i.e. a low cost opportunity and a lead generation opportunity that both creates recurring (residual) short term (weekly) income for the prospect, covering their cost, i.e. 'entrance fee' and advertising of the opportunity. This system allows your prospects to build their lists while they make money, by the users duplicating the systems you yourself use. In the system you also include a high ticket item that provide the long term recurring income when the prospects joint this opportunity. And your prospects shall be able to duplicate your system and learn their prospects to duplicate their system. Then you have a 'funded proposal' in action.

This is likely one of the most powerful methods to build a long term responsive email list.

Why?

Because you show the prospects that joins you how to build their own email list and at the same time they make money while doing it. Do you think this is powerful or not? Will they follow your suggestions if you make other business proposals to this list?

You bet -- you have already made them money before, and the likelihood that you will make them money again will be considered high. This means that the conversion rates for such a list will be much better than a 'cold list' of prospects you have no relation to.

So what is the system that need to be in place to achieve the funded proposal'? The following elements should be present:

• a duplicable website the lead can enter for free, with ample training materials freely available
• the prospect study the material available and are pointed to the low cost opportunity and lead generation that both delivers residual short term (weekly) income covering cost plus providing a small profit.
• one or several affiliate opportunities that provides recurring long term residual income
• auto responders to follow up the leads generated, converting them from the low cost opportunity into the higher cost opportunity, giving recurring long term residual income

The system should also include training calls and discussions of the methods for recruiting. The training calls provides a community feeling and give the participants team spirit. The whole concept should be run with the aim of helping people achieving their goals of obtaining financial freedom. The training calls provides a community feeling and give the participants team spirit. All the participants provide customer service to the prospects that enters the system through their websites, they pay it forward for later profit. The users are allowed to make their own decisions, there are no hard selling to join the different opportunities, as the training provided will clearly demonstrate for the users the benefit for them to join all the opportunities.

Such a system will provide a continuous flow of prospects that is already highly qualified leads, and this means that you will never again need to buy leads, as the system will provide the leads required through the 'funded proposal'.

Rolf Bratli
rolf's blog

Rolf Bratli is a marketer that has studied Internet Marketing trends for several years and wants to shear his observations to help the business users to apply the Internet more effectively.

The Public Speaking List Machine

Writen by Alexandria K. Brown

Do you do public speaking? Then you've got an automatic list machine!

Remember that in business, your fortune is in your follow-up. And publishing an ezine is the easiest, most automatic, and least expensive way to do this for you. The key is getting as many prospects on your list as possible -- ethically.

Whenever I'm the featured speaker at an event, I make sure to give the audience members an easy way to sign up for my ezine. There are generally three ways to do this:

1. The Signup Sheet

Mention your fabulous ezine and all the good stuff it will do for them. Then pass around a signup sheet to collect their names and e-mail addresses. At the top of the sheet, give an attention-getting headline, a 25-word ezine description, and your privacy policy.

It's amazing what peer pressure will do --- it's rare you'll see someone pass on your sheet without adding their name and e-mail! I even had someone who was already on my list sign up on the sheet at an event. She told me later she didn't want to look like she was the only one holding out. :)

2. The Presentation Notes

I've seen many speakers who use PowerPoint announce to the audience that they can get a free copy of the entire presentation if they simply hand in their business card. Then as an aside, they mention that you'll also get a free subscription to their ezine.

Sounds like a slam dunk, right?

However, when I've seen this in action, I notice that not everyone hands their card in, so this will ONLY work well if you give a dynamite presentation and the audience really wants a copy of it.

3. The Prize Drawing!

This one's my favorite.

It's amazing how grown adults go nuts when the speaker announces she/he is going to give away something for FREE. I swear you could raffle off toenail clippings, and people will climb all over each other to get their business card in the bowl!

When I speak, I'm usually selling my Boost Business With Your Own EZINE System, so what I do is first explain what that includes. Then, I'll throw in a bonus program, such as my Secret, Simple Formula to Writing a WEB PAGE That Sells.

After I review all the benefits these programs bring, I pause, smile, and say, "Who here would like to get this all right now... for FREE?"

This is when people jump up and go "Ooo, ooo, me! Me me me!"

I say, "Great, because I'm going to give away one now! Please get out your business cards, and my assistant Liz will come around and collect them. Make sure you have a chance to win! You'll also get a free subscription to my award-winning Straight Shooter Marketing ezine, which will give you tips on marketing your business online and offline."

(NOTE: I want you to actually rehearse saying this so it's extremely smooth and confident. Remember, they'll see your offer as YOU see your offer. You want them clamoring to get on your list!)

If it makes you more comfortable, you can tell the audience that if they do NOT want to be subscribed to your ezine, they can put a "NO" on their card. I did this for over a year, but I found that during that entire time of speaking to thousands of people, only ONE person had ever written "no"! So I don't even bother anymore.

My rule now is if you want the chance to win, you get signed up. Hey, it's tough love, but it's good for them. My ezine could change their life! :)

Remember, people you meet in person will be your MOST valuable subscribers, because they've already met you. And we're all more likely to buy from others whom we know, like, and trust.

© 2003-2005 Alexandria K. Brown

Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is creator of the award-winning 'Boost Business With Your Own E-zine' system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for her FREE how-to articles and FREE audio class, visit http://www.EzineQueen.com

Developing A Successful Email List

Writen by Anne Ahira

Ask any top marketer on the internet what the key to success is and they will say – The List! Specifically, an opt-in list. This is the name and email address of all the people who have contacted you about your opportunity and given you permission to email them.

An opt-in list is critical to your success so make sure you focus on developing this from the very beginning. Incorporate it in everything you do – your ads, your website, your emails, EVERYTHING! Your goal is to get your prospects email address and develop a large subscriber base.

So, what's the best way to accomplish this?

Offer Incentives

You can offer your prospects free incentives to join your list. Free reports, free ebooks, a free mini course on your product or service. Make sure that whatever you offer has true value and is something that will interest your prospect.

Run Contests

It's extremely easy to get people to sign up when they have the chance of winning something. Make sure what you offer is highly geared toward your target market.

Use Pop Us Windows

Pop ups have proven highly effective in getting people to subscribe. Have your pop up display when the visitor first arrives at your website and give them a reason to sign up! Focus on the BENEFITS they will receive, what they will gain by doing so.

Make it Easy to Subscribe

People do not want to give a lot if info about themselves to strangers. They also don't want a lengthy sign up process. Only ask for a few pieces of information - name, email address, country. You can find out more about them later when you have earned their trust.

The key to a successful opt-in list is finding subscribers and keeping them. Develop a relationship with your prospects by giving them quality information. By doing so, you'll ensure they stay subscribed long enough to see that you are a person worth doing business with.

By: Anne Ahira
Editor The BEST Affiliate Newsletter
http://www.thebestaffiliate.com

Learn From Your Exreaders

Writen by Donesia Muhammad

When I first started my ezine and started getting subscription requests, it was just a great feeling to see those request pile in, I would get nervous each time I sent out an issue wondering what people thought about each issue.

The first time, though I received my first unsubscribe request I would say to myself "Oh what am I doing wrong? Do I need to change everything? Was it Boring? Not up to standards."

Relax, every publisher can tell you about their first unsubscribe requests, but it is a fact of life with an ezine. No one publication is perfect.

Before you decide to completely change your ezine around, I am going to show you how you can learn from the readers who unsubscribe from your ezine to help you keep the subscribers you have now.

It is frustrating to see all those unsubscribe requests, especially the nasty ones ( which will be discussed later on) but you first need to ask yourself some questions:

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE UNSUBSCRIBE?

Most people when they remove themselves from your list, they don't give you a reason but most give you some indications. Here are the most common:

NOT ENOUGH FREEBIES FOR SUBSCRIBERS

These readers didn't like that you didn't offer enough freebies for them so they got fed up and removed themselves. This is what I call "FREEloaders" or commonly known as the "Something for Nothing Syndrome" You could never offer enough freebies for them. They want every paid ebook free, they want free membership into every private site, they want every paid ad free, they only read if you have contests that offer even more freebies. Free, free and more free.

Unfortunately you will always run into these type of readers, those who only want you have to offer them at no cost to them and all the cost from you. They don't believe that you deserve to make a profit and that you should exhaust yourself everyday finding free things for them without so much as a thank you.

To decrease the amount of freeloaders that unsubscribe, don't offer as many freebies. Sounds simple huh?? Not for some..

I'm sure that some will disagree with me but I don't see why you need to offer 10 free ebooks, 2 free reports, and free ads galore in order to cajole someone to subscribe to your ezine.

All you are doing is selling yourself short and ruining the value of your publication.

Are you afraid that without these freebies no one will read what you have to say?

Or maybe what you have to say isn't worth reading???

Don't misunderstand me, Freebies are a great incentive to grab subscribers but do not rely on freebies just like do not rely on free content to run your publication. It is still original content and a good personality that reins supreme.

Freebies get you there, but it is up to you to keep them.

TOO MANY ADS

A no brainer here. Too many ads will turn readers away. I am not talking about a classified ad issue which most publishers like myself usually send out to handle a backlog of ads, or those who main purpose of their ezine is to run ads. I am talking about those who are replacing ads for content.

If you realize that you have over extended yourself with the amount of ads you have to place in your ezine, cut back or maybe add an extra issue once in a while to catch up but you do not need a bunch of ads in your ezine to succeed.

NOT ENOUGH CONTENT

Again this is tied with too many ads. They have been saying this for years. Good content equals a happy reader. It doesn't have to be a novel every week, but figure out what type of newsletter you want to produce and stick with it. If not then it is better to scale back now instead of biting more than you can chew.

QUICK TIP:

The general rule of thumb is that if you are losing more than 1% of your entire subscriber list per week, then it is time to consider adding more valuable and original content to each issue.

TOO MUCH EMAIL ( Either Indicating The Frequency Of Your Publication Or The Amount Of Email They Receive)

This is a no brainer. If some of the reasons are based on the frequency of your publication, then maybe you should rethink how often you publish. Give your readers a poll to find out how often you should publish and on what days.

A lot of readers will tell you that they are receiving too much email already and they are trying to reduce the number. This may very well be true, as we all have hundreds of ezines that we are subscribed to so therefore when it is time to cut some ezines, they are going to cut the ones that are of no value to them. Again this goes back to the 'ol good content issue. So try to avoid ending up in the trash bin folder.

"I JUST WANT TO BE NASTY"

These are the idiots that want to take their day out on you and say every nasty thing they can think of based on your gender, race, religion, global location, even how your name sounds. Yes they will come up with everything and boy the first time you get one of those, you will get so mad and frustrated you want to do everything in your power to stop them but you know what. It's not worth it.

Most of you know this by now, these are the same people you see on a day to day basis, who are always complaining, never satisfied and just plain frustrated. Your ezine could've contained the cure for every disease known to man, they are still going to be nasty. Misery loves company. Don't start a flame war ( arguments that go back and forth using email and the nastiest language possible)

Kill Them With Kindness.

Just simply unsubscribe them, if your software has the ability to ban email addresses and make sure they never read another word you ever write. No one deserves to be spoken to in that manner, no matter what.

SIMPLE WAYS TO FIGURE OUT WHY SOME READERS ARE UNSUBSCRIBING

Here is a quick and simple way to find out why people are removing themselves from your list.

Whether or not you have these features in your list software you can use these methods to kind of filter those unsubscribes who don't give you a specific reason.

When you receive an unsubscribe request, look at the date that they first were added to your list. If they subscribed:

Less Than Two To Five Days Since You Sent Out A Welcome Message:

Chances are they were either FREEloaders who only wanted your free ebooks or just wanted to submit the free ads that you offered.

Or these could be people who subscribed to your ezine through a joint venture with an ezine directory, pop up, ad coop, etc. who didn't realize that they were going to be subscribed to a certain number of ezines at the same time and therefore they want out. It is common so chalk it up and keep on going.

Most Unsubscribe Requests Happen:

After you have sent out a solo ad.

After you have sent out a classified ad issue.

After you have switched mailing lists and have problems in importing the subscribers ( Ask any publisher who has done this and they will give you a million examples of this).

Any glitch you may have in your software that causes duplicate issues, or empty emails.

Also do a search of the subscriber's name. They could just be changing addresses or maybe they are already subscribed to your list and did not realize it, therefore they do not want duplicates.

So as you can see, there are many reasons why people leave and no matter what you do this is unavoidable but for those who you can save any subscriber then more power to you.

Are you giving them a chance to fill out a feedback form to find out why they are unsubscribing?

Do you give them a link to resubscribe in case they removed themselves by accident.

This is not for the irate readers. Just remove them and move on before they accuse you of spamming.

WHEN IS IT TIME TO CHANGE THINGS AROUND SO I CAN KEEP MORE OF MY READERS?

Are you seeing your long time subscribers removing themselves?

Look at your content. Are you adding personality to your issues, or does your ezine sound like a research paper?

Are you using TOO much personality? We don't need to know the details of every mishap in life, we don't need to know that for every issue in life you have been through it. We have talk shows that take care of that. I don't need to see these things in a business publication. Just remember that we still value our privacy online and just because you are a publisher doesn't mean that you have to tell every aspect of your life.

Don't get me wrong I like to hear about a publisher's culture, geographical locations and their worldly insights that help to make them a better publisher but keep some things private for the sake of your family and friends.

Would You Tell These Stories At The Water Cooler At The Office??

NOTE: I am talking about BUSINESS publications, not personal or hobby ezines.

So there you have it, a basic breakdown of why your readers may be happy with your ezine and why they may not. Each day you learn more and more. You make mistakes, you learn and move on.

That's life..

Welcome To The World Of Publishing...

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

The Unlimited Power Of Joint Ventures

Writen by Oleg Ilin

We all love traffic, right? The more we have the better. Never can have enough of it.

And if we have free traffic, and an extra candy with it, such as the word "targeted" added to it, then we're in heaven (almost there anyway, because St. Paul technically has not provided us with a free pass to the Golden Gates, lol).

You can change St.Paul for Buddha and heaven for nirvana if you wish, or use another allegory which better suites your religion or belief. The fact remains the same - to succeed on the Internet, we need a truckload of targeted traffic, and it's much better if it's free or at least inexpensive.

So the real question is how we can achieve this internet marketing heaven. I'm familiar with several major "passwords" providing the pass to the Gates - Search Engines and Search Directories, Pay-Per-Click Search Engines, Joint Ventures, Auctions, Link Exchanges, Forums and Newsgroups, and of course Blogging, Pinging and other RSS-related technologies.

I love RSS, it's possibilities are endless. Old email system, sadly enough, is dying because of all the spam floating around. These days ISPs go nuts to stop anything that even smells like spam. Don't get me wrong. I am not encouraging spammers in any way, but legitimate marketing business suffers significant losses because of all these anti-spam filters. And RSS easily eliminates most of the problems... However, this time RSS is not our main theme of discussion. We sure will return to it later, again and again.

And I didn't mention List Building yet, did I? Well, actually, List Building, in my humble opinion, is not even a password to the pass - it's the only key to the Gate. No list - no game. Sorry.

All these techniques should serve one purpose - no, not to make a sale, but to help you build HIS HIGHNESS LIST.

Why? If you direct your traffic to a sales page, you may or may not close the deal. And even if you do close it, it will be one-time-only you-got-lucky-this-time event.

Even if you're selling high-ticket items, the life time value of your customer is much higher then the price of any particular sale.

You should treat your subscribers with respect, always giving them useful information, unique deals, discounts and freebies. Don't sell them crap only because you want to make a few extra dollars. List is your virtual "real estate", your most valuable internet marketing property.

Is there anybody else you should treat with even more respect than your subscribers? You probably think I would say "NO". But the answer is -"YES!". There is only one category of people to whom you should pay even more attention in your business practices. I'm talking about Your Joint Venture partners.

These are the people with whom you should communicate on one-on-one basis. No broadcasting, only personal e-mail, chat, forum, call, or whatever. They deserve to have each your new product free, they deserve the highest commission, and the opportunity to start market your product with a special pricing, the lowest you offer for this product. May be you even should allow them to market it a few days earlier, before you release it to the public, and even BEFORE YOU START MARKETING IT YOURSELF!

So who are those hand-picked people? These are recognized internet marketing experts who have the broad access to the niche market for your product, in most cases they already have lists of their own (or at least are building their lists).

Before starting your business relationship with them, you want to make sure that you're "on the same page" regarding ethical questions... I wouldn't go into much details here, we all know the ropes - are they trustworthy, team players or self-centered, focused on one time deals with you or on lasting relationships, and so on, and so forth.

Always be on a lookup for new partners, you never know when you can meet them. Efficient JV-marketing is one of the very effective ways to skyrocket your business.

Terms of reprint:

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, FREE of charge, as long as the bylines are included. All url's or mailto addresses should be set up as hyperlinks. No redirects are allowed. You can not change or delete any words or links in the article or Resource box. Do not use this article in Unsolicited Commercial Email.

A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Contact the author: Oleg Ilin mailto: articles@1ezhost.biz?subject=ArticleRequest

Copyright 2005 Oleg Ilin

Oleg Ilin, the president of 1EzHost L.L.C. - custom website design, development and internet marketing company, invites you to visit http://www.1ezhost.biz and get 2 valuable internet marketing e-books:

Nobody Signing Up For Your Newsletter

Writen by Nicole Dean

Question: Why is nobody signing up for my newsletter? I know that's where the money is, but I just can't get anyone to sign up. What can I do? Signed – Yoo hoo… Anyone there?

Dear Yoo hoo… Anyone there?
Please don't feel badly. I actually get this question a lot in my consulting business. It's a very common problem and, fortunately, one that you can start improving today.

Here is the short version of the checklist I go through with clients when examining ways to fix this problem.

1. Where do I sign up?
The first thing I do when I'm helping a client is to play the game called "Where's the signup box?" If it takes me more than half a second to find the newsletter signup form, then we've got work to do.

Your signup box should not be a challenge to find. If it is, it's defeating the purpose. So, put it front and center in the top third of your page. It's not even a bad thing if you have it on your page … gasp… twice.

Also, most people have pop-up blockers now, so don't rely on a pop-up to get you a parade of traffic. Pop-ups and pop-unders are great, but they can't be the only ways to get people on your list.

2. What am I signing up for?
The next thing I check is the copy in the signup box. If your best sales pitch is "Sign up for my mailing list" or "Sign up for our newsletter" – then forget about it!

It used to be years ago that's all you needed to say, but now people need a little more explanation and encouragement. Will you be providing tips, ideas, freebies, coupons, resources or advice? Let me know what I'm getting into before I'll hand over my email address…. And it better be good.

3. Why should I sign up?
A little bribery can go a long ways. Will I get a bonus for signing up? Do you have a special report or a freebie for me? No? Well, get to work. There's a lot of competition out there, so don't be afraid to offer a little extra to your visitors.

4. How do I sign up?
The last item on my checklist is the sign-up procedure. If you're using a service that makes me jump through too many hoops, then I'll probably give up and move on to something else. Yes, double opt-in is good, but programs that make you join and jump too many times are just ridiculous.

Plus, if you're asking for too much information (like my telephone number), I'll likely pass. There's no email list worth me getting phone calls during dinner. It doesn't matter how good your mailing list is.

So, there you have it. Start with this quick checklist to see immediate improvement in your sign-ups. As far as getting traffic to your site to see your signup box – that's another article in the making.

Nicole Dean is the owner of http://www.showmomthemoney.com/newsletter-advice.htm where you'll find more tips to grow your mailing list, including ways to get more traffic to your site. . If you need enticements (bribes) to get people to your list, grab some free e-books here http://www.free-ebooksonline.com

Listbuilding Turning One Time Visitors To Lifetime Customers

Writen by Paulo Ilustre

List building has been one of the more profitable techniques in Internet Marketing. Its effectiveness lies in the fact that you are going to keep in touch with the customer for a considerably longer amount of time.

An average visitor of your site will last around 1 minute and a half on average. However, if you get him to sign-up to your mailing list, you can keep in touch with him for weeks and even years. The implications of this are very astounding.

1) You can email your list subscribers news and updates of your site. If you do this you can get them to check your site more frequently!

2) You can establish a positive rapport and reputation with your subscribers. If you can provide them with the information they subscribed for and not just do a lot of sales talk then they will see that you are after their welfare not your sale.

3) Lastly, this is probably the most powerful of all. Once you have built your reputation with them, you will sound more convincing when you recommend products to them. I say products because you can sell your product and cross-sell other products that may be complimentary to your own products.

Let's do some math now, let's say you get 1000 subscribers.

at 1% buying rate you will get 10 people buying your product at 10% (especially if the product you promoted is popular or if you order special discounts!) you will have 100 people purchasing the product you promoted!

There is a lot of confusion however regarding how to set up the opt-in page. What strategies to use for page layout, pop-ups,etc.

I have tried other products online and they've been fine. But what I am really excited about is what Kyle and Carson from Wealthy Affiliates are going to release soon. It's called Inside the List and it's going to show you their strategies for DOUBLING the amount of opt-ins in their site (WealthyAffiliate.com) and their profits by 300%/day.

You can already sign-up for the Inside the List mailing list. The advantage of this of course is that you will be one of the first to be notified when the product comes out. You will be able to implement these strategies and be way ahead of your competition!

I already signed-up and to my surprise they gave me two free e-books, Marketing Startup Guide and Hot New Markets and Keywords valued at $97. Sign-up is free! Hurry while the offer lasts!

Myextrastash.com -- My journey to earning online! adwords.myextrastash.com -- find out the products responsible for my start-up in Internet Marketing.

Bulk Email Lists

Writen by Kent Pinkerton

The Internet has made it possible to connect millions of peoples' names and addresses from around the world. And the number increases as more and more people discover the convenience and the growing necessity of the Internet in today's fast-paced environment, where business growth largely depends on information technology. This has created many opportunities to encourage below the line marketing strategies.

Enterprising marketers have found the Internet a fertile ground to launch their products and services. They employ what is known as bulk email marketing or sending advertisements and infomercials to email users. In the 1990's, this method went unchecked and unmonitored. This resulted in the birth of the term spam mail- unsolicited email. And the problem goes on today although measures are being taken to stop spammers.

To ensure the success of bulk email marketing strategies, the sender must have a clean list of targeted email addresses. This wills not only help the company assess the success of their campaigns; it will more importantly curb the risk of breaking the anti-spamming laws. Several US states and countries around the world have already enacted these laws to protect the public against unwanted mail.

Through the use of available software, generating a useful addressee list is fast and easy. Targeted email addresses can be extracted from URL's and email service providers. Another option is to purchase a ready made list. This list usually comes from email service providers and agencies that conduct surveys.

Although sending out magazines and newsletters to millions of addresses through bulk emailing is free, companies cannot afford to risk the equity of their brands by offending people. Your email address lists should only contain those that signify they want to receive email from you. Otherwise, your unsolicited advertising will be classified as spam mail.

Bulk Email provides detailed information on Bulk Email, Bulk Email Marketing, Bulk Email Software, Bulk Email Lists and more. Bulk Email is affiliated with Email Server Software.

Build Your Optin List Today

Writen by Michelle Cobbs

There are many services available to help your with building a opt-in list. I am going to show your how to start building your opt-in list starting today right now this very minute. It not hard, in fact it is very simple. All you need is a little time, a free ebook or report, and an auto responder service that is it.

As mentioned you need a good, well-written ebook or report to get this started off on a good note. This can be something you have written or it can be from someone well known. It's totally up to you just keep in mind that the topic should be something to people want to know more about or how to do something.

I have used this technique to build my list, it is a slow process but it works well. Of course the first thing you should do is read the ebook or report that you are going to be using as the "bait" for building your list. That's right I said, "bait", essentially that's what it is because you are presenting it to the world if they are interested they will bit by providing you with their name and email address.

This is the overall goal of this process, you want them to take action, request a copy of what you are offering. No more, no less.

Okay, now that you have read the ebook you are going write a brief description of what the ebook is about no need to write much all you basically need to say is how good or bad the ebook is. Does it help solve your problem if it did, how and why it solved your problem?

Next your are going to build a one page site with a cover of the ebook (if available) along with a sign up form that you will set up through your auto-responder system. Upload your new page to your server. Depending on what system you use they will have to confirm their request to join. You should also note on your sign up page that they must confirm their request so that they immediately check their email right away so they receive the ebook fast.

Lastly, you have to set up your message in your auto responder system; this is how they will get the ebook. Be sure to thank them, you could at this time also give them an unannounced bonus that was never mentioned at all. This will surely be a hit, since they were not expecting anything more other then the free ebook or report.

Now all you need to do is promote your new page offering your great free ebook or report that all visitors just can't do without. You could do this with all free informational products you have, there is no limit to the number you can offer it is a great thing if they are new, with fresh content and not the same stuff all over the internet. You will have no problem getting sign-ups especially if its something in demand, people will want it if they feel it is of value.

Michelle is a mom, wife full-time worker outside the home plus runs a home business part-time. She recently started a new business learn more about that by visiting her at http://home-making-money.com/

Building Optin List Why You Should Not Buy Leads

Writen by Jaksa Dubljanin

Building Opt-In List is an essential part of Internet Marketing. Every successful marketer online has a personal list of subscribers and is using it to profit online. Building personal list may sound easy – you just purchase an autoresponder service, create a few messages, place subscription form on your site and drive visitors to your subscription form.

Although these steps are very true and simple, unfortunately building list is not that easy. Someone inexperienced in web promotion will have difficulties in driving traffic necessary for building an opt-in list. Traffic can sometimes be a problem even for a more experienced people.

Getting enough traffic for list building is not the only problem. Many people overlook the importance of keeping constant contact with all members of your list. People tend to be forgetful and if you don't contact them often, they can easily forget that they even subscribed to your list!

Therefore, to solve problem with traffic many people decide to simply buy leads. Buying leads can save a lot of time necessary for list building. They can also avoid the second problem by creating enough pre-written messages to keep up with their leads for a longer time, or they can use broadcast option often. The idea of buying leads is great and many marketers are using this method, but there is a catch.

Many people don't like the idea of their e-mail, or other contact info being sold. And once when they subscribed, there probably was a privacy statement saying that their contact information is safe and will never be rented, sold, or used for any purpose whatsoever. It is possible though that they were lied to, or tricked. Subscription forms without privacy statement have a lot lower conversion rates and very often these subscribers are not very responsive.

Other very important reason why leads shouldn't be bought is because you can never be really sure if you are purchasing a safelist. People willing to profit quickly can easily sell blacklists. They use spam robots to collect as many e-mails as they can online, but instead of sending spam, they decide to earn some money by selling those e-mails. This is even worse because marketer who purchased this list will be accused of spam! Although this probably won't happen since leads are not just e-mail addresses but also names and other contact info, it is possible!

A successful Internet marketer knows a true value of responsive leads and will not sell them. He has worked hard in building his list and creating a certain relationship with all members of that list. It isn't likely that he will risk his reputation and trust by selling a responsive list. It is more likely that you will get a non responsive list of leads.

On the other hand it is possible that these leads are fully aware of selling and that they agree with it. In that case buying leads is ok, but you never really know…

If you are interested in buying leads, always use your due diligence whenever you come across some lead selling offer. Make sure you are buying opt-in leads (double opt-ins are even better) and that all of them are aware of a new list owner. If you are not sure of the latter, approach your new leads carefully and even consider asking them to confirm their subscription again. You can lose some leads this way, but it's much better than to risk spam accusations.

For more information on how to build a list visit: http://www.nettrafficsecrets.com/freetraffic/opt-in_list.html

This article was written by Jaksa Dubljanin. Jaksa is a student of Medicine and a successful Internet Marketer. Visit his site Internet Traffic Secrets - the ultimate source of traffic information located at http://www.nettrafficsecrets.com. You have full rights to republish this article on your site as long as the resource box and article body remains intact and with all links clickable.

Ezine Publishing Building Your Ezine Subscriber Base And Selling Ad Space Part 3

Writen by Merle Stinnett

In this final installment of our three-part series on ezine publishing we get down to the nitty gritty: finding subscribers and selling your valuable ad space.

So now you have a terrific looking ezine and interesting content, but where do you find subscribers? I was hoping you'd ask. In order to grow your subscriber base you'll need to promote your ezine every chance you get.

The first thing you need to do is include a sign up box on each and every page of your website and if you can, offer a free sample copy by autoresponder. To set up a free autoresponder check out http://www.GetResponse.com

Some publishers swear by pop-up boxes to increase their subscriber sign ups. If you go this route, I encourage you to trigger a box that pops up upon a user's exit; it is less annoying than the ones that show up when entering your site. You'll find some software to help you with this here....http://www.codelifter.com/pop5index.html or look at http://www.DynamicDrive.com for some free scripts.

The next step is to get your ezine listed in as many online newsletter directories as possible. You'll have to do your homework by searching the engines for directories where you can add your listing for free. This is an important step, as many people visit these directories when looking for newsletters to subscribe to. Some of them are:

http://www.Lifestylespub.com/mcp/
http://www.E-zinedirectory.com/
http://www.Webscoutlists.com/signup.epl
http://www.Ezineadsource.com/
http://www.Zineconnection.com/
http://www.Ezine-Universe.com
http://www.EzineLocater.com/
http://www.EzinesPlus.com/

Remember that many of these online directories will allow you to post your ad rates as well. This is a double bonus which allows you to pick up new subscribers as well as advertisers.

Announcement lists are also good for promoting your ezine. Search at http://groups.yahoo.com for lists that exist for the sole purpose of announcing new lists. You'll also want to participate in online discussion boards with a good signature line that mentions your ezine. You'll find some great boards to post to at http://www.DiscussMarketing.com

Other great ways to grow your subscriber base include swapping ads with other publishers and writing articles for possible publication in their ezines. Include a strong signature line with a subscribe link and you'll see your list grow. Try some of these sites for swaps:

http://www.BizPromo.com/EzineTrades.htm
http://www.Ezine-Swap.com

Free Software to keep track of your swaps
http://www.nowsell.com/pages/ad-tracker.html

Other Ezine Publishers you can swap ads with
http://www.alacarim.com/adex/

Free Directory of Ezines and other helpful resources for today's ezine publisher
http://www.FreeZineWeb.com/

The Handbook of Ezine Publishing
http://www.e-zinez.com/

EP Digest offers many helpful resources
http://www.EpDigest.com

After writing your own articles, syndicate them
http://www.linkcounter.com

If you don't mind paying for opt-in subscribers you can pay a small fee for them at:

World Wide Lists
http://www.linkcounter.com

or try Marty Foley's List Builder Service at
http://www.linkcounter.com

I've used both of the above services extensively and they're truly remarkable for growing your list quickly. These are opt-in list builders, not spam techniques. Make sure you know the difference.

If you're interested in a great free e-book that will teach you how to grow your list download "Ezine List Builder" http://www.netwoozy.com/freeebooks/ It's in PDF format.

or try this one...not free but worth the money:

"WebSite and Ezine Promotion Made Easy"
http://www.linkcounter.com

Once you reach a minimum of 1,000 subscribers you'll be able to start selling text ads. Do not include too many ads in your newsletter or you'll lose a lot of subscribers before you even get started. You need to make sure you're including useful content and not just a billboard of ads, or your subscribers will be reaching for that unsubscribe button in a hurry. Finding the right mix of content and advertising is a real balancing act, but through trial and error you'll find the formula that works for you and your readers.

It's a smart move to start collecting demographics from the very beginning, if you can. This will give you an idea as to the types of people that subscribe to your ezine and will be helpful to ad buyers who will want to know what "target market" your ezine hits. Set up your subscriber form to ask the basics like "gender," "age," and "occupation" and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to actually collect this type of information.

A few sites that will help you to sell your available space:

http://www.Ezines-Ads.com
http://www.Opt-Influence.com (must have 5,000 subscribers)
http://www.EzineAdAuction.com

Publishing an ezine is the most important tool you can have when it comes to promoting your website. An opt-in list of people who want to hear from you on a regular basis is priceless and the actual process of writing your own ezine and connecting with people is an inspiring experience in itself. It's a genuine way of building a sense of community around your site and opening the lines of communication between yourself and potential clients.

Don't let this marketing tool pass you by....by following the steps in this three part series you'll be well on your way to publishing an ezine that will pay you back in more ways than you can imagine- and that's an online marketing tool fact.

So what are you waiting for? Get busy!

Merle has been "working" the Net for over 8 years and has a Special Gift just for you. Download my FREE E-book "50 Easy Ways to Promote Your Website". Get your copy now at http://www.WebSiteTrafficPlan.com

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.

Building A List The Secret Key To Every Online Marketers Success

Writen by Chad Curl

There is one thing that every business needs to succeed. It doesn't matter if the business is brand new or established, sells products or services, or has one employee or thousands. Every business requires relationships.

The purpose of this article is to convey a very simple, yet extremely overlooked tactic for building a successful business. If it's so simple, why is it overlooked? Possibly for the same reason people tear their house apart looking for their sunglasses just to find they were on top of their head!

We commonly look over the most obvious solutions because we are blinded by the idea that the best solutions are always the most complicated. This does not need to be the case in order to build a successful business.

So, we know the answer is simple... Build relationships. But is the solution simple? It really is. The best way to build a relationship, in any form or fashion, is through communication.

By this point, you probably haven't learned anything that you didn't already know. Remember though, this is simple, obvious information that you may just need to reawaken in order to use it to your benefit.

Think about this...

Any website owner knows the importance of getting traffic to their site. The unfortunate problem with traffic, is that is has to be ongoing and can never stop. This is because once a visitor sees your site, they move on and will probably never return. Some of course will (if your site is good enough), but here we are talking about the vast majority.

The statistics show that people need to see your name and/or message in print at least 5-10 times before they recognize you or what you have to say. But how could you ever accomplish this with website traffic that's flowing around the internet at the speed of light, leaving as fast as it came?

Well, what if we could capture some of this traffic and hold it captive? Then, we would have a chance at the name recognition we need and that most important factor of building a relationship. How do we do this?

It's a technique called, "List Building." This technique is done by most every successful business around the globe. In fact, it's the one thing that most failed businesses never even tried.

Actually, there are two sides to this. One is the actual building of a list, the other is profiting from the list. But what is a "list"?

Quite simply; it's one or more people that want you to communicate with them. Since we are talking primarily about internet businesses, these communications are usually email based, although they can also be postal mail based.

If having a list is so critical to success, why wouldn't every business or individual have one? Here are some of the problems many are faced with:

• They don't know how to get subscribers.
• They may feel they have nothing unique to offer.
• They cannot get anyone to sign up for their list.
• They may be afraid of having a list (fear of rejection or SPAM issues)
• Or, possibly they have a list, but it is an unresponsive one.

First and foremost, we get subscribers by offering something of value. No matter who you are, or where you came from, you have something of value to give. And it's probably in your head right now. People love information! Think about it. That's what the internet is; it's information. We are all here looking for information in one form or another. If you already own and run a business, what kind of valuable or meaningful information do you have that's related to your products or services?

If don't yet have a business, think about your favorite hobbies, activities, recreation, events and focus on the things that interest you. If you find it interesting, chances are, thousands of others do to. And best yet, you can turn this information into your own business, and make money from it!

At this point we either already have our own business or we have decided what our niche is going to be. Next we decide; what do we have to offer?

If we give people value, they will want more from us. That value can be in the form of many different ways:

• A newsletter subscription
• Reports
• Articles
• Teaching and training aids
• Reviews of other products and services
• Resources
• Helpful software
• Announcements and updates on products or services

Once we have an idea of our topics, we want to turn those into one or more of the forms above. I recommend choosing any of the first three in the list, to get started. Anything else can be gradually added at a later time. Now you have to capture the attention of your potential audience. Again, there are many different ways this can be done:

• Create a "squeeze" page (a simple, one page compelling website with a sign-up form. Very effective.)
• Spending time in related forums. Using your website in your signature line.
• Give your articles to other niche sites for publishing. Great way to establish your name.
• Use "pay-per-click" services to drive targeted traffic to your site.

There are countless more ways to capture subscribers, both free and paid. And there are way too many to list here. Remember, for now we are just getting the basic understanding of building lists and even more so, to understand the importance of having a list. As I stated earlier, the concept is quite simple, but there are many steps that have to be taken in order to accomplish this. There will be other articles that will get into the more detailed steps a bit later.

Once you have obtained your subscriber, the relationship begins. How long this relationship lasts will depend on you. With the massive amounts of email we all get, you will have to give them a reason to keep you around.

Whether you have 2 subscribers or 2,000, you have to speak to them as if they are the ONLY one subscriber on your list. You are NOT building a "one-on-one thousand" relationship. You are building a "ONE-ON-ONE" relationship. Never forget that!

Whenever you communicate with your subscribers, it's important that they know you are an individual and an everyday person just like them. Make yourself obtainable, and invite them to contact you so you can help them individually. Let them know they are important to you.

Remain focused on providing your subscribers with valuable free content. Listen to their needs, and respond with a solution for them. Soon, you will become an asset for them, and they will rely on you and trust you.

Now that you're an asset to your subscribers, they can become an asset for you. As much as you like giving away free content and your time, at some point you have to make a living too, right? Everyone's time is valuable.

Using a proper strategy of place and time, you can offer your subscribers "up sells" from time to time. If you already own a business, than you probably have products and services you can offer. But, what if you're just starting out?

Your main two choices are: Creating your own products, or selling someone else's. Since we're interested in internet marketing, the absolute best items to sell are informational products. Why?

• They can be delivered instantly.
• They require no physical materials.
• You have an endless supply.
• It cost nothing to reproduce.
• It cost nothing to deliver.
• People love information!

If you consider yourself an expert at something, or at least know much about it, you might consider creating your own products. This however is time-consuming and takes a lot of work. It can also be very costly. Your other option is to become an affiliate for other people's products. On average, an affiliate makes a 50% commission on these products! You get paid half the profit and you never had to do any work or spend any money creating these products. This is a great option for most that are getting started in an online career.

Affiliate marketing is done by the newest of marketer's and done by some of the most seasoned experts. Whether you need a few hundred bucks a month or several thousand a month, the income potential of affiliate marketing is limitless!

I hope by now you have a better understanding of what a list is and why it is important for your business to have one. It is so easily overlooked, and with just a little bit of insight, more new businesses and internet marketers would have a greater chance of success.

Enjoy your success,

Chad Curl

www.ListBuildingFormula.com

Chad Curl is an author of various e-courses, e-books and articles specializing in Online Marketing. He is also the owner of http://www.ListBuildingFormula.com

Chad also mentors and provides training to those interested in starting their own online business and to current online business owners looking for better ways to promote and increase their business income.