WWW.MARKETINGSTEPSONLINE.COM
Steps to Your own cash registers
Step 1: Find your niche product
Step 2: Do Research on your Idea
Step 3: What can you do with your idea?
Step 5: Increase traffic to your site
Articles
Pay-Per-Click and Google Adwords
Pay-Per-Click and Google Adsense
Building mailing list with opt-in
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So why is the contact information important to you? Because, without asking for this information, you will be letting MOST of your sales opportunities slip through. Statistics shows that more than four fifth of online buyers purchase at least once in response to e-mail promotion. More than two third of the recipient open at least 60% of opt-in e-mails they received. About one third made immediate online purchase in response to an e-mail.
During normal web surfing, most of us would visit scores of sites but in the end we would just read and leave. Sometime, when we need to go back to the an earlier site that we found interesting, we would have forgotten the address. I believed that it happens to everyone.
So if you are designing your website, remember to collect this information. Simply collecting their email address give you the opportunity to expose the visitors to your products again and again -- all at nearly no cost to you! Collecting their name will make the e-mail even more personal.
However, like me, most people will be wary of giving away their own personal information. What¡¯s more with rampant spam mails these days? To entice them to part with the contact information, you have to give them a free gift which is called ethical bribe. This could be in the form of an e-book, source code, utility programs, nice picture etc. A simple cut and paste code to add into their website may also entice them to opt-in. These are some examples:
Offer a free course
If you have a lot of know-how in your area of expertise,
you can turn your "expert" status into a free multi-part
course on a subject your readers are interested in
learning.
It's another great way to start collecting opt-in email
addresses, and it has the advantage of putting you in
touch with your opt-ins several times.
Ask yourself what kind of information your readers want from you -- what do you have to teach them? What have they come to your site to learn, or what kind of information were they seeking?
By using delayed autoresponders, you can set up the
different lessons in your course to be emailed to
subscribers at specified intervals, all without any
effort on your part.
Your delayed autoresponder program could be set up to
send a new lesson to subscribers every seven days --
meaning that subscribers would automatically be exposed
to your company and your offer four times over the
course of a month.
And the best part is, you are contacting them with
information that they have specifically requested.
If you're interested in getting your hands on an
email management program with unlimited autoresponder
capability, check out:
http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop
Don't forget that your course can contain text, audio,
graphics -- even video -- whatever suits the material
you're delivering. Just send your subscribers a link
to the web page where your course can be found.
Unlike email, your web site doesn't put any restrictions
on how much rich media you can feature.
Offer a free eBook
A free eBook can be a great incentive, depending on the kinds of products or services you offer.
If you offer a free eBook, you'll have to take the time to actually write it. But an eBook doesn't need to be hundreds of pages long to be useful. An information-packed eBook can be as short as 8 to 10 pages, and still provide a ton of value for your opt-in subscribers.
Not only does a free eBook help build your list, it also helps familiarize your visitors with you and your products or services. You can also make your eBook viral -- and no, that doesn't mean you're making anyone sick!
"Viral marketing" is a strategy in which you encourage your customers to pass on a marketing campaign or message to others. Like a virus, your message has the potential to spread throughout online communities.
With viral eBooks, word about your business spreads quickly. For example, let's say that you persuade 10 people to pass your eBook on to their friends. And if they share it with even a few of their friends? That's a number that multiplies pretty quickly -- and can convert into tons of highly targeted potential customers!
You can even create a new opt-in offer for people who've received the eBook from friends. Put a link in the eBook to a special landing page that features the offer and collect a "second generation" of opt-ins.
Offer downloadable articles
If your site contains a lot of useful, original,
content-rich articles, one of the best ways to collect
email addresses is to require that visitors to your site
opt in to your list if they want to download those
articles.
As long as you offer useful information, and as long
as the downloadable articles contain something that
people can't get for free in the version you have posted
on your site, you can expect to get a TON of sign-ups
using this strategy. Now, maybe you're not comfortable writing, or your business
isn't suited to offering a written opt-in incentive. But don't
worry! There are a number of opt-in offers that don't require
much writing at all -- just a bit of creativity!
Offer other "downloadables"
Articles aren't the only items you can offer for download on your web site -- why not offer e-cards, screen savers, desktop wallpapers, or templates that your visitors can enjoy in exchange for their opt-in information?
For example, if you sell books about pet care, you can
offer e-cards or printable cards with photos of adorable
animals! Or if you sell beach home rentals, you could
easily create a screen saver with pictures of some of
your most beautiful destinations.
(Imagine if you could be on your visitors' computer screen
EVERY DAY -- whether they were online or offline! That's
what screen savers and wallpapers can accomplish -- all
with a minimum of set-up time, and at no cost to you!)
You don't even need a ton of graphic design skills -- a few good shots of your products or related items, and you're most of the way to creating something attractive that will keep your visitors connected to you and your product.
You can even offer a monthly subscription to special items like these, or a members-only area on your web site where subscribers can go to find goodies that relate to your industry.
Offer a contest, puzzle, or game
Running a contest on your web site works on the same principle as dropping your business card in a jar at the local diner in hopes of winning a free lunch for your office.
The diner collects information about its customers, and the customers get the chance to win a valuable prize. Both parties benefit, and it doesn't really cost the diner anything more than a few burgers for the winner.
Depending on the kind of business you run, there are a
ton of different options for this type of opt-in
incentive.
Some examples include:
**A contest to win an item related to your product: Say you sell party favors -- hats, toys, and streamers. You could hold a contest to win a free birthday cake from a bakery in your area or a percentage-off coupon for a party rentals place.
**A contest to win one of your products: But remember -- don't offer to give away the primary product you sell. People will enter the contest hoping to win -- and leave your site without considering an actual purchase!
**A weekly puzzle or quiz: The type of puzzle is up to
you: a crossword with words that relate to your
business, or a "multiple choice"-type quiz, an
animated jigsaw puzzle, or a game of "Hangman"!
You can set it up as a contest and draw a name from
the winning entries to award a prize -- or require that
people give you their opt-in information to get the
answer.
Offer a survey
Surveys are a great way to generate opt-ins, and they
also provide a valuable service to the people who take
part in them.
For example, if you had something to sell that was of
interest to gardeners, you could mention your survey in
relevant newsgroups, forums, or related newsletters, and
give a link to the survey page on your web site.
Your survey could delve into what types of products
gardeners are using in different kinds of gardens, or
what kinds of gardening challenges they face in their
particular region.
Let participants know that you will send them the results
if they give you their name and email address.
Because participants have to come to your web site to fill out the survey, you should be able to take advantage of all that new traffic and generate a significant number of new opt-ins.
You might even incorporate a survey question such as:
"Would you like to receive a complimentary copy of our
monthly newsletter (or eBook, or course) with tons of
gardening tips and tricks?"
If they answer "Yes" to that question, you can add their
name to your opt-in list!
Offer a members-only forum or discussion board
Members-only forums and discussion boards can be a major draw for people in niche markets. Because their areas of interest are often unique and specific, they sometimes have a hard time getting the information they want, or finding other people who are interested in the same things.
You can step in and provide a community for like-minded people to meet and discuss their hobbies or their concerns -- or pretty much anything to do with your market.
If you can provide a forum that appeals to your market,
people will RUSH to give you their opt-in information to
be a part of it.
This will also give you a great opportunity to learn more
about your customers and what kinds of products or
services you can develop to further meet their needs --
AND grow your business.
You'll need to participate by establishing some community
rules and moderating the forum -- not to mention starting
up some topics of discussion and adding your two cents to
the debates!
But in the meantime, your subscribers will do most of
the work by creating valuable content.
Offer members-only specials
One of the easiest ways to encourage visitors to opt in with their personal information is to offer them a chance to save money! It can be as simple as the following text:
"Do you want to receive our special MEMBERS-ONLY
offers? Every month we bring exclusive deals to
our subscribers that you can't get anywhere else!
To start saving now, just sign up below!"
This is a great way to drive opt-ins AND sales, and to make your potential customers feel appreciated before they even buy your products!
There are many different opt-in incentives available -- you just
need to apply a little creativity to choose the one that's
right for you and your target market!
Having emphasized on the importance of collecting mailing list, here is how a layman like me will do it. Pay someone to design the page for me. If you are a programmer, you know that to make a page like this requires some sort of database. Moreover, after opting-in, you will want to have an auto e-mail reply that provide the visitor a password to continue exploring your site and download what you have promised them. A lay person will not be able to do this without help. Here comes the opportunity for the gifted few, the programmers.
In the market, there are many auto responders available. Some are free and some are not. Some charge a one time fee like Get Response and others are package into a monthly service like Sales Generator Tools.
This is what I will do:
"How do I start, I am very good in cooking...."
Useful links