Mailing list are crucial to any business. Without a list of valued and loyal customers, you have no business. When I first started out, I had no clue about mailing list or the value of them. I had a product, an e-book. one product, so I thought it wasn't necessary to keep a list, as I had nothing else to sell. The customers that emailed me, I would always email back, and I built up some great relationships that way, but I never stopped to think of the value of a list or how essential it was for my business.
I can't believe it when I look back now, but at the time I didn't know that I didn't know, and ignorance is bliss, until you find out all the mistakes you have made and all the potential business you have lost from not knowing!If you are like I was, there's a huge group of people who may be interested in your business but you'll never know it because when they visited your website there was no offer for a complimentary giveaway with a sign up form attached. They visited your site for a few seconds, then left, never to return. You never captured their details, and so had no way of selling them anything at the time, or in the future.If you have a website, it is crucial to be able to capture a visitor's email address the first time they visit your site, as it may be the only time. Connecting with your customers and community on a consistent basis and offering information which is both interesting and beneficial to them, is the way to grow your list and your business.
Email marketing provides the most direct line of communication for turning interested people or leads into sales, and is the method most successful entrepreneurs prefer.
The one thing you have to realize, when you're starting out, is that no one starts with a list. We all have to start building our mailing list from the first name. If you know how to encourage people to join your list, then you will start to notice it growing, one name at a time. There are many different methods of finding and recruiting subscribers to mailing list, but usually most people on your list would have been generated through a lead magnet. The idea of a lead magnet, is to offer something of value, for free, in exchange for the person visiting your website, signing up and providing their details so you can add them to your list. Usually it's enough just to capture their name and email address. The lead magnet that most marketers use is a downloadable special report provided in PDF form.
A lot of the time, these free reports are in video format, as video tends to have a greater impact and is perceived as great value. Videos are also a more personal way for your customer to meet you and to put a face to the business they are interested in. It's important to ensure you have a powerful, impressive video, if using this method.
Ideas for lead magnets that can be used when building mailing list are: free reports and e-books, free software, widgets and plugins, free informative videos, presentations and competitions. Start off small and offer people signing up to your list something for free or low-cost. Once your potential customer trusts you, they will be more comfortable purchasing more expensive products. Initially, you would begin by sending out informative emails, casual and inspiring. If your emails are not of enough value to people on your list, they will quickly unsubscribe, so it's important that your potential customers look forward to your emails and start to trust your opinions and advice. Be careful not to send out too many emails, as people find this annoying.
Generating a list is not only about getting as many people to sign up as possible, but you need to be sure that the people who are signing up are genuinely interested in what your business offers. You will need to qualify your customers. There is no point in getting people to sign up for something that would not be of interest to them. This is why it's important that they actually opt in to your list themselves. Email is universal, widely used, and still the primary place where business is conducted online. A powerful email list can be the best distribution channel for content and updates and building a relationship with potential customers. By using multiple social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn you're spreading your audience across multiple platforms, which is more difficult to manage. Of course this also has great benefits, but it has been proven that reader engagement via email is more powerful than by any other means. It is just far more personal.
I can't believe it when I look back now, but at the time I didn't know that I didn't know, and ignorance is bliss, until you find out all the mistakes you have made and all the potential business you have lost from not knowing!If you are like I was, there's a huge group of people who may be interested in your business but you'll never know it because when they visited your website there was no offer for a complimentary giveaway with a sign up form attached. They visited your site for a few seconds, then left, never to return. You never captured their details, and so had no way of selling them anything at the time, or in the future.If you have a website, it is crucial to be able to capture a visitor's email address the first time they visit your site, as it may be the only time. Connecting with your customers and community on a consistent basis and offering information which is both interesting and beneficial to them, is the way to grow your list and your business.
Email marketing provides the most direct line of communication for turning interested people or leads into sales, and is the method most successful entrepreneurs prefer.
The one thing you have to realize, when you're starting out, is that no one starts with a list. We all have to start building our mailing list from the first name. If you know how to encourage people to join your list, then you will start to notice it growing, one name at a time. There are many different methods of finding and recruiting subscribers to mailing list, but usually most people on your list would have been generated through a lead magnet. The idea of a lead magnet, is to offer something of value, for free, in exchange for the person visiting your website, signing up and providing their details so you can add them to your list. Usually it's enough just to capture their name and email address. The lead magnet that most marketers use is a downloadable special report provided in PDF form.
A lot of the time, these free reports are in video format, as video tends to have a greater impact and is perceived as great value. Videos are also a more personal way for your customer to meet you and to put a face to the business they are interested in. It's important to ensure you have a powerful, impressive video, if using this method.
Ideas for lead magnets that can be used when building mailing list are: free reports and e-books, free software, widgets and plugins, free informative videos, presentations and competitions. Start off small and offer people signing up to your list something for free or low-cost. Once your potential customer trusts you, they will be more comfortable purchasing more expensive products. Initially, you would begin by sending out informative emails, casual and inspiring. If your emails are not of enough value to people on your list, they will quickly unsubscribe, so it's important that your potential customers look forward to your emails and start to trust your opinions and advice. Be careful not to send out too many emails, as people find this annoying.
Generating a list is not only about getting as many people to sign up as possible, but you need to be sure that the people who are signing up are genuinely interested in what your business offers. You will need to qualify your customers. There is no point in getting people to sign up for something that would not be of interest to them. This is why it's important that they actually opt in to your list themselves. Email is universal, widely used, and still the primary place where business is conducted online. A powerful email list can be the best distribution channel for content and updates and building a relationship with potential customers. By using multiple social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn you're spreading your audience across multiple platforms, which is more difficult to manage. Of course this also has great benefits, but it has been proven that reader engagement via email is more powerful than by any other means. It is just far more personal.