List Building Methods (Newbie)
- SEO |
Here's a small guide I wrote for newbies on different ways to build a list. Share your thoughts and feel free to add to this. You can also share this to your blog or subscribers. I got a lot of positive feedback on my last article (Social Media Marketing for Small Business) and people have asked me if they can use it or share to their subscribers. The answer is yes, please feel free to do so. Just drop me a line by PM.
Now for list building methods.
One of the most important elements at play in the business world is the bond formed between companies and their customers. Creating and developing this bond, and the trust that develops with it, is vital to creating loyal customers who will go out of their way to purchase your goods, as well as spread the word about your services.
In the online realm, the most effective way to accomplish this feat is through list building, and through that, constant communication with your customers. By gaining your way into your customer's hearts (and e-mail inboxes), you can keep your business at the forefront of their thoughts through all manner of communication, be it offers, service descriptions or updates, or personal stories.
There are many ways to accomplish building a quality list; some more effective than others, as far as building a list of willing customers is concerned. After all, having a large list of people uninterested in your product is of little use to you.
In the following section we'll look at some of the more popular methods used for list building, and how each can be used effectively to help spread the word about your service and recruit new customers into your fold.
Methods for expanding your list to gargantuan size
Blogging - Blogging is a great tool in multiple respects. Not only can it be used for the purposes of building lists, but the content of your blogs can also help build your credibility in your chosen niche. If you're not an adept writer, you can always hire someone to do the word slinging for you, though budgetary restrictions may not make this a viable option, at least to begin with. Blogging also allows you to springboard new ideas off your customers and get their first hand feedback.
Article Writing - Much like blogging, article writing allows you to develop a reputation in your niche, with the further benefit of list building. Articles are typically submitted to one or more article directories, with links back to your website. In fact if you're both blogging and writing articles, you could even use one to help promote the other, in addition to the site(s) in question.
Free Reports - Free reports are typically short e-books sent out to interested parties, and typically contain affiliate links, as well as links back to your own service inside. Free reports will usually be sent from squeeze pages, allowing you to gather e-mails in this way. As with the above examples, you can use your blog writing and/or article writing to help freely market your free report.
E-Books - E-Books vary in size and scope, and may be sold for a fee or distributed freely. E-Books are great tools for providing your customers with in-depth knowledge of your service, or the general field within which your service resides, and allows you to contain direct and affiliate links within for marketing purposes and list building.
PPC - PPC, or pay-per-click (often simply called Google Adwords, though Google is just one PPC provider), is an advertising model whereby the client only pays for advertising costs based on the number of times the ad has been clicked. While click-through doesn't necessarily guarantee sales or targeted traffic, you can at least be sure that you're generating a fair amount of traffic for your advertising dollars spent. It's then up to your product or service to steal the show and convince people to join your mailing list.
Adswap - Adswap is a mutually beneficial way in which two different sites can freely advertise their site. Adswaps will typically be carried out between sites with a similar niche, as well as comparable levels of traffic. Ads may come in the form of graphic or text ads directly on the site, or through other forms of promotion, such as personal endorsements in correspondence with that site's subscribers/viewers.
Tell-A-Friend - Tell-A-Friend is a means for you to let your satisfied customers do some of the work for you. This method usually involves a link from your website or a particular page of interest that allows users to directly e-mail or contact their friends. These e-mails are often pre-generated, making it easy and more attractive for the person sending it, and contain links within that allow the recipient to visit your site or join your mailing list.
Videos - Videos help give your brand a face, making your service instantly more credible and trustworthy. Videos are typically static shots of you (or someone else if desired) discussing your product or service, while directing them to join your mailing list through the video itself, or the video's description. They can be hosted at any number of free video hosting sites, acting as list building and free marketing rolled into one. Links to your squeeze page can be placed on the video description or the video itself depending on the video site you're using.
Forum Marketing - Another method by which you can freely contact targeted customers and advertise your site (assuming the forum allows you to do so, which should be determined before posting). Like a blog, you'll have the opportunity to interact with potential customers and address their questions or concerns. As such, it's a good idea to check back on the forums regularly following your post so as not to leave any potential customers hanging.
Popover Advertising - Not the most popular form of advertising among internet users, as the ads can be very obtrusive, but effective for the simple fact that they cannot be blocked by pop-up or ad blockers. This form of advertising can also be used to showcase your service to users while blocking their immediate access to it, in the case of them needing to subscribe or pay to access the information available.
Buy Subscribers/Mailing Lists - When all else fails, you can throw money at your marketing woes to help kick start your promotion efforts into high gear. When buying a mailing list or subscribers from a broker, ensure the list is from a reputable dealer, and filled with opt-in clients. Having the largest mailing list or subscriber pool in the world does you no good if those people don't want to have anything to do with you or your service. Even in cases where lists come from reputable dealers though, there's no guarantees as to how many of those will be interested in your service, so the results of buying lists are generally a question mark.
Webinars - A webinar is a live conference or broadcast, in which you present your customers with new information or teach them about areas of interest within your field. Webinars will usually contain a limited form of interaction with those watching, such as text chatting or interactive polls or questions.
Sign Up Pages/Landing Pages - These are typically the main or hub pages used to sell your product. The efficiency by which you convince customers to either join your mailing list or buy something is the conversion rate. Conversion is one of the key areas of internet marketing, and speaks both to how well your landing page/sign up page is written and designed, as well as how targeted your visitors are.
Social Media Marketing - Social media trends can be difficult to stay on top of, as the most popular and relevant networks are ever changing. Those who take the time to nurture and develop relationships and build up lists through these avenues can see tremendous results though. In fact it's almost a necessity for those looking at developing a long-term business and a loyal customer base. Social media marketing is also free, with the potential to be seen by thousands of prospective clients.
Contests/Rewards - Giving people free things is a quick way into their hearts. By running a contest, or offering some other form of potential reward in exchange for them joining your mailing list, you can quickly build a large list of adoring fans. Just be sure your contest prize or reward is related to your business, so you're still attracting targeted customers. If you sell designer shoes, but give away a video game console as a prize, chances are you're not going to be attracting the right people to join your list.
As you can see, there are many possibilities when it comes to marketing and list building, many of which go hand-in-hand with each other. No matter the product or service you're trying to sell, you should take advantage of at least some of these methods to help increase your list and customer base. From there, your job becomes much easier, and highly lucrative.
Now, what are your list building methods? Which ones have you found to be the most effective?
Now for list building methods.
One of the most important elements at play in the business world is the bond formed between companies and their customers. Creating and developing this bond, and the trust that develops with it, is vital to creating loyal customers who will go out of their way to purchase your goods, as well as spread the word about your services.
In the online realm, the most effective way to accomplish this feat is through list building, and through that, constant communication with your customers. By gaining your way into your customer's hearts (and e-mail inboxes), you can keep your business at the forefront of their thoughts through all manner of communication, be it offers, service descriptions or updates, or personal stories.
There are many ways to accomplish building a quality list; some more effective than others, as far as building a list of willing customers is concerned. After all, having a large list of people uninterested in your product is of little use to you.
In the following section we'll look at some of the more popular methods used for list building, and how each can be used effectively to help spread the word about your service and recruit new customers into your fold.
Methods for expanding your list to gargantuan size
Blogging - Blogging is a great tool in multiple respects. Not only can it be used for the purposes of building lists, but the content of your blogs can also help build your credibility in your chosen niche. If you're not an adept writer, you can always hire someone to do the word slinging for you, though budgetary restrictions may not make this a viable option, at least to begin with. Blogging also allows you to springboard new ideas off your customers and get their first hand feedback.
Article Writing - Much like blogging, article writing allows you to develop a reputation in your niche, with the further benefit of list building. Articles are typically submitted to one or more article directories, with links back to your website. In fact if you're both blogging and writing articles, you could even use one to help promote the other, in addition to the site(s) in question.
Free Reports - Free reports are typically short e-books sent out to interested parties, and typically contain affiliate links, as well as links back to your own service inside. Free reports will usually be sent from squeeze pages, allowing you to gather e-mails in this way. As with the above examples, you can use your blog writing and/or article writing to help freely market your free report.
E-Books - E-Books vary in size and scope, and may be sold for a fee or distributed freely. E-Books are great tools for providing your customers with in-depth knowledge of your service, or the general field within which your service resides, and allows you to contain direct and affiliate links within for marketing purposes and list building.
PPC - PPC, or pay-per-click (often simply called Google Adwords, though Google is just one PPC provider), is an advertising model whereby the client only pays for advertising costs based on the number of times the ad has been clicked. While click-through doesn't necessarily guarantee sales or targeted traffic, you can at least be sure that you're generating a fair amount of traffic for your advertising dollars spent. It's then up to your product or service to steal the show and convince people to join your mailing list.
Adswap - Adswap is a mutually beneficial way in which two different sites can freely advertise their site. Adswaps will typically be carried out between sites with a similar niche, as well as comparable levels of traffic. Ads may come in the form of graphic or text ads directly on the site, or through other forms of promotion, such as personal endorsements in correspondence with that site's subscribers/viewers.
Tell-A-Friend - Tell-A-Friend is a means for you to let your satisfied customers do some of the work for you. This method usually involves a link from your website or a particular page of interest that allows users to directly e-mail or contact their friends. These e-mails are often pre-generated, making it easy and more attractive for the person sending it, and contain links within that allow the recipient to visit your site or join your mailing list.
Videos - Videos help give your brand a face, making your service instantly more credible and trustworthy. Videos are typically static shots of you (or someone else if desired) discussing your product or service, while directing them to join your mailing list through the video itself, or the video's description. They can be hosted at any number of free video hosting sites, acting as list building and free marketing rolled into one. Links to your squeeze page can be placed on the video description or the video itself depending on the video site you're using.
Forum Marketing - Another method by which you can freely contact targeted customers and advertise your site (assuming the forum allows you to do so, which should be determined before posting). Like a blog, you'll have the opportunity to interact with potential customers and address their questions or concerns. As such, it's a good idea to check back on the forums regularly following your post so as not to leave any potential customers hanging.
Popover Advertising - Not the most popular form of advertising among internet users, as the ads can be very obtrusive, but effective for the simple fact that they cannot be blocked by pop-up or ad blockers. This form of advertising can also be used to showcase your service to users while blocking their immediate access to it, in the case of them needing to subscribe or pay to access the information available.
Buy Subscribers/Mailing Lists - When all else fails, you can throw money at your marketing woes to help kick start your promotion efforts into high gear. When buying a mailing list or subscribers from a broker, ensure the list is from a reputable dealer, and filled with opt-in clients. Having the largest mailing list or subscriber pool in the world does you no good if those people don't want to have anything to do with you or your service. Even in cases where lists come from reputable dealers though, there's no guarantees as to how many of those will be interested in your service, so the results of buying lists are generally a question mark.
Webinars - A webinar is a live conference or broadcast, in which you present your customers with new information or teach them about areas of interest within your field. Webinars will usually contain a limited form of interaction with those watching, such as text chatting or interactive polls or questions.
Sign Up Pages/Landing Pages - These are typically the main or hub pages used to sell your product. The efficiency by which you convince customers to either join your mailing list or buy something is the conversion rate. Conversion is one of the key areas of internet marketing, and speaks both to how well your landing page/sign up page is written and designed, as well as how targeted your visitors are.
Social Media Marketing - Social media trends can be difficult to stay on top of, as the most popular and relevant networks are ever changing. Those who take the time to nurture and develop relationships and build up lists through these avenues can see tremendous results though. In fact it's almost a necessity for those looking at developing a long-term business and a loyal customer base. Social media marketing is also free, with the potential to be seen by thousands of prospective clients.
Contests/Rewards - Giving people free things is a quick way into their hearts. By running a contest, or offering some other form of potential reward in exchange for them joining your mailing list, you can quickly build a large list of adoring fans. Just be sure your contest prize or reward is related to your business, so you're still attracting targeted customers. If you sell designer shoes, but give away a video game console as a prize, chances are you're not going to be attracting the right people to join your list.
As you can see, there are many possibilities when it comes to marketing and list building, many of which go hand-in-hand with each other. No matter the product or service you're trying to sell, you should take advantage of at least some of these methods to help increase your list and customer base. From there, your job becomes much easier, and highly lucrative.
Now, what are your list building methods? Which ones have you found to be the most effective?
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Sean Ski -
Thanks
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