Archive for List Building
Lately, Internet marketers have been telling me, “Ray, people don’t opt-in to squeeze pages nowadays. They just don’t opt-in like they used to”. Do remarks like this have you nodding in agreement?
Fear and paranoia, with a healthy dose of spam, has made it harder to get people to opt-in. At one time, it was so easy. All you had to do was add a form that said, “Sign up here to get e-mails”, and the world would flock to your site.
People would opt-in like crazy! E-mails, e-newsletters — everything was so new and exciting. My, how things have changed. Today, we are deluged with e-mails. People are constantly changing e-mail addresses. People have multiple e-mail addresses – heck, some people even have a fake e-mail address that they never check, just to deal with all the spam.
Cutting through the clutter is a challenge. How can you make sure you are getting real opt-ins from people who will actually read the e-mails you send out?
Well, yes. There are ways to increase your opt-in conversions. These simple tactics don’t take a lot of work, but they are very effective.
Try these three tactics to boost your opt-ins:
Make a stronger offer. We all know you have to give an ethical bribe to get people to opt-in – a special report, an audio, a video, a piece of software. If you just say, “Sign up to get my newsletter”, to the average reader that means, “Sign up so I can spam you.” You need to be more creative. Work harder to create a better premium to offer your subscribers. If you’re offering a special report, it better be a killer special report, and not the same old crap that everybody else is offering. You need to come up with a unique angle, it needs to be well-written. Same is true of audio, video or software – it needs to be well-done, it needs to be unique – something obtainable only through you, and it needs to address a need that is in line with the desires of your readers.
Use a bigger, “responsive” HTML button. Go to my website: www.RayEdwardsCopy.com and look at the button on the subscription form on my squeeze page. Notice that it’s larger than most buttons you see on subscription forms. Notice also, that when you hover your cursor over the button, the background changes color from red to green. That is a subtle, psychological hint that takes people from “Stop” to “Go!” Yeah, that’s a little sillybut, in my experience, it increases conversions. I can verify this through some colleagues of mine: Michel Fortin, Eric Graham – The Conversion Doctor and Armand Morin, as well. My recommendation is that you try this kind of button, too.
Keep distractions off your opt-in pages. Take another look at my opt-in page. Do you see how clean it looks? There are no distractions to take attention away from the opt-in option. Of course, there are legal disclaimers at the bottom (right where I need them), but they are very subtle. And when you click on them, those legal notices open in small pop-up windows – after all, I want them on this page, not heading off in another direction.
While these suggestions seem very simplistic, they really work. Try them for yourself, and watch your opt-in rates soar!
Should you use a “squeeze page” on your website, or have these pages lost their effectiveness?
A “squeeze page” is one that forces your site visitors to give you their name and email address in exchange for some kind of bribe… an audio training, a special report, or piece of software.
Making a free offer to your site visitors in exchange for their name and e-mail address is a great way to grow your e-mail list, but it has to be done carefully so that you don’t also drive away potential customers.
Here are some things to think about… Read more…
One of the biggest challenges in building your online business is to build a large e-mail list.
A list of prospects and buyers that you can use as a foundation for your online business.
It’s harder than ever to build e-mail lists online, as customers are more reluctant to opt in for free e-zines (or other mailing lists) than ever before.
What’s the best way to build an e-mail list? Rest assured, e-mail marketing is just as important now as it ever has been, and perhaps even moreso. So what do you do? Read more…
Lately, Internet marketers have been telling me, “Ray, people don’t opt-in to squeeze pages nowadays. They just don’t opt-in like they used to”. Do remarks like this have you nodding in agreement?
Fear and paranoia, with a healthy dose of spam, has made it harder to get people to opt-in. At one time, it was so easy. All you had to do was add a form that said, “Sign up here to get e-mails”, and the world would flock to your site.
People would opt-in like crazy! E-mails, e-newsletters — everything was so new and exciting. My, how things have changed. Today, we are deluged with e-mails. People are constantly changing e-mail addresses. People have multiple e-mail addresses – heck, some people even have a fake e-mail address that they never check, just to deal with all the spam.
Cutting through the clutter is a challenge. How can you make sure you are getting real opt-ins from people who will actually read the e-mails you send out?
Well, yes. There are ways to increase your opt-in conversions. These simple tactics don’t take a lot of work, but they are very effective.
Try these three tactics to boost your opt-ins:
Make a stronger offer. We all know you have to give an ethical bribe to get people to opt-in – a special report, an audio, a video, a piece of software. If you just say, “Sign up to get my newsletter”, to the average reader that means, “Sign up so I can spam you.” You need to be more creative. Work harder to create a better premium to offer your subscribers. If you’re offering a special report, it better be a killer special report, and not the same old crap that everybody else is offering. You need to come up with a unique angle, it needs to be well-written. Same is true of audio, video or software – it needs to be well-done, it needs to be unique – something obtainable only through you, and it needs to address a need that is in line with the desires of your readers.
Use a bigger, “responsive” HTML button. Go to my website: www.RayEdwardsCopy.com and look at the button on the subscription form on my squeeze page. Notice that it’s larger than most buttons you see on subscription forms. Notice also, that when you hover your cursor over the button, the background changes color from red to green. That is a subtle, psychological hint that takes people from “Stop” to “Go!” Yeah, that’s a little sillybut, in my experience, it increases conversions. I can verify this through some colleagues of mine: Michel Fortin, Eric Graham – The Conversion Doctor and Armand Morin, as well. My recommendation is that you try this kind of button, too.
Keep distractions off your opt-in pages. Take another look at my opt-in page. Do you see how clean it looks? There are no distractions to take attention away from the opt-in option. Of course, there are legal disclaimers at the bottom (right where I need them), but they are very subtle. And when you click on them, those legal notices open in small pop-up windows – after all, I want them on this page, not heading off in another direction.
While these suggestions seem very simplistic, they really work. Try them for yourself, and watch your opt-in rates soar!
I get a lot of questions asking how to build a list and do it quickly.
Actually, it’s a lot easier to build a list than you might think.
The fact is the techniques of list-building are really quite simple.
These three tactics will help you to build your list quickly:
Use a “squeeze page”. I find that, while everyone seems to know about the effectiveness of a squeeze page, few are actually doing it, or if they are, they’re not using a true squeeze page. You must admit, it takes a little bit of backbone to say, “You don’t get to see anything until you give me your e-mail address!” I promise you, though, use a squeeze page and you’ll get subscribers, and you’ll build your list. If you look at my squeeze page for Ray Edwards Copywriting, you’ll see that I don’t even offer an ethical bribe to get people to opt-in, yet my conversion rate for this page is about 38%.
Do “ad swaps” with other list owners. Look for people with ads in their e-zines, contact them and say, “Hey, I have an e-zine, too! How about we trade ads?” Then, you run an ad for their list and they run an ad for your list. Or, if they don’t offer ads (or you don’t offer ads), simply contact them and say, “I would like to promote your email newsletter to my subscribers, would you do the same for me?” In your e-mail newsletter, then, you just write a little paragraph that says, “I’ve discovered a great newsletter that I think you’d enjoy. Here’s the link.” This, by the way, is one of the best and fastest ways to build your list. I know, I know, it’s too easy. But, it works.
Look for opt-ins through forum postings. You can post good content to forums. Many forums will allow you to add text to your signature line. Try something simple, like “To get my ‘Seven Tips on List Building’, click here”. That link leads readers directly to your opt-in page. Make sure you have a decent ethical bribe to offer – a special report, audio clip, video clip, a .pdf, even free software. Don’t subscribe to any forums? Now may be the time to start! All you need is twenty minutes a day. Use that time to check out ten forums, add quality posts, answer any questions, and include your signature line link. This really works – I get new subscribers every day from this method, and I don’t even have time to post to forums anymore.
Want more information about the quickest ways to build your list?
I recommend Tellman Knudson’s List-Building Club.
The Story: Let’s assume you’re writing your own copy (maybe you can’t afford to hire a professional, or you just love writing copy for your own products).
One of your first tasks as a copywriter is to break down the skepticism that your prospects (readers, site visitors, subscribers) are feeling, and get them to believe you – even just a little bit.
The Point: How do you break through that skepticism? Testimonials and proof elements.
The Resource: Any late-night infomercial
3 Ways To Use Testimonials or Proof:
1. Add more testimonials.
2. Show photographs (before and after).
3. Show evidence (pictures or screen grabs).
Click for the Podcast Audio:
Click Here
Recently I was interviewed by one of my copywriting buddies.
His name is Ben Settle, and if you don’t know about Ben you should. He has one of the best copwriting blogs on the ‘net.
Anyway, the interview was supposed to be a one-hour interview. It ended up being well over 2 hours.
After listening to the finished product, I realized it was pretty darned good (Ben is a great interviewer).
Here’s some of what we covered in the interview:
- Why studying successful ads can actually hurt your copywriting!
- How to use an ordinary copyright notice to instantly banish “writers block.”
- A free piece of software that can realistically nab you well over an 80% opt-in rate on your squeeze pages!
- What to do if you’re starting from scratch online and need to make a lot of money—fast!
- How to set up profitable online joint ventures—even if you live in a cave with no friends, contacts or business connections whatsoever.
- A little-known way to build a hyper-responsive email list without turning on your computer!
- How to use dopey little ad “jingles” to drive thousands of qualified leads to your websites.
- An almost unknown way to make a TON of money from your email list… without sending them any emails!
- How to make more profits from your sites by purposely getting a lower opt-in rate.
- A secret trick (even an “SEO dummy” can use) to almost instantly get top google rankings on any key words you choose!
- How to use video on your sites for little or no money and without any big learning curves.
- A little-used “loophole” in the Warrior Forum that lets you quickly add a few thousand cash-in-hand subscribers to your email list—without spending even one thin dime.
- Why your telephone is your #1 most profitable “tool” for making money online!
- The secret of getting world-class marketers (with gigantic lists of buyers) to joint venture with you—even if your list is puny and they have no idea who you are.
Grab your copy of the interview by clicking here.
The Story: It’s a lot easier to build a list than you might think.
The Point: The techniques of list-building are really quite simple; three techniques you can use today.
The Resource: www.MyFirstListOnline.com <– Free List-Building Tips
Here are three tactics you can use to build your list fast:
- Use a “squeeze page”.
- Do “ad swaps” with other list owners.
- Use forum postings to get opt-ins.
Click for the Podcast Audio:
Click Here
The problem with opt-in pages is: everyone is copying the same old model.
To see a model that’s getting up to 80% opt-ins, take this quiz.
After you take the quiz, you’ll get a video that will show you how to build opt-in pages that average between 60-80% conversion from visitor to subscriber.
You’ll even get a download link to a free beta of the software that creates these opt-in pages for you. Seriously. No “upsell”. No “one time offer”.
I’m going to be testing the software on my own pages, and I will update you with the results.
For now, I recommend you give it a try yourself: get the software here.
One of the biggest challenges in building your online business is to build a large e-mail list.
A list of prospects and buyers that you can use as a foundation for your online business.
It’s harder than ever to build e-mail lists online, as customers are more reluctant to opt in for free e-zines (or other mailing lists) than ever before.
What’s the best way to build an e-mail list? Rest assured, e-mail marketing is just as important now as it ever has been, and perhaps even moreso. So what do you do? Read more…
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By Ray Edwards | January 12, 2009 
