List Building for Newbies
List Building for Newbies
If you’re struggling to to build a list, but don’t know where to start. Or if you have built a list of subscribers, but on-one is buying from you? Then this list building for newbies, maybe just the strategy you need to make money online.
Peter V Crisp
“This post, List Building for Newbies contains important information and tips about how to get free subscribers and uncover the list building success secrets that you won’t find anywhere else. Without a strong list, you won’t have a stable source of online income”.
Most newbies, and even some old timers think that if they focus on building a list, its going to make them money. But the truth is that building a list is only the first step. I know of people who have big lists (more than 10,000 subscribers) but they still don’t make any money online.
That’s because, the size of the list is not important. What’s important is the relationship you have with your list. This is incredibly important, if you want to sell somebody, something, you first need to establish some sort of relationship, especially if you want to get free subscribers, you need to offer value first, in order to get them to be interested in getting more information from you.
They Say the Money is in The List
| 20 Step List Building Plan – LIST KNOW HOW |
You need to deliever great content in order to build a following. Then once you have established trust and built rapport with your readers, the next step is to get those readers to respond to the recommendations that you make, that will directly benefit them in some way.
Because, if your readers don’t trust you, or don’t believe you are giving then good advice, then they are unlikely to buy from you. Making money online is way more than just building a list and sending out offers. You need to establish a solid relationship in order to build a great list and a great list is a responsive list.
Eight Ways to Build a GREAT List.
1. It’s not just the size of the list. It’s the relationship you have with the list, which actually creates money for you.
2. Market to the ‘right’ people.
This might sound obvious, but you could be reaching out to the wrong people, which is actually pretty common among online marketers. If you’re promoting some product or solution then it needs to be something that your readers are interested in. The readers should match the product your are promoting.
For example, what if you were promoting ‘daily videos‘ that promise to answer questions about marketing. But the people who have signed up, are more interested in getting emails about gardening. Would they want to buy your videos about marketing?
Absolutely not, because what you are promoting, is completely different to what they are interested in reading about.
3. Frequency of your messages.
Another reason why you might not yet be making money from your list is you’re NOT contacting them frequently enough.
You should be reaching out to your list, (in my personal view), at least weekly, if not daily. Some people might think that’s too much. Monthly is probably too infrequent. But as your average prospect spends less than five seconds a day thinking about you and your business, daily may not too much at all.
But, remember that it depends upon your niche and the quality of your content. As the content needs to be engaging enough, so that your readers, not only open your email, but also read it. If they are receiving your content / stories / interesting articles daily, and it’s too much for them, they’re probably not the right prospect for you.
If your niche is Internet marketing, your readers are probably checking their email several times a day. So, sending daily emails might be OK.
4. Consistency is key.
But whatever you do. Consistency is just as important as, frequency…
How often do you email them? Is it every day, or two – three days, or weekly? How often are you staying in front of your prospect? This is what consistency is all about. For example, if you email them every day for a week, and then they don’t hear from you for a month, guess what? That list is not going to last for long. Yet, I see this happening, all the time.
5. Don’t be forgotten (especially in the first few weeks).
New prospects (leads) have short-term memories. And although many Online Marketers initially get excited when first building their list and they start out emailing their new contacts regularly. All to often they get despondent, when they don’t see immediate results. They tend to then lose interest in sending further emails, or worse they stop sending out emails altogther.
Then six months later, when they come back to their list and start sending emails again, they’re surprised to find they are not getting any opens at all, and they wonder why?
If someone subscribes to your list and they get a few emails from you, then you don’t email them for a month or two, they will probably forget you. You should always be conscious of this, and keep in touch with them on a consistent basis. This is why having a prewritten series of emails, with engaging content, already set up in your autoresponder, is an important first step.
6. You need to work your list or it will decline in Value.
Here’s a tip I learned from Dan Kennedy. Your list is a very unique asset which needs constant work. It’s important to keep a healthy degree of paranoia about your email list. Because unlike like gold, or real estate, its value will NOT increase over time by ignoring it.
Your email list is an ‘organic asset‘ by which I mean, it’s perishable and it can expire. Think of it this way, it’s either improving, or it is decaying. You must actively take steps to improve the responsiveness of your list and to also improve your relationship with your list. Otherwise it will die away. And if it’s neglected, it will die out completely.
7. Keep your Readers interest in mind
Don’t lose sight of the fact that people join your list for information and quality content. NOT TO BE SOLD TO!
But, that doesn’t mean you can’t promote offers to them. You’re trying to run a profitable business so, don’t be afraid to promote products and services. But that doesn’t mean you should say, buy this, buy this, buy this, because if you do, you will burn out your list very quickly.
You still want to be engaging and interesting. You want to educate them and give them a reason to want to read what you have written. You need to have the readers best interest in mind and your offers should provide a solution to a problem that your readers may have.
You will soon notice that in this post, my marketing is providing a solution to to a problem that many newbies have when it comes to building a list. I’m soon going to be making an offer. Sometimes it’s a very obvious offer, and sometimes it’s much more subtle. But it’s alway incredible value and comes with a solid refund gurantee.
8. Copywriting skills: Never stop improving them.
You should always be working on improving your copy-writing skills, as this is an important skill to master. The ability to put words on a page and influence your readers is one of the most powerful and profitable skills you can posses. Some people pick it up really quickly, and others it can take years to get it. But it’s something worth studying and practicing.
When you are writing an email, or even content on a post, make sure to encourage responsiveness. Ask them to reply to the email, leave a comment, or contact you in someway. That way, you can actually respond to them, if they have any questions.
It might sound surprising, but responding and following up with readers is VERY RARE in this Industry. So, the moment you respond to them, you suddenly become a real person in their eyes. They feel a little connection with you. They become more responsive as prospective buyers. So don’t discourage them from contacting you.
In Summary
It’s all about persistence and follow up. Always put your readers interests first and be soft on the selling and subtle is better than being pushy when it comes to putting an offer in front of your readers. But alway make sure that your offer is relevant and solves a real problem.
Remember, that when it comes to making sales online, most of the struggles are due to not enough traffic coming to your site and that means not enough people are reading your content. Which makes getting traffic absolutely vital and one way to get high quality targeted traffic is by having a list of responsive email subscribers, who read your content.
Making It Easier
There are more than 3 Billion internet users, and if just 0.0001%, (which is 3,000 people), were to visit your website, your potential to build a strong list would be multiplied enormously.
So, if you want to learn how to build a list from scratch, learn how to use it to your advantage, so that you can build a sustainable, long-term business, then my number ONE recommendation is to get my super-low-cost, easy 20 step list building plan for newbies, which I’ve called – List Know How
Here’s what the course covers;
Module 1 – How To Create And Configure Aweber
Module 2 – How To Create And Configure GetResponse
Module 3 – How To Create A List In Aweber
Module 4 – How To Create A Campaign In GetResponse
Module 5 – How To Configure Your Signup Form In Aweber
Module 6 – How To Configure Your OptIn Webform In GetResponse
Module 7 – How To Build Your Squeeze Page
Module 8 – How To Create A ThankYou Page
Module 9 – How To Create An Exit Popup
Module 10 – How To Remove Unresponsive Leads In Aweber
Module 11 – How To Remove Unresponsive Leads In GetResponse
Module 12 – How To Create A Successful Affiliate Invitation Page
Module 13 – How To Add Bonus To Other Peoples Pages
Module 14 – How To Do a Split Test With VWO
Module 15 – How To AB Split Test On VWO
Module 16 – How To Fund Your Ad Campaign In Facebook
Module 17 – How To Insert A Call To Action In Youtube Videos
Module 18 – How To Run An Ad Campaign In YouTube
Module 19 – How To Sign Up For Google AdWords
Module 20 – How To Create An Ad Campaign With AdWords
Best of all, it will cost you $37.00 Now less than $10.00 for this video training course. Take a look here;
| The super-low-cost easy 20-Step list Building Plan for Newbies |
Finally
If, you have enjoyed this post “List building for Newbies” please feel free to share socially or leave a comment below.
If you leave a comment, I will reward you with a free PDF copy of book; ‘List Building Success Secrets’ – Also availble on Amazon
Peter V Crisp
“If you are just getting started, then you will want to build a list. Yet you may not know how to actually do this and this is where most people get stuck, right at the beginning… Without a strong list, you won’t have a stable source of online income”.
You can get this book in exchange for just leaving a comment!
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Hey Peter, great post on List Building for Newbies I really enjoyed reading it. You have a lot of great points in your post. I personally think that overmarketing is a BIG issue for a lot of people. A good example is the Paul brothers they are huge but the oversold their audience and have a big down phase now. I think it is all about building credibility before trying to sell anything at all. Like Gary Vee, he doesn’t try to sell you anything but has built a $160 Million social media marketing agency with his credibility.
Hello, Aaron. Thanks for your comments. And yes, you are right its important not to over-sell and building your credibility. People need to trust you and believe in your before they will buy from you. Please you have enjoyed the article. I hope you find the ebook coming your way informative as well. 🙂
I’m glad I came across your article because I’ve heard that list building can be incredibly lucrative, but I’ve been trying to find a course that can teach me the ropes of email marketing.
I’ve also heard the term “the money is in the list” mentioned quite a lot too, but like you say, the money is only there when you build “relationships” with your subscribers, which I guess also applies to any other internet marketing strategy.
Quantity counts for nothing without quality.
I appreciate the 8 steps you’ve shared for helping a list building newbie such as myself.
I think the main concern I have is knowing how to compose the emails and what to write to my subscribers. The other worry is actually running out of ideas and my list turning stale.
But I guess when I apply your strategies, it will fall into place like a jigsaw.
Cheers, Peter!
Hello, Neil. Yes, you are right, it will all fall into place like a jigsaw lol. Hence the reason for putting the program together to help people with what is essentially an important aspect to affiliate marketing. Thanks for your comments and Enjoy the ebook that is coming your way. 🙂
Peter,
Thanks for a great post. You have a lot of good information here. Newbies to affiliate marketing often hear the phrase “the money’s in the list”. This insinuates tht building a list is the most important thing you can do to monetize your site. You have made it very clear that it is really only one step, and that content and marketing are just as important. I do wonder about the usefulness of email lists because of the widespread use of spam filters. I know that almost all of the marketing material I get is immediately deposited into my spam folder which I normally just do a quick scan of before I delete them in bulk. Are there ways to make sure your emails get sent to the clients inbox instead of spam folder?
Hello, David Thanks for your comments. Yes, this is why it is important to build a quality email list, You need people who want to get emails from you. Its about quality not quantity, so don’t make that mistake. These people will white list your emails and rescue them from the spam folder. having quaintly information and a powerful reason for them to want to hear from you is the best way to prevent your emails going into the spam bin. Watch out for the ebook I am sending your way. 🙂
Thank you for a very informative post Peter. I am bookmarking it for later reference. I have created a new website and still need a lot of content, but I am starting to look into the best ways to start with list building in the meantime.
Your post have a lot of helpful information. Can you maybe give me a rough idea at what stage I should start my list building? How many posts do you recommend I should have before I start with list building? I am also very interested in the list building tutorials, but I am not sure if I should start now or am I jumping the gun?
Hello, Rika. Thanks for your comments. You are better to begin your list building sooner rather than later. Just remember you need an autoresponder to deliver content to your subscribers and a way to collect emails. Of course you need some content to send to them as well as a reason for them to want to join your email list in the first place. For these reason you need to start working on these things sooner rather than later. I hope you enjoy the ebook I am sending your way. 🙂
I have been at this for approx. 5 month’s now, and my site is looking very polished, that is what I am being told anyway. Also, my traffic is just starting to take a leap forward it appear’s, so with this being said I believe that I should begin moving forward with other aspects of my site, such as my email lists? How many emails’s should I see on the average per day before I move forward Peter, Thank you Again for your very informative review, on list building for newbie’s, sincerely, Jack
Hello, Jack. Pleased you have enjoyed the post and that you found it informative. Thanks for your comments and feedback. Building an email list is something everyone should start ASAP if you want to build a long term business. Watch out for the eBook I am sending your way. 🙂
I am a member of a online company that’s known to be aggressive when it comes to pitching people via email marketing. To my friends in Wealthy Affiliate, they said that this kind of approach of pitching your list in the first messages could be outputting and may send the readers to the hills and unsubscribe. If that’s the case, then why the members of that pitchy company continuously make money?
If you become to bland or too passive, there’s a chance you won’t make sales or money, but if you become too pitchy, then the conservative people will curse you out. If you’re forked between these two choices, which one will you choose?
Hello, Gomer. Thanks for your comments. To answer your question . You need to always be providing value to your clients and customers and email subscribers so they will value the correspondence from you. They are not a bank to take cash from, they are real people wth real life issues and want information to make their lives easier, or more productive, or less burdensome. So, as long as you are providing value, then too many emails is not a problem but it you are using and selling then too many emails will make them unsubscribe. Enjoy the book that is coming your way. 🙂
Some really great tips here. I learnt quite a lot, even though I’m not actually a complete newbie at list building. I needed to improve my processes and your article has offered me some insights on how to do that.
I’ve really been neglecting my list, both the people already on it and just my list building in general. I need to get to work on it and make it start to work for me.
Hello, Darren. Thanks for your comments and I am pleased you have gotten value from the article. Too your success with your future list building. Enjoy the book that is coming your way. 🙂
I have been at this for a little while, and am just starting to look into building a list. This was a great read before actually doing it. It is kind of scary building a list though, I am scared of emailing too much and losing people. But, after reading through this post, I feel like it is more practice and consistency than anything. I feel good about starting an email list now. Thank you for your insight!
Hello, Leah. Pleased you have found the post informative and helpful. Thanks for your comments. Enjoy the book that is coming your way 🙂
This is a great post about list building, definitely gave me plenty to think about with my own campaigns.
It all comes back to Relevance & Great Content and making sure you take the time to plan your email marketing strategy and don’t rush into it.
Great Post. Thanks
John
Hello, John. Yes, I agree don’t rush it because quality is more important than quantity when it comes to list building. I’m sure you will enjoy the book that is coming your way. 🙂
I have just started to build my email list and your post came at just the right time. Having a growing list is one thing but servicing that list is quite another thing. Obviously they get notified of any new posts but know that they need more than that.
I think I definitely need to work on my copywriting skills. Are there any resources or courses you would recommend?
Hello, Karen. Thanks for your comments. Yes, there are some other posts I have about copywriting How to Write Great Website Content that you can see here. Building your email list is a smart thing to do and I give to tis and tools to do just that. Please enjoy the book that is coming your way. 🙂
Hi Peter,
Your post is very timely for me and I found it very interesting and informative!
I am in the process of creating a new website and will be launching my list building campaign very soon.
I believe many people have forgotten how effective email marketing is, so your post comes as not only a great reminder, but also with your book as a solution.
By the way, I think the idea of giving away your book to people who comment is a great idea and hope you don’t mind if I ‘steal’ the idea for my own site.
And to follow that up, I do have a question about how you do that. do you manually send the book to people who leave a message or do you have some software to do that?
Thanks in advance
Tim
Hello, Tim Thanks for your comments and yes you can ‘steal’ my idea haha. I use a plugin called Thank Me Later that allows me to send a thank-you email to people who leave a comment so I attach a downloadable PDF inside the email to send them a book. You will receive one shortly as part of the process so enjoy the book I a sending your way. 🙂
Hey Peter:
I’m just beginning to explore email-marketing and your post makes a great deal of sense to me.
Of the points you’ve made the three that stand out for me are (1) marketing to the “right” people, (2) building relationships with your peeps, and (3) the importance of consistency.
The mechanical how-to’s will come as I get deeper into this, but these points are most valuable to me.
Thank you.
Hello, Netta. Pleased you have enjoyed the information and have found it useful. To make money online you need and audience and on of theist ways to get one is to have engaging content that people want to read. Thanks for your comments. 🙂
Hi Peter I enjoyed your tips for building a list. Great points about making sure you offer value and relevance to your readers.
As always, it seems offering quality content consistently is a vital component to success online.
Soft selling is a great tip, it’s so important that readers don’t feel they are being ‘sold’ to.
Hello, Ann Thank you for your comments. I am pleased you have enjoyed my post. Yes, you are right quality content is a vital component to success online. Enjoy the book that is coming your way 🙂
Hi Peter,
I am new to website building so I very much enjoyed the content and found it informative and useful. I must say it was very well written and will be reading more of your posts. So keep up the good work.I learned a lot from you already. Thank you Logan.
Hello, Logan Thanks for your comments and I am pleased you have enjoyed reading my post. Remember when it comes to list building and marketing to your list, always put your readers interests first and be soft on the selling, being subtle is better than being pushy, when it comes to putting an offer in front of your readers. Always make sure that your offer is relevant and solves a real problem and provide value to your readers. Thanks for you feedback. 🙂