Build a List and Treasure Your Contacts

If you are relatively new to the world of online business, you may not be all that familiar with how email marketing works – but believe me, it’s something you need to learn! Ever heard that popular saying, ‘the money’s in the list’? It’s probably one of the most quoted phrases in ‘how-to’ marketing eBooks, forums and blogs, but if you don’t actually understand what this means, it’s easy to ignore like so many buzz words.

The reality is though, if you overlook the advantages of having a list of contacts who are interested in your product area, you are losing money, period. For the sake of your business, you need to build a list.

Let’s break this down for a second – If you have an online business, you must have a product or service which is aimed at a particular group of people, be they boat owners, bodybuilders, new parents, or dog owners.

Someone who is interested in a dog training manual might also be interested in getting cheaper veterinary bills, which you can advise them on, and ultimately make a sale or commission. Having a systematic way to stay in touch with your audience after you’ve made that initial contact must therefore be a good thing.

What’s needed is a nice easy way to follow up when you’ve something else that might be of interest to, or benefits your audience. The easiest way to stay in touch is of course by email. Now, you obviously can’t force anyone to give you their address, nor can you misuse it when you have it. Responsible marketers and business people like ourselves know that we won’t get very far by using underhand methods like spamming, and indeed there are strict laws in place such as the U.S. CAN-SPAM act, to prevent abuse of email. So how can we leverage the power of email, while not only acting responsibly, but actually benefiting the people we reach?

The first problem is obviously to get people signed up, but of course, people are getting more and more guarded with their email addresses these days – for someone to give it up you need to make it worth their while. No longer is the offer of a ‘free newsletter’ enough – you need to give your visitor something useful or interesting. Written reports are a good example of this, as the reader can get some good information related to their subject of interest, and are easily distributed. These can often be created yourself, outsourced or purchased for a minimal cost.

The visitor gives you their name and email address via a simple form on your website, and in exchange you send them your report. The details are captured by a piece of software called an autoresponder.

Autoresponders allow you to send an email or series of emails automatically, and are an essential tool for any online business.

So what happens when someone gives you their details – well, once the autoresponder software has the email address, it can be configured to automatically send out an email with your free report as an attachment, or a link to a website where they can download it.

A day or two later, you can then follow up to make sure your new subscriber has the report, and begin to build a relationship with them. Remember that point – you should be trying to build a mutually beneficial relationship with your reader; these people are your business and you need to look after their interests. It’s all about building trust – yes, you can earn money when someone buys one of your recommendations (that’s why you’re in business after all), but you must give the reader something in return. You’ve heard the old adage ‘you don’t get something for nothing’, well that’s never been more true than in relation to email marketing.

This means sending only what your subscribers will want to read. Make it so that they want to hear from you! When sending out a series of emails, aim to make these about 75% content, 25% selling – and what you do sell needs to be something your readers will get real value from.

Don’t recommend products that you’re not familiar with yourself just because it pays a high commission. Try everything yourself. Make sure it works and make sure it delivers what it’s supposed to. Talk only about the good stuff – there’s plenty out there!

When you’re putting together your mailings, make sure to always maintain a friendly tone. Even if you don’t consider yourself a great writer yourself, don’t worry. Just get out a piece of paper and write down rough ideas about what you want to say – remember that it’s not about the writing itself, but the information within the text that’s important. It’s even possible to hire a ghost writer from somewhere like ELance.com for a very reasonable fee.

These days, there are other mediums that can be utilized also – you could record a video like the one on my website, or even a simple audio file posted on a website, and send the link out to your list. You don’t need to be a great writer to have a successful list.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an affiliate, have an online store, a hobby website or a hugely successful offline business – you should make every effort to build a list and stay in touch with your contacts. There are other methods, but email remains the most efficient, cost effective and powerful means there is. Remember, a qualified email address is something to be cherished.

By: Ronan McClelland

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