28 Ways To Build Permission-Based Email Lists

28 Ways To Build Permission-Based Email Lists

1. Feature a Sign-Up Form on Each Page of Your Site – Be sure to remember this basic concept. Sign-up opportunities should be ubiquitous throughout your site.

2. Promote Benefits on the Sign-Up Page – Enhance subscription value with sample emails, testimonials and strong call to action copy.

3. Offer Opt-In Incentives – Incentives like white papers, discounts and special reports significantly increase conversion rates.

4. Optimize Your Site for Search Engine Placement – Optimize current and archived newsletters for search engines to increase traffic and subscriptions.

5. Pay for Search Engine Services and Promote Your Email on the Landing Page – If you pay for search services like Google AdWords be sure to include email subscription information on the landing page.

6. Add Opt-in Check Boxes on Demo Requests, White Papers and Registration Forms – Well-executed forms and pages may improve conversion rates by 50 percent or more.

7. Include “Send to a Friend” Options – Generate new subscribers with minimal effort if bundled with promotional campaigns.

8. Use Direct Mail and Catalogs – Encourage email subscriptions on all print ads.

9. Direct Employees to Include Messages and Links in Email Signature Lines – Add “Subscribe to the Company X Email Newsletter” to employee email signatures.

10. Direct Call Center and Sales Employees to Obtain Permission and Capture Email Addresses Over the Phone – Instruct call center and sales staff to ask customers and prospects if they’d like to receive newsletters or promotional email.

11. Send Post Cards to Customers Encouraging Them to Subscribe to Email – If you have postal contact information for customers but not email addresses, send a post card with opt-in sign-up offer and URL.

12. Hand Out Sign-Up Forms at Public Speaking Engagements and Seminars – Promote your newsletter in presentations and handouts.

13. Implement Rented List Campaigns and Subscriptions – Promote your company in email campaigns and landing pages when you rent email lists.

14. Promote Sign-Ups in Confirmation/Transaction Emails – Add messages and links to opt-in pages of all confirmation and transaction emails.

15. Include Opt-in Line on Credit Card Receipts – Not an obvious method, but may be quite effective.

16. Add Opt-in Message to Warranty and Product Registration Cards.

17. Add Sign-Up Message to Invoices.

18. Display Opt-in Forms at the Cash Register – An approach used by restaurants and retailers to advertise weekday discounts, catering services etc.

19. Promote Your Email/Newsletter in Articles and Article Attribution – Include a reference and link to your newsletter after the byline on articles in trade and consumer publications.

20. Include Opt-in Message and Check Boxes on Shopping Cart Pages – Remember to ask for email format and product/information preferences.

21. Promote Your Email/Newsletter in Other Company Publications – Promote online newsletters in print newsletters, magazines and brochures. Add “Sign up for our monthly newsletter at www.companyX.com/subscribe.html” after “Visit www.companyX.com for more information.”

22. Include Newsletter Subscriptions in Trade Show Lead Generation Forms – Obtain permission to send your monthly newsletter to booth visitors.

23. Promote Your Newsletter/Promotional Emails in Industry Directories and Sites.

24. Distribute Press Releases Based on Newsletter Articles – Newsletters with topical articles may warrant a press release. Make sure the press release includes links and information on how to subscribe.

25. Include Information and a Link to Your Newsletter in Press Releases – A good option for smaller companies. Include your company newsletter and other resources in press release copy.

26. Include Opt-in Information on Customer Satisfaction Surveys – Ask permission to communicate valuable information via email newsletters and promotions.

27. Include Opt-in Forms in Product Shipping Boxes – Advertise email promotions on packing slips and direct mail cards with links to your site. Many retailers and catalogers also include promotional offers from non-competing companies.

28. Employ a Reputable Email List Service – List services obtain email addresses and permission to email existing customers. Be sure you obtain permission before – or as part of – the first email you send.

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How to Get Higher Email Opens By Split Testing Subject Lines

Are your email open rates struggling? You might be making mistakes you don’t even know you’re making. You can find out with a split test.

Last week, we explained the power of a good split test and showed how it can be done with sign up forms and lightboxes. But split tests don’t end once your list has taken shape. You can also test different elements of your emails to see what makes for more successful emails.

One of the easiest things to test is your subject line. Subject lines are crucial because they are the very first thing people see in their inbox. If it doesn’t intrigue them, it could also be the last thing they see of that email.
What are people testing?
Consistency

ClickZ, a marketing blog, did a test (and a retest) of a consistent subject line for a newsletter vs. a subject that indicated the topic of that edition of the newsletter. The consistent subject was “Subscriber Newsletter,” and the test ensured that the key theme of the newsletter was in the first 25 characters (ie “Prime Real Estate”).

Despite common advice that a consistent subject line helps open rates, ClickZ found the opposite: ( Read More )

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Making Money With Autoresponders

These days, autoresponders make for great follow up tools.  You can set them up to your liking, as they are easy to set up and will hold a lot of preset messages.  Although they are very popular, a lot of people fail to see the power they hold and therefore never use them.  If you’ve been looking to make extra money, the tips below will show you how you can make money using an autoresponder.

The first thing to do, is ensure that your site has a signup form.  A signup form is an obvious way to use an autoresponder, yet a lot of people don’t think about it.  Each and every day your website attracts visitors, many of us come back.  If you put a signup form on your site, they can sign up and become a contact.  This way, your customer base will grow with each passing day.  You can stay in close contact with your customers this way, and even increase your audience over time as well.

You can also give out free reports or ebooks as well.  It’s actually an easy task to exchange reports or ebooks for someone’s email address.  Even though you may not have a website, you can still make the free report or ebook available by having people send blank emails to your autoresponder.  In doing so, you will build a client list and get your report out there - which can help you make money.

You can also choose to publish an ezine. To do so, you’ll need to load your autoresponder will a course that contains several parts.  This way, your clients will receive your reports and material in sections.  You can also build a customer base this way, and eventually recommend you to their family and friends.  Once you have a relationship and your clients start to trust you, you can send them information for other products.

You can also use autoresponders as curriers as well.  When you send an email out, ask the recipient to pass your email along to family and friends.  As they pass your emails along, you’ll gain more subscribers.  Although you’ll have to start out small when you first begin, you’ll find that your client list will grow in little to no time at all.

Autoresponders are also great to use with customer response as well.  Autoresponders are very handy, and they can answer a large portion of your technical questions.  Whenever someone sends you an email needing customer support, simply answer with an autoresponder message that entails a lot of the most common problems.  A lot of customers find this to be very helpful, as chances are it will cover the issue they are experiencing.

Autoresponders are also handy with site updates as well.  If you update your site on a regular basis, you may want to use an autoresponder with individuals who want to be informed when your site is updated.  With an autoresponder, all you have to do is send out a broadcast email and everyone will be informed at the same time.

No matter how you look at it, an autoresponder can help you bring in profits - as well as make your life a lot easier. They are easy to use, and will work great with your website.  If you operate several websites, you simply must have one of these.  Once you use an autoresponder - you’ll never want to find yourself without one again.  If you’re interested in finding out how easy they can make your life, all you need to do is give one a try.

Top 10 Reasons to Have an Ezine

1. Establish yourself as a trusted expert. People search online for information and will look to you, as a subject matter expert, to provide it to them. Every week (or whatever schedule works) provides an opportunity to build on this, while reinforcing your brand.

2. Build a relationship with the people on your list. It's common knowledge that people like to buy from people they like. By using ezines to connect with readers in their homes, you can develop a relationship of familiarity and trust. Be sure to share a little about yourself or your company in every issue, whether it is an anecdote, event, or employee spotlight.

3. Keep in touch with prospects and clients. Consideration should be given to eventually developing two ezines: one for prospects and one for clients, as each require different information. This is a great way to notify your readers of weekly specials or upcoming product launches, offer new articles or customer stories, and provide links (or urls) to updated FAQs, blogs and splash pages.

4. Drive traffic to your website or blog. As noted in #3, remember to call attention to new blog posts or other changes to your website with links directly to those pages. Remind readers of your online newsletter archives. Promote special sales (maybe with discount coupon codes only for subscribers) with a link to the sales page. Use links to turn your ezines and newsletters into 'silent salespersons'– driving traffic to your website and building your lists around the clock.

5. Build content on your website. Make a habit to adding your ezines and newsletters to your website in an archive area. This serves a several important purposes:

• Visitors can read an issue or two to determine if your ezine will be of interest to them, which could help to increase sign-ups and potential sales.
• If you optimize your article placements, you will not only make your website 'meatier', but you'll also bring new traffic from the search engines.

6. Get feedback from your readers. Make it easy for you to stay in touch with prospects and customers and vice versa. Ask them to take action and comment on your articles and offers. Conduct polls and surveys. Start a 'Letters to the Editor' column in your ezine. Feedback allows you to fine tune your messages, target your marketing, and expand your product line. It's also great for relationship building!

7. Develop an information product. If you deliver your newsletter once a week and include two articles, at the end of a year you'll have 104 well-researched articles in your portfolio! Pick the best-of-the-best and turn them into a bonus ebook for opting-in to your list, submit to download sites to build your list, or sell in PDF-format!

8. Grow your mailing list. Let your ezine subscribers work for you. Be sure to remind your readers that it's okay to forward your newsletter to anyone they'd like. In addition, it's important to include sign-up instructions for those who received your ezine from viral marketing methods. A simple line titled, 'Get Your Own Copy of XXXXXX', with a link to your squeeze or opt-in page is all it takes!

9. Gather demographic data. By offering surveys, feedback forms, and niche reports, you'll be able to get valuable information about your prospects and customers. Learn what makes your readers tick, how to better serve them, and how to give them what they want. Make sure they become repeat customers!

10. Save money! All of the above benefits of publishing an ezine are free or almost free. The small cost of a top-rated ezine publishing system is nothing compared to the cost of brochures, business cards, advertising, direct mail, pay-per-click or other means of promotion. Not only that, but someone has to manage that production! Because your newsletter is delivered online, you can grow your list to be as large as you want without worrying about the expense. Bottom line − it's proven that email marketing is the most cost-effective marketing solution for companies just like yours!

Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List

Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you offer. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and, if done right, helps build loyalty and trust with customers. As a result, you generate more sales and more profits!

The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, permission-based email list. Marketers call contact lists their 'goldmine' because it can generate much of their sales revenue. If you've built up a list of opt-in subscribers that are qualified and interested in what you have to offer, then you've completed the first step and are on your way. Now it's time to 'mine' for gold!
Below you'll find several list-building and retention ideas that will help you get the best results from all your email marketing activities:

1. Provide useful, relevant content. Your visitors will not give you their email addresses just because they can subscribe to your newsletter free of charge. You have to provide unique and valuable information that will be of interest or use to them.

2. Add a subscription form to every page on your website. Make sure it stands out so it is easy to find. If it doesn't look cluttered, you may want to include more than one on some pages. For instance, if your opt-in form always appears in the top-left corner of your site, you may want to add one at the end of your most popular articles.

3. Add subscription forms to your social media pages. Make sure that you don't waste this valuable source of revenue opportunities. Integrate your sign-up forms with Facebook and more!

4. Make it easy for readers to sign up. The more information you request, the fewer people will opt-in. In most cases, a name and an email address should suffice. If it's not necessary, don't include it here. You can always survey them once they're customers! We do recommend that you provide a link to your Privacy Policy however.

5. Publish a Privacy Policy. Let your readers know that they can be confident you will not share their information with others. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Privacy Policy web page and provide the link to it below your opt-in form. (Note: If you don't have one, put the words 'privacy policy generator' into a search engine and you should be able to find a suitable form to use.)

6. Provide samples of your newsletters and Ezines. This lets potential subscribers review your materials before they sign up to determine if it's something they'd be interested in.

7. Archive past newsletters and articles. An online library of past newsletters and articles is both appealing and useful to visitors and builds your credibility as an authority. In addition, if your articles are written with good SEO techniques in mind, they can increase traffic to your website through enhanced search engine positioning.

8. Give gifts subscribers can actually use. Offer an opt-in bonus for joining your subscriber list! Write an ebook or provide a PDF business report, or even hire a programmer to create downloadable or web-based software. But don't limit yourself to offering gifts to opt-ins. Give them out when your readers fill out a survey, provide a testimonial, success story, or a great product idea. Let them know when they can expect the next gift offer. Everyone likes to get something for free! And if you pass out 'goodies' throughout the year, your subscribers will feel truly appreciated − and that's good for business!

9. Ask your subscribers to pass it on. Word of mouth is a powerful viral technique that works great with email marketing. If your subscribers find your content interesting, amusing or informative, they'll probably share it with their friends. This can be a great source of new customers, so make sure to remind them to 'pass it on'.

10. Let others reprint your newsletter as long as the content is not modified. If you're happy to share your content with the universe, then why not! Many webmasters and newsletter publishers are actively looking for high-quality content and, if they reprint your newsletter, you'll get new subscribers, and more traffic and links pointing to your site.

11. Include a 'Sign Up' button in your newsletter. If you're using plain text instead of HTML, be sure to provide a text link to your subscription page. You may feel that this is not required because the subscriber is already on your list, but remember that readers will forward your newsletters to others, or reprint them online. Make it easy for them to subscribe!

12. Add a squeeze page. A squeeze page has one goal − to acquire opt-ins and build your list. Think of it as a mini-sales letter to go along with your subscription or opt-in gift. It should feature a strong headline and a couple of powerful benefits that should make subscribers salivate to sign up! Once created, use a service such as WordTracker to find hundreds of targeted keywords, and promote your offer using pay-per-click advertising from Google, MSN and Yahoo. Now that should make a splash!

13. Include testimonials on your squeeze page. This is crucial. Put one or two strong testimonials from satisfied customers on your squeeze page. This can be in any format, but you may find that multimedia (audio or video) is more 'believable' and inspires more people to action. To further enhance believability, get permission to use actual customer names, locations and/or urls (Don't use 'Bob K, FL'). Add a note inviting others to participate. After all, it's free publicity!

14. Blog religiously. Blogging is a great way to communicate with prospects and potential customers, and creates a nice synergy with your email marketing. Be sure to include your newsletter sign-up form on each page of your blog. You can start a free blog at Blogger or WordPress.

15. Post on other blogs. Post thoughtful comments and information on similar blogs with a link to your squeeze or opt-in pages. Also comment on others' blogs through trackbacks. In most cases, your comments will be posted on their blogs with a link back to your site. This is an easy way to generate new traffic and subscribers, and get your brand out there!

By : Getresponse Autoresponder