38.  Create an autoresponder course on a hot topic.

No one can resist learning about a topic that they’re already interested in… so why not create an autoresponder course on the subject.

Creating an autoresponder course is really easy.  All you have to do is write a report and then break it down into pieces.  Set your autoresponder up to mail out each piece to subscribers one at a time.

39.  Get other subscribers to promote you with a free monthly contest or referral prizes.

This is kind of like creating a refer-a-friend contest.  Just set up a contest where the subscriber that refers the most new subscribers to join your list gets a monthly prize.   Here’s a really good script that you can use to create your own contest and a free video to show you how it works.

I like the script above because it prevents people from sending out spam in your name and sets up the system so that referrers are sending their friends email directly from them, not your autoresponder.  You still need to check with your autoresponder’s terms of service before you use this marketing tool however.

40.  Squeeze Pages.

You can generate a lot of new subscribers very quickly by using squeeze pages and a really great offer!

Essentially, a squeeze page is the landing page that you send visitors to prior to your sales page (or another page) where you request their subscription before they can proceed.  Once they put their subscription information into the form and submit it, they’re redirected to the sales page.  Some squeeze pages even go a step further and require new subscribers to confirm their subscriptions before they can get to the information that they want.

41.  Get someone to offer your newsletter subscription as a bonus to their own product.

People are always looking for additional bonuses to add to their product packages online… why not your newsletter?

All you have to do to make this one work is joint venture with someone who has a compatible product for sale, write your newsletter bonus pitch, and add your email subscription form script to their product download page and you’re all set.  It creates a win/win because your partner gets an additional bonus to help them sell their product and you get a new subscriber who is willing to spend money in your niche.

42.  Create a dynamic pitch page for your subscription.

This one is kind of a no-brainer.  You can’t just slap up a subscription form and expect people to fall all over themselves subscribing to your list.  You’ve got to present some kind of compelling offer to entice them to subscribe.

The way I usually do it is that I put my subscription form along with an image on every page of my website along with a link to another page where they can learn more about it.  When then click on the link, they get a sales letter type page that tells them what they can expect with the subscription and why they should subscribe to it.

43.  Get your newsletter listed on as many free sites and directories as possible.

There are all kinds of directories for newsletters and ezines available online, so it makes sense that you should get your newsletter or ezine listed on as many of them as possible.  You just never know how people are going to find you.

44.  Post thoughtful comments on related blogs with a single link to your pitch.

Most blogs have a script on them that prevents search engines from following the links within comments, but you’re comments will still be read by blog visitors who might be interested in what you have to offer with your subscription.  The key here is to make sure your blog comments are interesting and worthwhile.

45.  Make an offer for one of your other lists on you thank you page.

This is a tactic that I’ve used with one of my family related lists and it works quite well.  Here’s how it works…

When people subscribe to newsletter #1, they are sent to a thank you page where they are told to check their email for the confirmation notice.  In addition, they are given additional information about newsletter #2 where they can get related, but not competing, information.  In my experience, one out of every three subscribers to list #1 also subscribes to list #2.

46.  Giveaway Ventures.

A giveaway venture is when you joint venture with several other people in your niche or related niches to run the program.  Each person or business gives something away and all the donated products are put together into a single package to giveaway to subscribers.  Each partner then promotes the giveaway products to gain subscribers to their lists.

The beauty of this scenario is that you gain new subscribers directly to your own list because of the value of the giveaway, but that’s not all.  Depending on what you offer as your product to give away (a free report or ebook, for example), you’re also putting your product in front of all those other prospects who subscribed through one of your partners.  If you have links to your product, your website, or your newsletter, in the ebook you donated to the venture, you can gain new subscribers and visitors, as well as sell additional products.

47.  Buy subscribers.

There are several services available where you can buy lists of subscribers.  I’m not a big fan of this method, but some claim it works well for them.  If you choose to buy subscribers, be sure that that they are all double optin and that your source is reputable.

48.  Use Pop-ups.

As a surfer, I absolutely hate pop-up ads.  As an internet marketer, I use them on several of my websites because they work.  In fact, I’ve performed several tests on my websites to find out if I get more subscribers with or without them and it always turns out that I get more subscribers when I use a well thought-out pop-up advertisement for my newsletters… about 40% more on average.

You might hate them, but pop-ups work.

49.  Create bonus for someone else’s product.

This one can be a little bit tricky, but it’s well worth it if you can pull it off.  The idea is to create some kind of product that works well as a bonus for someone else’s product.  For example, if you found a software product that you really liked and you’d found a new way to use it, you could create an ebook that works with the software and explains this new method.

The software owner would love the ebook, especially as a bonus to their software, and you could gain more subscribers through subscription links in the ebook.  A win/win.

50.  Use Co-Registration.

This is exactly like number 45 above, only the newsletter that you’re offering on your thank you page is someone else’s.  Co-registration can also be when your subscribers sign up to several lists all at the same time.  If this is something you’re interested in doing to build your email list, then there are several services available to match you up with co-registration partners and run the program for you.

51.  Become an expert in your field.

Okay… Duh!  If you’re going to produce a newsletter, ezine, ecourse, etc. you should position yourself as an expert in your niche or you’re just plain wasting your time.

So how do you position yourself as an expert in your field?  Write a lot of articles and content, write professionally, and know what you’re talking about when you write.  If you look like a credible expert, you’ll have a lot more people wanting to sign up to receive your mailings.

52.  Direct mail offers.

Direct mail, specifically postcards, can be a really great way to get people to subscribe to get your newsletter, ezine, ebook, ecourse, or report, provided you create a really compelling offer on your postcards.  Sometimes a physical post card delivered directly to someone’s house can carry more credibility for your offer than other online advertising methods.

53.  Use hover ads.

I already mentioned pop-up advertising for subscriptions above, but hover ads are a completely different animal.  Generally, hover ads aren’t blocked by pop-up blockers and they are much more interactive than pop-ups.

If you’ve ever seen one of those websites with a peeling corner that suddenly unpeels to reveal a special offer, then you’ve seen what I’m talking about.  They’re unobtrusive, but they really get visitor’s attention.  There are lots of software programs on the market that will create hover ads for you, but the best one in my opinion is Instant Popover.

54.  Make your forum registration page work with your email capture system.

Many people operate their own forums as part of their websites, so it’s a great idea to make your forum registration and your email subscription programs work together.  All it really amounts to is a check box on the forum registration form that says something like “check here to subscribe to…”  You can even have the box already checked so that they actually have to uncheck it to keep from subscribing… Oooo!  Sneaky!

The service you use to run your email lists probably has a way to do this that you can do yourself.  If not, you can always hire a programmer to set it up for you at very little cost.

55.  Practice risk reversal on your email form.

According to Christopher Knight at http://www.emailuniverse.com, “Risk reversal is when you remove the risk from the buyer and put the burden of client satisfaction on your shoulders instead of your buyers. In the case of email newsletters, the risk of someone giving up their email address is that they will be sold, spammed or abused in some way.”

Give subscribers a “we don’t spam” kind of statement somewhere near your form.

56.  Offer newsletter testimonials.

Simply put a list of testimonials on your newsletter pitch page.  This demonstrates the value of the subscription to others who are considering subscribing.  I did this with one of my non-marketing newsletters and increased my newsletter subscription rate by over 200%!

57.  Create a separate website just for your email newsletter or ezine.

If you think of your newsletter or ezine as a product, and you should, then it makes sense to have a separate website just for that product.  It gives it more weight, makes it stand out from the competition, and positions your online publication as the journal of choice for your niche.

58.  Use viral marketing to your advantage.

Viral marketing is any campaign that uses word-of-mouth or tell-a-friend in order to get the message out.  In this case, you’re trying to get more people to subscribe through viral marketing, so you have to encourage your subscribers to pass your email messages on to their friends and family so that they will subscribe too.

It’s as simple as adding a reminder and link at the bottom of each email you send out and it works really well.

59.  Offer testimonials on related products and link to your pitch page.

Businesses are always looking for satisfied customers to extol the virtues of their product.  You can capitalize on that and promote your own email list at the same time by offering unsolicited testimonials on products related to your niche.

Simply buy the product, write a great testimonial (assuming the product is actually good), and include a link back to your subscription pitch page.

60.  Mention your newsletter or ezine in your teleseminars.

Many people run their own teleseminars or are guests on other people’s teleseminars.  This presents a perfect opportunity to plug your email list to that audience.  In fact, you can pitch your subscription opportunity at just about any speaking engagement.

If a subscription is free – and most are free – no one will really mind the blatant advertising.  They may even see it as a nice gesture that you’re offering them a free subscription.  Just refer them to your subscription pitch page… better yet, create a pitch page especially for them!

61.  Mention your free subscription on your business cards.

This is especially useful if you only have one newsletter or ezine that you write for.  Here’s an example of how to pull this off very effectively.

Let’s say that you’re a real estate agent and you have a free ezine about rehabbing local real estate.  It would be extremely effective to plug your ezine on your business cards because real estate agents hand out tons of business cards during the course of their day to all kinds of people.

62.  Test, test test.

As with everything in your business, it’s really important to test everything that you do to find out what works for you as you build your list.  Some list building activities will work better with some niches than with others.  If you don’t continually test all your marketing activities, you could be wasting a lot of time and money doing all the wrong things.   Test everything!

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

If you'd like to get more answers to your online business and internet marketing questions, subscribe to Answers eMagazine now!

List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 3

Related posts:

1. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 2
2. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers
3. How Does Attraction Marketing Really Work?

22.  Become a guest author on another website.

If you’re a pretty good writer and can commit to a regular schedule of articles, then becoming a guest author or columnist is a really great opportunity.  You get free publicity and the website you write for gets free content from you… Another win/win!

If you’re really feeling good about your writing, why not extend this idea and ask to become a guest columnist/writer for a print publication?  All they can say is no.

23.  Announce Your Ezine.

There used to be a software program that would do that announce your ezine for you, but it’s no longer available.  Instead, you’ll have to do the same thing manually.  The object here is that you want to add your ezine/newsletter to as many newsletter and ezine directory lists as you can find.

Simply type “ezine directory” or “newsletter directory” into a search engine to find them.

24.  Start a pay per subscriber for your newsletter.

This idea is similar to an affiliate program where you pay your affiliates for each new subscriber that they introduce to your newsletter.  You can easily set up a program like this through an affiliate network, or you can install a script on your server to do the job.

25.  Offer your newsletter as a bonus to a current product you sell.

This one’s really easy!  All you have to do is create a short pitch for your newsletter and add it to your list of bonuses offered with a product that you already sell.  Once a customer buys your product and are forwarded to a thank you/download page, provide them with a subscribe box so that they can claim the bonus subscription.

26.  Create a subscriber only membership website.

People love memberships, especially when they don’t have to pay for them.  In this case, your membership is really a subscription to your ezine, newsletter, etc.  Memberships have a lot of perceived value, so making a subscription to your list a “members only” affair will bring in subscribers in droves.

27.  Promote through a joint venture.

You often see people creating joint ventures to sell products and services.  Why not promote your free subscription in your JV instead?

28.  Get your subscription pitch on other people’s thank you pages.

If a website visitor has already subscribed to one list, then they are more likely to subscribe to others.  If you can get your subscription pitch on another business’s thank you page, you’re likely to get a much higher subscription rate.  In addition, it looks like the other business is recommending you to their subscribers!

29.  Start an affiliate program.

Starting an affiliate program benefits your business in so many ways, it’s not surprising that it can help you get subscribers as well.  When you start an affiliate program, why not start a list just for affiliates?  That way you can encourage them to subscribe to other lists, market products that will help them make more affiliate sales, etc.

In addition, starting an affiliate program will naturally increase your subscriber base because it will bring you more traffic through the affiliates that promote your product.  More traffic will obviously result in more subscribers.

30.  Make them laugh and they will subscribe.

People love to read stuff with personality… especially humor.  If you can make them laugh, chuckle, or smirk then they will be more likely to subscribe to anything that you ask them to subscribe to.

31.  Create a video.

It seems that everyone online appreciates an informative, enlightening, or humorous video… why not capitalize on that by creating an intriguing video that promotes your newsletter, free ebook, email course, or ezine?  Nothing gets their attention like video!  In addition, it’s a good way for potential subscribers to find out what you’re offering.

32.  Create multiple lists for specific niches.

The idea here is to create different subscription lists with different goals in mind.  For example, you might have a newsletter list, an ecourse list, and a list that provides updates to your customers about products they’ve purchased.  Each list has a different purpose, separate autoresponders, and unique messages.  You really don’t want to try to serve all your subscribers under one umbrella.

33.  Traffic Exchange Programs.

Frankly, this isn’t one of my favorite ideas, but some experts claim to grow their lists very quickly using this method.

The way it works is that you visit a specified list of websites in the traffic exchange network to earn credits.  For each credit you earn by visiting other websites, others in the network will visit your website.  (Some programs don’t do a one for one exchange, so check into it before you sign up.)  Additionally, you can also purchase credits so that you don’t have to waste your time visiting other websites.

The idea behind using traffic exchanges to build your list is that you send your “credits” to your subscription pitch page rather than your home page or another page on your website.  You’ll get lots of new subscribers, but I can’t vouch for whether they will confirm their subscriptions or whether they will be responsive to your message, but it’s worth trying.

34.  Find a controversial topic on a forum and post a comment with your subscription information in your signature.

This one is kind of a no-brainer… lots of people will see the topic of conversation on the forum, read the comments, and visit your subscription page – especially if they like your comment!

35.  Purchase solo mailings.

Find a newsletter or ezine that is related to your subject, but not in direct competition, and arrange with the owner/editor to email out solo piece in the form of an advertisement or an article.  I’ve had a lot of success in doing this with an article.  At the end of the article, I put a pitch for my free subscription and it works like a charm!

36.  Become a guest blogger.

People who run blogs are always looking for more high quality content for their blog posts and this creates a good opportunity for you to gain more subscribers.  Write a really good blog article/post for a popular blog that’s related to your niche and use the resource box to promote your list.

37.  Create a poll or survey on a controversial topic that includes a click to subscribe box.

This is one that you’ll kick yourself for not thinking of sooner!  The next time you create a poll or survey on your website – preferably on a controversial topic – simply include a box on the form that ties into your subscription system.  In fact, I suggest that you make the box already checked so that poll respondents actually have to un-click the box if they don’t want to subscribe.

End of Part 2. Click here to go to part 3

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

If you'd like to get more answers to your online business and internet marketing questions, subscribe to Answers eMagazine now!

List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 2

Related posts:

1. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers
2. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 3
3. Why Don’t SOME Affiliate Products Sell?

I often hear online business and marketing types talk about how important it is to have a good subscriber list.  In many cases, having a reasonable sized list of responsive subscribers can make the difference in whether your online business succeeds or dies a slow painful death.

You’re heard it before, “The money is in the list.”

What exactly is a list?

Simply put, a “list” is generally a database of subscribers that you contact regularly.  Your form of contact could be direct mail, email, phone, fax, or any other technology available.  For purposes of this discussion, we’re talking about how to successfully build an email list, but many of the strategies below could also apply to other kinds of list building.

Most online businesses create newsletters or ezines to send to their subscriber lists (a method I highly recommend), you can also create email lists in order to disseminate other types of information like website updates, ebooks, email courses, reports, blog posts, etc.  As long as subscribers know in advance what kind of information they’re signing up for, the sky’s the limit.

So, what are the benefits of building a good list for your business?

• Sending high quality information to your lists helps you build rapport with your subscribers and potential customers.  Relationship building is a huge plus in any business, but is especially profitable in an online business.  It also helps to establish you as an expert in your field.

• You can promote special offers and products to your list.

• An email list allows you to keep in touch with your subscribers and potential customers.  This gets them back to your website more often and will increase your sales.

• Promoting to email lists is much less expensive than other forms of direct marketing.

• You can easily gather additional information from your list that will help you plan future promotions and products.

• Regular mailings to an email list can make your website seem more human.

• There are lots of ways to monetize your email list, making it a huge money making opportunity… if you do it correctly.

Clearly there are lots of benefits… probably a lot more than what I’ve mentioned here.  I’m sure you’re all gungho to start your own mailing list now… or maybe you’ve already started a list and you’re looking for ways to get more subscribers.  That’s what very few people actually talk about… how to get a good subscriber list.  So that’s what we’re going to discuss here.  I’ve put together a list of 62 strategies that you can put into practice to build yourself a great list.

One word of caution before we get to the list… don’t try to implement every single strategy on the list at one time.  Just pick a single strategy, fully implement it, and then move onto another strategy.  In reality, there’s really no way to implement all the strategies listed – so develop a plan for implementing the strategies that seem best suited to your business.

One more quick note: The list below starts out with the most obvious and easiest to implement strategies and gets more creative as we go.  I came up with so many ideas that I decided to split them up, so Part 2 will come out later this week.

Now, let’s get on to the list…

1.  Put a subscribe form on every webpage of your site.

Most email experts agree that you should put your subscription form in the upper left or right hand corner of your website.

You never know which page of your website visitors will reach first, so putting a subscription form on all your relevant pages ensures that potential subscribers will see your message.

2.  Create some kind of graphic representation of your newsletter, course, etc.

You’ll will always see a higher response rate if you use a graphic rather than just words.  A cover is more dynamic, personable, and professional.

It’s easy to create your own graphic with any of the popular graphics programs or you can use a software program especially designed to make ebook covers, newsletter pictures, ezine images, software boxes, etc. covers like Killer Covers , Cover Software Pro, or the one I use:  Cover Action Pro.  You can also hire a cover designer.

3.  Tell people why they should join your list.

You’ve got to give potential subscribers a compelling reason to join your list.  Tell them what kind of information you’ll give them, what they can expect, and how they’ll benefit.  As will so many things in business, answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

4.  Create a separate pitch page.

It’s not enough to just slap up a subscribe form and a graphic to get people to subscribe to your list… You’ve got to sell them on the idea.  To do that, you need to write a well-crafted sales page that outlines all the benefits to joining your list.

The way I usually do this is to link directly from my subscribe box to a sales page with a link that says “click here to read more.”  I also link the graphic for the list to the pitch page.  Don’t forget to include your subscribe box prominently on the pitch page as well.  After all, you’ve talked them into subscribing.  You want to make sure they have a place to do it.

5.  Target your forms and pitch page to your audience.

It’s important to know who your target subscribers are before you go through all the trouble of creating an ezine, newsletter, or ecourse.  That’s obvious… but you also need to have thought through your potential subscribers’ possible reasons for subscribing, what they’re looking for, and how you’re going to give it to them.  That way you can tailor the graphics, pitch, title of the subscriptions, etc. to what will most likely appeal to your target subscribers.

A properly targeted list will be much more responsive and profitable.

6.  Allow email subscriptions.

Sometimes people make the mistake of only allowing new subscribers to subscribe through an online form.  They often do it that way to make sure that someone isn’t harvesting emails and fraudulently subscribing people.

In my opinion, you should also allow people to subscribe by sending an email directly to your list.  This is an easy option to set up in most email management programs.  As long as your list requires subscribers to confirm their subscription, you shouldn’t have any problems with spammers.  If spammers become an issue, you can always turn the option off.

If you aren’t comfortable with this idea, you could also allow people to send their subscription directly to you and you can manually add them to your database.  It might take a little more time, but if someone goes through the trouble of sending you an email, they’re probably going to read every email you send them.

7.  Offer incentives to subscribe.

There are lots of different incentives you can offer to entice people to subscribe to your list or ezine.  You can offer free ebooks, special reports, audios, videos, teleseminars, free coaching, or anything else you can think of.

There is a school of thought that offering freebies to get subscribers can actually lower the responsiveness of your list because many people will only subscribe to your list to get your freebies then unsubscribe.  On the other hand, if you offer high quality original material to your subscribers, you may retain more subscribers.  My advice is to offer freebies that give subscribers a taste of what to expect in your ezine.

8.  Show archives or samples of past ezine issues.

This is a really good way to let potential subscribers know what to expect when they subscribe to your newsletter or ezine.

If you don’t want to archive all your issues for non-subscribers, then you can always provide a few samples to whet their appetite for more.

9.  Be sure to post your email privacy policy.

Make it easy for people to subscribe to your list with confidence that you won’t spam them or sell their email address.

You may also want to try something like, “No obligation.  Nothing to buy.”  This is something that I’ve begun implementing on my own subscription forms and the results have been good so far.

10.  Use a strong call to action.

A call to action is exactly what it sounds like… it’s a command for your subscriber to subscribe.  Some common calls to action on a subscription for are:

• Subscribe Now!
• Send Me The Report!
• Click to Subscribe Now!
• Show Me How To…
• Join Now!

In other words, tell potential subscribers exactly what you want them to do.  Ask them to subscribe to your list.

11.  Advertise in newsletters/ezines.

Find other newsletters and ezines that are related to your target market, but don’t directly compete, and buy advertising.  If the newsletter or ezine that you’re interested in doesn’t currently offer advertising, contact them anyway and see if you can work something out.

A somewhat riskier tactic is to actually advertise in competing newsletters and ezines.  Some publishers won’t allow competing advertising, but most aren’t paying close enough attention to their lists to care.  The risk to advertising in a competing ezine is that you will be directly compared to your competition… if you think you can go head to head, go for it.

12.  Advertise on Google Adwords or other pay per clicks.

Pay per click advertising can be extremely effective and get you a lot of subscribers in a hurry… if you know what you’re doing.  It can also cost you a small fortune and result in very few subscribers if you don’t know how the game is played.

I highly suggest doing a little homework on the subject before you embark on this type of campaign.  You can choose to purchase a course on the subject like Google Money Pro, but you can get a good idea if pay-per-click advertising is for you from a free email course from Perry Marshall called, 5 Days to Success With Google Adwords.

13.  Put subscription information in your signature file.

I’m guilty, I admit it.  I rarely use a signature file on my outgoing emails.  Why?  I guess I’m just plain lazy.  It’s a really good idea to create a mini-ad about your newsletter or ezine and include it in your signature… I’ll have to put that on my list of things to do (boy that list sure is getting long!).

14.  Incorporate your subscription information into your print media.

So many businesses that operate out in the real world in addition to the online world totally miss the boat on this one.  If you have a business that uses print brochures, fliers, business cards, etc. you should include information about your newsletter, ezine, or update list, ecourse or any other type of list you have on your printed media.

If you have a retail location, for example, you could actually build a good email list out of your customers and visitors by offering to send them updates of upcoming sales, special product offers, or special shipments coming in.  You could even hold a contest and collect email addresses at your retail location so that you can notify the winner by email.  I could go on here, but you get the idea.

15.  List with ezine directories.

List your newsletter or ezine with directories specifically for that purpose.  You may not get a lot of subscribers this way, but every little bit counts.

16.  Advertise in print publications.

This is a great idea that is very rarely used, from what I’ve seen.  The idea is simple.  Find printed publications related to your website or business and pay for advertising in them.  In your ad, you’ll want use your pitch page URL so that potential subscribers go directly to the subscription page.

If you’re really smart, you’ll create a separate subscription page for each advertisement that you place so that you can track the results and see which ads are paying off and which ones you should drop.

17.  Do link exchanges.

If you do link exchanges on your website, that presents an excellent opportunity to advertise your newsletter, ezine, ecourse, or free report.  All you have to do is link directly to your pitch page rather than your website when you exchange links with other websites.

You could also take this one a step further by developing a link exchange program on your website that is strictly for ezines, for example.  In other words, you provide links to other “great ezines” while the ezines you link to do the same for your ezine.

18.  Ad Swaps.

A truly simple idea that creates a win/win for everyone involved.  All you have to do is find a newsletter or ezine that’s related to your target audience, but that isn’t direct competition and exchange ads.  You place their ad in your ezine and they place your ad in there’s.

One thing to keep in mind when you do this is that any publisher you approach should have about the same size email list as you.  If you have far fewer subscribers, they may require additional ads to make the swap fair and equitable.

19.  Write high quality articles.

If you already write articles as part of your overall marketing plan, simply add a plug for your ezine or newsletter.  You could also write articles specifically with the idea of promoting a special free report or something similar.  If you’ve written high quality articles, subscribers will flock to your ezine.  If you want more information about article marketing, visit The Amazing Article Formula.

20.  Send articles to other newsletter publishers.

You can get even more mileage, and subscribers, by sending your well-crafted article to other newsletter and ezine publishers for use in their publications.  A lot of online publications don’t offer advertising, but they love really good articles because it means less work for them!

21.  Get your articles published in print media.

Nothing gives you and your ezine or newsletter more credibility than being published in a printed – as in paper and ink – magazine or newsletter.  Guest articles in print media usually include some kind of information about the author, just like online publications do.  This provides you with a great opportunity for some free publicity about your special report, ezine, or free online course.

End of Part 1. Click here to go to part 2

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

If you'd like to get more answers to your online business and internet marketing questions, subscribe to Answers eMagazine now!

List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers

Related posts:

1. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 2
2. List Building: 62 Super Strategies For Gaining Subscribers Part 3
3. How Does Attraction Marketing Really Work?

No matter what kind of email you send — promotions, follow ups, newsletters, etc. — You only have a few seconds to catch your reader’s attention and get them to open your email, read it, and click through on your email links.

The most difficult obstacle in email marketing is to get people to actually open your messages.

After all, you can’t provide value to your prospects, develop rapport, or establish yourself as an expert in your industry if they won’t open the skinkin’ email!

So let’s talk about the most important factors in getting people to open your email and increase your email open rates.

There are two things that you’ve got to focus on, you’re email subject line and the “from” field of the email.  Let’s do “from” first.

1.  Be Consistent With Your Branding.

What I mean by this is that you’ve got to put the same thing in the “from” field every time you send out an email so that people will know who it’s from.  I have one non-business niche newsletter that I send out that always has the name of the newsletter in the “from.”  On the other hand, all my business niche email goes out with “Arvada Yates” in the “from” field.

The point here is that you don’t want to put something different in that field every time you send out a new message.  That just confuses people and lowers your email open rates.

2.  Use A Real Name

I absolutely hate it when people send me junk email that doesn’t even have a real name in the “from!”   I get junk from completely fake names, and that’s bad enough, but I also get stuff from really clever people like:

GOOD NEWS!
Home Warranty
Investigation and Debt Settlement Committee
8.2 Megapixel Camera
A Slimmer You!

Or they just leave the “from” completely blank.  Do they really think I’m going to bother opening something from “GOOD NEWS!”… of course not!

Now let’s get on to those subject lines.

3.  Don’t Over-Hype Your Email Subject Line

This is one of the biggest mistakes that people make with their subject lines… they throw in a bunch of hype instead of just delivering a good subject line. Here are some over-hyped email subject lines from my own inbox:

Make $1000 Every Day from Google Adsense
EARN From The MOST POWERFUL MONEY MAKING Program On The Net
Gain $50k this-week with a poscard mailing system

Do they think anyone is going to believe any of this crap?  Hype just makes people hit the delete button without bothering to read about what you’re hyping.

4.  Don’t Use ALL Caps

I really hate it when people use all capital letters in their subject lines.  It’s hard to read and it makes you feel like THEY’RE SHOUTING AT YOU.

5.  Be Honest

Honesty always works better than dishonesty to increase your email open rates.  You can’t trick people into opening your emails, and even if you do, they won’t click through to your website or offer.  Here’s what I mean by dishonest:

Hunagshi Donbei global lottery (You Are A Winner)
RE:  Your Commission Has Been Sent
Your Payment Overdue
ATM Code Problem
Congratulations Arvada, You Just Made A Commission!

That last one REALLY ticks me off. I get those kinds of things all the time and I usually preview the email to find out who I earned commissions from… only to find out that it’s a scam.  I hate that.

6.  Don’t Use Extra Punctuation

I’m talking about those email subject lines that use a bunch of punctuation marks to point to the words or when people use ten exclaimation marks in their subject line…  Like this:

FREE Money!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~%%%% You’ve Won Our Super Lottery%%%%~~~~
===>> Check this out <<===

Just write a meaningful subject line and you won’t need all that other junk, plus you’ll increase your email open rates!

7.  Limit Your Subject Length

Most email software and online services limit the number of characters that they show in a subject line, so your subject line should be 50 characters or less — including the spaces. If you write a longer headline than that, it will probably be cut off by the software and you won’t be able to increase your email open rates.

8.  Put A Benefit In Your Subject Line

Subject lines are kind of like the headlines of sales letters.  They have to capture your audience, get them to read on (open your email), and convey the benefits of your message.  In other words, give them a good reason to open your email.  Here’s some examples:

How To Get A Great Job In A Bad Economy
3 Free Tools I Love
Merry Christmas (Present Inside)

Subject lines are the most important factor in increasing your email open rates, so take the time to do them right!

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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8 Simple Ways To Increase Your Email Open Rates

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A few weeks ago I was talking to a client about his website and had agreed to take a brief look at it to give my overall opinion.  I happened to be on my Mac and using the Safari browser at the time, and when I clicked on to the site it was a complete mess!

Tables were skewed, pictures half covered up, the drop down navigation didn’t work, etc.

I actually thought this guy was playing a trick on me — no one would EVER take this site seriously.

When I commented to the client that his little joke was “very funny,” I quickly found out that this was no joke.  That was his REAL site.

After talking to him a few minutes and pulling the site up in other browsers, it didn’t take too long to figure out that he was having some serious browser compatibility problems.  He had built the site for Internet Explorer, and it was a work of art in that browser platform, but it was all messed up on nearly every other browser I tried.

Despite all the advances of internet technology, all browsers are still not created equal when it comes to how your site is viewed.  Browser incompatibility represents a huge challenge for anyone building a website.  Browser compatibility issues can affect your images, JavaScript functions, style sheets, links, navigation, and page layout.

AND it can totally kill your website profits and subscription rates!

Internet explorer, for example, tries to figure out what you meant to put in your code and fills in the blanks.  In other words, if you’ve used incorrect HTML code in your webpage, Explorer will try to make the corrections or fill in the blanks resulting in a page layout that may not be what you intended.

So obviously, you’ve got to address this issue with your website — Which can be a total pain in the rear.

Your first stop should be to check your website in a variety of browsers.  There’s three ways you can go about checking browser compatibility:

1.  Download and install all those browsers onto your computer and view your website in each browser.  This would be a total pain in the neck and totally unnecessary.

2.  Purchase browser compatibility software or a service.  There are lots of great services out there to choose from if you Google it.  I wouldn’t suggest this option unless you have a lot of websites or your build websites for your clients.

3.  Use a free service online like www.browsershots.org.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t really need to check your website in every browser in existence on the planet — that would be ridiculous!

The last time I checked, 99.2% of internet users only used seven browsers:

• Internet Explorer 6- 14.9%
• Internet Exploere 7 – 18.7%
• Internet Exploere 8 – 7.1%
• Firefox – 47.3%
• Google Chrome – 6%
• Safari – 3.1%
• Opera – 2.1%

Of course, these numbers change as new browsers come on the market, but it’s a pretty good place to start.

So I guess that I’m suggesting that even though technology continues to improve, browser compatibility STILL matters and you should definitely check your websites for compatibility!

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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I was coaching a new client yesterday who told me a story about how she had spent thousands of dollars on pay-per-click advertising for an affiliate product that she was promoting, yet yielded absolutely no sales.

Of course she was absolutely certain that the affiliate program was ripping her off — She’d actually made sales but they weren’t credited to her affiliate account.

Maybe that was true in her case, I don’t know, but there are also other factors that could explain here lack of affiliate sales.

1.  Does the affiliate sales page convert?

This is probably the biggest thing that all affiliates should consider before joining because it will have the biggest impact on your bottom line.   Does the sales page for the affiliate product that you want to promote have a good conversion rate?  In other words, how many people who click over to the sales page actually buy the product?

Believe it or not, conversion rates average around 2%… but I’ve see affiliate sales pages converting at much, much less.  It’s not unusual to find affiliate conversion rates in the tank at 0.01%.

2.  Does the sales page offer “untracked” sales?

Sometimes an affiliate sales page offers prospects other forms of payment that can’t be tracked to the affiliate who referred them.

For example, if a prospect can order by 800 number, then the affiliate may not get credit for sales they’ve referred who purchased through that toll free number.

I’ve seen a lot of Clickbank merchants do this kind of bait and switch thing to affiliates… let me explain.

The merchant joins Clickbank and sells one of their products through them.  Once they’re in the Clickbank marketplace and affiliates start promoting them, the merchant switches over to take payments through PayPal, phone, or another payment system and cuts the affiliate out of the sales.

3.  Is your advertising targeting the right market?

This is what I think happened to my coaching client… she was getting plenty of clicks, but they weren’t people who were interested in actually buying the product she was advertising.

It’s easy, especially with pay-per-click, to get a lot of people clicking through your ad.  All you have to do is word the ad so that it provokes a lot of clicks.

But clicks aren’t what really matters in a pay-per-click campaign… quality clicks are what matter.

That’s why most PPC experts use negative qualifiers and precise information to weed out all the tire-kickers.  Once you do that and specifically target who will see your ad, you’ll find that the quality of your clicks and your return on investment (ROI) improves tremendously.  (If you want to learn more about PPC, then I highly recommend The Definitive Guide To Google Adwords!)

In the end, there are probably lots of reasons why some affiliate products don’t sell, but these are the most common problems that affiliates face.

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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Why Don’t SOME Affiliate Products Sell?

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There’s really no reason to make things complicated when it comes to figuring out what people want, need, and will spend their hard-earned money on.  It’s actually really easy when you figure out that there’s really only five things that people really buy and just about everything fits into one of those five categories.

It doesn’t matter how great the features are, how awesome your marketing message, or even if your product has all the bells and whistles.  It doesn’t even matter what your industry is… At the end of the day, your customers all buy some variation of one of these things:

1. Make more money
2. Save more time
3. Make them feel better about themselves
4. Avoid the frustration of doing things they don’t want or like to do
5. Saving or avoid losing money in the future

So now that you know that your customers fit into one of these categories, how can you use that to your advantage?

Easy… Focus all your energy on selling one of these key points in all your copywriting and keep these five categories in mind as you create new products.

Of course, there are a lot of other factors involved in the entire sales process, but keeping an eye on these five categories and integrating this basic knowledge into your business plan will ultimately help you to make more sales and create products and services that address a need in your industry.

And there’s your quick tip for today… there are really only 5 things that people buy.

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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Only 5 Things People Really Buy?

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One of the most difficult challenges you’ll face as an online entrepreneur is pricing your products.  It’s difficult to strike a balance between pricing it high enough to make a good profit and low enough to make sales.

Lowering Your Price To Compete

This is a strategy that a lot of product owners mistakenly try in order to increase sales and gain more customers.  It sounds right — lower your price so that your product is less expensive than your competition.

Unfortunately, this strategy almost never works and will actually result in fewer sales, not more.

People don’t necessarily buy the cheapest product.  They usually buy the product that appears to be the best value for their money.

In addition, lowering your prices means less profit.  Earning less profits per sale may mean that you have a hard time keeping your business afloat.

Here’s a better strategy for pricing your products:

1.  Remain Competitive

You may not want to be the lowest priced product in your niche, but you do want to be competitive.  Take a look at the competition and what they’re offering.

You can’t price your product in a vacuum.

You’re competitors will help to guide you in your own pricing strategy.  You can take a look at the most expensive competitors and the bargain basement competitors and get a pretty good feel for what the market will bare in your industry or niche.

Once you know what your competition is doing, it will be easier to create a pricing strategy that gains a share of the market and creates sales.

2.  Create A Perception Of High Value

The best way to compete on price is to create a higher perceived value of your products compared to your competition.

You may even be able to charge significantly more for your product if you can prove to your potential customers that your product is better than anything else on the market.

The best way to create a higher perceived value is to pile on the bonuses.

Your product may be priced at $97 when the rest of the competition is priced at $47, but if you offer bonuses worth an additional $2,000 you’ll be able to easily convince potential customers that your product is superior.

Perception is everything.

3.  Test Prices

One of the best ways to price your products to compete for massive sales is to test different price points.  There are software products that run on your server that will allow you to test different prices — and they’re well-worth the money.

You’d be surprised how often you can actually charge a lot more for your product than you’d expect.

The idea is to find that “sweet spot” where you’re maximizing profits, not necessarily sales.

Here’s an example:  Let’s say that you can sell 100 ebooks for a $10 dollar profit on each and make $1,000.  You test out different price points and find that you can also sell the same ebook for $50 profit, but you only sell 50 of them instead of 100.  In the first scenario, you’ve made $1,000.  At the higher price, you actually profit $2,500!

Testing is the best way to find the “sweet spot.”

In the end, it’s important to remember that buyers are always much more interested in getting the best value for their money rather than the cheapest product.  Knowing that is how you go about pricing your product to compete for massive sales.

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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Pricing Your Products To Compete For Massive Sales

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Increase your sales — That’s the one sure way to increase your overall income and many online businesses struggle with the whole idea of increasing sales. That’s why I’ve put together a quick and dirty list of some top notch strategies to increase your sales.

1. Nail Your Niche

I’m sure that you already know what a niche is and that it’s important in your business, so I won’t belabor the point here. Design your web site to be a targeted resource center for your niche market. You’ll gain repeat visitors that are interested in that topic and increase your sales overall.

2. Fabricate REAL Freebies

Freebies are a great way to give people a taste of what you have to offer, gain traffic, and increase subscribers, but it must truly be free to work.  Otherwise it destroys your credibility and will actually reduce the number of sales you get.

Worse still is when people offer freebies that are total garbage full of affiliate links.  Make your offer genuine and you’ll improve your bottom line.

3.  Lasso Leads

Websites prove to be excellent lead generation tools and you’re missing a lot of sales if you aren’t working to capture leads for your business.  Appropriately marketing your products and services to your permission based leads can increase your sales tremendously.

4.  Track Your Traffic

Visitor analysis and complete website tracking is extremely important for any online venture.  It’s the only way to track what’s working and what isn’t for your business.

5.  Elevate Emotions

When creating sales pages and promotional materials for your products and services, be sure to engage the reader’s emotions.  Triggering your reader’s emotions will always increase your sales.

6.  Design For Dollars

When it comes to generating revenue with a website, you’ve got to design your site to make money.  It should be compatible with all the popular browsers, engage your target audience, and lead visitors by the hand to make a purchase.  Your website design should have one goal and one goal only — make the sale.

7.  Pen A Plan

Sit down and write a plan for how your website will generate revenue and gain targeted traffic.  It doesn’t have to be anything formal, but a marketing plan is a must to increase your sales.  You must plan to profit.

There are tons of other strategies that will help you increase your sales, but this basic list is a great place to get started.

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

If you'd like to get more answers to your online business and internet marketing questions, subscribe to Answers eMagazine now!

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Recently, I began promoting a Clickbank affiliate product that claimed to have a conversion rate of 1 in 16.  This product was owned by a reputable entrepreneur and showed documentation that “proved” the conversion rate that they claimed.

As an affiliate, it looked like a good deal.

Just send targeted visitors to the sales page and make one sale for every sixteen or so visitors you send them.

So, I started working on my affiliate marketing campaign for the product.  In this case, I decided to use pay per click(PPC) to promote it.  Here’s why I started with PPC:

Read the rest of this post at www.The-Affiliate-Directory.com (one of my other blogs)

Post from: Arvada Yates at iMarketingWatch.com

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