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Is "building the list" dead?

by dondoes30
13 replies
An interesting thing happened recently.

I usually promote my blog posts to my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. I started DonDoes30.com about 5 months ago and was coming up on my 100th posted article so I decided to do a giveaway.

The prize: $100. The catch: sign up for my weekly newsletter (to help build my list). I already have a couple of hundred people on my mailing list, but was pretty surprised when only an additional 5 (five.... FIVE!) people subscribed.

Maybe my imagination got the best of me because I expected them to be signing up in droves.

If people don't find $100 valuable, I don't know what else to offer them to entice them to sign up!
#building the list #dead
  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    Originally Posted by dondoes30 View Post

    If people don't find $100 valuable, I don't know what else to offer them to entice them to sign up!
    You are confusing price with value, and all those with a blur statement such as "buyilding the list is dead"

    What you need to offer them is something they value more than the $100 dollars, this is a classic example of confusiong price with value
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    • Profile picture of the author FingerPicker
      Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post

      You are confusing price with value, and all those with a blur statement such as "buyilding the list is dead"

      What you need to offer them is something they value more than the $100 dollars, this is a classic example of confusiong price with value
      I think you're spot on there!

      Also, giving away 100 dollars might not be very tempting for many people. Many prizes nowadays always come with a hidden agenda (yours not, but it is what people are suspecting anyway). For example, yesterday I got a card from my supermarket that was promising I could win a BMW every hour. I thought 'why not', so I went online and had to fill in all of my contact details. I did that, then they gave me the option to BUY a ticket for their lottery.

      So that's the problem with 100 dollar giveaways, people don't believe in them anymore. Better to give your people information they are searching for and then ask them to sign up.

      Also, remember that you make clear on your blog and social media etc. that you gave away your 100 dollars to a happy winners: very important for the rest of your readers!!
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      • Profile picture of the author McKattry
        Absolutely true! I can't think of the last time I found a 'Free Money/Computer/Car etc Prize' without a catch. Indeed, I tried finding a Free "Plants vs Zombies" app the other day and couldn't find one that was either not littered with ads that made gameplay impossible, or demanded that I buy 3 other games before I could play. Indeed I once knew a woman who was giving away her horse because she wanted it to get a good home. Not one person called. As soon as she tacked on $150, it sold to a great family within a day or two.

        As a marketer, I personally may have signed up for your deal because I could see what was in it for you! When I can see that, then I won't be as likely to expect another trap elsewhere in the offer! Take Free software, I never download any without knowing that there's an upsell, or some sort of subscription that your going to try to get me to buy. Why you ask? Because I expect there to be a trojan or something worse in it if you don't! I know, call me cynical, but I think the rest of the public is getting there fast too!
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  • Profile picture of the author dondoes30
    I see your points. I think the hardest thing about the blog (and I've posted this in other threads too) is the fact that I don't seem to have one niche in which to offer a single product.

    Basically I take on a new 30-day challenge each month and post about it. One month I gave up electronics, next month I did yoga, last month I stuck to a gluten-free diet.

    I figured cold, hard cash was an easy way and something people all love. LOL. But I see where you're coming from.
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  • Profile picture of the author melvinsh
    Originally Posted by dondoes30 View Post

    An interesting thing happened recently.

    I usually promote my blog posts to my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. I started DonDoes30.com about 5 months ago and was coming up on my 100th posted article so I decided to do a giveaway.

    The prize: $100. The catch: sign up for my weekly newsletter (to help build my list). I already have a couple of hundred people on my mailing list, but was pretty surprised when only an additional 5 (five.... FIVE!) people subscribed.

    Maybe my imagination got the best of me because I expected them to be signing up in droves.

    If people don't find $100 valuable, I don't know what else to offer them to entice them to sign up!
    If you are giving away a prize like that you could have ran a giveaway and got at least a thousand subscribers, you just have to know how to advertise your giveaways, I do it all the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Yea, $100 wouldn't entice me all that much knowing the chances of me receiving it are not that good.

    Also, you probably need to broaden your audience a bit... try advertising a direct squeeze page with a unique USP with, or without, a giveaway.

    But don't do the $100.

    Do some apparel, an enticing digital product, or something like a credit card knife which the masses love... think outside the box and get creative. Try to find items that not a lot of people have access to.

    List building is far from dead... you just have to open up and see the possibilities.
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  • Profile picture of the author RickCopy
    I disagree with everyone about the "value" of $100... yeah you could get a product for that much cash and use that as the giveaway but your problem isnt what you're giving away...your problem is that no one knows you're giving it away.

    reach out to bloggers and FB pages in your niche and ask them to share the contest. If you use rafflecopter you could add a voting option to sign up for other site's newsletters too in exchange for them helping you promote it.

    I gave away a couple $11 products on my last rafflecopter giveaway and got like 2000 entries just by posting the widget at the end of that months posts and reaching out to a couple other FB pages to promote it once or twice.

    I see a guy on FB all the time giving away seeds...yes a couple packets of $3 seeds and he regularly gets 500+ entries a day.

    it doesnt matter how much the prize is worth as long as you're getting it in front of people.

    also... if all you're doing is advertising your contest to your existing readers then they're probably already on your list. you need to advertise in places that ARENT already on your list... and no, SEO is not going to work well for that.

    just to let you know though....I see very little difference in traffic after doing contests. people today usually have a throwaway account for spam and contests or they'll unsubscribe after the giveaway is over.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    I've tried contests with social media with poor results. I concluded people prefer a sure thing such as some enticing free ebook or something else valuable. Many people claim contests can work wonders, but it never worked for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco Moeschter
    People looking for solutions that one of the main reasons they are on the net. Your $100 bucks will help them for a short amount of time and after that they are on the same spot again. I guess your readers figured that out. That means you have to give them a real solution to their problems and they will start subscribing.

    Also it seams that your audience is to broad. Put different opt in forms in your blogposts to send them to different lists. This way you make sure that you offer solutions to problems they are interested in.
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    • Profile picture of the author Biz Max
      I have been kicking ass with no 'list building'. LinkedIn has been all I need
      these days. Never will I do an autoresponder again.
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  • Profile picture of the author depotgang
    List building is not dead, but you have to be very compelling to get opt ins... Aggressive marketing works
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    Learn how to start your own Solo Ad Business without an autoresponder or build a list. It's Fast Fun and Profitable. https://soloadmasterclass.com/

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  • Profile picture of the author Ghoster
    As others have said, you should offer them something valuable related to your niche. People know these days that their chances of winning the $100 isn't good.

    Why not create an ebook (that has actual value) and tell them you will give it away to everyone IF you reach xxxx new subscribers?
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    On the whole, you get what you pay for.

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  • Profile picture of the author shadowcat
    List building is surely not dead but yes it matters how much attractive your price is .. But yes I do feel it got way to tricky ..
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