Start Building Your Mailing List Today
July 8, 2008 · Print This Article
You probably know by now that it’s important to build a list and develop a relationship with your subscribers. So what do you need to get started?
You’ll need 3 things:
- Autoresponder
- Opt-in Box
- Free Gift
Autoresponder
A “follow up” autoresponder is software that simply allows you to collect your visitor’s details (usually just name and email address) and send out emails to many subscribers at once.
For this I use Aweber but you could equally use GetResponse , or another of the popular autoresponder services as they all operate in much the same way.
Aweber has all the features I need and more, including some great analytical tools so that’s what I personally recommend. You can take a free test drive of their software at their site.
Opt-in Box
Next up you’ll need to create a webform or opt-in box like the one you see at the top of this page. Aweber makes it really easy to create multiple webforms and also lets you track their performance. You can then place it on your blog or squeeze page and this enables you to start adding subscribers immediately.
People will still need a compelling reason to opt-in though which leads to my next point.
Free Gift
Give something of value away in exchange for your visitor’s email address. This could be a free report, a video, an email series, audio series or similar. The rule of thumb is it has to be something of value. Something that you could sell, something that would ordinarily cost money to obtain.
But I’ve got nothing to give away?
Have a look at my current opt-in box and you’ll see the free report I just started giving away. I didn’t write that report it was created by Internet Business Coach Terry Dean .
It’s a great report full of extremely useful information for both aspiring and experienced Internet Business owners alike and contains a lot of information that really resonated with me the first time I read it.
The version of the report I’m offering is a brandable version, in other words it contains my affiliate links. You can download the original report at Terry Dean’s Blog .
Giving away a product of your own is, of course, far more valuable especially if it’s something that people can’t get anywhere else. But if you haven’t created a report yet why not find one, preferrably brandable, and give that away at least until you’ve created one of your own.
Easy huh?
Now you’ve started building your list you can keep blasting promotion after promotion to your subscribers and squeeze every penny out of them right?
I hope not.
The Money’s In The Relationship
You’ll have heard “The money’s in the list” countless times but hopefully you’ll also know that this is only half true. The money is really in the relationship you have with your list. If you treat your list like the human beings they actually are, your list will be much more responsive when it comes time to sell.
Before I sign off I thought I’d share a couple of videos I recently stumbled across from Frank Kern that will shed more light on the subject of mailing lists and that go over the process in more detail. I hope you find them useful. Check them out here: http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?page_id=9
Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
…] John Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John […]
Hi! John,
I like to read your blog posts, it is not just useful info, it is something natural, genuine, sincere, and just you, what build trust and make a likeable read. I think you can write very well, you definitely can start write more than just blogs, and aweber messages.
Regards
Michaela
There are also autoresponders that run on your website’s server. You buy the script and that way eliminate the $18 to $20 per month that AWeber and GetRepsonse charge.
This may be the best first choice for an autoresponder.
John
Hi John, thanks for your comment.
One of the most important features to consider when choosing a quality autoresponder is email deliverability. This is the main reason paying for a good quality autoresponder service is better than hosting on your own server.
A paid service will automatically take care of constantly improving their delivery rates and they are also much easier to set up and maintain. AWeber is one of the best autoresponders in terms of email deliverability but they are also a name that people have come to know and trust.
In my opinion installing a script on your server simply because it is cheap is a false economy and I would opt (pardon the pun) for AWeber every time. Thanks for bringing this to my reader’s attention as it certainly is another option though not one I can personally recommend.
[...] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John [...]
…] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John […]
[...] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John [...]
Carnival of the Entrepreneur - July 14th, 2008…
Welcome to the July 14th 2008 edition of the Carnival of the Entrepreneur. At the Carnival of the Entrepreneur you will find articles submitted by authors from all over the internet relating to anything associated with being an entrepreneur. Topics ran…
[...] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John [...]
[...] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John [...]
[...] Szram presents Start Building Your Mailing List Today posted at Internet Business Blog By John [...]