Starting over, need a few tips on creating a list

Thanks WillR, good tip on researching using forums

A lesson best learnt right up front is that quantity does NOT equal value. Don't think you need to giveaway a huge report or a bunch of long videos -- you don't need to. Some of the best freebies I have received over the years have been from 1-2 page PDF files or short 1-2 minute videos. Just give them your best secret and make it easy for them to consume it. The larger your giveway, the longer it will be before they are done with that and ready to look at your paid stuff. So just focus on quality NOT quantity. That's a lesson I learnt the hard way. Give them your number one best secret that will help them move one step closer to their desired outcome. Once they see you are able to progress them towards their desired goal they will be more interested in looking at what else you have to offer (ie: your paid stuff or affiliate products you recommend).

You would offer a freebie and have an optin form that collects email addresses from people who want to access that freebie. So you use an autoresponder service such as Aweber (that's what I use) and they give you code to insert on your squeeze page that creates the optin form. People then optin on that form and their email address is automatically added to your list and they then get access to the freebie. You can then set up a bunch of emails that go out to those people automatically over the course of the next x amount of days, weeks, or even years. It's totally up to you.

Your freebie should always be given away on a squeeze page. That is a single page that's only objective is to squeeze the email address out of the prospect. Keep it simple and to the point. You can definitely build a blog and content rich site to drive traffic and then advertise your squeeze page on that site.