In anticipation of an upcoming launch of Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula 2, I told my list that I was going to offer a solo mailing to one of my lists of over 120,000. This immediately started a flood of emails asking how they could order early... something that I anticipated.
The second flood of emails asked how I had managed to build such a huge database. Rather than answering that second question in individual emails, I decided to answer it with this article.
First of all, I should point out that I've been in business online since late-1996, and have been slowly building my lists almost since the very beginning. So, I didn't accomplish this overnight. Still, I know that you can build a huge list rather quickly if you use the right techniques.
Here are some of my favorite list-building techniques:
1) Put a sign-up form on every page of your websites, except for direct sales pages where it would interrupt the flow too much. Next to that sign-up form, give a powerful reason why they need to join your list, and ask them to take action.
Next to the sign-up form, assure them that you will protect them from spam. Also post a few testimonials as proof of the value your newsletter provides.
2) Write information-packed articles and distribute them everywhere appropriate. I've written over 850 information-packed article on the topic of Internet marketing. Those articles demonstrate my expertise, share useful information, and bring visitors to my websites ready to join my lists.
I believe in sharing a lot of cutting edge information in my articles. Many people only drop hints, but I'm not afraid of sharing too much. The reason is that knowledge grows exponentially, and since I'm constantly learning new things, I can never teach you everything that I know.
Since I don't fear running out of useful information that you will value, my articles are genuinely helpful, and that generates lots of loyal subscribers.
3) Write information-packed, inexpensive ebooks and then allow affiliates to sell them for most of the profit. I create a steady stream of ebooks - largely expansions of my articles - and then I set up affiliate programs where affiliates earn as much as 100% commission. Money is a great motivator for getting others to send you lots of new "paying" customers and subscribers
My favorite tool for setting up these "ebook traffic magnets" is Sid Hale's Rapid Action Profits script. This script allows you to set up a system where an affiliate earns INSTANT commissions which are paid directly to their Paypal accounts.
High commissions are a great motivator for people to send you new potential subscribers. When those commissions are paid instantly to affiliates who often have cash-flow problems, it's like pouring gasoline on a fire.
You'll find Sid's Rapid Action Profits System at:
http://TheRealSecrets.com/RapidActionProfits/4) Run pay-per-click campaigns... when the math makes sense. This is something that I don't see a lot of my competitors doing. However, when I know that my conversions rates or backend profits are sufficient, I often run pay-per-click ads... sometimes even for free items.
With pay-per-clicks, you need to closely monitor your results. You also need a good idea of the lifetime value of a new customer or subscriber. To me, it makes perfect sense to lose a dollar to gain a new highly qualified subscriber.
If you're paying attention, you'll notice numerous Internet marketers who run promotions where they pay a dollar or more for referrals who simply opt-in to a list. I essentially do the same thing when using pay-per-clicks. With pay-per-clicks you reach new subscribers who may not already be on a dozen other marketers' lists.
5) Use free giveaways where appropriate. I contribute to, and help to promote free giveaways, when they are well managed and the quality is high. I've built large lists doing this and have a friend who got over 5000 subscribers from one of his first giveaways. I've written about how I do that many times before.
The key with free giveaways is that you need to offer a gift of high enough value that your new subscribers instantly bond with you. You still have to develop the relationship, but your gift should start it on a positive note.
Many people who participate in free giveaways offer "absolute garbage." Once their new subscriber downloads their free "gift" and look through it, they HAVE to feel insulted.
My rule is to always offer a gift that's good enough to sell. I was humored when, in one recent giveaway, I contributed resale rights to one of my new ebooks, along with a rough website. Before the giveaway was even over, at least one fast-acting individual had my ebook set up using the Rapid Action Profits script mentioned in number three, above.
6) Give away free viral ebooks. Write ebooks on topics that you know a lot of people are interested in. In those ebooks recommend specific solutions to problems, and include affiliate links to buy those products. Make some of those links rebrandable.
If the ebooks are filled with lots of useful information, AND they have links that can be rebranded, then you have an ebook that should go viral. People are incentivized to spread it!
In these ebooks, offer some type of a free bonus... perhaps an audio recording, or a template, or free piece of software, but require readers to visit your website to get this bonus. On your site, require them to register, or join your mailing list, to get the freebie.
If the original ebook delivered tremendous value, then the new potential subscriber will have no objection to joining your list. If the free ebook offered marginal value, then they have to assume that your other "gift" will be more of the same, and so they won't subscribe.
For creating viral ebooks, I recommend using the "Viral Document Toolkit" a next-generation PDF brander created by David Schwartz. The Viral Document Toolkit allows you to easily create rebrandable documents where you can specify links, and text that can be rebranded. You can even specify rather large BLOCKS of text as rebrandable... and even rebrand hyperlinked images!
You create a rebrandable ebook, and then pass along the ebook (with most parts locked, but some parts changeable) along with the rebrander tool, to your subscribers, website visitors, customers, etc. Since they can profit from changing the ebook, they happily spread it, and in the process build you a huge list.
You'll find the Viral Document Toolkit at:
http://ViralDocumentToolkit.comDavid finished testing the Viral Document Toolkit software March 1st, 2008, so you'll be using a tool that 99.9% of your competitors will have never seen. VDT is actually so revolutionary that NO ONE other than a few of David's closest friends have even been allowed to touch it, until now.
If you make your new viral ebooks good enough, you may be pleasantly surprised to see your competitors promoting them ;-)
6) Take massive action and do it immediately. One of my secrets to building my database so large is that when I'm shown a new tool or technique, and it passes "the common sense test," then I put it to immediate use... provided it doesn't distract me from something more urgent that I'm already working on.
Many of my contemporaries, and subscribers, complained about having no list as long as five years ago. Many of them still use that same excuse for why they've not made any real business growth progress.
I'm not sure why this is since all of the techniques that I, and that many of my mentors use, are so simple... and even obvious!
The key is not to over-analyze things. That traps you into "paralysis by analysis." Instead, get into the habit of doing while others are still "thinking about it."
My friend, Dr. Joe Vitale, taught me that "money loves speed!"
I've just shared with you some of the techniques that I've used to build a massive subscriber database. Of course, I can't cover every technique that I use in this short article. I will close by sharing that part of the key to growing your list is actually retaining the subscribers after you get them. To do that, you merely need to deliver tremendous content telling them how to solve their most pressing problems.
Simple - right?
Copyright: Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
About the Author:| Willie Crawford is an internationally-acclaimed speaker, author, seminar and radio show host, and leading Internet marketing expert. When not out fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, Willie enjoys sharing his 11 1/2 years of online marketing experience with his ezine subscribers. Join them at: http://WillieCrawford.com/blog/
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