Before you start building your list, it’s important to understand why you need one. Sure, you hear everyone saying that building a list is the “thing” to do, but if you don’t understand the reasons, you won’t be as motivated to do so.
Tip #1 — Build Your Own Business
While there is a lot to be said for getting to the top of the search engines and advertising to promote your business, there’s nothing like having your own list. A list is something that you control at all times. You control its size, your relationship with members, and even how much money you make.
By having a list, you are building your business on solid ground.
That’s not to say that search engine traffic isn’t wonderful and you should quit advertising. However, developing a list of leads or customers can be worth much more to you in the long run when combined with both of those methods of traffic.
Tip #2 — Understand That People Are More Likely To Buy From Those They Trust
You’ve probably noticed that it can be difficult to get new customers to buy from you. Some people simply will not buy from those they’ve never heard of and don’t have a relationship with. You will usually have to “presell” to them before they will make a purchase. This is especially true since identity theft and fraud have become more prevalent.
The good news is that people will join your list because they view it as a lower risk than making a purchase. All they need to do is hand over their e-mail address and they are “in.” This gives you the opportunity to gain their trust and build a relationship that can lead to repeat sales down the road.
Tip #3 — Make A One-Time Customer Into A Lifetime Customer
The difference between the customers who buy from you one time and those who buy from you multiple times is oftentimes the amount of communication they receive after their initial transaction.
Even if your customer had a great experience with you, you are likely to fall to the back of their mind if they don’t hear from you for a while. If they receive follow-up emails from you, it’s an entirely different matter. You’ll be on their mind and you will likely create a lifetime customer after you consistently deliver.
I highly recommend that you implement a system of ongoing follow-up notices to your customers. If you don’t, you’ll be out of sight and out of mind. There are many other businesses out there that are vying for your customer’s attention and they’ll get the customer that you once had.
Tip #4 — Know That It’s Easier To Sell To A Previous Customer
This tip goes hand-in-hand with the previous tip.
People are more likely to buy from someone they have bought from in the past, especially if it was a good experience. If you spend all your time chasing new customers, your profits are going to be far less than if you focus on keeping old customers happy and selling to them over and over again.
If you don’t have additional products to sell to your customers – send affiliate promotions for complementary products.
Tip #5 — Use List Building To Grow Your Income
There are so many different ways that having a list can add to your bottom line. We’ve already discussed that previous customers are more likely to buy from you, but that’s not where it stops.
When you have a list, you can get people to look at your special offers and new products whenever you’d like. All it takes is a simple e-mail and you can literally pull in cash on demand.
Success is NOT an Accident,
Paul
P.S. Yesterday, I sent a notice about Simple CB Got in some questions…
Q: Is this another one of those hyped up “How to make your dreams come true” with CB?
A: Nope. This is straight training. Most folks can’t make those “dream systems” work because they do not know how to use CB properly.
Q: Can I sell Nicheology PLR on CB.
A: YES. In fact, I use a Nicheology PLR for the live example. In the tutorials you see me change the actual PLR sales page to conform to the CB rules.
You see the payment link created and set.
You see the download page created to conform to the guidelines.
You see the test checkout take place as smooth as silk.
Then you see the CB approval process and actually see the email from CB saying everything is a go. And the product is listed in the CB Marketplace right now.
So there’s no doubt about using Nicheology + CB.
Q: Is CB the best way to get started taking payments online?
A: Personally, I think so because your payment and affiliate system are tied together. And the affiliate base is already there.
You do not need your own merchant account. You do not have to get a separate affiliate tracking account.
I think there’s some infatuation with the idea of having a big fancy system, but most people never get them going because of how complicated they are.
Anyone can write an article. The trick is to write an article that’s engaging enough to attract attention and get read from top to bottom… all the way down to your byline that links to your site. That’s your goal – and that’s what we’re discussing in this issue in these three steps:
1) SIZZLING titles.
2) SENSATIONAL articles.
3) SEARCH ENGINE bait.
Let’s start with your title…
1) SIZZLING Titles
OK, so an article isn’t the same thing as an advertisement. But nonetheless, using the copywriting rules you’ve learned will help you write better articles. In particular, this applies to creating headlines for your articles.
Just like your ad and landing page headlines, your article headlines will benefit from promising a benefit and/or arousing curiosity. Your headlines will also benefit from using trigger words like “how to,” “easy” and “discover.”
Remember this:
People want solutions to their problems.
But they also want these solutions to be quick and easy.
As such, make sure your headline (title) doesn’t make the solution sound like it’s a lot of work.
Example: A headline like “The Quick and Easy Way to Lose Weight” will go over much better than “Losing Weight Requires Sacrifice and a Growling Stomach.”
People also like to read articles that organized into quick and easy STEPS or TIPS.
That means creating a headline that says something like: “Three Quick and Easy Steps to Losing Weight” or “How to Housetrain Your Puppy in Seven Steps” make for good titles.
When creating titles, remember the purpose of your title.
Simply, the title’s purpose is to get attention
and draw people into the article.
Go ahead and play with a few different titles. Take some time to create them – after all, it IS the most important part of your article! Without a good title, the article simply won’t get read!
2) SENSATIONAL Articles
If your article title did a good job, then you’ve grabbed the eager reader’s attention and pulled him into your article. Now your article needs to hold his attention so he reads all the way through to your byline.
Here are a few tips to accomplish exactly that:
Write with a conversational tone.
This isn’t a college thesis – and it shouldn’t read like one either. Instead of writing as if you’re writing a paper for your high school English teacher, write as if you were explaining something to an acquaintance.
Make it easy to read…
If you heeded the first tip, then chances are your article is easy to read. That means you’re not using “one hundred dollar” words or bloated sentences. Doing so slows the reader down and may even make him reconsider reading your article at all.
…And make it LOOK easy to read!
In addition to making it easy to read, you also need to format so it LOOKS easy to read. If the reader scans down the article to see long, unbroken blocks of text, he’ll likely move on because the article looks difficult to read.
Your first paragraph in particular should be short – indeed, one short sentence to “hook” the reader. Thereafter, every paragraph should only be a few lines long.
Whenever possible, break your text up into interesting segment. For example, create bold sub-headlines that break up the text. Set tips apart from the regular flow of the text. Use numbered or bullets to create lists (as opposed to creating lists within paragraphs).
Once you’ve completed your article, scan down the article without reading the text. Does the format make the article look easy to read? If not, rewrite and reformat until you have an article that can be quickly consumed.
Don’t Solve Your Readers’ Problems Completely!
Your article should help your readers solve a problem – but you don’t want to solve it completely! After all, if you give the reader all the information she needs, then she has no reason to click through to your site.
So create an article that’s entertaining, useful, and partially solves a problem – but purposely leave the best information off so you can direct your readers to your site for the full solution.
Example: Your weight loss article may give several weight-loss tips. However, you can hold back one of your BEST tips and offer it only to those who click through to your site and subscribe to your newsletter.
3) SEARCH ENGINE Bait
Sometimes you’ll create articles for your newsletter subscribers as a means of building a relationship and turning them into buyers. However, what we’re specifically talking about in this section is using articles to pull in traffic – and in some cases, that means pulling in search engine traffic.
You’ve already learned how to research long-tail keywords and create articles around these keywords.
As always…
Success is NOT an Accident!
The “secrets” of list building. High conversion examples. The perfect bribe. The Power squeeze. How to create a list in Aweber. Nine critical on page properties. A proven squeeze page template and how to edit it.
Not a member? Join Now
Got a text from one of my friends yesterday that said, “Not many ‘profit letters’ this week. I can tell you’re working on something.”
Yep.
And it’s a total “game changer.”
(Just kidding. I always think it’s funny when I see that in an email. Some kind of crazy build up to a new release that’s supposed to be the baddest deal ever. And then it’s more of the same old thing.)
But, I am working on a new release.
It’s not a game changer. But it is an “understanding” and a “Finally, I get it” changer.
(Club level members login to your account and you can access it now.)
—–
This month in Nicheology we’re focusing on Building Your List.
(Last month was on Finding Your Niche http://www.nicheology.com/members/department66.cfm)
The first training session will be available on Tuesday in Nicheology. It’s called LAUNCH. It will cover the reason, rules and complete step by step setup for maximum opt-ins. Plus, you get a high converting squeeze page template.
Everyone “knows” the importance of list building, but few are successful. I constantly hear reports of discouraging opt-in rates. Well, we’ll work on turning that around in the training.
For those who are not part of Nicheology here’s some tips that can help you build your list…
One of the best ways to create a more responsive list is by knowing as much as you can about your list members. If you know, specifically, what each of your subscribers prefer, then you can easily segment your list and send out highly targeted offers.
One way to segment your list is to make a short checklist as part of the newsletter sign up. Simply ask your subscribers to check their interests from a list.
Example: Let’s suppose you run a travel site. Your instructions might say, “What type of vacations interest you most? Please select all that apply from the following list:”
- Beach vacations
- Mountain vacations
- Ski vacations
- Luxury vacations
- European vacations
- US vacations
- Asian vacations
- Volunteer vacations
- Green vacations
- Cruise vacations
…and so on.
Now you have the ability to write highly targeted emails. For example, if you’re offering a discount vacation package on a choice of ski vacations or cruise vacations, you can use your segmented list to speak directly to your ski fans and your cruise fans.
You send one email to ski fans offering them a discounted ski vacation and you send another email to the cruise fans offering them a discounted cruise. Then you send a general offer to the rest of your list.
End result?
Higher conversion rates!
Test it for yourself and see how segmenting your list can boost your profits.
Success is NOT an Accident!
Paul
Members…
Facebook Like Application for WordPress
step by step tutorials for creating a social media experience in your WordPress site. . . . keep reading
This 6 part video series was created for you, so you can automate your blogging, to act as a way to generate a constant flow of traffic, which will ultimately build your list. . . . keep reading
Here’s how you can sell effectively and ethically without being an expert. Plus how to boost your position in a niche to move closer to becoming a true expert. You’ll be applying the secret SEO strategy (and it’s got nothing to do with traffic). . . . keep reading
