List Building For Newbies

[Rudi Vanhaecke]

 

 

In my conversations , similar questions often surface time and time again. Here’s a question I get quite a bit. It’s a question I had when I started out. I’m willing to bet that you’ve had this question, too, at one point or another.

 

 

“I know I need a mailing list of my own but I don’t know where to start.”

 

 

 

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. I’ve boiled the process down to five steps you can take, beginning today.

 

 

The first step is to choose your audience.

 

 

It doesn’t help to build a mailing list of people who are interested in playing golf unless you’re selling golf-related products.

 

 

If you’re in the internet marketing, make money online or business opportunity market you want to choose that audience. If you’re selling health products you want to choose an audience of people who are interested in health products.

 

 

The second step is to have something to give.

 

 

You need a premium, a gift. You need something to give them to entice them to join your mailing list. The information you give is valuable.

 

 

That’s good. Sometimes you need a little extra something. If you notice, almost all sites that you visit that ask for your name and email address will offer you an instant gratification premium. This is something you can have right now. You need that.

 

 

The third thing you need is something to say.

 

 

If you had a list of 10,000 people right now, what would you say to them? You might say, “Please buy something from me.” That’s OK. You have to give and take.

 

 

What would you say to them? Would you make recommendations? Would you ask them to buy? Would you ask their opinion? What would you say? You need a way to capture leads.

 

 

Sometimes that means a website of your own. Sometimes it doesn’t. This is the biggest sticking point for most people. “How do I get that form onto my website? I can’t even make a website.” We’ll cover that in a minute.

 

 

You need to launch. You need to look at this like it’s a product launch. This is the beginning of something big and wonderful for you. It’s a mailing list of your own. That’s the most important thing you can do online.

 

 

Let’s talk about choosing your audience. I want to give you keys for each of these points. First, what is your goal for the list? Do you want to directly sell them products? Do you want to ask their opinion about something? Do you want to offer them affiliate products or sell products of your own?

 

 

Stephen Covey says to begin with the end in mind. This is very wise. Before you say, “Hey, join my mailing list” you need to know your goal for that list. Have something to give.

 

 

Here are a couple of key questions to think about when you try to determine what to give to your list. What does your audience want? Do you know people who are looking for a business opportunity? They’re looking to save time, save money or make money.

 

 

What does your audience want? What do they need that they can’t find now. If you’re doing list-building in a niche that you’re passionate about, you know what they can’t find now because you had a hard time finding it.

 

 

Maybe that’s the right place to advertise. Maybe that’s someone to write your ads for. Maybe it’s someone to teach you about article marketing. Maybe it’s someone who will create your product for you.

 

 

Maybe it’s someone who will just listen. What can’t they find now? If you can give them something that they can’t find now, you’ll be their hero. They’ll join your list in record numbers.

 

 

You need to have something to say, a product to sell, a recommendation to make, a question that you want to ask, an offer of help. It’s important to know what you want to say to people on your mailing list before you begin building the mailing list.

 

 

The fourth thing you need is a site that captures leads.

 

 

Sometimes this is the hardest part for people to get started. It’s called a squeeze page or lead capture page. You’ve heard those terms before. I’m teaching people to use an online service.

 

 

Did you know that there are services online that will build a lead capture page for you today? These are $20 and $30 per month things where you can go in and create squeeze pages that look great and capture the information. If you can use a browser, you can have your own lead capture page. That’s what I recommend.

 

 

Now, get ready to launch.

 

 

Where to you get your first subscriber? Where does subscriber number one come from? Start with your address book. Once you have your squeeze page in place, your list ready and messages ready to go out, send the people in your address book a little note.

 

 

Say, “Hey, I wanted to let you know that I have a free gift for you. I also have information that I think you will find valuable if you’re interested in this.” Send it out to the people in your address book. You might be surprised at what you get.

 

 

You can use article marketing. If you’re doing article marketing now, change the resource box in your articles from where they point now to your squeeze page. It’s much better than sending people directly to an affiliate offer.

 

 

This way you’re building your list. You can post on forums. You can go to the Warrior Forum, Tony Blake’s or Michael Green’s. Give helpful answers.

 

 

You can put “free gift for visiting this site” in your signature line. Add a line to each email that goes out. It can say, “Get a free gift and useful information at this site.”

 

 

There is social media. The people who are involved in social media love free stuff. Now you’re in a position to give them free stuff. Tweet about it.

 

 

Set up your own blog. It’s easy to do and a great way to capture this information. Point them to your squeeze page. Give them the gift. They can download it immediately. Then they’re on your list.

 

 

I hope this helps you jump-start your own list building efforts and look forward to being in touch with you again soon.