I inherited a big site with a huge list, what can I do with it?

I would look for books, ebook, tapes, courses etc that teach how to learn English and the offer these things on the site and in mailings.

HP

Hey,

If you do not mind me asking, what niche is the site in?

If it is online marketing related, I have a couple of suggestions, in this case, PM me!

If it's a "cold" list, meaning they're not used to getting emails from you, I would try to warm it up by sending some killer over-delivering content emails first. Send them links to some GREAT English-learning stuff, give them some free tools, etc. You'll have to earn their trust before they'll buy anything from you.

That's an amazing amount of traffic...will be a fun project, I'm sure...best of luck!

Rosetta Stone: Partner with Us

There ya go.

An update. We did the first step, optimizing the adsense placement and ad type, ernings went from $1100 in July to $2760 in August (!). But I still don't have a plan for the huge list. Thinking.......

Sell banner ads. So many companies will be ready to invest in such a big forum. You can check out buysellads.com in this way you can reach to more advertisers. So many forums are using banner ads really it works.

there are just too many ways you can make money with it...im jealous!! hahaha

you can always promote products from clickbank or does CPA...i think that is the easiest...

Also, if it's possible, you might sell books and tapes and DVDs through Amazon. Look for captioned ones that are in English but captioned in Spanish. I'm sure there are movies that people would love to see.

Agree with Mel,

You can place Amazon products in your website...The problems with most marketers is traffic part but you got this part solved..some CPA are also targeted to your Spain audience...

Wow that's a great problem to have!

This isn't an original idea, I'm stealing it from James Schramko, but he calls it:

"The No Leakage Rule"

Basically the no leakage rule means: don’t have paid advertisers or links to other websites in your sidebar, but making sure the only way someone can leave your site is via an affiliate link or closing the browser. (Obviously make sure all the affiliate links are relevant to the niche and are helpful to your members.)

Hope that helps!

-Jesse

Many thanks for your suggestions. I'm reading about a couple of CPA networks in Spanish (like soicos.com). It seems to give good earnings, even for sites with few visitors.

I have to create strategies for differents fronts, for the site, for the list, we have more than 10K fans in FB and I guess we could reach 50K easily, also for Twitter.

I must say I'm a bit overwhelmed

I will keep you informed about the progress

You are getting a ton of great advice here.

1. Warm up the list with content.

2. Affiliate with Rosetta Stone.

3. Affiliate with Amazon - Drop the contextual ad block in the page somewhere, and you may find as I have done that those contextual placements can result in some of the most unexpected additional sales.

4. After you have warmed your list, keep with the good content, but add in affiliate links for:
5. Respect the interests of your users by only advertising stuff that they have already shown an interest.

Ok thinking a bit "out of the box" here, with a list of such potential, I wouldn't try flogging them the ebook type thing, you have the power to create something unique . While affiliate marketing would make you good money, I believe it's small-time thinking for such large potential.

Someone mentioned partnering with Rosetta Stone and I would go a little further than this, I would contact them directly and ask them to whitelabel a product for you, or alternatively, develop something completely different for you. Naturally, they would get the chunk of the money, but partnering in this way will take your desirability factor up many notches. Given your marketing power, they should be receptive too, give them access to your site, answer any questions (ideally get someone who speaks good English to do it with you) and be happy to sign a legally binding contract.

Another "not normal" idea would be to partner up with vacation firms offering group discounts and who pay introduction fees, you could make yourself a middle-man travel agent (legalities aside). Further team up with insurance companies, clothing retailers, car hire etc, you get the idea. Monetise EVERYTHING!

You have the power and the market share to build yourself something unique and I urge you not to under-play your hand.

Dave.

Why not start running a forum from the site? Or flip it around and make a website that teaches Spanish to English-speakers?

@ tpw those are great advices, thanks, I was thinking in that way.

Hi everybody. A short update of what's happening.

I sent the first email to the list. I included some valuable information and a promotion of WhiteSmoke (an English syntax and orthographic corrector) that already generate $300 and I guess that number could be doubled in the next days.

Ok, it's not amazing but it's a good start I guess

I have a question for you. The email was sent to 330K users with GetResponse. Bounces were about 27K (it's logical because it's a list not used in almost two years), but the open rate, after four days is only 12%. I know the open status can only set if the user activate the email images, so lets multiply that by a generous 1.5, we get an open rate of 18%. Is that number reasonable for a very targeted list?

Can I trust GetResponse is really delivering my 330K emails?

Thanks in advance for your assistance
Kevin

I'd monetize the list and the site with a subscription course that requires a monthly fee.

It could work, but there are two main problems: site has a long tradition of all free content, a paid course would require a strong justification. I guess the paid ebook I mentioned, about a very specific topic, could be a bit easier to justify. Second, we would need to develop a complete new course content, different than the existing content.

Have you ever thought about selling lessons? Like outsource some native speaking English people who also do speak Spanish and sell half-hour or hour long sessions with them? You could probably hire someone for about $15/hr and charge $30+/hr.

I know its been mentioned but I think Rosetta Stone would be huge for your site and I believe its affilaite program is ran through CJ...

You might also want to consider having a professionally written eBook of your own made and offer it to your list along with the quality content you send out to them. With a list that size (if your eBook is top notch) you could make a nice chunk of money with it.

Best of luck with your site!

Let me clarify. Advertising in the site is about 85% Adsense and 15% Babylon/WhiteSmoke. I'm working in an ad manager in order to make easier to sell advertising in direct way.

Then, we have two lists. The big list of 330K users, and a smaller list of 80K that receives English lessons for 52 weeks. This lessons have banners of Babylon/WhiteSmoke. For this I'm planning a redesign for better add integration.

The big list was inactive for two years. I start by sending a first newsletter last week, with some valuable content and a couple of paragraphs about WhiteSmoke. That produced 350 trial downloads and about $400 in commissions until today.

Problem is, I have too many fronts open. Site need lot of updates and improvements in many areas, but I'm in the process now.

I will try to PM you, not sure if I have enough post for that.

@AfteraDream Sorry, I can't PM you, I need 50 posts. If you want to PM me an email account I will be able to contact you.

Simple thing is start a sequence of sending your list members some useful information on how to learn English. Make sure it actually helps them.

Every so often recommend a English learning product that you think can actually help...and sells. Check their sales page; make sure it caters to both English and Spanish users since your userbase is spanish.

You can find many affiliate offers on clickbank alone but you can give it a search on gogle.

With a list that size and a good adcopy you can easily make several thousand with the right offer.

Start building up some rep with your users first and gain their trust. But also make sure you got permission to send them the information such as your TOS.

@humbledmarket thanks for your advices. We are now working in a plan just like what you say.