Online Marketing From Home

They say the money is in the list… And, they are right! Well, sort off… It really depends a lot on how you treat your list, why people signed up in the first place and how / where you found your list members…

Anyway, how do you go about building a list? Let’s make it more interesting… How do you go about building a list for free?

Many people simply set up a website or blog, sign up with a company such as Aweber, place an opt-in form on their website or blog and wait for people to sign up for their ‘newsletter’ by offering them some free content such as a free report, video or audio course.

Well, should you place an opt-in form on your website or blog it? Sure. Are you going to get a lot of new subscribers this way? Not necessarily… Unless you are able to drive a lot of traffic to your website or blog and give people a very good reason to opt-in! Your average website or blog will probably not get more than two or three signups a day…

Here are two free list building strategies that have worked very well for me…

1. Free Reports

How it works…

You compile a good quality report on a hot topic that you know your target market is interested in and set up a squeeze page to collect names and email addresses. Set it up in such a way that a new subscriber must first confirm his request for information before he gets a copy of your report.

Even a free report must be sold. I get many offers every week for free reports and ignore the majority of them simply because my time is valuable and the fact that I am offered something for free does not mean I want it.

You have to convince people that your report will benefit them by highlighting as many benefits as possible. In addition, give them a reason why you are giving it away for free… Many people think that a free report has no real value!

Do not make the mistake of giving away a report that is full of fluff and affiliate links and expect people to opt-in before they can read it. Yes, you will be get new subscribers even if the report is crap. But, subscribers do not pay the bills… customers do! By giving away a crap report you will damage your credibility before you have even started building a relationship with a new subscriber!

If I give away a report as an incentive for someone to subscribe to my list I want them to think only one thing, namely: “If he is willing to give away such high quality information for free I can only imagine how good the content is that he is actually selling!”

Tip: Make a note every time you sign up for a special offer, promotion, free report, etc. How was it presented to you? What made you sign up? Copy and test what seems to be working for others!

Do I need to write my own report?

It depends on how / where you are going to promote the report. Let’s look at a couple of options…

WSO (Warrior Special Offers) at Warrior Forum

Okay, this is not free but for only $20 it’s as good as free… I have gained many subscribers by giving away a report as a WSO. It must be your own report! For example, you cannot list a report for which you have acquired resell rights!

Ad Swap (actually a ‘List Swap’)

This is a great way to build your list!

In principle two marketers agree to cross promote a free product to their respective lists.

Okay, let’s consider some common questions…

Do I need a huge list before I can participate in a list swap?

Short answer… No. Even if you only have a list of say 500 subscribers it can work. If your ‘partner’ has a bigger list he is obviously under no obligation to email his whole list and only needs to send an email to 500 subscribers.

How / Where do I find possible list swap partners?

I suggest contacting other marketers that you feel positive about, for example marketers that post good content on forums and that’s on a similar level to you. In other words, focus on your peers and not on contacting gurus.

What do I say to them?

You have to make a proposal. Here is a short and simplified example…

Hello {name},

I really enjoy reading your posts on {forum} and I think we share very similar views on {topic}.

I am going to get straight to the point…

I am very interested in the possibility of doing a list swap with you. I have a list of {number} double opt-in subscribers and was wondering if you have a report that I can email my list about that they can get for free by subscribing to your list?

I have a very good report about {topic} that I sincerely believe will benefit your list members. Here is a link to my squeeze page and a direct download link for my report – {links}.

I am convinced that by doing a list swap we can both gain a significant number of new and responsive subscribers. In fact, it’s a win-win situation… I am sure your list will appreciate getting my report for free and I know my list loves getting quality content.

I look forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

{Your Name}
{Your Contact Details}

A couple of tips…

Do not send reminders! Once your potential partner has indicated his interest you can suggest a date and time, and provide him with a proposed message that he can email his list (he can obviously edit it or use his own).

If your potential partner is interested in your proposal but does not mention the size of his list or the product he wants you to promote ask him for this information. Do not email your list about a product that you have not reviewed. If the product is crap walk away!

Can I trust my partner to email his list?

It really helps to know your partner and to be on his list before you approach him about a list swap. I have done a couple of list swaps and only had one case where a partner didn’t email his list as he said he would.

Tip: If you get a good report for free from another marketer that’s using it to build his list contact him. You already know he is offering his report for free as an incentive for people to join his list and you have already determined that his report is good.

Lastly, I suggest that you use your own unique report in a list swap. You will look very unprofessional to a potential partner if you do not have your own report. If you want to use a report that you have private label rights for I suggest you completely change the report to make it unrecognizable from the original report!

Giveaways

Participating in a giveaway event as a contributor can be a good way of building your list fast. In fact, it’s recommended by most gurus… But, there are some things you should consider before participating as a contributor…

A typical giveaway event will stipulate that you should have a list of at least 500 people and that you need to promote the giveaway to your list. In addition, many giveaways insist that you only list your own unique product and some even request that it must be a product that you are currently selling.

The more people you refer and that sign up under you the better. You usually get more points for referring new contributors than “normal” members and the number of points you have will determine whether your gift is listed on the 1st page or the 30th page. Obviously the 1st page gets a lot more traffic!

There is normally also an OTO (One Time Offer) when you sign up but that another story…

Is the structure fair? Yes. But, that does not mean it’s always a good idea to participate. No, and here’s why…

Unless you can get your product close to the 1st page you are not going to get a lot of people to opt in to your list in exchange for your free report. I often see claims about how you can add thousands of new members to your list… Take it with a shovel of salt!

What about the new members you gain? Well, chances are they signed up for many other “gifts”. They don’t only have a truckload of new products to digest (serious risk of indigestion or information overload) but they are also getting a lot more emails than before.

Remember that at the end of the day an unresponsive list is as good as having no list and you run the risk that some of your previously responsive list members may be less responsive afterwards.

All in all it’s not a bad way of building your list but I very seldom promote giveaways to my list. I normally only participate when I can buy a spot on the 1st page without having to email my list.

But, do you not always need to be a follower!

Here are two ideas you may want to consider in the future…

One – Host your own giveaway! Why not? Learn from what others are doing and copy what works.

Two – Contact a couple of reputable marketers and set up a Giveaway JV with them. This is a similar to a ‘list swap’ except that instead of only one partner you will now have four or five partners. The products can be placed on the home page of a newly created website and the partner with the biggest list can get the top position. Even if your product is the last of five products listed on that page you will probably get more new subscribers than with a traditional giveaway!

Here is one last tip on building your list with free reports…

Tip: Ever heard of article marketing? Sure you have! Well, why don’t split the free report you have created into several articles and submit it to an article directory such as Ezine Articles? At the end of each article (in your author bio box) you mention that this article is an extract from your special report on whatever topic but that they can get the whole report for free by clicking on the special link you have included (that will take them to your squeeze page). I’ve done it… It works!

2. The $7 Script

Just in case you have not heard about the “$7 Script” here’s how it works…

In a nutshell it gives you the ability to run your own affiliate program from your own website. One of the main benefits of the script is that it can pay affiliates 100% commission straight into their Paypal account immediately after a sale. Once you set it up the script takes care of it.

I am surprised not more people are using it…

I think I know why… People often focus too much on the $7 part (you can actually set your own price) and the 100% commission part… They don’t like the idea of paying affiliates 100% commission. But, you know what? They are missing the point!

As far as I am concerned the main benefit of using the “$7 Script” is list building!

I am sure you have heard of “viral marketing”…. I have seen many people advocate that you should give away a free report and encourage others to give it away as well…

Well, here’s a newsflash…

MOST FREE REPORTS NEVER GO VIRAL!

You know why? Because there is no direct monetary incentive for others to promote it!

Marketers want to make money. When they email their list it’s normally to promote a product that will give them the opportunity of earning money. Telling their list about a free report is simply not a priority. In some cases they will promote a free report if they can rebrand some affiliate links with their own but even this is an exception.

Promoting someone else’s free report with no way of capitalizing on it? Yeah right!

Now consider this for a moment… You write a good report and sell it for $7. Your affiliate only needs to add his Paypal address to the url and will earn 100% commission on every sale he refers. In addition, all the people that bought the report through your affiliates will also be able to promote the report for 100% commission. Can you see how such a report can go viral?

It does not matter that you do not get any money on the front end sales of your affiliates! You basically have an affiliate army that’s building your list for free!

By the way, nothing stops you from adding an OTO! You can for example stipulate that your affiliates will earn a 100% commission on the front end and 50% commission on the OTO!

Before I forget… The “$7 Script” is not an expensive product. In fact, it’s only $7! However, unless you are very familiar with installing scripts it can be tricky to install as the installation instructions are not very clear!

Kevin Riley recently launched a new report called “All-Thumbs Guide To Installing $7 Secrets”. The report only costs $9.95 (last time I checked) and includes a copy of the $7 Script meaning the actual cost is only $2.95 since you don’t need to buy the $7 Script separately. It’s over 50 pages long and includes many screen shots that will walk you step by step through the installation process.

Kevin also mentions several precautions you need to be aware of in order to be compliant with Paypal’s policies! This in itself is worth more than the cost of the report!

Click this link for more info on Kevin Riley’s report: $7 Secrets

Tip: Once you have your first report (that is using the $7 Script) up and running you can list it for free on ‘7 Dollar Offers’!

Here is the direct link to ‘7 Dollar Offers’: 7 Dollar Offers

If you have a bit more money to invest then I highly recommend you take a look at the “Rapid Action Profits Script” by Sid Hale. The best way to describe it is “$7 Script on Steroids”! It’s more expensive and will set you back $177 but it worth every cent and more.

I recently started using the Rapid Action Profits Script and can kick myself for not getting it sooner…

Click this link for more info on the RAP Script: Rapid Action Profits

Okay, there you have it. Some of my best free list building strategies!

As always I welcome your comments and will reply to all questions.

Wishing you all the very best!

Francois du Toit     

 

I recently returned home from a short 9 day holiday with my family. We had a great time. For once I decided (reluctantly) not to take my pc with me on holiday… I simply wanted to spend as much quality time with my family as possible.

However, I did spend a lot of time thinking about online marketing in general and my list in particular during some long walks on the beach… Sometimes it is good idea to put some distance between you and your pc just to clear the cobwebs and to get a fresh perspective on things.

Well, upon my return I had more than 700 new emails (all internet marketing related) in my inbox! As I started pruning my inbox I noticed that several emails were about list building. By the way, I actually deleted most of the emails before reading them but that is another story…

What I found interesting were the conflicting views of some very reputable marketers on the subject of list building. Let’s call it Scenario 1 and Scenario 2:

Scenario 1

Use a squeeze page to capture as many new subscribers as possible. Feed the new subscribers into an autoresponder sequence that will automatically email them on a daily basis. In addition, do a broadcast message to your entire list every day. Every email should be about one product you are promoting.

Scenario 2

Work on building a relationship with your list. Do something that will make you stand out from the crowd and grab the attention of your list members. Try to offer as much helpful free content as possible. Don’t try to pitch a new product with every email.

I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but I noticed an increase in the number of forum posts this week about list building. Some list owners were complaining that their list members were not very responsive while other people complained about receiving too many emails and how they have unsubscribed from multiple lists.

It is a tricky issue… We are always told that it is very important to build a list. The emphasis is normally on building a huge list and not on how to treat your list.

Personally, I believe it is important to build a list. But, I also believe what is even more important is how you treat your list!

I sometimes get the impression that many marketers have no problem building a list but are often clueless on what to do with the list…

There are several issues that should be considered…

In defense of ‘Scenario 1’ – New list members are often more responsive than ‘old’ list members. They are normally more curious as well. Chances are that if they do not buy anything from you within the first couple of weeks after joining your list they will never buy anything from you and will either unsubscribe at some point in time or will pretty much ignore your future emails.  

There are several marketers whose emails I used to read from A to Z in the beginning when I just joined their lists and whose emails I hardly ever read anymore…

Furthermore, many new marketers get disillusioned with internet marketing for a variety of reasons. In fact, I have read somewhere that the average new marketer quits within the first six months after starting! Changes are that many ‘old’ members have long ago lost interest in what you may have to say!

Anyway, in my opinion ‘Scenario 1’ can only really work over a short-term period. Most people do not want to receive daily emails. Most people do not want to read emails that are nothing more than advertisements (I was tempted to write ‘junk mail’). Your list members will very quickly unsubscribe or become unresponsive.  
        
The big problem with ‘Scenario 1’ is list fatigue. It can only work if you are continuously adding new members to your list in the hope that they will buy something while they are still fresh.     

I have no doubt that ‘Scenario 1’ can make you lots of money over the short term. But, unless you can add loads of new subscribers all the time you will quickly end up with a dead list.

Please allow me a minute to quickly digress… Some marketers have told me that they have to email their list every day because they are promoting very cheap products and need to sell quite a number of those in order to make a living. I don’t want to comment on the merits of this approach. The only thing I want to say that you have to plan ahead and select a business model that will work for you.

Okay, let’s consider ‘Scenario 2’ for a moment…

In short, it’s all about building a relationship with your list and offering loads of valuable and free content. This does not mean that you’ll never pre-sell, sell or promote any products to your list.

Most of your members will have no problem if you pre-sell, sell or promote products, as long as that’s not all you do.

Let’s compare it for a moment to a free magazine that gets delivered to your post box once a week… If this magazine contains nothing but ads, chances are you will quickly lose interest in it and think of it as nothing else but ‘junk mail’.

However, if this free magazine contains loads of interesting and often useful articles you will probably think of it in a completely different light. You will have no problem with the fact that it contains ads. Why? Because you understand that no magazine can survive financially without a single source of income.

In my opinion, the same principles apply to email marketing. It’s very logical when you think about it… Most people are reasonable and don’t expect to get everything in life for free. If they do, and unsubscribe from your list, it’s no loss!

Let’s quickly touch on the subject of relationships…

By building a ‘relationship’ with your list I am obviously not talking about building close and personal friendships… Yes, I have made many new friends through the years thanks to my ezine. But, this is not what building a relationship with your list is all about.

For me the two most important elements in building a relationship with your list are TRUST and RESPECT!

Trust + Respect = Credibility!

People are not going to take anything you say seriously if they do not trust and respect you. Furthermore, ‘trust’ and especially ‘respect’ is something you have to earn. It does not happen overnight… But, it is very easy to destroy your credibility overnight!

In my opinion, there is no better way of establishing credibility than by providing your list with quality content.

Too many marketers make the mistake of seeing their list as a ‘cash cow’ that can be milked whenever they want to! They promote absolute rubbish as the next best thing since sliced bread as long as they can earn big commissions. In other words, they don’t really care a rat’s ass about their list.

I have said it many times before, but I would like to say it again… Your main motivation should never be to milk your list members. It should be to HELP THEM!

Well, I guess by now it should be pretty clear that I believe in ‘Scenario 2’. It may not be as profitable as ‘Scenario 1’ over the short term but if you are serious about building a long term business it is the best way to go.

One last thing…

Why is building a database so important to most companies? Yes, it’s a lot easier and cheaper to market to targeted prospects and existing customers than to find new customers all the time!          

I am often surprised how some marketers work very hard to find new prospects but treat their current list members very poorly… It makes no sense to me!

Your list is one of the most important assets you can build in online marketing. Look after your list. Treat your members well and you will be handsomely rewarded. Treat your members poorly or abuse their trust and you will end up with a non-responsive list in no time at all.

Trust you have enjoyed reading or listening to this post. As always, I look forward to reading your comments!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

Before I get to my review of Kevin Riley’s latest ‘recipe’, called “Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials” I have a confession to make…

I really suck at making videos! Have you ever seen one of my videos? No? Well, count yourself lucky!

Hey, it is not like I have never tried… It is just that I really dislike reinventing the wheel by teaching myself through trial and error, and, I have never come across a really good resource on how to create profitable videos.

Yes, there are many short little reports on the market about creating online videos. In fact, I even have the Private Label Rights to many of these. Have you ever seen me promote them? No, I won’t even give them to you for free!

Fact of the matter is that I have no doubt in my mind that I can significantly boost my sales and increase my mailing list by using video. There are many things that I am not an expert in and that I am not interested in becoming an expert in either. I either don’t really need to know it or I can easily outsource it.

Video is an exception! Here’s why…

The most important thing you need to significantly increase your online income is targeted traffic! Let’s be honest, the worst sales copy on the net, that gets a lot of traffic, will always make you more money than the best sales copy on the net that gets no traffic.

Pretty logical!   

Now there are many ways of getting targeted traffic. Some are free (bum marketing, posting on forums, etc.) while others can be quite expensive (PPC advertising, ezine advertising, etc.). As a general rule of thumb you will always get more traffic by paying for it. There are a couple of exceptions and video is an exception.

Video is very inexpensive. You may have some initial costs shooting a video but once it is done it is done. A powerful video can send a stampede of targeted traffic to any one of your sites at virtually no cost.  

How would you like to get an extra 1,000 or even 100,000 visitors per month? What impact would this have on your income? How many new prospects would you be able to add to your mailing list?

However, it is not that simple! You cannot simply just add any video to YouTube and expect to retire by next week. You need a sales-pulling video!   

Well, time for my review of “Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials” by Kevin Riley…

“Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials” is not really a recipe… It is a cookbook! In fact, it consists out of three books totaling over 300 pages (334 pages to be exact) and nearly 500 screenshots!

It is the most comprehensive package I have ever come across on how to profit from video commercials.

I would normally review any new product by listing the things I liked as well as the things I didn’t like… Well, there is nothing I didn’t like from “Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials.”

Part 1 gives a step-by-step and fully illustrated blueprint of how to create a video that will attract targeted traffic, pre-sell to them and then send them to your site with credit card in hand.

Every step is laid out in great detail with simple, and easy to understand, instructions.

Part 2 (Two Books) gives you a step-by-step strategy on how your video(s) can rank very well in the search engines. In fact, even dominate the search results.

In addition, it explains how to get your video up on the most important video sites on the internet (not only YouTube!) and how to promote your video using the power of Web 2.0.

Being brand new on the market, Kevin Riley is selling “Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials” at a special price, for now anyway…

I highly recommend it!

Click here for more information.

To Your Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

Just read a special report this week by Jimmy D. Brown called “How to Triple Your Opt-In Requests From the Same Amount of Traffic… Without Spending A Penny!”

He starts the report with quite a bold statement: “Make One Small Change To Your Website And See Your Opt-In Requests Skyrocket!” Certainly got my attention!

Now I have to admit that there are many reports and ebooks on the market about list building. Some are good, some are not so good and others, well… terrible.

I would rate this report as “very good”. It is short (only 20 pages), contains to fluff, does not require any special skills and Jimmy’s strategy is very easy to implement.

Best of all, it is absolutely FREE.

You can download this report simply by clicking on the following link:
How To Triple Your Opt-In Requests  

Enjoy!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit