List building is a science. And like any other form of science, it evolves over time, leading to the discoveries of better techniques and applications. Here are a few things you can do to take your email list to the next level. It isn’t always possible or logical to apply all 4 methods – so take the combination that works best for you, and run with it:
1. Create professional landing pages.
There is an old expression that says “first impressions are lasting”. Psychologists have established that this is truer than you may think. In fact, we form an opinion of a new acquaintance within mere seconds of meeting him or her.
The same goes for your landing page. You have mere seconds to create an impression, so do whatever you can to ensure it’s the best one possible. But since not all of us are coders, or web designers, the most logical way to do it is by using a professional service like LeadPages. They make it super simple to create stunning landing pages and even integrate them into your blog.
They also keep testing new things, and pass the best performers on to their clients – so you’ll always have access to professional, high performing templates for your landing pages and/or squeeze pages.
The better the first impression, the higher the conversion rate – it’s as simple as that. Yes, your offer does count – but for the same offer, the more professional looking page will outperform the mediocre one every time.
2. Keep growing the bribe – or offer an additional one every month (I’ll explain how just now).
Instead of offering just one item in return for an optin, why not tempt your visitors with an ever-growing database of information? You can either create a simple membership area, or you can simply keep adding the new ones to your opt-in offer, and your download page.
Just imagine the leverage of offering not only one ebook but five or ten – in return for an email address. Any person who wants any ONE of those ebooks will sign up.
Alternatively, you can offer to send your list one new product every month. Who wouldn’t want access to new information every month?
There is, of course, an easy way to do it – without having to write everything yourself: Automated List Profits. Every month you get access to a brand new resell rights product which you can sell or give away – including graphics, landing page content, etc.
3. Build a list of buyers – even if you are merely an affiliate.
Uhm…
Yes, you can. Usually, it’s the vendor of the product who gets to keep everybody on his or her email list. Their affiliates are just the “worker bees” who build their lists for them.
Not any more.
Thanks to Affiliate Trax, you can now collect email addresses of people who buy affiliate products that you recommend to them. And any idiot will be able to see the value of having a list of buyers – even in addition to your existing list. Always remember that the most likely person to buy from you is someone who has already bought from you.
4. Offer a viral incentive
This doesn’t really work for all niches – but in most niches, it can provide you with a massive amount of leverage, and increase the speed of your list growth dramatically:
After the new subscriber opted in, you offer him (or her) another freebie – but they have to work to get it. No, not just a simple share on social media (like with a normal content locker), but they have to refer others to opt into your mailing list in order to get it. A special referral link is generated upon opting in.
In fact, one such WordPress plugin allows you to stack multiple freebies and multiple reward levels.
Now – imagine combining Automated List Profits with List Eruption – and every month you simply add another incentive to refer others. Yes, most people won’t do anything with it, and some will only refer one or two people. But if you have say, five rewards stacked up, and you require just two referrals in return for every reward, that means that every person who decides to go all the way will be worth TEN subscribers to you.
Now…
The actual numbers will depend on your niche and the quality/relevance of what you offer – but even if you can get just one additional signup for every two people you attract yourself, your list will still be growing 50% faster than would have.
In conclusion:
List building doesn’t need to be difficult. And your opt-in rates don’t have to be poor. Think outside the box, and you’ll find there are many ways to improve not only conversion rates but also the speed at which your list can grow.
Once again, not everything will work for every niche. For instance, not many sufferers may want to share their referral link for Acne or Candida (just an example). But then again people who are into internet marketing or network marketing will easily take it and run with it.
In addition to that, Automated List Profits is limited to internet marketing as a niche. If you want to apply the same principles, you will have to start digging into other membership sites that offer RR and MRR ebooks.
But now that you have seen the possibilities, I’m sure you will be able to come up with ways to improve your list building campaign.