ATTENTION NEWBIES (and anyone else struggling with list building)

[Mike Hill]

Okay I'd like to start this thread to see what your biggest problems are in list building and email marketing...

Here, I'll start it off:

The biggest mistake I see people having with list building and email marketing is the fact a lot of people don't realize the power of list building. When I fist started out I ignored it and was actually a little apprehensive about building a list because of all the technical steps.

What is YOUR problem with list building and email marketing..?

Mike Hill

[Desmond Ong]

I think it'll be how to drive traffic to squeeze page to opt-in. Article marketing is the only way that works well for me

[Jay Sullivan]

I love to try article marketing also..

[Prashaant]

Yup... driving traffic is expensive... the ONLY big problem...

[jhongren]

Let me recall...i think when I first started off, I have no idea to what bait to use....

ebook, report, articles, email course..... ????

Clueless then....

My 2 cents,
John

[yommys01]

Originally Posted by Mike Hill

What is YOUR problem with list building and email marketing..?

Mike Hill

Major problem I have is that I am a Nigerian and we are regarded as scammers which makes it difficult to get an account with any reliable autoresponser.

Plus I am not totally sure how to construct my follow up message.

[Mark Brian]

Creating a quality autoresponder series for affiliate products, yeah that was quite tough because mostly we have little knowledge of products we don't own.

[Mike Hill]

Keep it coming guys...

Some good responses so far and a few I never thought of. Also, did anyone have a problem of not knowing what the process was. (ie. landing page, freebie, autoresponder, emails, etc...)

In the past I always second guessed myself as to the appropriate steps involved and it would take me days to get something setup. Now that I know what I'm doing it literally takes less than 30 minutes. LOL... the things we take for granted that once handcuffed us all

Mike Hill

[jhongren]

Originally Posted by Mike Hill

Keep it coming guys...

Some good responses so far and a few I never thought of. Also, did anyone have a problem of not knowing what the process was. (ie. landing page, freebie, autoresponder, emails, etc...)

In the past I always second guessed myself as to the appropriate steps involved and it would take me days to get something setup. Now that I know what I'm doing it literally takes less than 30 minutes. LOL... the things we take for granted that once handcuffed us all

Mike Hill

Hi Mike,

The linking and joining of freebies and html pages such as confirmation pages, reminder to check the email page, download page, follow up emails etc can be a horrendous experience when one is first starting off...

My 2 cents,
John

[nick1123]

Originally Posted by Prashaant

Yup... driving traffic is expensive... the ONLY big problem...

I think traffic is easier than conversion.

Getting people to convert is the hardest for me.

[antmen]

I think the two biggest challenges are:

1. Making a name to establish credibility and decrease the "fear factor."
2. Understanding that you have to give in order to receive

-Anthony

[Samuel Lee]

Definitely agree that list building is a terrific way to inform and market your product or service to people with money to spare that want to spend it on something.... I think its the quality of the information your offering, and the reliablity of having a source of targeted traffic available at a moments notice, makes source list building a prifitable and easy way to generate a steady and reliable income off the internet! Developing quality relationships with your list members is essential to your success in this area!

[GopalG]

I think the biggest challenge is what information to send out to the subscribers after they opt in and buildig up a relationship with them. Also the biggest challenge is to warm up a person for selling the product and actualy selling them.

[Eric Land]

I was at a webinar tonight that went over everything you guys are having difficulty with.

All I'm going to say is that You can gain a lot of traffic / opt in's with giveaway events I'm surprised more people don't use them. To upgrade its usually only 20 bucks and this can easily get you 50+ opt in's

As well you can gain a lot of opt in's by running ads on the warrior forum its perfect if your in the im niche because everyone is targeted traffic.

If anyone would like a recording of the webinar send me a pm

[reed]

Eric, I will take you up on that webinar recording...

This thread is definitely clearing up a few things, I think I need to write down the sequence of events or blue print so to speak that have to take place.
Putting this down on paper then applying it to a test website should clear things up.... Now, where is that paper

[Eric Land]

Hey Reed i sent you a pm i would just post the link in this thread but then i no someone will get upset and report me for spamming

Eric

[Jim Hallmark]

Mike,
Nice thread! I think my biggest problem has been figuring out the best way to attract buyers instead of a list of freebie seekers. There appears to be some conflicting thought on the best way to do this.

It seems like many marketers suggest offering something of value to get the prospect to opt in to your squeeze page. Then you continue to give valuable information to your subscribers regularly along with a plug once in a while for a product you are offering.

That's all well and good as long as the subscribers buy a product from you once in a while. But what happens if they don't? That's where I have some difficulty.

Cheers,
Jim

[prairiedog]

I agree with Jim's post here. Building a list of freebie seekers was easy but trying to convert that list was very difficult.

[kislany]

My fear is that once I have the list, I won't know what to keep writing to them about. Right now I've started a list in a niche using an ecourse with 10 emails. Once I finish that, what do I do, and how do I keep them interested? I'm a bit apprehensive there...

[Sakkid]

Coming up constantly with imaginative ideas to keep them interested in me and my offers is one HUGE problem......Quite a challenge!!

[JayStarr]

I think a list is totally over rated.. like ask yourself how many of you have bought something from a list that you are on.. not me thats for sure.. the one positive about a list is its cheap form of customer contact, although a list of customers who have bought from is smething worthwhile

[TKO]

Gday Mike, the blog i've been working on for a while now is recieving 500 visits per day on average. To be honest, I wouldn't know the first thing about the set up or the process.

I understand giving free stuff away as a bribe, but apart from that, I'm lost.

It's a shame because most of my readers would subscribe to my list.

Thomas...

[SiteFlipRemix]

I have done basically one real attempt at building a list that I did and which I cherish and love But I haven't spent much time on building a really big list. I used a good method so all of the people on my list already interested in my niche products.

Having a targeted list is powerful! When you have a list of people who you KNOW what they want then all you need to do is give it to them and you will make sales super fast. That is the number one lesson I have learned - find out exactly what they want.

[BIG Mike]

Here's a free report (no advertising in it) that details what I do with list building and email marketing. I'm sure a lot of marketers would disagree with me, but it works really well, at least for me, so I continue to do it with incredible results.

http://www.incansoft.com/On_List_Bui..._Marketing.pdf

If you get a nugget or two out of it - terrific

[lgibbon]

Originally Posted by JayStarr

I think a list is totally over rated.. like ask yourself how many of you have bought something from a list that you are on.. not me thats for sure.. the one positive about a list is its cheap form of customer contact, although a list of customers who have bought from is smething worthwhile

You're obviously on the wrong lists then.
Certain people who I'm a list member of,
regularly send things of interest.
Saves a lot of searching.
Still, each to their own.

[James12C]

Several other people have mentioned this, I htink: the "plumbing" - I got overwhelmed by setting up the support system9s) - follow ups/download/squeeze etc etcetc

[FitJerk]

My tip for newbie list builders:

LISTBUILDING WILL BE TEDIOUS, SLOW AND POINTLESS IN THE BEGINNING... but you HAVE to keep at it.

Winners do NOT quit, and the whole "the money is in the list" is totally true. My mindset: The first 5000 don't count.

Yes there are people who will make significant money from a list of 5k, there are always exceptions, but the point here is to get the experience.

Then apply some good techniques to increase your conversions and drive traffic. Don't give up on list building... ever.

[jasondinner]

Originally Posted by JayStarr

I think a list is totally over rated.. like ask yourself how many of you have bought something from a list that you are on.. not me thats for sure.. the one positive about a list is its cheap form of customer contact, although a list of customers who have bought from is smething worthwhile

Overrated?

Just because you don't buy doesn't mean others won't.

I have plenty of buyers on my list. Just ask anybody I did a promo for

I think List Building should be mandatory for anyone looking to make this a long term gig.

I've been building my list since 2005 and have made good coin from my list.

Now I want to stay on topic with Mike Hill's original post so here was the one thing that
bothered me when I first got started.

When my list was really small (when it was less than 1000), I used to get insulted when
someone would unsubscribe from my list.

So, in the beginning, I would try to sugar coat everything in my promos so I didn't
piss anyone off.

Now, after realizing that you will have unsubscribes EVERY TIME you mail your list, I just
started talking to my subscribers like I would my friends and not beat around the bush.

It doesn't matter if you send them content, promos, or a mixture of both - you will
get unsubscribes regardless.

My 2 cents

Jason

[naonline]

Finding the right infrastructure. What I mean by that is, what to use as traffic sources for the squeeze page, what to give away in return for the opt-in, dividing up your content between the emails, blog posts, and products etc.

So Mike, when are you releasing your list building WSO

[goldclubmember]

I think list building is definitely the key to IM success, one thing i learn is we need to get "targeted traffic". Let say i offer free ebooks in a forum i may attract lots of op-in but if they are not my potential customers to my product , it is worthless ! If i get lots of op-in from SEO forum and promote newbie training ebook , i may have 0 conversion rate.

[Owen Mailer]

Hi there everyone

some really good advice hear.

But I still have a question. does anyone use the mail chimp auto responder? I just got it all set up looks like its going to be good

but thanks for all these tips cause i have a launch soon with my first product!!!!

[Mark LaBelle]

Great thread. List building is important enough that everyone should do it. If you keep sending follow up information, to include information or free resources, then sprinkle some affiliate stuff or your own stuff in you will start to make money. The most important thing is do not give up!

[goldclubmember]

think a list is totally over rated.. like ask yourself how many of you have bought something from a list that you are on.. not me thats for sure.. the one positive about a list is its cheap form of customer contact, although a list of customers who have bought from is smething worthwhile

Money is not in the list, it is in the TRUST & RELATIONSHIP we buildup with the REAL people behind the list.

dont just grow your list, feed them with good content regulary, answer their emails, help their IM biz grow. Once the trust is there, they will buy from you once they need any of your product ... But sad to see lots of so called GURUs sending sales pitch to my email everydays .... maybe they got BIG list, numbers game ...

[lavaleekathy]

Listing building can be great when built up over a period of at least two months. You can find that you can have up to a thousand people on your list before the end of a month and a half so finding the right infrastructure is important. Finding the right traffic sources for your squeeze page, and what to give away in return for an source list is the big part of it. Just my 2 cents!

[Mike Linley]

I am just starting out on trying to build my first list and I am having a hard time coming up with compelling call to action for my optin box! if I cant get them to optin then I cant have a list so I am stuck on step one right now.

[goldclubmember]

I am just starting out on trying to build my first list and I am having a hard time coming up with compelling call to action for my optin box!

the easiest way is to offer freebies than sales pitch , 1000 times easier to ask for people to give away their email addresses than their hard earned $ in the first stage ..