The majority of marketers will tell you that creating a list is one of the best uses of your time if you want to succeed in making money online.
Despite this, many people choose not to even try or, after considering the effort necessary, conclude that it is simply too much. If you have started to believe this, I would strongly advise you to reconsider your marketing tactics. One of the most valuable assets you can create is an opt-in list of potential customers. Let's take a closer look at that assertion.
The other day, I was conversing with a buddy and fellow marketer, and we were comparing the advantages of mailing lists vs blogging. He has amassed a respectable subscriber base over the past few years while operating a blog in the marketing and online money-making field with a significant amount of traffic. He has experience and earns a career entirely online, but up until lately, he hadn't given email list development much thought.
He recently adopted a new strategy and started compiling his own list, and the difference in conversion rates that he noticed as a result has astounded him. One email sent to his youthful list resulted in 40 purchases. One sale resulted from a blog article about the same product.
As you might expect, he has now changed his mind and is now a firm believer in the value of having a list.
This is all well and good, but the barriers that prevent many people from attempting to compile a list are frequently financial in nature. It is expensive to use a professional autoresponder; often, there is a monthly ongoing fee. Additionally, it is not always simple to convince individuals to join yet another list, and it is also difficult to generate traffic to your opt-in forms.
This is where keeping up with a blog and your own website or websites becomes crucial. Your chances of luring new subscribers will rise if you place your opt-in form as widely as you can. A free gift of some kind is typically the best option because you will need to provide them something in return for their information.
Another factor that deters many people is the amount of labor involved. However, in terms of return on investment, the effort and expenses were well spent.
Despite the best efforts of the software makers, the most of the free apps that purport to do the work for you fall short for the user and are really no replacement for your own list.
However, there is one solution that the novice can use extremely successfully. It is not necessary for you to have an autoresponder, but if you have, it offers full integration, and there is no cost for the service.
It operates on a fairly straightforward basis that goes beyond conventional viral marketing. You will assist others in building their lists by utilizing the system to create your own. It's amazing that less people have discovered it because it seems so obvious, but the outcomes can be rather striking. Of course, the marketer who invests in the core software and hosting will benefit the most, as they will spectacularly benefit from the viral impact, but this does not lessen the advantages for everyone else.
Don't wait too long if you're still on the fence about creating your own opt-in list because the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll start reaping the benefits. I have aided numerous novice marketers in building their first list, and if you're interested in learning more, you can download a free handbook from our website.
