One of the hot topics in the world of internet marketing is how to build a list. We all know that having a big responsive list allows you to make a lot of money, but a lot of people are still unsure of how to best go about building a list.
Before we go any further, please note that you will need email marketing software such as Aweber (The industry standard for email marketing) in order to put these tips into practice build your list.
List building is the process of gaining people’s contact details (In this case their email address) so you can contact them in future and either sell or promote to them. While it is easy to explain what it means to build a list, it takes a bit longer to explain how to build a list as fast and effectively as possible. Fear not however, as I have written a complete guide on this process. I will be sharing it over three parts on this website, so stay tuned for the updates.
Using the below tips will make building a list a lot easier, and allow you to gain a lot more subscribers with the same amount of traffic. Please bookmark this article to refer back to, and share it around if you like it.
How To Build A List – Opt In Form Placement
If you are building a list, one of the most important things you need to think about it the placement of the opt in form on your website. Your opt in form is what you use to collect people’s email addresses. You can also collect their name, their telephone number, and any other details you like from them. Remember though, people are more likely to fill in short forms. Because of this, it may be best to keep the amount of data collection to a minimum at this stage.
When it comes to the placement of your optin form, there’s one thing you need to remember: If it’s not easy for people to see your opt in form, then they aren’t going to subscribe. So where should you put your form in order to gain the most opt ins?
Well, firstly it’s a good idea to put your opt in form above the fold. One of the best places to put your form is in the top right hand side of the website, as this is where a lot of people’s eyes travel to once they are on your website.
If you wanted to include additional opt in forms, two good places are:
- At the bottom of your articles. If people finish reading your article, they must have some interest in what you have to say. Tell them they can get more of the same by subscribing.
- In your website’s header. Once again this is above the fold, and a place that is easy to notice.
The more people see your opt in form, the more subscribers you will get. Having said that, try and stick to one or two email collection points, and use the other space for other things.
List Building – Use A Free Gift To Increase Subscribers
If you want to gain as many mailing list subscribers as possible, one of the best things you can do is offer a free gift to anyone who signs up. I’m sure you’ve seen websites offering a free ebook or video if you enter your name and email address, well this is what you should do. If you offer the right type of gift (The right type of gift will depend on what your website is all about) you are nearly always going to get more subscribers then if you simply put up an opt in form with no incentive.
There are two main reasons why this works so well:
- Higher Perceived Value. If you offer someone a valuable book for free as well as weekly updates about your niche, it’s going to seem more appealing then if you simply said you’ll send them updates. While these updates alone may still be appealing to people, you’ll get a lot less subscribers because of the next point:
- Having A Free Gift Draws Attention. If you have a picture of your ebook or your video up, it will entice people to take notice of the area around your opt in form and read what it is that’s on offer. If you simply had text with no free gift / picture, you’d get more people overlooking that part of your site. And if they do that, you won’t get as many subscribers.
If you’re going to build a list, I’d suggest you spend some time putting together a free incentive for potential subscribers of your mailing list. Make it good, as if they take a shining to what you give them for free, they are more likely to buy from you in the future.
List Building – Gaining More Subscribers With A Lightbox
As I mentioned earlier on in this article, the more people see your opt in form, the more likely they are to join your mailing list. So how can you guarantee everyone has the chance to see your form? Easy, by using a lightbox!
Without getting too technical, a lightbox is a box that will display your opt in form to anyone visiting your website for the first time. It will show in the middle of the screen, and dim the rest of your website so the only thing to focus on is the opt in form and your text. If your offer is a good one, you will gain more subscribers. And even if you don’t get the extra subscriber right there and then, at least they know the option is there to get more information. So when they look around your website and see what you have to say is good, they’re more likely to go back and sign up to your newsletter.
Lightboxes can be compared to pop up boxes, the only difference is the way it is delivered. While pop up boxes can be seen as spammy and annoying, lightboxes such as Popup Domination are not only attractive, but also fully customisable. Therefore if you only want your light box to appear only once a week for any person that hasn’t subscribed yet, you can make this happen. This allows your visitors to see your offer, but doesn’t keep appearing every time they load a new page.
Even if people have pop up blockers on their computer, your lightbox will still show. This is because the code is delivered from the website page, so nothing technically ‘pops up’.
I have personally increased my subscribers on many of my websites using Popup Domination, often at least doubling the subscriber rate.
How To Build A List End Of Part 1
That’s it for the first part of the series. The above is just a sample of the things you could be doing to increase your subscriber rate and build your list. If you’re in the process of creating your mailing list, look out for out next part for even more list building tips. I’ll see you again in How To Build A List Part 2.