Honestly, everyone making money online has an email list. It’s the one thing above all else that matters most. After it’s built, it’s yours to use any time you want. Just push a button and print money – literally.
So, how do you build a list?
Here’s what you need to build your list:
- Your Landing Page
- The Incentive
- Your Confirmation Page
Your Opt-in Page – The squeeze page is the first thing your visitor is going to see. This is where they will enter their email address. That’s why it needs to look like a professionally designed page. And have an easy to understand opt-in form. You’ve also got to make a strong “close”.
The biggest mistake you can make is not having a clear call to action. This “close” tells your visitors what you want them to do. You opt-in rates will take a dramatic nose dive without it. Oddly, if you don’t make it clear, people will be confused and end up doing nothing.
If you want to add some extra juice to your opt-in page add a compelling video to the page. This will grab your visitors attention and keep it. And you can repeat the call to action several times int he video. And after the video, you can make it just say “fill in the form now”.
It’s OK, if you’ve never made a video before. You can hire freelancers to do this for you for a few hundred dollars. Or you can get email list tools that have everything pre-built for you.
Your Bribe – The second component is the reason they are opting into your list. You have to give people a compelling reason to give your their email. Email privacy is very important to most people. This means your bribe needs to be very attractive.
The only way to make this work is to provide real value. Then it becomes something people want to get from you. And something from which they can derive a benefit. Here’s some examples:
- An eBook
- Some useful software
- Training videos
- An email series
Basically, you just need some content. Something that’s useful and helpful to your visitors. And of course it has to be free. Bottom line is it’s got to be worth more to them than their email address.
Once again, don’t worry if you don’t know how to create the freebie. It’s super easy to hire someone to create it for you. You just pick the topic and they create the training. One easy and effective bribe is a 5-part email training series. And you can get emails ghost written for about $20 – $25 each. And whole thing will only cost a hundred and fifty buck.
There are also list building products that include the follow up email series. There are two important things about the email series. First of all it has to give the subscriber what you promised – valuable information. And it’s nice if it earns you some money, too. 😉 One very easy way to make some money from your list is with affiliate marketing. This allows you to get started with no products of your own. And you can earn some commissions immediately from your emails.
The Opt-in Success Page – Finally, you need to consider your opt-in confirmation page. This is the page your subscriber sees after they opt in. It’s a great idea to give them some valuable information right on the thank you page. Then they feel good about giving you their email address. And it helps you establish the relationship. So when they get your email, they’re happy to hear from you.
Again, a simple solution to this is to get an email marketing package that includes everything. Or you can do it yourself. You can either write the content pages on your own. Or pay a freelancer to write the content for you.
In closing
It doesn’t matter if you do all of this yourself. Or hire someone else to do it for you. Or go with a complete package. The key is to start building your list. Because as soon as you’ve got your own list . . . You’re free to make money at the push of a button.