You have probably already heard about the benefits of having an email list for marketing purposes. But actually building one takes some strategic thinking and technical knowhow. So here I will describe for you some basic steps and tips so you will know how to build an email list from your website.
The technical side of building an Email list
Firstly, you will need to have an autoresponder program. Such a program allows you to create automated emails to anyone who signs up to your list. It will also use a confirmation system that makes sure your new list member is a real person too.
Aweber.com offers a good option for an autoresponder program for new internet marketers, and is rather economical.
You create new autoresponders inside of the aweber software, and then paste a code snippet on your website. The result will be a sign-up box for your website visitors to use – if they choose to. Once you get a new sign-up for your list.
You can then schedule and send them messages according to your desired timing. Or broadcast messages (where you can create a new email message and send it to your entire list at the same time). Both types of emails can be very useful and profitable if you market with them effectively and professionally.
How to get new people to sign up for your list ?
The real knack to this whole email marketing business is getting new people to sign up to your list. And having a certain amount of them respond positively to your emails – i.e. buy something from you – at least eventually. Here are some tips that will help get you more people on your email list:
Sign up box
Place your sign up box near the top, and above the fold of every page on your website. This means that everyone who visits your website will see it.
Use attractive graphics
Make sure you use some sort of additional graphic – perhaps a stylized arrow – that is easy to notice apart from everything else on your webpage. You don’t want it to ruin the appeal of your entire website. But by changing the color and font, this can stand effectively stand out from other content.
Offer Free Gifts
Offer something completely free for those who sign up. It can be a downloadable PDF report, a white paper, a series of email tips, a video or video series. Some effective terminology to use for this is “immediate download” or “Absolutely Free” or “No obligation to buy anything” or “My gift to you” etc.
Essentially you want to present to your potential customer a fast and significant advantage to signing up, with limited or no risk associated with doing so.
Give special bonus
On top of your free offer, you can also add a special bonus. You can word this as such: “If you sign up today for my free 7 day tips series, I will also send you a video today that will teach you how to do “this/something” in less than 10 minutes. This is also a way to establish yourself as someone who over delivers and really wants to help.
Setup Socail media accounts
For external marketing, make sure to set up social media accounts, particularly on Twitter and Facebook. These are excellent venues to get more exposure for your website. Where you can help answer any questions that pertain to your area of expertise.
Create followers and fans of anyone who is interested in your subject by opening dialogues with them either by answering or asking questions yourself. Ideally, your social media accounts will link back to your website where new visitors will see your sign up box. People who have a specific interest in your topic will be very interested in getting more information from you.
Forums / Questions and Answers sites
Those sites also a place where you should sign up. Because if your niche is popular, then there will be questions about it every day. You can answer these questions and direct people back to your blog pages where that subject is discussed more in depth.
Those questions also have a really good history of being indexed in search engines as well. So the more you answer, the more familiar people will be with you, in your particular niche.
If you do all of these tips on a regular basis. Then you will really know how to build an email list from your website.
