Starting a list, now what?

That's the correct way, in my opinion. Give them value beyond what the expect so when you finally give 'em an offer they will be more likely to bite the bait.

Sounds like a plan. Would advise to sell some solo ads as well so that you can in return can keep buying solo ads in order to build your list even further.

You do have experience, Just not in the MMO niche as you got a list of 4k... I myself started out in the fitness niche and transitioned over into the MMO niche once I started becoming successful in the fitness niche.

You sound like you have a solid business plan as that is what it takes as you mentioned by creating a blog which some people say they don't work but I don't use my blog to make money, I use it for branding purposes and you hit the nail right on the head about making them participate..

About your own product you can take your experience from building your list of over 4k and come up with a case study or list building course by divulging how you built that list up, The sky is the limit..

The more you put into your business you will keep learning and get better at it...

So go with your business plan as you stated and always test everything from your Squeeze Pages by split testing them, To your Solo Ad Copy and even your follow up sequence that goes out to your list..

Lastly I said to always test, I use a program called adtrackzgold and have for about 1.5 years now, now there is other programs that you can use but adtrackzgold has always been good for me...

The blind leading the blind...

Awesome job on building a list of 4k. Yeah, everyone says the most important thing you can do is build a relationship with your list. That is what I am currently doing right now.

For starters it sounds fairly good, so I don't have much to add, just to give you thumbs up!

Veo

There are many methods of engagement, it's really up to you.

As you mentioned, you could use a blog as an "engagement center"... So they can revisit the page to interact with other people that are on your lust. For example, you can post an article that is of value, and then send people over to the page to read.

If it's good, they're going to be excited about it and usually post. Better still, your list will not fatigue as fast.

James Fame

True ... but it's even worse than that, I'm afraid: the blind are also trying to lead the partially sighted.

If you'll excuse the observation, intended helpfully and not critically, this is why you have the problem. You're making the single commonest mistake that beginning list-builders/marketers make, and the one that's the commonest cause of failures. You're in the wrong niche. Truly, you're stacking the deck against yourself about as firmly and as clearly as it's possible to do so.

What you're asking here is - in one way - on a par with the people who start threads asking "How can I get more people to opt in to my squeeze page; by the way I'm in the list-building niche?", and the people who start threads asking "Is it really possible to make money online" when the site in their sig-file is called "How I Made $10,000 Online Last Month". The "one way" I'm referring to is the way that matters, because it's the way that prevents those people from earning anything online, and it's going to be your problem too, which is why I'm pointing it out: you're trying to teach people something you know nothing about.

You'd have probably somewhere between 10 and 100 times as much chance of making money from your list if you had a list in the "how to grow grapes and make wine at home" niche (that's a really good niche, by the way), or in the "how to decorate kids' bedroom ceilings" niche (that's also not bad).

Please excuse my being outspoken, here. I've seen hundreds of members in exactly your position come and go from this forum, not earning anything online. I've seen a small proportion of them still here a year later, sometimes even two years later, without having made any money at all, and more and more people gradually suggesting to them that maybe "IM" isn't the most appropriate niche for them, and they don't take any notice, and they don't progress, and then a proportion of them end up believing (and maybe even announcing) that "list-building is a scam and it doesn't work", and all because they started off their list-building efforts by doing what you're trying to do.

I hope you'll change your mind and try another niche.

Meanwhile, whether you do that or not, here are five posts/threads which explain the underlying principles and essentials of list-building, which might be helpful to you ...

What are the essential things to know about list building?

Lists: How Long to Presell - Averages

Website or squeeze page

Where to get reports to give away on opt in page? (ignore the thread-title: the post linked to here is about something different!)

Autoresponders vs. Broadcasts

I see one thing here, you are using a blog and not a full squeeze page, so don't expect the same CTR.

However, with a blog you can kill two birds with one stone by promoting your products and still building your list at the same time.

Another great advantage with blogs is, you can rank it high on the SERP and use diverse traffic source.

Anyway, they all have there respective advantages and it won't be a bad idea experimenting what works for you and in your niche as well.

I would say what you are doing is spot on, great work for taking action before you think you know everything, this is the number one reason people make no money!

I think it would be better to start promoting affiliate offers immediately, mix it into your value content. Even a simple one line call to action at the end of an informative post will make you a lot more money than nothing at all.

Hope that helps

Josh