Quick List-Building Technique For The Online Marketer


by Azlin Abu - Date: 2007-02-16 - Word Count: 589 Share This!

How many times have we NOT heard this,

"The money is in your list!"

If you have been doing any form of marketing, whether you are dealing with products or services either online or offline, you would agree that that phrase would probably have established itself as the number one rule for all marketers to live by. This is simply because without a mailing list, you would have nobody to whom you can promote and sell your products or services.

Various statistics have shown that based on the 80:20 principle which says 80 percent of most sales come from 20 percent of your customers;out of 20 people who come into contact with your sales effort, only 12 would show some interest. These people are now your prospects. Out of those 12 prospects, 8 would probably be inclined to buy but only 2-3 would actually end up being customers. Although these numbers may just be statistical averages based on the above principle, they are decent enough by any marketing campaign standards.

However, when you add to that the fact that most sales come between the 4th to 8th contact with the prospect, it becomes obvious that there needs to be a way for you to keep in touch with the visitors to your site for such number of times.

For the online marketer, this can be accomplished through an opt-in list. What it is exactly is basically a system set-up to capture contact details of visitors to your web page. On this particular web page, visitors would be presented with a choice to leave at least their name and e-mail address to enable you to follow-up on them.

So for those who are looking to start their online business, needless to say, building an opt-in list is something to focus on as it is the lifeline to any online business. Without it you will not be able to contact your prospects. You will also not be able to follow-up on their interest with your initial offer and neither will you be able to inform them of any similar or future product offerings which they might be interested in.

Basically, looking at the 80:20 principle mentioned earlier, you will not even have the 12 prospects without an opt-in list. You will just have visitors.

So what happens after your visitors have opted in? This is where it gets interesting because once they do (opt-in) they become your subscribers or V.I.P (very interested prospects!) in your mailing list and most importantly, you then have the opportunity to convert them into customers/buyers. If you want a broad customer base, you will need an even b-r-o-a-d-e-r subscriber base. How broad? Just look at the 80:20 principle again. The average conversion rate for mailing lists these days vary between 1% to 3.5%, so having a subscriber base of 10 to 20 would probably not cover your basic expenses.

But how do you go about getting people to sign up as subscribers in order for you to build your mailing list? The answer is simple. You have to give visitors to your site a 'reason' to sign up and this can be done by offering them something of some perceived value in return. This can be an incentive in the form of, say:

- a discount coupon - a series of newsletters offering free tips or information with regard to the relevant product or service - freebies. An affiliate marketer might like getting free advertising credits, for example - basically anything that your visitors or prospects might want for which they are willing to provide their required contact details.


Related Tags: online business, list building, opt-in list, marketing online

Azlin Abu writes to promote financial independance and self-reliance through internet literacy as she strongly believes that everyone needs to have options in life. Find only the best marketing programs on her website at http://ablenetventures.com

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