Build a list without a squeeze page?

25 replies
Everyone knows that list building is critical to long-term success.

My question is: What do you guys think of having a simple 1-page website that has no squeeze page but simply a sales video at the top, and then a sales letter below it with a buy button?

Either way, you're asking people to sign up.

With a squeeze page, it's sign up to get this free report, or free video, or be on my newsletter for tips and tricks)...

And with no squeeze page and just a sales page, it's sign up to buy my product.


Obviously, more people will actually make the jump if there's no cost, and there's the traditional thoughts around (7 points of contact needed to make the sale) but still I wonder if it's just better to get them to buy immediately while they're hot... you know they just watched a video of yours on youtube, landed on your salespage, watched your salesvideo, and then get them to buy THEN AND THERE. From that point, it seems almost a regression to sign them up for a free report.

Mike Chang of http://sixpackshortcuts.com/ has no squeezepage, just a salespage with sales video at the top, and he's making a KILLING just by driving traffic from his youtube videos to his salespage.

Do you think this is a better model than the typical route of Squeeze Page to autoresponder to sales page?


Thanks
#build #list #page #squeeze
  • Profile picture of the author sirtiman
    Must know the conversion first. After you are split testing then you'll get your answer.
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    • Profile picture of the author ExRat
      Hi AriWhitten,

      Alternatively, you could make your opt in form quite difficult to locate, so that only really motivated prospects manage to sign up.

      Counter-intuitive I know, but there's bound to be at least one idiot out there who tries it.
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      Roger Davis

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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Hess
    Technically, you don't need to give anything away for free to build a list, if you take How To Get A Six Pack Abs - Six Pack Shortcuts as an example, you can have a one page website with a sexy headline, maybe a video, get people to single optin, then set the sales page as the redirect page after they optin.

    You'll end up with a targeted list and go right after the sale all without giving them some junk that chances are they won't ready anyway.
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    • Profile picture of the author MsMogulNike
      I would def want an opt in list first to decrease the chances of losing sign ups...
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeac
    Its definitley a model you should try, you would definitley have a super targeted list, but my advice is to test small, and if people do go straight for the sale then go ahead and scale up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by AriWhitten View Post

    What do you guys think of having a simple 1-page website that has no squeeze page but simply a sales video at the top, and then a sales letter below it with a buy button?
    I think it's a totally different proposition, and approach, and not one that you can compare with a squeeze page in any meaningful way at all, because it's trying to do something totally different. There are certainly ways of building prospect-lists without using squeeze pages, but this isn't one of them.

    What you're talking about here is building a buyers'-list instead of a prospect-list. I don't for a moment suggest that that's a bad thing to do, of course, but it clearly isn't what most marketers would mean by "building a list without a squeeze page".

    After all the split-testing I've done, in various different niches, I now build all my prospect-lists without squeeze pages, but not like this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Confined To Life
    Although there will be a number of people here to disagree with me, I think the price of your product is important. People who haven't been presold or warmed up are definitely likely to buy a $3 product cold.

    If you're trying to sell a $47 product, you'll have much more success with a list.
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  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    having just a sales page and not building a list of prospects you are leaving a massive amount of money on the table

    by building a list you will still make just as many sales because you can redirect people to your sales page after opt in anyway

    by sending people to your squeeze page you are not only still making up front sales but also you are building a list of people that will probably buy at a later date

    it all comes down to how well your email marketing is and how good you are at converting prospects to buyers :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Anton543
      Originally Posted by paul nicholls View Post

      having just a sales page and not building a list of prospects you are leaving a massive amount of money on the table

      by building a list you will still make just as many sales because you can redirect people to your sales page after opt in anyway

      by sending people to your squeeze page you are not only still making up front sales but also you are building a list of people that will probably buy at a later date

      it all comes down to how well your email marketing is and how good you are at converting prospects to buyers :-)
      But the more steps a person needs to take to get them to buy, the less likely it is they will get to the order page.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sue McDonald
    I think yo MUST build a list because once you have a list you can market to them over and over.
    The list is the backbone of your business.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anton543
      Originally Posted by Sue McDonald View Post

      I think yo MUST build a list because once you have a list you can market to them over and over.
      The list is the backbone of your business.
      My only worry about a list is that somehow people become 'blind' to email offers. Sure, list building would be one of your main ways to develop your online beusiness but it should not be the only way. You should diversify and try and build a business on multiple income streams. I know people will probably make more if they were concentrate on one method of IM because its often easier to be more driven, but you don't want to potentially find kicking yourself for emphasizing the one method.
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  • Profile picture of the author thetrafficguy2
    I would recommend selling just a 1$ dollar product on the front end, so that they are more commited to you and will be way more likely to buy other stuff, but make sure the 1$ product is good.
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  • Profile picture of the author AriWhitten
    Here's a thought: Mike Chang of sixpackshortcuts may view list building as unnecessary. His videos are ALL OVER youtube and in ads all over the internet. So in essence, he is marketing to a list--the list of the entire world (who has an interest in fitness, and sees his ads on a regular basis).

    He doesn't capture their names, but so what? The goal is simply to drive people to the sales page to buy.

    If people keep re-encountering his videos and ads in their NORMAL day to day internet browsing (i.e. without relying on them to open up an email you send them), he is essentially accomplishing the same thing as if they were to re-encounter his message in an email sent to their inbox. No?

    The people who don't choose to buy the first time they land on the sales page will likely still encounter more ads and free videos of his in the future in their normal internet routine.


    Look, I'm no expert in internet marketing, and maybe my thinking is wrong here. But, the guy is making a KILLING, and I would imagine he's split tested and considered squeeze pages. He settled on this way of doing things for a reason most likely--probably because it works.

    I'm thinking it has to do with what Anton said "But the more steps a person needs to take to get them to buy, the less likely it is they will get to the order page."


    Just trying to stimulate discussion. Thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author craigslistleedz
    This is something I've been contemplating as well. There is a huge difference between my buyers list and my prospect list.

    List building itself has been around for years, but it's application is changing drastically. We're seeing a backlash from those who optin. They use fake email addresses, unsubscribe right away, etc. Some are getting upset because as they unsubscribe from one list, they're getting subscribed to another one, which is completely unethical.

    However, my buyers list will gladly open up emails from me and continue to buy, especially my own products. So why waste my time on freebie seekers? If I plan to sell a big ticket item down the road, then this may make sense. But if I'm not, it's costing me money.

    How do freebie seekers cost money? Every email you send has an intrinsic cost built in. It costs attention, money, and time.

    If I send the wrong email (about a product they are not interested in) or an email that doesn't apply to my freebie seeker they are less forgiving and will unsubscribe. However, I can send the same email to my buyers list and they will forgive and forget

    I have been tracking both solo ads, free traffic, and free WSOs. Compared to my buyers list, primarily from paid WSOs, there is a huge difference. Moreover, my cost per lead is very low because I generally profit from all of my ads, immediately.

    I'm going to continue tracking this and find out which is the most profitable way of doing things. The Internet marketing industry is in transition and everyone is a guru now, so there is a ton of information being spit. The best thing to do is see what works for your business and what makes sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I think if you have a killer autoresponder sequence... you could make anything sell. Need good email copywriting and a good way to get people to click on the link in your email.
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  • Profile picture of the author Franko Ferencic
    The most valuable advice regarding list building I got from one of the biggest marketers on one of his seminars was, "You should always first over deliver to your customers, offer something valuable for free and then make a sale! What he meant by that? If you would like to have a big list and not only a list but a list of loyal returning customers who will always came back to you for more products and who will promote you further you should first give them valuable information for free. After they buy from you, you should send them again something valuable for free. That way you are building relationship and trust with your customers and they will likely came back to buy more from you. I think every internet marketers interest is to have as many as possible customers who are responsive and who are buying from you. Why will they do that? Because they know you are giving valuable information and products. They also know you always over deliver and they are likely to buy again and again from you. We are building here business for life, right? So in order to have a long lasting profitable online business first thing we should do is to make a strong relation with our customers by over delivering always. Make sense, right! So to answer a question, I would always favored a squeeze page with quality free content for building a list of quality customers.

    Best regards to everybody,

    Franko
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  • Profile picture of the author TomYevsikov
    If you take a look at all mike chang's videos, you'll notice that he keeps pre-selling to his viewers.

    that way, they are far more targeted and most likely to buy.

    And if you look at mike's youtube channel, you'll see how many subscribers he have.

    the so caled freebie "optins" are in his YOUTUBE channel, not on a list.

    And when they buy his membership, they become customers on his list.

    So he uses a slightly different strategy from what most marketers use, but I'm sure he knows what he is doing.

    after all, he is banking "cold hard cash"
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  • Profile picture of the author shaunyb1
    Obviously the guy with the Youtube videos is developing excitement /warming up before they come to the sales page, so it all starts right at the start of the funnel - their youtube videos
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  • Profile picture of the author Donn Maala
    Originally Posted by AriWhitten View Post

    Everyone knows that list building is critical to long-term success.

    My question is: What do you guys think of having a simple 1-page website that has no squeeze page but simply a sales video at the top, and then a sales letter below it with a buy button?

    Either way, you're asking people to sign up.

    With a squeeze page, it's sign up to get this free report, or free video, or be on my newsletter for tips and tricks)...

    And with no squeeze page and just a sales page, it's sign up to buy my product.


    Obviously, more people will actually make the jump if there's no cost, and there's the traditional thoughts around (7 points of contact needed to make the sale) but still I wonder if it's just better to get them to buy immediately while they're hot... you know they just watched a video of yours on youtube, landed on your salespage, watched your salesvideo, and then get them to buy THEN AND THERE. From that point, it seems almost a regression to sign them up for a free report.

    Mike Chang of How To Get A Six Pack Abs - Six Pack Shortcuts has no squeezepage, just a salespage with sales video at the top, and he's making a KILLING just by driving traffic from his youtube videos to his salespage.

    Do you think this is a better model than the typical route of Squeeze Page to autoresponder to sales page?


    Thanks
    if your bold enough to take this move,
    another approach you can do is, you do a reverse opt-in. Meaning you have them opt-in to access the product they bought..

    That way you can still get their email add after they purchase and they wouldnt even know they subscribe to your newsletter...

    so that leaves us to the next question, what if they didnt buy your product?

    well upon exiting your website you can have a pop-up opt-in (i think its called a splash optin?) where they will be offered a free product in exchange for checking your sales page..

    when they optin however, they will be sent a series of emails which will warm
    them up and eventually lead them to buying your product..

    if however they didnt opt in for your product, you could then redirect them to a different (relevant) product through your affiliate link.. that way you can make use of all the traffic that comes your website...


    of course business wise this might be a good way to utilize your traffic, but as always everything has its benwfits and consequences..

    to point out one, you might end up upsetting your clients, and if they are from your list, they might end up being a cold list...

    thats my take on that, and only through experience you can decide which one is the right choice...

    good luck my friend...
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Hugall
    That page should follow your free guide opt-in. That way people have to at least leave an email to see you pitch. You did the work you should get something for the time spent creating the page. Why just give it to them and let them decide. You have no chance to let them know about more cool stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Who says that the typical route is "Squeeze Page to autoresponder to sales page"?

    I would say the typical route (taken by about 80% of the successful web sites) is sales page to list.
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
      if for some reason he were to get booted from youtube, would he not be in a world of hurt?

      seriously, in my mind all that he has done is found a way to drive traffic to his site. whether it's you tube, or articles, or whatever - he's still just doing the standard "drive traffic to a sales page and pray" tactic..

      just because he's successful does not mean he wouldn't do even better by building a prospect list.


      Originally Posted by Anton543 View Post

      But the more steps a person needs to take to get them to buy, the less likely it is they will get to the order page.
      while this is very true - in my experience when it is all said-and-done, you gain more sales than you lose.
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      -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author TamilYoung
    Without a free optin, if you can have a list, that is obviously more valuable as it will only have all BUYERS rather than Freebie seekers. Will be truly a targetted buyer traffic!
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  • Profile picture of the author David Micheal
    As long it's make money, there is no problem to follow their method.

    I think Micheal Chang target to get a serious buyer. That's why his sales page does not have opt in.
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  • Profile picture of the author Searchlabmedia
    I have tried using brandable software for building a list. I give it away for free but they need to register the software, registration leads to a squeeze page. I have had great results.

    Dave
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