How to Build a 100K+ Optin List in 12 Months

by 103 replies
126
===========================
Most Recent Update

Today's Date 12-22-10
Current List Size 2544
Current Clicks 75 - 100
Click Through Rate: 2.9% - 3.9%

History

12-22-10 List Size 2544

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Hey Guys,

First of all, I am NOT a List building Guru
by any stretch of the imagination. (I've only
been building a list for a couple of months now)

but here is what I have learned …

My list is at 2500+ and is doubling monthly. I
am seeing new paypal payments everyday and
more and more of them

By the end of January it will be 5k+
By the end of Feb it will be 10k+

Here's what I did (and you can do)

1 - Set up a Squeeze page that converts at
least 50% offering a PLR product

2 - Have an One Time Offer set up as soon
as they opt in (I have been using a $7.95
Product. I am probably going to change it
to two offers ... a $17 Offer and then a downsell
to $9.97

3 - Buy a 1000 Click Solo Ad ($250 - $300)

That should get you 500 Subscribers

It should also get you $100 back In Paypal

500 X 3% OTO Conversion = 15 Sales

15 X 7 = $105

Your Conversion rate could be more or less than 3%

If you are doing $17 with a $9.97 downsell you could
make more. It is entirely possible that you can tweak
your funnel and break even or make money on buying
Solo Ads

Once you have a list of 500 you can start doing ad
Swaps with people. As more and more traffic goes
through your funnel your list will grown AND you
will have more money in Paypal

IMPORTANT: Take all the money you make in Paypal
from this and reinvest in Solo Ads

Tip: You can also trade with Bigger lists by doing AM / PM
Swaps, For example if your list is 500 you can do swaps with
1,000 Lists. If you list is 1,000 you can do swaps with list of 2,000

They mail once and you mail twice at 6 Am and 6 Pm

I regularly do swaps with lists of 5k+

Right now my list is 2500+
By the End of January it will be 5000+
By the End of Feb it will be 10,000+
By the End of March it will be 20,000+
By the End of April it will be 40,000+
Etc …

I fully expect my list to be 100k+ by the End of 2011

You can SELL solo ads too

Expect a 3% Click through Rate

right now my list is at 2500 and I get from 75 - 100 unique
clicks per send

Once you get up to 250 Clicks you can sell solo ads for $75
Once you get up to 500 Clicks you can sell solo ads for $150
Once you get up to 1000 Clicks you can sell solo ads for $300

You can find ad swap partners in the JV section on the
Warrior forum. I Am also a member of several Skype channels
where we set up Ad Swaps and Buy / Sell Solo ads

Hope this helps

Any questions, feel free to PM me or Add me aon Skype

Just search for “Jack Bastide”

Jack Bastide

P.S. if you don’t have money for your First Solo Ad to
Get you started why not barter Services in exchange for
a solo ad? Be creative!
#main internet marketing discussion forum #100k #build #list #months #optin
  • Good post and your dead on Jack invest your money right back into your business if possible .... My list is at 2500 too wanna swap lol?
    • [1] reply
  • Nice post Jack, 3% Click Through Rate is the normal rate. I know some people who achieve higher sometimes, not me though. 100K list brings in enough $$ to live good!
  • Great plan Jack!...just wondered, have you gotten any sense of what your
    list drop-out rate is turning out to be? ...how many lost per month and is that factored
    into your growth rate? Thanks.
    _____
    Bruce
    • [1] reply

    • Hey Bruce,

      I am losing maybe 10 people a day from
      unsubscribes

      I am adding at least 100 or more

      So the Net increase in 90 - 100+ subsctibers
      a day

      OF course as list grows I will get more Unsubscribes

      but i will also get more subscribes

      When I do a paid solo I may get 250 - 500
      Subscribers and NO unsubscribes

      So its a mixture of ad swap and Buying Solo ads

      (the solo ads are bought from PROFIT from my Oto's

      As list grows I get more and more OTO Sales which
      gives me more money to buy solos

      So it's a snowball effect

      Jack
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Great post! Thanks for the information. While building a list sounds like an easy task, some people get lost in the weeds trying to do it.
  • Can you let me know what would be some services to look into for buying solo ads?

    Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • Nice post, Jack!

      I'm actually going to bookmark this to review later. It's a simple, straight forward approach and it's good to see it's actually working well for you.
    • There are a few ways

      The JV Section on the Warrior forums sometimes has people
      selling Solos

      There are several Skype Channels where people are doing Ad Swaps
      and Selling Solos. If you add me on Skype I can point you in the
      right Direction

      Jack Bastide

      P.S. If you want to see the Offer I am using to build my list its in my sig file
      under "Make a Fortune With Facebook" If you opt in you can see my whole
      funnel
      • [1] reply
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  • after your low priced one time offer you should a huge "special offer" for $599 but since they got your other offer it's just $299 over 50% off.

    The reason you should do this is because the already have a buying mindset and their cc/paypal is out.

    just think if you got another 3% conversion on that upsell.

    You should also link back to the special offer in the free offer at the end so they can come back to it.
  • Jack Bastide speaks of truth here! You can build a list rapidly with Ad swaps and best of all, it is free to exchange an Ad with a JV partner and then, fly it out to your list in return for the same effort. This is a great method for "viral list building" in a sense.
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks Terry

      AdSwaps are probably one of the most efficient ways
      to build a list quickly

      And unlike other quick methods, such as PPC , they Are
      Free!

      We have a whole Skype Channel where a bunch of us are
      helping each other build lists

      Everybody is very friendly and willing to help

      If you consistently put in a little effort every day you
      can grown a monster list before you know it

      Jack
      • [1] reply
  • What method did you use to get your first 1000 subscribers?

    Was it article marketing?
    • [1] reply

    • If you read the First post I detail what
      I did

      basically I started with a Solo Ad and built from
      there

      Article Marketing is AWESOME but takes time

      I can buy a couple of Solo Ads and have 1000
      subscribers in a day

      Jack
      • [1] reply
  • I would think you will slowly start to burn this list over time if you keep up with all the ad swaps. People on your list are going to get sick of them and won't appreciate the amount of pitch they keep receiving.

    Remember, it's not about the size of your list - it's about the relationship you build with that list. You may end up with 100,000 subscribers but at what cost to the list? Ad swaps might be a nice way to start off a list but I would look into better ways to grow it than just continuing on with the ad swaps.
    • [1] reply
    • I hear what you are saying

      but there are ways around that

      Jack

  • sorry for sounding stupid but what exactly is a solo add do you get to advertise in another person list ?
    • [2] replies
    • Thanks for thread Jack. I'll be following your list building journey
    • That is Correct

      Solos are priced by the Amount of Guaranteed
      Clicks

      Expect to pay 25 to 30 Cents a Clicks

      So for example

      1000 Click Solo $250 - $300
      500 Click Solo $125 -$150
      250 Click Solo $65 - $75

      Insist in Unique Clicks and Make Sure to Track
      it ... I use Adtrackz

      So let's do some numbers

      Let Say you have a Squeeze Page that Converts
      at 50%

      The Squeeze page I Use is in my Sig file (the Facebook
      one) you can model yours after that

      Let say you have a $7 OTO that converts at 3%

      - You buy a 1000 Click Solo for $250

      This will get you 500 Subscribers and 500 Visitors
      to your OTO page

      you should make 15 OTO Sales ($105)

      So the Solo really only cost you $145

      $145 / 500 Subscribers - 29 Cents a Subscriber

      If your Tweak your Funnel it is possible to Break
      even or make money on Buying Solos

      If you get to that point buy all the Solos you can!

      Jack
  • Gotta get to work!
  • Another great thread for List builders. I will come again. Please update this thread regularly
    • [2] replies
    • Hey Jack,

      Is there a solo ad directory/site to find publishers specific to a niche or industry?

      Thanks for your help!

      John
      • [1] reply
    • I will be Updating this thread as my list grows
      so you can see a history of its growth

      As I learn new list building techniques I will
      share them here

      As I stated at the beginning of this thread
      I am not a Listbuilding "Guru"

      I'm just a guy taking action ...

      Jack Bastide
  • Great info Jack I am in!

    And there was I thinking that there won't be any xmas presents this year...thanks Jack

    Cheers
    Keith
  • I will be tracking it too Jack.

    Keep this thread updated with more information about your list building journey.
  • So great idea! It looks like a christmas present from you, to me - Im gonna try to make it, thanks.
  • Banned
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  • Jack after you're done promoting the PLR products what sort of products do you promote to your list, besides using adswaps from time to time?
    • [2] replies
    • Thanks Jack for sharing this with us.

      I am wondering though about the angle you take about the members in the list. Are you building relationship with them? For example, a list built from a blog where people may be regular readers and trust the blog/person behind the blog.

      So in other words, is the idea just to increase the number of leads in the list in exchange for a freebie and then just promote offers to them?

      How do you get the initial traffic to the free offer? Is it just through forum signatures?

      Thanks again for sharing your ideas here and good luck with your list building!
      • [2] replies

    • Right now I am just doing Ad Swaps. Making OTO Sales and
      Reinvesting that OTO money into Solo Ads

      I'm not all the concerned with making money with
      this list right now. I am building an Asset that will
      create Money On Demand

      Jack Bastide
  • Jack,
    Too funny, A few days ago I received an email from a marketer that mentioned a free Facebook video series that was being offered by a marketer named Jack. I visited the link and lo and behold it was you with your offer.

    I was short on time so I bookmarked the page and then stumbled upon your thread here in the forum. I'm mentioning this because your adswaps are indeed working as it caught my attention.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
    • [2] replies
    • When it comes to optin, I used the free services like freeautobot.

      Try it it's free!

      The downside of free services is, it has a lot of annoying pop-up advertisement.

      But anyway, I can still capture there names and email address and contact them in the future by sending a follow-up message.
    • See it works

      Some people think that Building a "Freebie"
      list with Ad swaps is going to build you a
      crappy list

      I disagree. I get OTO Sales Everyday from
      my list so there are serious buyers on there
      as well

      I have people promoting my offer all over the
      Internet and its not costing me a dime. (The Ad
      Swaps are Free and The Solo Ads I Buy are From
      Profits from the Ad Swaps)

      I DO Plan to create a more targetted "Relationship
      building list" but that will be over time and will come
      from people on my freebie list

      Jack
  • Your list building strategies are well thought out.
  • Marry Christmas, this method should work well
  • This may be nice for things that have a wide audience BUT what about building a list from a very small niche? I have a list now started from about Oct maybe of almost 150 people and all came from the main site. I just put up a free video squeeze page just telling people to sign up. Is the plan you describe good for extreme small niches? Also my products are very targeted to a somewhat "cheap" (as in mostly looking for free stuff) crowd
    • [2] replies

    • Depends on the Niche

      Right now the offer I am using is a Series of 6
      Facebook Videos

      IF you want to see it its in my sig file

      Who ever opts into that list also gets added
      automatically to my Master list

      So if you have an Offer that is Facebook related
      I have a very targeted Facebook list as well as
      my master list

      If I decide to change my offer to a Blogging
      Product Offer I will have Blogging list but they
      will also be on my Master list as well

      so this whole process works well for the General
      IM Make Money Online stuff which is HUGE

      IF you have a very focused Non-IM Niche like
      Training Dalmatians you could go to Google and
      see whose website ranks for your keywords and
      see if they have a list that you can Buy A Solo
      or Do An Swap with

      Jack Bastide
    • Nice post dude! bookmarked for future read!
  • got ya..i think my niche (its music realted to people who download music and look for it for free mostly) is better tuned to items realted to it so for now will keep doing what im doing.
    • [1] reply
  • In my opinion, if you're only scoring a 3% CTR with your list, you're managing it VERY wrongly.
    • [1] reply
    • It ranges from 3 - 8% Clickthrough

      I speak to A LOT of list owners and they
      tell me that's the Norm

      Of course if you have a Small Nichified
      list your CTR will be more

      Jack
      • [2] replies
  • Jack,
    I was going to ask how you add each subscriber to both the niche list and your master list but I noticed you don't use Aweber so that must be a feature for your autoresponder provider.

    I use Aweber but must admit I'm not real proficient at it. Care to pass along who yourautoresponder provider is? You can PM me if you like.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
    • [1] reply
  • On a 1000 reader solo buy, you say youcan get 500 new subscribers, yet say your list you can get 3% conversion rate. Did I understand that right?

    If so, how do you get a 50% clickthrough on your buys and a 3% on your sells?

    Thanks!
    • [1] reply
    • Good Question

      when you buy a Solo Ad you are buying Guaranteed
      Unique Clicks .. its not based on how many Subscribers
      they are sending your ad to but how many actually
      click through

      And I was using 3% as a bare minimum earlier

      So for example let's say somebody has a list of 25K
      subscribers and then sell me a 1000 Click Solos

      25,000 X 3% = 750 Clicks
      25,000 x 3.5% = 875 Clicks
      25,000 x 4% = 1,000 Clicks

      So they send my ad to their list and they GUARANTEE
      I will get 1000 Unique clicks within a 48 Hour Period

      If I don't get my 1000 Clicks they will resend my ad

      Many times you will get MORE than the clicks
      you paid for .. sometimes a LOT more

      For example the other day I bought a 500 Click solo
      and got 897 Clicks

      I use Adtrackz to track my Unique Clicks. I give them
      my ad with a tracking link and then they point their
      Tracking link to my Tracking link so we both are on
      the same page with the number of clicks

      But more important than Clicks is OPTINS and
      Optin % So you want to track that too

      Jack Bastide

      P.S. I'm actually an MLMer and a Direct Response
      copywriter ... This list-building thing is new to me but
      I'm having a blast
      • [2] replies
  • You've talked about recouping your investments via OTO's but not mentioned how you monetize your list on a day to day basis.

    Your OTO is your very first meeting with your subscriber, and sure you can capitalise on this but the real money is made in the mails that follow over time. You should be able to make around $1 per subscriber per month which more than covers your calculated cost of acquiring a subscriber.

    Are you only showing them one OTO and then that's it or are you mailing them regularly with offers other than your adswaps ones?
  • Thanks for the contribution.
  • This sure looks like a great plan. Congrats on the bank roll you've so far made, and best wishes for the bigger rolls that you're going to make with your plan.

    However, let's say you were in a non-IM niche. Let's pick one... Umm, "acne treatment". How would you go about addressing the acne treatment niche with a plan like you describe here? Any inputs on that will be highly valued, appreciated and take us all that one step closer to the bank.

    Thanks in anticipation,
    Sooraj
    • [1] reply
    • I can't provide a plan or speak for Jack and I am going off-topic just a bit but I did receive an email from Mike Geary in regards to a mailing someone in a non-fitness niche did for his truth about abs product and he basically says they crsuhed it selling upwards of 1000 copies.

      I found it interesting because he was mentioning that sometimes when you email an off-topic offer to your list it can convert extremely well.

      Doesn't answer your question above but this thread by Jack and that email from Mike have the wheels spinning in my head.

      Respectfully,
      Tim
      • [2] replies
  • Very useful post...this is really helpful for newbies who has just started with email marketing..my 2 cent..:d Thanks.
    Rajiv
  • Great post, I'll have to try that method for myself as well as for a couple clients.
    Thanks!

    T Peterson
  • I've tried list building several times. But can't seem to get past 20 subscribers with any site!

    I've been trying forum marketing here too, but due to some reason every second topic I post is getting deleted! And neither was related to self promotion!

    The last topic I posted was a list of 400+ dofollow blogs, which got deleted after some 12 posts and 100 views!

    Any suggestions?
  • Jack,

    Very interesting post!

    I hope to build a list from scratch in the IM niche this year and this thread has given me some great tips.

    I will be keeping an eye on it.

    Thanks
  • Can someone tell me where can I buy solo ads from? Thanks.
  • Hi Jack,

    Thanks for posting your experiences, good work!

    List building is my primary focus for this year and this post has contributed greatly to my strategy.

    Thanks again,

    ~Russ
  • When you talk about one time offers, I assume you meant after they confirmed their optin then the oto page pops up, rather than straight to the oto after they optin.
    • [1] reply
    • I use Single Optin

      SO my funnel goes like this

      1 - They Opt In
      2 - The Thank You page is a Low Cost (Under $10) OTO. At
      The Top it says something like this

      "Your Download is at The Bottom of this page But First please
      consider this Special Offer"

      I then have an Offer with a Link at the Bottom that says
      "No Thanks Just Give me MY download"

      I just started experimenting with two OTO's

      1 - First go to $17 OTO
      2- Then go to $9.97 OTO
      3 - Then go to Download Page

      I also have a followup sequence that sends them several
      messages sending them back to the first OTO and telling
      them to Scroll down to get their download

      I don't use Exit Pops ,, they annoy me

      Jack
  • Thanks this is really great info



  • Ad swaps are a great way to build a list fast but I think some marketers do them waaay too often.

    It seems that there are some marketers that ONLY send ad swaps which is completely pointless. Essentially you are building a list simply so you can build a bigger list so you again can build a bigger list.

    I'd personally limit ad swaps to one or two emails per month or else burn any relationship you have with your subscribers.

    James
    • [1] reply
    • like what James said adswaps are cool but they can burn your list, I se to have an adswap every day and I built a huge list like that but I limited to like 1 or 2 a week, Now for someone just starting out I would say yes go crazy with adswaps :0)

      To The Top
      Ty Neal
  • Can anyone here explain what Jack posted for a noob? It kinda all went over my head


    -What's a 1000 Click Solo Ad? I mean, it's obviously an AD but how does this work?
    -What's a Squeeze Page?
    -How Does ADSwapping work?

    thanks in advance!
    • [1] reply

    • 1- You pay somebody to send your ad to their list. They will
      Guarantee you a certain amount of CLicks (so use something
      liek BUdurl or Adtrackz) IF you don't get the clicks they will
      send again

      2 - A Squeeze page is An Optin Page that gives a free
      gift in exchange for an email address

      3- With Ad Swapping you work a deal where you will send
      their ad to your list in exchange for them sending your ad
      to their list. It's a great way to build you list fast

      Hope this helps ...

      Jack
  • You mentioned, re-invest in solo ads. Are there any known responsive solo ad services out there that you have used?
    • [1] reply
    • It's normally better to purchase ads through individuals. So you find someone in your market and contact them to see if they would be interested in selling you some ad space.

      James
  • Definetely great thread for list builder,
    Big thanks for Jack! Seems like buying ezine advertising (solo ads) is one of the fastest way to build your list isn't?

    The best thing is, email marketing is great for long term passive income bussiness.

    Cheers
  • [DELETED]
  • hello what skype channel are you speaking of? im interesting in doing solo ads till my list increases
  • Got it what you wana to tell. So keep it up boy. And enjoy with this. Keep posting like this. Cheers
  • This is very similar to how I built a list (from scratch) of over 2 million in 18 months. Read that first post again... solid gold.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi Jack,

      Sounds like a thoughtful plan. Any updates on how things are progressing?

      Regards,

      Roy
  • Banned
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  • Fantastic thread.. Thanks Jack
  • awesome! thanks! I've been wondering about doing solo ads. well I'm convinced now!
  • It seems a very valuable post!
    Can you tell us if you succeeded in reaching your target?
    Thanks.
  • Hey Jack, your info is good for those we are newbie in building their list of subscribers. Btw, do you do solo ads? do reach out to me at raymondyeohbt at gmail dot com.

    Cheers + talk soon
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