List building in wordpress

9 replies
I'm just starting out building a list. I really don't know much about it except that I need to get people's emails so that I can send them offers later on. My idea was to offer a free product as an "enter your email to win" type of deal. I've gotten a couple responses so far using the wp opt in plugin but was wondering if anyone here knows of a better method to go about it. Should I do a pop up box or something? What's a good technique for list building in wordpress for this type of offer? Also, what plugins are best for creating and sending out offers, I know mailchimp is one. thanks in advance for any replies.
#building #list #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Jenkinson
    Hey,

    Pretty much the way you are doing it is fine. Offering a free product for people to opt in on, if you want to promote it more, then depending on what your offer is and if it's good enough, you could make a WSO for people to opt-in on it to download or try to drive more traffic to it.

    Hope it helps, say thanks!

    Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick2910
    Firstly, let me congratulate you on choosing to make an email list first. It will be the lifeblood of your online business.

    So to answer your questions there are a few different elements.

    1. The best way to capture emails is very subjective and can be achieved many different ways. The one thing you need is an auto responder to manage all the emails you gather. You mentioned mailchimp and I believe it is a serviceable tool, but have never used it so can't comment too much. The most popular would be aweber but getresponse and pure leverage are also available to you. It will be a decision that is completely up to you. However, you will definitely need one, so choose wisely.

    2. Now on to the actual method of getting an email address from your visitors. You also suggested a free giveaway and this is a great idea that is used by many successful marketers. You can create your own helpful product (ebook, video course etc.), you can buy some PLR to give away or you can even find some free alternatives but make sure they are quality if you decide to do that.

    My advice would be to avoid using a pop-up, especially since you are just starting out because they tend to be very intrusive and if people don't know or trust you, they are likely to leave your website if they see a pop-up. You should, however, have an opt-in box on every page of your website/blog and in an easily accessed location (such as the top of your sidebar) so that visitors can enter their email at any point if they want.

    Finally, I would suggest that you read up and learn about all the basic terms you are talking about so you have a really good grasp on the whole concept and can approach it with an informed mind.

    good luck and feel free to ask me any questions.


    Nick Koop
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    • Profile picture of the author Meta Morph
      Originally Posted by Nick2910 View Post

      Firstly, let me congratulate you on choosing to make an email list first. It will be the lifeblood of your online business.

      So to answer your questions there are a few different elements.

      1. The best way to capture emails is very subjective and can be achieved many different ways. The one thing you need is an auto responder to manage all the emails you gather. You mentioned mailchimp and I believe it is a serviceable tool, but have never used it so can't comment too much. The most popular would be aweber but getresponse and pure leverage are also available to you. It will be a decision that is completely up to you. However, you will definitely need one, so choose wisely.

      2. Now on to the actual method of getting an email address from your visitors. You also suggested a free giveaway and this is a great idea that is used by many successful marketers. You can create your own helpful product (ebook, video course etc.), you can buy some PLR to give away or you can even find some free alternatives but make sure they are quality if you decide to do that.

      My advice would be to avoid using a pop-up, especially since you are just starting out because they tend to be very intrusive and if people don't know or trust you, they are likely to leave your website if they see a pop-up. You should, however, have an opt-in box on every page of your website/blog and in an easily accessed location (such as the top of your sidebar) so that visitors can enter their email at any point if they want.

      Finally, I would suggest that you read up and learn about all the basic terms you are talking about so you have a really good grasp on the whole concept and can approach it with an informed mind.

      good luck and feel free to ask me any questions.


      Nick Koop
      Thanks for the detailed reply Nick I appreciate it, very insightful. One more thing I was wondering about is my method of advertising. Would you recommend advertising my product specifically or advertising my free product giveaway offer to capture emails and market to them later? Or should I try a two pronged approach and see what happens? Thanks again
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    • Profile picture of the author Brian Potter
      Building your list is not only the first step but a very important one if you want to start up and build an online business.

      However, you have to find people who have a serious interest in what you offer and so choosing the right subject to provide information on or a resolution to is also most important.There are going to be people who sign up just for the free offer and then fade away but that is the nature of the beast.Your skills will determine how long they stay on your list, building relationships is a huge factor along with your determination to sell.
      Make it as if you are talking to them on a one to one basis get their participation, ask questions make them feel they belong. Once you have that "we're all in this together" atmosphere you can then work on getting their interest, desire and action towards buying whatever product it is that you want to offer.

      Personally I think if you run a competition of sorts you risk losing the "I never win anything so whats the point" brigade. That leads on to another factor ...testing.
      Oh there is so much to learn when you are starting out ......
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      • Profile picture of the author Meta Morph
        Originally Posted by Brian Potter View Post

        Building your list is not only the first step but a very important one if you want to start up and build an online business.

        However, you have to find people who have a serious interest in what you offer and so choosing the right subject to provide information on or a resolution to is also most important.There are going to be people who sign up just for the free offer and then fade away but that is the nature of the beast.Your skills will determine how long they stay on your list, building relationships is a huge factor along with your determination to sell.
        Make it as if you are talking to them on a one to one basis get their participation, ask questions make them feel they belong. Once you have that "we're all in this together" atmosphere you can then work on getting their interest, desire and action towards buying whatever product it is that you want to offer.

        Personally I think if you run a competition of sorts you risk losing the "I never win anything so whats the point" brigade. That leads on to another factor ...testing.
        Oh there is so much to learn when you are starting out ......
        Yea I see what you mean here...will make tweaks accordingly...maybe seeing as if everyone on the list at least wins a small prize every 6 months or so to keep them engaged...like a keychain or something.
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  • Profile picture of the author kinyash
    Try Aweber. I think they charge a dollar for the first month. They have excellent service plus an option to create your opt in pages. they also have a feature that segregates your list logically according to their different interests and enable you to create "sublists" of your main list.
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  • Profile picture of the author stevedenness
    The thing about building a list is that some work better than others, it's about testing testing and more testing. If you are finding it difficult to think of what free gifts to offer, then look on the search engines, you will find numerous products to use in building your list.
    The most difficult thing I have found is getting the content in your emails right, it's difficult to judge if when is the right time to offer a paid item, or keep sending them free products.

    The relationship between your subscribers is very important, don't oversell to them.

    Good luck with your new venture.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick2910
    I agree completely with what others are saying that testing is crucial in list building. In saying that, I would personally suggest you focusing on the free giveaway first and then once there is a relationship between you and the person you can try and present to them an offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemeth
    You can offer a free product, interesting video with good content, free themes etc for the lead
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