All of these problems need to be addressed so this week is the first tip in a series of articles about starting and building your list. And while each of these problems deserves to be discussed first, they will be discussed according to the number of votes received.
According to your votes, 90% of you have started a mailing list for your online business so today's tip addresses the problem of "not getting many sign-ups." If you are in the 10% who have not started your list, please read and remember or save a copy of today's tip because you'll need to remember this information when you start your list.
Part 1 - Growing Your List
A few years ago getting subscribers was extremely easy for anyone with a few dollars to invest in their online business because you could buy names, load them into your autoresponder and start sending them email. And depending on where you bought them and how much you were willing to spend, you could build a list of 10's of thousands in a short time.
However today, with all the laws against spam and the organizations fighting it, buying names for your list is not a wise or safe way to build your list. Instead, you must either pay someone to promote your list or do it yourself.
Should you pay someone to promote your list? This depends on you, your budget and how they are going to promote your list. There are a few legitimate co-registration services online however, they are very expensive.
A couple of years ago I tried 2 of the more affordable "guaranteed signup" services that promise to deliver subscribers and I didn't get a single new subscriber for the dollars I invested. (If you read the actual agreement instead of the attention grabbing headline, they only promise to have your signup page shown a certain number of times.)
Most "guaranteed signup" services don't work because they show your site as a pop-under for another site. Because most web users now use a popup blocker, your site never appears on their screen. And even if it does, the viewer wasn't expecting it and doesn't know where it came from so they usually close it because it was just an annoyance they don't want to deal with.
The best ways to build your list is to promote it yourself and to get others who already have a list to promote it. If you're not getting many signups when you promote your list then you need to redo your offer until you find 1 that works.
Since you've already started your list, you already know why it's important. Now here's the MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember about building your list.
When you advertise, free or paid-for, you should be sending visitors to a signup page - not a page that has a signup form - but a "real" capture page designed with the purpose of getting someone to signup for your list. Sure, you want to sell something and make a few dollars but making a few dollars now and not getting the names of those interested whether they bought or not will cost you a lot more future dollars.
Think of your online business like 1 of the successful local businesses in your area. First they had to get people to know they were open and where they were located. Then they offered free samples or had a grand opening sale. If people liked what the business had to offer, even if they didn't buy anything the first time they visited, they came back.
Just like that local off-line business you have to find people to visit your site and give them a sample of what you have to offer. The big difference between the off-line business and your online business is that most people will remember where the off-line business is located but they won't remember your site's web address. It's because of that difference you have to get their email information.
Now many of you have seen my home page with it's content and small signup box and are thinking, "her page isn't designed like a capture page." Your right. I did that page more than 3 years ago and have been trying to redo it in my spare time - something I never seem to have.
It's because my home page is not a capture page that I don't promote it.
Where do I send people when I advertise? Well, over the years I've used several different capture pages and the ones I am currently using the most are at: http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm, http://www.friendswhocare.us/articlewriting/index.htm and http://www.friendswhocare.us/webdesign/content/page1.htm. I have had others that were more simple and more effective but these are the ones I choose to use now because even though I get fewer signups, the signups I get are more interested in what I have to offer.
After seeing some of my capture pages you may have some questions like:
Where do I advertise these pages?
Answer: Everywhere, ads, traffic exchanges, giveaways, link exchanges, ad swaps, articles, etc. (And like you, I get more signups from giveaways than anywhere else.)Do I make a sale when someone signs up?
Answer: Not usually but I have had quite a few signup under me in free traffic generating programs.Do I make sales to my list?
Answer: Many of you already know that answer since you've purchased items. And, as my list grows so do my sales and I appreciate every one of them. Thank you.
Now in case you still think that building your list is a secondary activity and advertising a product is still what you want to do, here are the results of an unintentional experiment I've been running over the last 3 years. Your results may be different if you use different offers and means of advertising however the overall picture of what's happening will still be the same.
One of the ways I get traffic to my site is through the use of traffic exchange programs. One of the programs I use allows me to have several pages shown to other users and they all get the same number of visits.
Over the last 3 years I have used this program to show my different capture pages and I have also shown different sales pages and 2 affiliate sites.
From my capture pages I have added several hundred new subscribers.
From my sales pages - not a single sale.
From my affiliate sites - 7 signed up as free affiliates for 1 program but I never made any money and for the pay-to-join affiliate program - no one has signed up. (I've had the pay-to-join affiliate page up the entire 3 years.)
Now obviously I don't send you to my capture pages after you've signed up but how did these same sales pages and affiliate sites to when I told you about them?
I made sales from all the sales pages. The number and amount I made was different for each of them but I always sold at least 10 or more and made anywhere from $65.00 to $170.00. (No, I didn't make $3,943. since I make my offers affordable for almost everyone and have a small list.)
As for the 2 affiliate programs I offered, I only got 6 to sign up under me in the free program however they all upgraded and became paying members. And in the last 6 months 4 have signed up under me in the pay-to-join program.
To grow your business you have to grow your list.
To grow your list you have to:
- Market it through the use of capture pages.
- Send ALL your traffic to 1 of your capture pages.If a capture page doesn't work, modify it until you find 1 that does.
- Use as many ways to advertise your capture pages as you have time and can afford.
Remember, you have to promote yourself and your list to those who don't know you and you promote your products, services and affiliate programs to those who do.
To Your Success,
Susan
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