Have you been enjoying your journey to email marketing success?
Better still, have you moved into the fast lane and started to put some of what you`ve learned into action?
One of the beauties of email marketing is that it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of cash. Just a little time, and you`ll get back much more than you give or expect.
Okay, enough motivation and inspiration. Let`s get down to business … hunting big game — you`re going to learn how to CAPTURE email addresses and build a mailing list.
Don’f forget — experts agree — “the money is in the list”. Once you have an email list you can begin to make SERIOUS MONEY from the list. But first things first — you have to build a list.
For those who have the cash, and prefer to take the short road, I sell business opportunity leads in very large numbers at Nitro List Builder.
That’s not for everyone, however, because of the cost. I sell to some serious email marketers, and real heavyweights. Once you have the basics down, you may care to join them. But for now, let’s concentrate on *free* list-building methods.
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Great Ways to Collect Email Addresses and Build Your List
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=> Wise Way #1 - OFFER A FREEBIE
You have to give in order to get. If you want people to offer up their email address, you`re going to have to offer them some sort of an incentive. Nothing works better than something that`s complimentary (you spell that F-R-E-E). You can give away free reports, ebooks, software, or even sample pages of an ebook.
The important thing is that you offer your subscriber something of value to them. It builds your credibility, they will like you for it, and in the long run, it opens them to buying things from you later on.
=> Wise Way #2 - USE POP-UPS
Pop-ups are one of the most common methods used to capture email addresses and build an email list quickly and with ease. Chances are that *you* have subscribed to a free e-course or newsletter through one of the popups on a web site.
Simply construct a page containing the code for a subscription form and set the page to open (pop up) when visitors ENTER OR EXIT your site. Most quality autoresponders provide you this code, or you can buy a simple popup generator for a small price.
By the way, conventional popups tend more and more often to be “blocked” by your site visitors browser settings, which has led to widespread use of “slide-ins”, which are embedded directly into your web pages using javascript, and are not blocked by any of the popup blockers currently in use.
Make sure the pop-up offer is something that`s valuable enough to motivate visitors to take time to give you their information.
Your offer can be a complimentary report, free download, or free ebook that arrives instantly through your autoresponder to their email inbox when they give you their email address.
=> Wise Way #3 - USE POSTCARDS
Direct mail is one of *the* most overlooked methods for website promotion, yet one of the most effective!
If you have a mailing list that contains snail mail (street) addresses, convert it into an email list by sending a postcard and inviting people to VISIT YOUR WEBSITE to receive a gift of some kind — a report, a discount coupon, etc.
Visitors don`t have to pay in order to receive their gifts, but you do ask them simply need to enter an email address.
If you don’t have a (physical) mailing list, you can either buy or “rent” one online at such places at www.infousa.com
You can also reverse this process — when you collect customer information at your website, be sure to get a physical address, too. Following up with a combination of direct mail and email marketing can *turbocharge* your sales.
=> Wise Way #4 - PUT A SUBSCRIBER BOX ON EVERY PAGE
This is a clever trick that many people overlook. Put a form on every page of your website, inviting people to subscribe to your emailing list, and increase your subscriptions substantially.
Why? A web site visitor may come directly to a page other than your home page. If you only have a subscriber box on your home page, you`re missing the boat, not to mention the thousands of visitors who bypass your homepage.
=> Wise Way #5 - RUN CONTESTS AND SURVEYS
Contests very often prove to be a good way to generate traffic and buzz for your business. Create a contest and put a form on your site or in a pop-up box. The entry “fee” for the contest is your site visitor’s email address.
Similarly, posting a survey asking for visitor feedback can be a great way to gather even more email addresses, while at the same time gaining some valuable information about how your site visitors react to your site, and what they’d like to see there.
-Warning to the Wise: If your prizes are cash or large-ticket items, you should be sure to check with local agencies to make sure you`re not violating any contest laws.
=> Wise Way #6 - DISPLAY YOUR AUTORESPONDER ADDRESS
Most people give their website link when they place solo ads, ezine ads, or other marketing messages. To be one step ahead of the game in collecting email addresses, you can list your autoresponder address instead of your web site URL.
=> Wise Way #7 - USE A “SQUEEZE PAGE”
This method is just now gaining popularity. Some websites now ask visitors to “register” before entering the site itself.
The first page most site visitor see tells them a bit about what is inside the site, but asks for their email address in order to “grant them access” to the site. Usually, this first page tells people that the site is “invitation only”, or that they’ll get more in-depth information via email after they visit the site.
The point of this is simple. Once visitors have “registered”, they gain access to the “value” in your site, but they are also on your mailing list. You can then follow up with them via a free newsletter or simple mailings that endorse and link to products that may be of value to your target audience.
=> Wise Way #8 - PUBLISH ARTICLES AND POST IN ONLINE FORUMS
A lot of people miss this one, because it is more often thought of as a traffic technique, or a way to get links to your site, which, of course, it is — but you can also use it to get people to sign up for your mailing lists.
Publishing informative articles on article publication sites can be a great way to gain subscribers to your lists, especially if you promise to inform them the next time you publish another of your terrific articles.
Similarly, if you post in some of the online forums related to your business niche, and people perceive you as helpful, they will be much more inclined to pay a visit to your site, and sign up for your mailing list to see what else you have to say.
=> Wise Way #9 - PUBLISH AN ONLINE NEWSLETTER OR BLOG
This one takes us full circle. You *do* have a newsletter or a blog associated with your website, don’t you?
Among the simplest and most effective ways to get people onto a mailing list is by offering them free information through a newsletter. You can accomplish the same purpose through a blog, and use a “bloglet” to get people to subscribe by email, so that they’ll be informed of any new issues of the online newsletter or posts to the blog.
While traditionally webmasters have published their newsletter via email, more and more are posting their articles right on the website, and using email to inform their readers of the latest articles or updates to their website.
Some people also publish a highly informative “content site”, and invite visitors to subscribe to a mailing list to be told when there are changes to the site.
Okay, you know what you want … you know what you need.
It`s time for you to set your traps and CAPTURE THOSE EMAILS!
Get started using these list-building methods today … you cannot beat the price when you are collecting free email leads
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