The value of a large opt-in list is usually grossly understated. It is never good enough to simply be making sales from your affiliate products. Failing to compile a fresh mailing list will result in lack luster or stagnant sales.
Having a list allows you to keep in touch with your site’s visitors and slowly build a relationship with them. If done properly, you can then convert a high percentage of otherwise lukewarm prospects into paying customers. So exactly what does it take to build a great opt-in list quickly and easily? Here are some useful tactics:
* Offer incentives when possible for people to leave their name and email address. Having an incentive program is an effective way to get people to opt into your list. Offering a special report or free e-book is a very effective and easy to implement. To get the best results, it is always helpful to give them something for signing into your list. This tip alone can easily double the number of sign ups you have.
Many people try to accomplish their list building without offering any kind of incentive for signing up which can be a huge mistake. Finding quality incentives is so easy it only makes sense to offer one.
* Include a clearly written privacy policy. In all likely-hood, the main reason people refuse to leave their contact information is because they are afraid of being spammed. This has been a huge problem on the Internet for years. No one likes spam. If people have any reason to suspect that you will share their email address with others they will usually not let you have it. Give them a rock solid guarantee that you will not share their email address with anyone. This will put to rest the worries of people wanting to avoid spam. At one point I did not have a clearly defined privacy policy, however, after I added one I saw a 61% increase in the number of opt-ins I was receiving. Simple things like this can make a huge difference.
* Create multiple, tightly targeted lists. Very few comprehend the power of this tactic. By offering multiple lists on one site you drastically increase the chances of people finding something that interests them enough to sign up for. One of the lists could be for general updates, another could include tips your market would find useful, while another could be a monthly newsletter. No matter which option they choose you get their email address.
Think about what your market might be the most interested in and offer that information or access to it on your site. A visitor may have little interest in your general announcements mailings but be keenly interested in your newsletter. If you do not provided several options that person would have signed up for nothing. Two or three options are plenty. If your visitor has not found something that interests them in your two to three choices they are probably at the wrong page anyway.
* Make all your lists double opt-in. Double opt-in allows people to first sign up on your site, and then activate their subscription via a confirmation email. There are plenty of good reasons to have the double opt-in format. Number one, it will take away any chance of being labeled a spammer and secondly, you can show proof that people actually did request your emails.
Additionally, double opt-in will give your a significantly higher quality list of readers, as opposed to those from the singe opt-in method. The reason is because since these people are interested in your offer enough to verify with the confirmation email, they tend to be much more serious about what you offer. If that is the case, they will be much more responsive to your offers compared to those who sign up for your list on a whim. A high quality list is critical to making sales.
By putting the methods mentioned in this article into practice on your website, you will be able to build a huge, high quality list in a relatively short period. I have used all of the methods mentioned here and they work very well. If you use them, you will find they will work for you as well.
