Share Your TOP 3 List building Methods - No Theory Allowed

61 replies
How about we start a thread that EVERYONE can learn from ...

Share your TOP 3 list building methods.

Preferably give some details -- not just a bullet of the 3 methods.

Details like:

- How you've used this method.
- Results you've achieved.
- What you would suggest for someone just getting started with this method.

This could turn into a VERY valuable thread for everyone.

Cheers,

JP Maroney
aka "Mr. Monetizer"
#allowed #building #list #methods #share #theory #top
  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    I like these three:

    1. Article marketing
    2. Video marketing
    3. Forum marketing

    In terms of targeted traffic, they all rock (if you do it right). But it can be a bit slow if you're all about the numbers. I just don't really like doing ad swaps. I know they work and can grow your list fast, but it just seems like you're sharing around the same core of subscribers (at least in the IM and MMO niches). I like to get fresher "blood" into my lists, and I'm willing to sacrifice speed and size for motivation and serious targeting.

    As an example, I have a list that's under 900 people and I just finished #8 on a leaderboard for a fairly big product launch. I beat out some marketers with lists 10X that size (and more). It's more about trust and relationship than it is size, at least in this niche.

    So I'm comfortable writing articles, shooting videos, and participating in forums to drive targeted, motivated visitors to my squeeze pages. For me, slow-and-steady wins this race. I take my lists very seriously. They're the heart of my online business.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
      GREAT first post, John,

      I agree on list quality. I'm venturing out to try some list swaps for the first time. Up until now have mostly relied on JV' (webinars, teleseminars, group product promos).

      I see you're "near Dallas" ... what part? I'm in Tyler ... 90 miles East of big D.

      Keep 'em coming guys...

      Cheers,

      JP Maroney
      aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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      • Profile picture of the author dremora
        The methods I have used so far and worked nicely:

        1. Free WSO. Give away a very attractive freebie, WSO section has tons of traffic and a free WSO is invaluable for list building. I didn't even put up something attractive and still got subscribers.

        2. Blog sidebar. After I switched from forced optin via squeeze page to the sidebar form on my blog, I got a spike of subscribers and the unsubscribes dropped like a rock. Write interesting content, put the opt-in at the sidebar, it pays off!

        3. Optional opt-in at download pages. I put an opt-in form at the download page for product, everyone who purschased got in the list.

        4. You said top 3 methods but I will share a 4th: Facebook fan page landing. Sticking the optin form at the fan page static FBML tab and making that the default landing for non-fans also helped getting new subscribers.

        I hope this helps someone out there!
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        • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
          That's AWESOME ... thanks!

          And a BONUS 4th method -- cool.

          Guys, this could QUICKLY turn into one COOL thread that helps a lot of people.

          Cheers,

          JP Maroney
          aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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        • Profile picture of the author Derek_Thomas
          Originally Posted by dremora View Post

          1. Free WSO. Give away a very attractive freebie, WSO section has tons of traffic and a free WSO is invaluable for list building. I didn't even put up something attractive and still got subscribers.
          I will just add one thing...while a free WSO is a great way to build your list, it doesn't necessarily have to be free.

          The buyers of my WSO are automatically added to my Aweber list.

          It's hard to find a better list than 100% buyers.

          Will keep my eye on this thread for even more ideas.

          Derek
          Signature
          Thousands of happy Warriors agree...
          This service is a MUST - so worth it - Barry C.
          Derek is a keyword genius - Alan W.
          The results are incredible - page one already! - Navia B.
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          • Profile picture of the author dremora
            Originally Posted by derek.ifocus View Post


            The buyers of my WSO are automatically added to my Aweber list.

            It's hard to find a better list than 100% buyers.

            Derek
            Watch out for automatically adding people to Aweber via WSO, a major WSO vendor here recently warned people about it, cause Aweber blocked their account for automatically adding people. Aweber doesn't like this and when they notice you are doing it, they block your account. Some subscribers hate being added without their confirmation and complain to Aweber, you really don't want all this headache.

            I put an optional opt-in right under the download link and 99% of the buyers subscribed on their own, try this instead of automatically adding. Give them a benefit such as early bird discounts or specials/review copies etc for future WSO's, they will sign up.
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            • Profile picture of the author Derek_Thomas
              Originally Posted by dremora View Post

              Aweber doesn't like this and when they notice you are doing it, they block your account. Some subscribers hate being added without their confirmation and complain to Aweber, you really don't want all this headache.
              My understanding...they may block your account, but not for automatically adding subscribers, but rather as a result of getting too many complaints.

              My very first email sent after purchase is regarding (1) support, and (2) info about what to expect from me, even how to unsubscribe.

              You're right...it's certainly not a headache I want. But I think there are certain practices that cause this to be an avoidable issue. If Aweber blocks your account simply by noticing you're doing this, they wouldn't give you that option in the first place. Again, in my estimation, it's all about complaints received.

              Good thoughts though....

              Derek
              Signature
              Thousands of happy Warriors agree...
              This service is a MUST - so worth it - Barry C.
              Derek is a keyword genius - Alan W.
              The results are incredible - page one already! - Navia B.
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          • Profile picture of the author MWGrubb58
            Originally Posted by derek.ifocus View Post

            I will just add one thing...while a free WSO is a great way to build your list, it doesn't necessarily have to be free.

            The buyers of my WSO are automatically added to my Aweber list.

            It's hard to find a better list than 100% buyers.

            Will keep my eye on this thread for even more ideas.

            Derek
            I think the ideas here are great.... but I have a question... I've been an Aweber user for years (I probably need to look at all the tutorials!) and I need to know how to "Automatically" place a buyer on an Aweber list? I thought unless you checked off a box in your formatting, everyone HAD to fill-in a form to get on a list.

            Please forgive the tech question here, but it seemed the best place to ask it!

            Warmly,

            Millard
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            • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
              Originally Posted by MWGrubb58 View Post

              I think the ideas here are great.... but I have a question... I've been an Aweber user for years (I probably need to look at all the tutorials!) and I need to know how to "Automatically" place a buyer on an Aweber list? I thought unless you checked off a box in your formatting, everyone HAD to fill-in a form to get on a list.

              Please forgive the tech question here, but it seemed the best place to ask it!

              Warmly,

              Millard
              Millard,

              You can send an email to aweber and use the parser to automate sign-ups. They already have parsers in place for many systems (like 1shopping, authorize.net, etc)

              You can also get a developer to create a hidden form, carry the variables from the order, and auto subscribe them. And, some ecommerce systems integrate with aweber.

              I've been a LONG TIME user of aweber, but recently started migrating to iContact because they will allow import of permission-based leads from other sources:

              Webinar Registrations
              Trade Show Sign-ups
              Seminar Attendees (I speak A LOT)
              Etc.

              There are a few things I really miss about aweber, but I'm REALLY liking iContact. (now where's my affiliate link? JK) :-)
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        • Profile picture of the author humbledmarket
          Banned
          Originally Posted by dremora View Post

          The methods I have used so far and worked nicely:

          1. Free WSO. Give away a very attractive freebie, WSO section has tons of traffic and a free WSO is invaluable for list building. I didn't even put up something attractive and still got subscribers.

          2. Blog sidebar. After I switched from forced optin via squeeze page to the sidebar form on my blog, I got a spike of subscribers and the unsubscribes dropped like a rock. Write interesting content, put the opt-in at the sidebar, it pays off!

          3. Optional opt-in at download pages. I put an opt-in form at the download page for product, everyone who purschased got in the list.

          4. You said top 3 methods but I will share a 4th: Facebook fan page landing. Sticking the optin form at the fan page static FBML tab and making that the default landing for non-fans also helped getting new subscribers.

          I hope this helps someone out there!
          Haha can't help but notice that your 4th method is the script I'm giving away free to build my list lol

          Anyways my top 3;
          1. Forum Marketing- Very Helpful and enjoyable. Just post in your related form
          2. SEO- Get the term you want; I got hundreds of hits/subscribers thanks to SEO...not much but to me it's a success
          3. Solo ads and Ad swap- I can get them quick with solo ads. Save the time requires a bit of investment though

          I want to try article marketing, and video marketing as some of you mentioned. Perhaps also adsense, facebook ads and fan pages. Never really used facebook for my list because I thoguht my niche didn't fit facebook although it's a FBML code but not many marketers go on facebook looking for free tools for their marketing.
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          • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
            Originally Posted by humbledmarket View Post

            Haha can't help but notice that your 4th method is the script I'm giving away free to build my list lol

            Anyways my top 3;
            1. Forum Marketing- Very Helpful and enjoyable. Just post in your related form
            2. SEO- Get the term you want; I got hundreds of hits/subscribers thanks to SEO...not much but to me it's a success
            3. Solo ads and Ad swap- I can get them quick with solo ads. Save the time requires a bit of investment though

            I want to try article marketing, and video marketing as some of you mentioned. Perhaps also adsense, facebook ads and fan pages. Never really used facebook for my list because I thoguht my niche didn't fit facebook although it's a FBML code but not many marketers go on facebook looking for free tools for their marketing.

            @Humbled -- would love to have that script. How can I get it?

            And, tagging onto what you shared...

            1) Forums: I not only built my first seed list with forum contributing, I totally launched my online presence and made some of the best friends and alliances buds which has been very financially and personally rewarding. I was an ACTIVE member, and ultimately moderator at Michel Fortin's old copywritersboard -- that's where I met many of my best marketing buds and colleagues. I did it by GIVE-GIVE-GIVING in the forum ... much like I'm trying to do here at WF these days. When I first arrived there, I knew very little about copyriting. BUT ... I knew how to sell, and how to crush it offline in marketing. So, I literally said in the forum, "Guys, I'm not a copywriter -- don't claim to be. I wanna learn from you guys. But, I do know THESE things -- XYZ -- and I will be happy to contribute my insights and knowledge where applicable." It worked!

            2) SEO: I just hired someome to do some long tail keyword research for me. Going to launch a LOT of loaded articles over the next few days and weeks for some key terms that are also converting well for me right now.

            3) SOLO Ads - Bought my first two solo ads last week from people I met here in WF. That, combined with to Ad Swaps I did last week built a new list of almost 300 in < 7 days. (I separated it out from my other lists so I could watch it grow from scratch.)

            Guys, I'm personally learning a lot in this thread. Really appreciate all the contributions.

            Keep it coming -- let's rock this thing out.

            Cheers,

            JP Maroney
            aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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            • Profile picture of the author SuperStu
              JP thanks for starting this thread it is providing great value and an inspiration to relative newbies like me.

              Stuart
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              • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
                Originally Posted by stuart.stephen View Post

                JP thanks for starting this thread it is providing great value and an inspiration to relative newbies like me.

                Stuart
                You bet, my Brutha! My pleasure.

                I'm learning from it too.

                I'm ALWAYS LEARNING. (In the last 2 weeks, I've been TOTALLY immersing myself in an expanded education on listbuilding ... buying ebooks and other training programs, reading, studying, asking all my buds what's working for them.)

                Even with a list now topping 10m (not big by any stretch) ... my goals are to continue building. Now, more aggressively than EVER before.
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                • Profile picture of the author Jack Bastide
                  1 - Buying a CD with 9 Million Opportunity Seekers for $17

                  2 - Using an Automated Scraper to grab email addresses off the Web

                  3 - Adding hundreds of email addresses everyday without the people's permission

                  Jack

                  P.S. What are you doing up so Early JP?
                  Signature

                  If you can drive Biz Op Phone Calls .... I'm Buying

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                  • Profile picture of the author George Phillip
                    Originally Posted by Jack Bastide View Post

                    1 - Buying a CD with 9 Million Opportunity Seekers for $17

                    2 - Using an Automated Scraper to grab email addresses off the Web

                    3 - Adding hundreds of email addresses everyday without the people's permission

                    Jack

                    P.S. What are you doing up so Early JP?
                    Interesting, this above isnt whitehat Throw some CRORE's in the mix, and bulletproof servers hosted overseas.
                    Signature
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                    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
                      Originally Posted by George Phillip View Post

                      Interesting, this above isnt whitehat Throw some CRORE's in the mix, and bulletproof servers hosted overseas.
                      I'm with ya George.

                      Guess I should have pre-qualified that -- Honestly didn't expect those responses when I started the thread.

                      So, let me say it here ...

                      Permission-based list-building.

                      Fair enough?

                      BTW...

                      @JamesPenn -- Good contribution. Appreciate it.
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                      • Profile picture of the author D_M_S
                        Originally Posted by JPMaroney View Post

                        Permission-based list-building.
                        It IS permission-based. Everyone *says* that they don't sell your info, but . . .
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                        Looking for new affiliates for a penny auction web site -- please send me a PM

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  • Profile picture of the author adrianhargray
    I agree with zeus66 with his top 3. Some say that article marketing is dead but i'm seeing pretty steady results with my efforts. If you want to see article marketing work, your best bet is to create 5-10 articles a day for your niche. The top 5 article directories allow up to 20 submissions a day, so this isn't even the max that you should write.

    Video marketing is good too and this is definitely would i what recommend for a beginner. Video is an excellent way to boost conversion rates and i would advise trying to create 5 new videos a day also. This may seem much for someone starting out, but internet marketing is tough, so this is what i recommend.
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    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
      Originally Posted by adrianhargray View Post

      I agree with zeus66 with his top 3. Some say that article marketing is dead but i'm seeing pretty steady results with my efforts. If you want to see article marketing work, your best bet is to create 5-10 articles a day for your niche. The top 5 article directories allow up to 20 submissions a day, so this isn't even the max that you should write.

      Video marketing is good too and this is definitely would i what recommend for a beginner. Video is an excellent way to boost conversion rates and i would advise trying to create 5 new videos a day also. This may seem much for someone starting out, but internet marketing is tough, so this is what i recommend.
      Adrian,

      GREAT ... I want to add something -- then ask you a question too.

      First, I kinda HATE to sit down and "write" so something I'm starting to do for reports and articles is this -- and it's working like magic. In fact, I'm about to create a product about it.

      1) I set a timer for 10 minutes and brainstorm my main idea and key points. (learned the timer thing from FlyLady -- my wife follows her, and Jason Fladlien -- product machine there too).

      2) Then I move my title and key points to a 3-4 powerpoint slide template.

      Slide 1: Title (benefit statement)
      Slide 2: Key benefits of whatever method I'm teaching.
      Slide 3: Bullet points I wanna teach ... creates a visual while helping me stay on track.
      Slide 4: Call to action / resources

      3) I flip on camtasia and record screen video and audio while I "teach" off the slides.

      4) Produce to video.

      5) Rip to audio MP3

      6) Email the audio to my transcriptionist who turns it into a full text PDF report.

      NOW>>>>>>

      I have:

      a) A video
      b) An audio
      c) A special report

      Cool, eh?

      FAST FAST FAST FAST!!!!!!

      I used it last week to create a new program called, "How to Get Rich Giving FREE Speeches!" Worked like a champ.

      Now, for articles ... doesn't have to be that complicated OR long.

      Think about it this way ... the average person speaks at 150 words a minute (here in Texas it's more like 72 wpm :-) )

      If you "TEACH" for 3 minutes, that's a 450 word article. That's easy to do. In fact, I have a hard time NOT going over.

      OK Adrian ... my questions to you:

      What are the top 5 article directories you mentioned?

      And, how long are your articles (word count)?

      Thanks so much for sharing ... this thread is starting to ROCK!

      Cheers,

      JP Maroney
      aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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  • Profile picture of the author D_M_S
    Step 1 - buy your list.

    Step 2 - you're done.

    Some sites that tell you that they dont sell info are just plain lying to you. You can find opt-in data to buy.
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    Looking for new affiliates for a penny auction web site -- please send me a PM

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    • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
      Originally Posted by D_M_S View Post

      Step 1 - buy your list.

      Step 2 - you're done.

      Some sites that tell you that they dont sell info are just plain lying to you. You can find opt-in data to buy.
      BUT ... you can't get it into Aweber

      Will
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      • Profile picture of the author D_M_S
        Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

        BUT ... you can't get it into Aweber

        Will
        That seems incredibly short-sighted. Since when is Aweber the only list-mailer out there??? This is like saying you can't buy a Ford and you're stuck. Well, that's OK, you can buy a GM, a Toyota, etc.

        Besides, you can buy/make your own mailing software, run it through a mail server that allows opt-in lists and manage it all yourself.
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        Looking for new affiliates for a penny auction web site -- please send me a PM

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        • Profile picture of the author NaturalStyle
          Originally Posted by D_M_S View Post

          Besides, you can buy/make your own mailing software, run it through a mail server that allows opt-in lists and manage it all yourself.
          Of course you can, but your hosting provider will probably not like that your subscribers flag your mails as spam. And trust me, quite a few will.
          It's nowadays (unfortunately) easier to report a mail as spam than unsubscribing. For the latter, you need to open the mail, scroll to the bottom, click the link, and then you'll probably redirected to a form "why do you want to leave this incredibly valuable list, you stupid fool". Report as spam is a click on a button in the email client, much easier.
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          • Profile picture of the author D_M_S
            Originally Posted by NaturalStyle View Post

            Of course you can, but your hosting provider will probably not like that your subscribers flag your mails as spam. And trust me, quite a few will.
            It's nowadays (unfortunately) easier to report a mail as spam than unsubscribing. For the latter, you need to open the mail, scroll to the bottom, click the link, and then you'll probably redirected to a form "why do you want to leave this incredibly valuable list, you stupid fool". Report as spam is a click on a button in the email client, much easier.
            You should do more research into providers. There are *plenty* out there that will let you mail quite a bit. Most VPS providers will cap you at around 10,000 e-mails/hour on a single server. Put that across a few servers, multiple hours in a day and you can ratchet up your numbers quite a bit.

            There's money to be made in SMTP hosting and as long as that exists, there will be hosting providers out there for that, doesn't matter what people are marking your mail as.
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            Looking for new affiliates for a penny auction web site -- please send me a PM

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      • Profile picture of the author George Phillip
        Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

        BUT ... you can't get it into Aweber

        Will
        Actually, its more than easy to get emails into Aweber. Mail them using whatever mailer you use then send them to your squeeze page but maybe turn off the double opt in. Presto.

        Originally Posted by JPMaroney View Post

        I'm with ya George.

        Guess I should have pre-qualified that -- Honestly didn't expect those responses when I started the thread.
        Haha. Pretty soon we'll have them talking about red blue box
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      • Profile picture of the author joelraitt
        Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

        BUT ... you can't get it into Aweber

        Will
        But you can get it into other companies like icontact
        Signature

        Work smart, work hard, never give up. Learn with me here: http://www.joelraitt.com

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  • Profile picture of the author adrianhargray
    My top 5 article directories are:

    - Ezinearticles.com
    - goarticles.com
    - ideamarketers.com
    - articledashboard.com
    - articlesbase.com

    With ezinearticles definitely being number 1. I take a look at my traffic logs and see that out of all of my article directory traffic, the bulk of my traffic comes from these sites. All of my articles are 500+ word articles. I keep it like this because I keep in mind that ezinearticles can revoke your platinum membership status if your article quality declines.

    With video marketing, i primarily stick to Youtube. I upload my videos in FLV format (about 3 MB) each, and they upload super fast with pretty good quality. I tried uploading in .avi format and the file sizes are around 150 MB. With the FLV format, i can upload up to 10 videos at one time - and it isn't slow nor hurt my bandwidth limit.
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  • Profile picture of the author Toby Lewis
    I like to use a blog with an optin form on the sidebar and the bottom of EVERY post.

    Also have separate page with no sidebars that is a dedicated squeeze page, so you can send direct traffic there (eg articles).
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

      BUT ... you can't get it into Aweber

      Will
      Will, no disrespect intended, but that's only an issue if you rely on Aweber...

      JP, my top method in all its incarnations is trading value for information. Like Zeus, I like articles, videos and forums.

      If you know your numbers, paid ads can work like gangbusters. I'm still working things out, but the people who advise me say text ads for search (Adwords, mostly, but try the other contenders) and page-targeted image ads on the content network and similar ad networks do the best for bringing targeted visitors to your opt-in offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author hireava
    In my opinion. I really like Forum commenting coz I can promote my site at the same time I can gain so much from different awesome people about their professional opinion.

    anyways you can outsource them if you really want that edge.
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    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
      Great information guys!

      Keep it coming.

      @John ... Agree about the value for $.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
    Check my sig (free link cloaker) it's a brilliant way of building a list. (Slow but steady)

    Giving something away of value can be hugely beneficial, it's surprising how quickly it all builds up

    Kim
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    I agree with Jhon Mc Cabe, trading value for their info is the way to go, nevertheless I like
    speed furthermore this is what I do:

    1.) After market research, bid for some very specific phrases on adwords.
    2.) Create infoproduct (usually an ebook) solving this problem.
    3.) Send the traffic to a landing page.

    Am I the only one that pays to build his list in the beginning?

    The rest always goes for free?
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  • Profile picture of the author luis23
    Excellent post. First time finding it and well just great insights to build my list. Right now here is what I am doing for one of my clients.

    She is offering Live Seminars for future clients. I just create a customized Landing Page for her and we are using aweber and PPC with Google.

    That is giving us a great conversion rate in people opt-in for the FREE seminar and we are hopeful that more of them are going to Join the Program after the Live FREE Seminar.

    So probably what I am trying to say, is Use Landing Pages for giving Freebies and capture people's information and continue marketing to that list until your convert them to customers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Know what's odd? While I'm mostly known in the IM "make money" niche, my
      biggest list is in the health niche.

      And the way I build it is so simple.

      1. Write articles on health topics that people really care about. Things that
      have TONS OF SEARCHES.

      2. Submit to article directories, making sure I have a killer resource box with
      a link to a free report that is going to be of interest to the person looking up
      those problems.

      That's it. It's not rocket science. The key to the whole thing is keyword
      selection. You want to stay away from the ones where you have no chance
      to rank. I have about 6 articles in sub niches of the health niche that
      are on page 1, position 1 of Google...and that's with no other form of
      promotion other than just submitting to EZA.

      My biggest problem with this list is that I stupidly didn't think about how
      to really monetize it properly. So most of the money comes from Adsense
      when they get to my site with the free report. It's a content site with
      articles, products page and an opt in.

      Some opt in.
      Some buy the products targeted to them.
      Some just click on Adsense.

      I could do better if my AR series had more monetization in it, but I dropped
      the ball on that one. Most of the followups are pure content with no
      pitches at all.

      No wonder my subscribers love me so much.

      Anyway, that's it. Nothing magical. Just rolling up your sleeves, writing
      some articles and having a decent site for people to go to.

      If you do that, I see no reason why you can't build even just a modest
      list.
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      • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
        @Steven -- great plan, well laid out. As you know, I just grabbed your ebook and will be using that to instruct my assistants on article marketing. Having keyword research done for me right now.

        @Natural -- thanks for the insight.

        @DMS -- Care to share some specific steps, niches, monetization using what you've suggested? I'm not sure I have the guts to go down that path.

        Cheers,

        JP Maroney
        aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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        • Profile picture of the author AndrewStark
          Here's mine...

          #1 Understand the market you're targeting and then create a unique lead magnet. If the market responds best to free content then make it rebrandable and give others the rebrand rights for viral marketing. If the market is mature then use the lead magnet as a cheap front end product to get buyers into your marketing funnel straight away.

          #2 Set up a marketing funnel. What products / services are you going to be recommending to your list? If you told the owner of the site you're going to be their affiliate then the law of reprocicity means you can leverage their traffic by getting a spot in their marketing funnel.

          #3 Build a relationship. Include links to social media which you use personally, don't send them to the twitter / facebook accounts you use to spam the hell out of people! Once you gain people's trust and actually become friends then you are able to really kick on and repeat #1 & #2 based on real feedback of people who know what your skills are.
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        • Profile picture of the author D_M_S
          Originally Posted by JPMaroney View Post

          @DMS -- Care to share some specific steps, niches, monetization using what you've suggested? I'm not sure I have the guts to go down that path.
          I'm not sure that its as much about "guts" as much as it is about tech knowledge. Using the stuff I posted would take (1) some knowledge about VPS and (2) moderate to strong knowledge about POP, SMTP and IIS. But once you have it in place, you can mail 1,000,000 messages for about $20.
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          Looking for new affiliates for a penny auction web site -- please send me a PM

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  • Profile picture of the author NaturalStyle
    Never had much success using videos hosted somewhere. Bad CTR despite having strong call to action at video end. I know quite a few get a lot of traffic from videos, but the question in our context is "do the visitors sign up"? Think about it- if somebody sees a video he/she is likely in a "I want to be entertained" mood. For signups you need visitors in a "I have a problem and want to solve it" mood.

    Traffic from articles converts best for me, because I presell in the resource box (as in "to get your free xxx and elminate yyy forever, click here". By far best traffic providing article directory is still ezinearticles.com.

    Second best traffic source is search engine traffic (very long tail).

    Nevertheless, search engine traffic is the best for me. If you have authority sites and put up a new page on a subject your site is about, it is indexed in seconds and (nearly always) automatically on page 1 of the search results. Add some link building and you cement yourself on position 1.
    The time to get a new page up and the time to write and submit an article are roughly the same- so plastering the authority site and building further authority rank with new pages makes more sense then providing new content to an article directory. Traffic from nearly all articles dries off anyway (some survive though).
    This is of course long-term thinking, for short term traffic articles are great, especially if published on ezinearticles on the weekend. A paid account with them is worth it.

    Websites are only a tool to get subscribers, that means if somebody clicks on a search result he/she gets a very enticing opt-in offer targeted at the audience.
    You need to give away your best stuff for free to get the opt-in, then give away even more great stuff and sell the advanced stuff later.

    Also, I am transparent to Google by using Analytics. There is nothing to hide because I provide regularly updated fresh content that gets the audience motivated to get their problem solved. So people read it and click through links on the site- what Google wants to see.
    At least, I think big G wants to see good rankings in factors like number of pages visited, time stayed on the site, high percentage of returning visitors etc. to boost you in their results.

    The easiest way to get returning visitors is tell your list you've just got a new, exciting page up and that they should check it out. This will help your rankings, what will help you build your list... a perpetuum mobile.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Phillip
    Facebook Fanpages and Invites to Fanpages revolving around games by Zynga.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Daniels
    1) PPC - Be prepared to blow money to start with, do your research, discover buying keywords, test, measure, small groups of words, lots of different Ads
    2) Article - 300 word article a day on Ezine Articles, pick a keyword, get three more from google wonder wheel, be sick on the page in 300 words ranting about your point
    3) Twitter - Learn how to do it properly, research, micro niche, search.twitter.com, scale, rinse and repeat

    That has taken me about 3 years to learn all this BTW....I do a lot with video but not really mastered it to a level of measured success
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  • Profile picture of the author peter.max
    Give away software where the software registration is also an opt in to Aweber. I had software written that is essentially a browser in a Windows form without the top URL visible etc. The first time around it will open a nominated web page with the Aweber form in as part of the software registration. The next time it gets opened it will go to a page with some functionality developed on top of Google's search and adwords API (traffic stats, competition etc). The software is download without opt in but the first time you run it you have to opt in.

    Michelle from Crowd Mountain gave away similar software a couple of months ago
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesPenn
    My top 3 methods:

    1. Get your own product up and selling for between $7-15. Get a HOT converting salespage (10%+). And then get as many affiliates as you possibly can. Keep in touch with your affiliates and get them to continually promote for you. Collect the names and emails of each of your customers.

    2. Create another salespage selling your product exactly the same, but add a coupon form where visitors can enter a coupon to download your product for free. Find other people selling products in your marketplace and allow them to offer your product for free as a bonus on their download page. Give them their own coupon code that they can pass on to their customers. If you can add a OTO that your partner will earn commissions from this will increase the likelihood they'll offer your product as a bonus. This strategy will enable you to build a list of BUYERS without them having to buy from you.

    3. Pay for solo ads and participate in ad swaps with other list builders in your market. By far the quickest way to increase your list size. But don't overdo the adswaps, your list will get bored of them, and then they'll get bored with you.

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author Super Affiliate
    For me, buying 2 solo ads got me close to 900 optins. It did cost me about $400. But considering how much you must pay for 1 optin using Google Adwords, it's a lot cheaper and faster. Highly recommend it.

    Joe
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    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
      Originally Posted by Super Affiliate View Post

      For me, buying 2 solo ads got me close to 900 optins. It did cost me about $400. But considering how much you must pay for 1 optin using Google Adwords, it's a lot cheaper and faster. Highly recommend it.

      Joe
      Bought my first solo ads last week.

      I'm pleased.

      Will definitely do MORE!

      Cheers,

      JP Maroney
      aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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      • Profile picture of the author Super Affiliate
        Originally Posted by JPMaroney View Post

        Bought my first solo ads last week.

        I'm pleased.

        Will definitely do MORE!

        Cheers,

        JP Maroney
        aka "Mr. Monetizer"
        Good for you. If you could find the "right" people with responsive lists, it's definitely worth it. : )

        Joe
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        • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
          UPDATE:

          Told you guys I would keep you posted ...

          As I mentioned, I started a whole new list in icontact so I could track the growth from my newest efforts.

          In last 7 days, I grew that list from ZERO to 341 (as of moments ago). Note: This is a micro piece of my overall list, but I'm happy to see the measured, 7-day growth from only TWO strategies.

          1) List Swaps (I've now done 2 in last 7 days). Zero cost - except for swap club membership.

          2) Solo Ads (I've done 2 in last 7 days -- total cost $110 ... $50 for one, $60 for other)

          I know a lot of people talk about making $1-$2 per subscriber on their list. My numbers are higher than that because I sell a LOT of big-ticket coaching, and $2000-$3000 products.

          I won't know for a while, but I would say those 341 new subscribers (so far) will easily be worth about $51,000 to me in revenue.

          Here's how I arrive at that # (again based on some of my own results).

          Around 10% of list will buy something at some point = 34 buyers

          My overall average lifetime value of a client is about $1,500 = based on past 6 years experience. If I segment out JUST people who buy big-ticket coaching, etc. the average is a lot higher, but to be fair I'm taking the WHOLE enchilada which includes $1 trials, my latest $7 front end offer, etc.

          Those numbers are shifting slightly right now because I'm introducing a lot more lower priced products, but I expect them to go back up because I'm also qualifying and bring in A LOT more buyers these days.

          Hope that mini-case study helps!

          I plan to share more as I get new results.

          Cheers,

          JP Maroney
          aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    1 - Twitter

    2 - Blogging

    3 - Facebook

    RB
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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    • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
      Originally Posted by ryanbiddulph View Post

      1 - Twitter

      2 - Blogging

      3 - Facebook

      RB


      @Ryan -- mind sharing a few more details about how you're using these three methods?

      I think the thread would benefit greatly from it.
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      • Profile picture of the author JPMaroney
        Hey Guys ... UPDATE:

        I've been using a couple of methods very successfully over the last few weeks. Thought I'd update.

        1) Swaps - I've been really happy with results I'm getting with swap. I'm using SafeSwaps (don't wanna put an aff link in here). Love the results. Plus, I've attracted a few direct swaps as well. You can see my profile on safeswaps Ratings of JP Maroney at Safe-Swaps.

        Only caution I would say is pay close attention to the offer you're sending out for a swap partner. There's some good stuff -- and some real stinkers ... and that'll kill your rep with your list.

        I suggest you click through, check out the whole process BEFORE agreeing. I'm becoming much more cautious about it now.

        2) Solos -- I've had the good the bad and the ugly of these now. But, overall I'm very pleased. It's fast and efficient list building.

        Cautions -- One of the guys I bought from insisted on WRITING the copy - not using my swipe ... AFTER I had paid him. That resulted in a CRAPLOAD of unqualified traffic.

        My swipe prequalifies people so they know what they're getting when they get to the page. His was a "go here cause you'll like it" kinda email which sends total crap to the page.

        That works great for the guy selling the swap because he fulfills his click commitment. BUT, it's NOT a good thing for you as a buyer.

        I would just make sure that's clear before making the purchase.

        Hope this update helps...

        Cheers,

        JP Maroney
        aka "Mr. Monetizer"
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        • Profile picture of the author richard_s_smith
          Thanks for starting this JP, rookie manna
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          Love the life you live so you can live the life you love.

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      • Profile picture of the author Rick88
        If you have money to invest and you know what market you want to sell in then the use of a list broker can get you very targeted leads. The way to use that list is to have the list owner email for you your offer of something of value. One list was $500 for 50,000 (yes that is fifty thousand) people. You can specify the list to be buyers in the last 30 days and so on.

        Yes, it works well.
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  • Profile picture of the author brucaSEO
    We Generally do

    Article Writing and Submission
    Social Bookmarking
    Forums

    For few keywords on our site and for clients site we are on good ranking.
    Also we will soon start with Blog commenting, Image and Video Marketing. Hope to get more benefit from those.
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  • Profile picture of the author Damielle
    1. JV Giveaways
    2. Forum Marketing
    3. Creating & Selling Products
    They all work for me, but Selling products is my favorite as you get buyers on your list and I also get the non buyers with an exit pop. Some of which buy in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Webb
    Sell Products #1 ->

    1. List instantly filled with Buyers
    2. Assuming the product's good, easy to promote to JV's/Affiliates who will promote the product and fill your list with more qualified buyers stat.
    3. Rinse repeat
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    Hi I'm Chris and I run compelling.tv, a site dedicated to helping you to sell more with online video
    Get Free Video Marketing Tutorials on YouTube!
    Free Video Stuff: - Join for access!
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    • Profile picture of the author TryBPO
      A few tips we've found effective:

      1. Opt-In on About Us page. I first heard about this on SPI with Derek Halpern from SocialTriggers talking to Pat Flynn. Your AboutUs page is usually highly visited and having in-line opt-ins is a great opportunity to catch them as they're getting to know you. Start with why your blog is important to them and then get into your personal story. Have an opt-in after each section.

      2. Don't sell to your list. It sounds counter-intuitive, but for us non-serial buyers, the only way I actually end up buying something is when someone provides in the email or links to a blog post where they're doing something cool and they HAPPENED :-) to be using a tool that has a juicy affiliate commission. Seeing it in action and giving me actual real-life tools/tricks to get something done makes me MUCH more likely to check out the tools. Don't treat your readers as if they're stupid or simply there to make you profit...help them!

      3. Guest Blogging. Putting a well-written post on someone else's blog provides them with some free content and gives you access to a group of readers directly. Make sure it's in your niche or a related niche and watch the sign-ups pour in.

      4. Freely and regularly linking to others that have value. If you're linking to them regularly and their great content and letting them know, they're going to mention you either to show how popular THEY are or because they're flattered and want to pay it back. You'll pick up quite a few of their readers and get sign-ups this way and it works like a charm.
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      Website Brokers - We can help you sell businesses making $500 to $50K per month.

      Free Website Valuation - How much is your website really worth? Find out here, free.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adnan Firdous
    Though I don't do list building myself, but here's what I have learned so far -

    1. Create a stunning Squeeze page!
    2. Give something valuable in return of subscribing! Something which others are not sharing!
    3. Interact with them regularly,
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    1. Media buys like solo ads, ppv, and buying ad space direct from website owners

    2. Co-oping with a jv partner

    3. SEO

    I used to do a lot of ad swaps... I prefer buying traffic instead these days.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    I can't believe that press releases haven't
    been mentioned.

    I've had a lot of success building targeted
    lists by issuing a press release that announces
    the publication of a new/controversial report
    on my topic.

    It's well worth paying for a wide distribution
    through services such as PR Web.

    John
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    John's Internet Marketing News, Views & Reviews: John Taylor Online
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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    Jason's post has just reminded me that I
    should have mentioned affiliates!

    As long as you set it up properly, you can
    add a lot of new subscribers to your list
    when you pay affiliates per optin.

    Alternatively, add an exit pop to your sales
    pages and credit affiliates with sales made
    through your autoresponder.

    John
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    John's Internet Marketing News, Views & Reviews: John Taylor Online
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  • Profile picture of the author Abby Gibbs
    Offering freebies like ebooks is one great way of getting lists then take care of them with useful contents. Don't spam them with offers all the time make it 80-20 and with your list you will start making money online.
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