Eight
Steps To List Building
Since the beginning of the Internet one thing has not changed and that is list
building. The fact is that your
newsletter/ezine list is the
foundation of your business and the larger your list, the stronger your
foundation. The question for most new online business owners is where to
start. How do you build a list?
First keep in mind that building your list is a process.
It does take time, although there are things you can do to speed up your
efforts. Before we discuss that,
lets start with the basics.
First, you must have a delivery system for which to communicate to your list.
Without a delivery system, you only have a list and a list by itself is
useless. First you build the list
and then you communicate with your list by sending out a regular newsletter,
updates, sales, announcements, etc. To
do this easily, you will need a dependable autoresponder.
These are a few of the options available:
Royal-Responder
: Lets you use your own leads
with the $21.95 option. However
deliverability is less than the other two autoresponders listed here.
Aweber
Get
Response
Once you have the autoresponder in place and have created the necessary forms to
use on your website so visitors can subscribe, its time to start marketing to
build your list.
First and foremost you must give your visitors a reason to want to subscribe to
your newsletter list. Its
important to outline what they will receive from your newsletter.
Specifically outline what is in it for them! After all, this is really ALL your visitors care about.
Then its time to promote your newsletter.
Getting the word out is important and the following are the most
effective ways to do it.
Write and Distribute Articles
You may have heard this
before, but writing relevant articles is not just important, but vital to your
business as well as building your expertise online. Do not write an ad. Take
a look at the online articles to get a feel for how articles should be written.
My favorite to place to read articles is Ezinearticles.com.
Read articles in your genre and get a feel for how an article should be
written. If you need more help
learning how to write an article,
click here to view our article writing tutorial. Dont
take the easy way out writing your articles.
How you are read online will create an impression for those that read
what you write. The people that are
looking for content for their websites, blogs, newsletters as well as people
trying to learn from you are looking for valuable content, not rehashed
articles. If you are writing just
to get your article into a particular article directory, it will be weak and
represent you as the same. Dont
get caught in the back link acquisition mentality where the only reason
you are submitting articles is simply to get a back link. Its an abuse of the article directories and it will come
back to bite you in the end. Take
care with absolutely everything you put your name on and write with care.
Spell check and grammar check your writing before you submit it.
In other words do your best work and it will work for you for many years
to come. I still have articles
online in prime positions that I wrote 12 years ago!
It doesnt get better than that.
You can start with a Private Label article, but I recommend that you use these
PLR articles as a base and then personalize the articles and flesh them out to
be a full-bodied useful article. Some
people do better if they have something to start with.
Private label articles can provide this start.
Once you have written your article you will want to distribute it.
First, you will want to send it out to the article directories.
To get a free list of article directories click
here.
You can also use article distribution software. The software is intended to
automatically send your articles to hundreds of
article directories and make signing up for the article directories much
easier. For a reasonable investment
you can make article distribution much more effective.
Click here for our
recommendation.
I also recommend that you research ezines and their editors to submit directly
to them. The best ezine directory I
have found is Directory of Ezines located here.
It does involve paying for an
annual membership but it will be the best investment you make.
Establishing relationships with ezine editors is extremely valuable to
your business. As well, you will want to research in an ezine directory that
is as current as possible. The
Directory of Ezines does a very good job of keeping current.
Write and Distribute Press Releases
As a publicist press releases are near and dear to my heart.
Actually press releases are the very heart of my business.
For years a press release was written in such a way to catch the interest
of the media. An editor, a
producer, a talk show host was the main objective.
These days, a press release is written as much if not more to gain
traffic to a website. Even still,
its important to write a press release in the proper fashion and with the
correct tone because they can still capture publicity.
If you need help writing your press release click
here to read our free tutorial. Once you have created your press release,
you will want to distribute it. Click
here for a list of places to submit your press release.
Consider upgrading from the free options available to provide more
visability.
Get Involved In Social Networking
Social Networking is the
new buzz word of the Internet. Its
also a very confusing concept to many. So
what exactly is it? To put it in
the simpliest terms, it is a place where people of certain mind set meet and
share information. For instance
there are mainstream social networking sites such as MySpace where kids meet and
adults share business contacts. Of
course it has also the been in the media for unsavory situations that have
nothing to do with MySpace itself but rather the creeps that abuse it.
Many, many smart, savvy business people use MySpace to build their list
and make valuable contacts for their business.
There are also networking sites that are geared specifically for
business. These are our
recommendations:
Linked
In
Fast Pitch Networking
Buy Ezine Ads
Placing ads in ezines can
be very valuable for building your list. Some
ezine owners will also allow you to send a solo ad to their list for a higher
fee. This means that your ad will
go out to their list alone and get the full attention you are looking to gain.
However, it can be equally valuable to place an ad in a well read ezine.
Again, you will want to research the appropriate ezines to place your ad and
Directory of Ezines is the best option we have found.
Another option that is extremely affordable is an advertising
cooperative. I have had great
results with Two
Buck Ads here. They are an
inexpensive means to getting your ad out to hundreds of thousands of readers at
a small price.
Learn how to write an effective ad. When
writing the ad forget about what you want and write the ad with your audience in
mind. Specifically, what is in it
for them!
Ask For Ad Swaps
As you build a respectable list you can request ad swaps with other ezine
owners. Do your research and send
an email to request a swap. Be sure
to include why the ezine owner will want to swap ads with you and what you have
to offer.
Ads For Subscribers
Once you have built your list to 5,000 or more you can participate in programs
that offer new subscribers for ad space. One
such site is Two Buck Ads located here. Be
sure you are ready to do this as you will get a list of new subscribers every
day and you will need to run their ads in return.
It can be overwhelming but it can also be a very effective way to build
your list without additional cost.
Market With Co_reg Leads
Many of the big powerful
online marketers use co-reg leads to build their newsletter.
Do not buy co-reg leads and then automatically subscribe these leads to
your list. It just does not work. All
you have then is a large list of completely non-responsive people.
Create a free give away and use the leads to market this free give away
to and let interested parties subscribe. Be
sure to send out a marketing sales letter to these leads at least 11 times
before you trash the leads and start over.
Some autoresponders allow you to market and others do not, be sure to
read their terms of service before you select an autoresponder for the purpose
of marketing. (Royal
is a good autoresponder for this purpose.) . You can buy reliable, responsive co-reg optin leads here.
List Building Services
Other services will build
your list for you. This can be
expensive, but its an extremely fast way to build a very responsive list.
My favorite is WorldWideLists.com.
They also have a corresponding autoresponder that is integrated into
their list building service. This might be the smartest decision for you.
I have been aware of this service for 12 years and I have used it off and
on over those 12 years. Now I use
it exclusively along with marketing using our optin leads.
The combination seems to work very well.
These are the basics of building your newsletter list.
Your list is gold and must be one of the most important aspects of your
website business. Take time to do
at least two newsletter list building activities every single week and you will
build a strong, stable, profitable online business.
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