Building a list is critical to succeed in business. The saying “the money is in the list” is very true. If implemented effectively, you will have access to a list of loyal subscribers who will willingly open your emails, click on your links, and trust your opinion and ultimately buy from you.
Ok so you’ve now decided to build a list. But perhaps you are pondering how to get subscribers, or more to the point how to build a profitable list. So here I am going to share how you can build a great list. The best bit is the methods below are free or fairly cheap to implement.
- First, you need traffic to your website, blog or whatever other online platform you might host. Without traffic, how will your readers ever know about your offer. (check out my previous post here on amazing ways to really fire up your online traffic flow).
- Give plenty of opportunity for sign-ups and links to sign-up on all your platforms. Include it on all areas of your website, your blogs etc.
- Use free incentives to entice your users to sign up. But don’t just give any incentives. Be careful in what you give away to maximise your chances of success. Whilst you should offer valuable incentives to your subscriber, don’t give away everything. Leave the real treats for your emails and ensure your incentives are in line with your emails.
- Another way of attracting subscribers is to create exclusive content for your subscribers. Create password protected pages comprising your best content that only they can access.
- Explain what is in it for them. Be specific and explicitly honest about what you are offering. Emphasise the benefits they will receive from signing up. It’s really good if you can support this with evidence such as testimonials (showing how others have benefited), your credentials/qualifications/experience (setting yourself as a source of experience worth listening to), and examples of your messages (direct evidence of the value they should expect to receive).
- Utilise cross promotion for mutual gain. Approach others in your niche, and create joint ventures where you send emails to your list about them and they send emails to their subscribers about you.
- Alternatively, write positive blogs/articles on each other’s newsletter/freebies, or recommend subscribing to their list.
- Offer your freebies to others (in your niche) to give away with their products. This will generate lots of promotion/interest in your product, and links to your page.
- Create a high quality ebook drawing upon your expertise i.e. from all your existing articles, blogs, website, posts, etc. In it provide plenty of links back to your blogs etc. Ensure you give lots of promotion to this exciting new book you have created. If you have provided plenty of value in your ebook they will have every incentive to sign up to your list.
- Guest posting. There is less persuasion work here as your readers are already convinced by your credentials due to your association with the host and will be more easily convinced to sign up to your offer.
You’ve made all that effort attracting your subscriber, so maintain their interest and ensure they don’t leave. Keep your readers motivated to keep reading. Give your subscribers something to look forward to – entice them by telling them what is coming up in future issues and how this will benefit them. Ensure your content adds real value and is of consistently high quality to make every future issue unmissable.
Focus on relationship building. From day 1 (your first email), show that you are concerned about your subscriber and want to help them. Keep it personable/ friendly. Invite their feedback, opinions, and suggestions. Don’t make promises you can’t keep – If you say you can do something, ensure you actually do/can deliver.
Building a list is not an instantaneous process. It takes both time and effort. But following these tips will set you on the golden path to list building success.
You want more traffic to your website, I want to help you. Subscribe to my newsletter and I'll send you my free report - 5 crazy ways to get more traffic to your website.
Each week we'll get to know each other better and I'll send you some useful information that will help you market your business more effectively.
Sound like a deal?
Remember, I send all my best stuff to my newsletter readers.
About Lilach
Another great post Lilach, particularly like the tip regarding links back – thank you
Bridget Greenwood recently posted..Warning: IFAs : Webinars can grow your business
thanks Bridget, pleased you found it useful:)
Great advice as always Lilach and how important that word “profitable” in your title is. Many people are so focused on list building they neglect the important part – making it profitable. So many times I have heard profitable marketers say they make a lot of money from a relatively small but quality list (in comparrisson to some marketers out there who have big lists but don’t profit from their list in the same way.) So great tips to attract; engage and keep subscribers and to profit too.
David Downer recently posted..What’s The Big Secret?
Thanks David, absolutely right. People are obsessed with numbers but they need a list which converts as well. The key is being completely transparent with your subscribers and building a relationship with them.
the money isn’t in the list, it’s in the relationship and that is what makes it profitable – good thoughts
Sarah recently posted..365 blogging for business tips
Twitter: saraharrow
Thanks Sarah – yes building relationships is a crucial part of list building and when people start to realise that they will see better conversion rates.
Love your content Lilach – spot on as always and great that you harp on about relatioship building as much as we do
Susan Beesley recently posted..Facebook Marketing For Business
Twitter: chris_susan
Thanks Chris and Susan, appreciate your great comment:)
Fantastic post Lilach, I totally agree with not giving away too much as free incentives, it’s like watching a brilliant film trailer then finding out when you’ve paid your ticket to see the movie at the cinema that in actual fact you’ve already seen all the best bits, the difference being once a subscriber becomes a paying customer they can ask for a refund if they’ve already had all the best bits in the freebies, something you definitely want to ensure doesn’t happen:)
Debbie Carter recently posted..What is the world coming to?
Thanks Debbie – I love your analogy. Many marketers do give away a lot in their incentives and all it creates is disappointment.
Hi Lilach,
Your spell checker and I both want to spell your name, “Lilac”. It’s certainly a new name to me.
I agree that it takes a lot of traffic to your blog to be able to build a list of any size. You can use all the tools, such as Maxblogpress subscriber’s magnet, and get no subscribers if you have no traffic. It’s like the golf swing…you can’t focus entirely on any one part of building your list because then you forget about the other parts, same as the different processes in a successful golf swing.
Lou
Lou Barba recently posted..The requested and long awaited Kindle Book…THE VILLAGE ON THE EDGE OF THE SEA
Twitter: planlablprecher
Thanks Lou – my spell checker also doesn’t know how to spell my name:)
Loving your analogy – so true.
Hi Lilach,
I really liked your ideas for testimonials, credentials, and samples. They would support an opt-in freebie.
Was thinking about allowing others to use a link-filled ebook to offer as a free bonus on their sales. It would be nice if they would do that.
I used to write articles for ezines and submit them to a list of ezine publishers. Once I got 300 subscribers in one weekend, this way. Not sure this can still be done.
Thanks,
Bob
Personal Branding Narrows My Focus
Thanks Bob. A link-filled ebook is really useful for people, particularly newbies. I’m sure you’d have a pretty good optin rate with that as a free bonus.
300 subscribers over a weekend is pretty good:) I’d be interested to know if this strategy still achieves that many subscribers – please do let us know.
Great info Lilach, list building is a good strategy, relationship building with your is what will yield you BIG Profits. Love it! Thanks!
Terry
Terry Petrovick recently posted..The Secret to Your Success Lies Here…
Twitter: terrypetrovick
Thanks Terry, appreciate your comment:)
Great suggestions! Thanks for sharing!
pleasure:)
There’s a lot of differing opinions about what to put in your give away products. I’ve heard give away the “What” and “Why”, but make them pay for the “How,” but I’ve found that this doesn’t really work to enroll people. Recently, I heard it described this way: the best selling products and programs are designed to teach something. There are only 3 domains in learning: Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge. You give a specialized body of “knowledge” away, with a bit of “Skills” and only a hint at “Attitude.” Then, you package the skills and attitude into a system and sell it for big money… because most of those who consume your free stuff will discover that they can’t do it on their own; if knowledge in and of itself were the key to success, all of us would be sitting at the library consuming books like mad.
Lesa recently posted..Make More Sales with Affilates
Thanks Lesa – you’re quite right. It can be difficult to get the balance right – you want to build your subscriber list but at the same time you ultimately want them to buy from you. I’ve seen a few marketers offer the first couple of chapters or 30 pages of their ebook which has worked quite well for them. I also think a big part of it is educating your readers into buying from you by being completely transparent with them. Even if that means people will opt out – you need to have a buying list rather than a freebie seeking list so if you qualify your subscribers early on then that I find helps too.
Hello Lilach,
Great tips here for not only getting new subscribers but how to keep them and ultimately how to build a strong relationship so that they like and trust you, and are more willing to buy from you, or work with you. This is how we make money after all!
Rachael Slorach recently posted..Forget the Hard Sell! Why Natural Selling is the Way To Go.
Thanks Rachael. The saying “people buy from those like and trust” rings true here:)
I have to say I really enjoyed this Lilach! I totally agree with you about building relationships with your list and giving them pure value! This is defintely true and the way to go to get a responsive list! Great value here …
Bluesman signin’ off
Bluesman Of MLM recently posted..How To Prospect in MLM – Do Not Discriminate!
Thanks Bluesman, appreciate your comments:)
Great post Lilach, I also like the idea of adding links back to previous blog posts and also the cross promotion. It’s like taking the tribe mentality to the next level.
Val Heisey recently posted..Are you one of the 99% or the 1%?
Twitter: valheisey
Thanks Val yes that’s a great idea, anchor linking is also fabulous for SEO.
I have been thinking about setting up a premium content section on my blog to entice more opt ins. Thanks for the great advice Lilach:)
Preston Schumacher recently posted..Building Familiarity Online 101 (video included)
Twitter: workwithpreston
My pleasure Preston, go for it, you’re soon start to see the benefits:)
Lilach, this is such a good post. You are right on about being able to nurture your list by adding value to people’s lives. So many times, people tend to think of their list as their automatic cash machine with little regard to what they really want. Thanks for sharing!
Joe Sandy recently posted..Keyword Research Is Vital When Learning to Generate Leads Online
Thanks Joe, absolutely, it’s so important to nurture and build a good rapport with your list. The results will be so much better:)
Hi Lilach,
Like Lou, my spell-checker is insisting that I spell your name Lilac
What does Lilach mean?
List building is so important. We can have all the traffic in the world, if we dont have strategies for converting these traffic to subscribers, we might as well stop blogging all together.
It’s super important you have something to give away as people are not so enticed with ‘subscribe to get updates’ any longer. They want something tangible that would pique their curiosity. It’s also important to have a nicely design giveaway so your ‘gift’ can stand out to your visitors.
Thanks for sharing these tips with us, Lilach!
Tosin
Twitter: thowsyne
Thanks Toslin. My name is Israeli and means a flower and also me and you:)
Appreciate your comments:)
Hi Lilach,
Great article with valuable suggestions on building a list.
As you said, your list is the greatest asset you can build, because the money is
in the list.
If I could add something, it is important to get the right customers on your list.
You can’t sell meat to a vegetarian. To many people get caught up in numbers
rather then results.
I know I mentioned this before, but what plug-in are you using for the box
that appears in the bottom right corner?
Thank you for your contribution,
Jeff
Jeff Faldalen recently posted..Steve Jobs life and what it can mean for you
Thanks Jeff, appreciate your comments. I agree – you really need to try and qualify your list as much as possible. The more targeted it is the better. And as painful as it is when people do unsubscribe, don’t get too hung up on it. I check my unsubscribers and luckily my numbers are fairly low and the main time they unsubscribe is when I send an email out promoting something. I’m pleased they unsubscribe as you need to eliminate the freebie seekers and have a list that value your expertise, but at the same time are prepared to buy from you occasionally.
The plugin I’m using is called upPrev Previous Post Animated Notification. I had it installed recently and am already seeing great results from it – I highly recommend it:)
Hi Lilach,
I really enjoyed reading your article. Actually I will try to read any information on list building as I agree it’s one of the most critical tasks if you want to generate long term traffic and make sales.
Jeff makes a very good point on attracting the right type of subscribers. That is what matters at the end.
However, a mistake which a lot of people make is they build a list but do nothing with it. They don’t email the list often enough and the subscriber can’t remember who they are and think the message is spam.
That was one of the huge mistakes I made when I first started out.
Alan Cheng recently posted..How To Build An Email List From Scratch
Twitter: alan_cheng
Thanks Alan. Yes I agree, it’s important to work out the frequency of when you email your list. I email once a week which works well for me.
Hi Lilach, I felt that I had to email you, what a fantastic Blog you have, absolutely full of fantastic information and advice! I have just started to write a Blog myself (working progress) and I have so much to publish but really not sure if I am doing this correctly, I have got loads of tips from your Free PDF “5 Crazy Ways” which I am now eager to implement, but equally if you have 2 minutes to drop by my Blog and give me your opinion I would really appreciate it.
Thanks Jacqui, really appreciate your great comment and great to hear you find my Ebook useful:)
I’ll happily look over your blog and give you my (honest) opinion. Probably best to connect on Skype? My id is lilach.bullock:)
For your information my Blog address is : http://www.pulsecsi.com
thanks:)
Lilach,
This is what I have been needing to read. Your point about cross promoting is music to my ears. I think I need to be working on some strategies to provide mutual benefit and value with some likeminded souls in this internet marketing gig.
Listbuilding is definitely at the top of my list right now. Thanks so much for some fresh ideas!
Cat Alexandra
Cat Alexandra recently posted..Write content that captivates: 5 keys to kill them softly | Killer Articles.
Twitter: alexandra_cath