2January 2023
List building isn’t a step you want to delay or implement haphazardly. It needs to be done right – not only for your benefit, but for those who get on your list and turn to you for insight, too.
When you build a list of loyal subscribers who appreciate what you have to offer them, they will reward you by being dedicated to listening to your advice and purchasing through your links.
Below, you’ll find the steps you need to take (in order) to allow you to quickly and easily build a list of targeted subscribers. You’ll also gain insight into how you can keep them happy and convert them into buyers by following the same tasks professionals use each and every day.
Create a Lure (Lead Magnet) That’s Worthy of an Opt-In
Before anyone will sign up for your list, you have to have something to offer in exchange for their contact information. Start by checking to see what lead magnets the competition has in your niche.
You’ll want to ensure your freebie outweighs what the others are offering. Ideally, it will be so valuable that you could have easily charged for the information.
You should hone in on a specific pain point or strategy and focus on covering something in detail that will serve as a game changer for them.
Your opt-in offer can be a full course done through video modules, like my white-label course that I mentioned at the onset of this post. It can also be an ebook that motivates, educates or teaches your audience how to do something.
Get Set Up on a Trusted Autoresponder System
Imagine going through all the hard work to build a list, and they’re responding well to what you send them – only to have it dry up because the system you built your list on was run by an unethical marketer looking to make a quick buck.
You will see email autoresponder systems launched frequently. They’ll promise all of the bells and whistles you can imagine and it will be priced attractively – such as a one-time fee instead of ongoing monthly payments.
But what inevitably happens is that after the launch, they allow spammers to ruin the platform and the emails quit getting through to the inbox of your recipients. They may get blacklisted by companies and all communication will be sent to spam.
The creator doesn’t care – he made his money. Sometimes, they simply walk away from the entire project and let it fall apart, knowing they can reel in more unsuspecting buyers in their next launch.
The features and system quit working properly, and you have no way to communicate with the very people who signed up to hear what you had to say. It’s vital that you start out with a reliable email system such as Aweber or GetResponse.
I prefer Aweber, and you can use them for free up to 500 subscribers. By then, your list will easily pay for the next level of service and then some.
The first thing you do is set up a welcome email that delivers the promised free gift they signed up for.
Next, set up some follow-up emails that provide value to your readers and help prevent them from unsubscribing.
Create a Landing Page to Send Prospective Subscribers to
Once you have your autoresponder account and a welcome email message in places, set up a simple landing page. A landing page is merely a single web page that contains the form that collects the contact information for each of your subscribers.
Aweber’s built-in landing page builder is a breeze.
The opt-in page, also known as a landing page, is a short copy letter or video that is presented to the audience entirely above the fold. That means the visitor will not have to scroll, but instead will see all of the benefits of downloading your free gift immediately.
Because you don’t have a lot of space to work with, you want to choose your words carefully and make sure they are primed to convert people into subscribers. Just because the gift is free doesn’t mean you have enough of a reason for individuals to want to hand over their contact information.
The email inbox is a very sacred place for many consumers, just as their telephone number is. No one wants to be on the receiving end of endless spam, and until they get to know and trust you, they have to assume the worst about your intentions.
It’s imperative that you help eliminate their hesitations by focusing on what your free gift can do for them. If it eliminates a pain point, stress that to them. If it will help them achieve certain goals effortlessly, make sure they understand exactly what it can do.
If you are not comfortable with text, you can always use a video instead. But do understand that many people will not watch video because they prefer to skim for the benefits.
At the very least, you will have a headline that pulls them in, a short list of benefits, and a call to action that leads them to enter their first name and email address into your autoresponder sign-up form.
Make sure you are not requiring any more information than that because it will be an extra hurdle to get them to agree to enter that additional information.
Once you have your page set up and hosted on your account, you want to test the system with your own name and email address to make sure it works properly and that you receive the welcome email along with any follow-up email campaigns that you have set up.
Drive Traffic to Your Lead Magnet from Outside Sources
If you’re on a shoestring budget like most folks starting out, focus on free traffic generation to your lead magnet page.
You do this by finding out where your potential subscribers are active online and then immerse yourself in those platforms so that you can become known as a valuable and helpful person in the community with links people instinctively want to follow.
You can start by joining specific niche forums for your topic. Whether you are in the make money online niche, relationships, parenting, pets, or any other topic, there are usually forums that allow you to participate and expose your signature file with a link below every comment you make that leads to your sign-up page.
Another thing you may want to do is go to various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and others and begin building an audience who is interested in your niche so that your bio and links can direct them to the free gift you have to offer on your opt-in page.
You may also want to pair up with another marketer in your niche for an interview so that you can leverage their success to help you build a list when your URL is mentioned in the content or event.
Many successful marketers are constantly on the lookout for others they can introduce as an expert because it reflects well on them to pull in outside sources.
The #1 Reason Your List Will Succeed
No matter which business model you’re pursuing or what niche you are in, there is one primary reason your list-building efforts will sink or swim – and it’s whether or not you are providing value.
There are hundreds of email lists your subscriber could get on, but they chose you. The instant, downloadable free gift was the first opportunity you had to prove your worth to the subscriber.
Hopefully, you took the time to create a lead magnet that wows your audience. If not, they probably instantly unsubscribed from your list. But the profitability that you seek is not in just getting those initial sign-ups.
The real money comes from cultivating a loyal following with your subscribers where they look for your email every day, can’t wait to open it, and enjoy the messages and recommendations that you’re providing to them.
If you fail to continue serving their needs after that initial download, you will see your unsubscribe numbers soar and the profitability will never materialize for you. It’s a good idea to always listen to the feedback of your target audience.
They will often reply to your emails with commentary about what they need or what they enjoyed. You can also survey them using a tool like SurveyMonkey to find out what they need from you in terms of guidance or tutorials.
There are many different types of successful marketers who don’t necessarily brainstorm and create email content that is a value to the readers. However, they may be known for publishing good products or for having excellent blog posts.
Therefore, their list is more forgiving when it comes to emails that are sent out that simply push products and recommendations to them because they know the person provides value in other ways.
If you are a newer marketer and you have not carved out a reputation for yourself as someone worth following, you may find it harder to earn money by simply sending your list offer after offer – even if you see others doing it successfully.
Instead, they will be looking for you to give them a reason to stay subscribed. You can do this by giving them motivation and inspirational content. Or, you may want to send out tutorials that walk them through an issue many are struggling with.
You can educate them or inform them about changes in the niche – such as new findings or tools. As they begin to get comfortable with the fact that you truly care about their success, they will appreciate your recommendations more.
Send Your Subscribers Strategic Affiliate Promos
Once you have established your worth as an email marketer, you can begin making more recommendations than you did in the very beginning. You don’t want to spam your readers with any and all affiliate links you can find.
This will come off as spammy and desperate on your part. You need to have a system for finding the exact products that not only meet the needs of the people on your list, but also serve you well as an affiliate with an adequate commission.
You might be able to send out a recommendation once every couple of weeks or even every day, depending on the niche and availability of products that are worth risking your reputation over.
If you begin sending links to vendors who are unethical or products that are lacking, your subscribers will no longer turn to you for guidance on what they should be spending money on.
In fact, it can ruin your reputation as a vendor as well because they will no longer trust what you seem to think is quality content. When it comes to strategic affiliate links, you want to help your subscribers get the best deal possible.
That means keeping an eye on upcoming launches in your niche so that they are able to pay less than they will after the launch ends. In fact, many vendors will also throw in additional bonuses during the launch.
Your people will appreciate getting those extras because of the fact that you alerted them to the sale. You also want to cater to your list by filling in the gaps you find with other people’s products.
For example, if you are promoting a product about survival for beginners, but you notice it left out self-defense, you can create a bonus report for those who buy through your link that will address the content that you feel is missing.
This helps them get past any hesitation in buying the other product and they will usually purchase through your link over the option of buying through someone’s link who does not have a bonus that helps complete the information being sold.
Rake in Launch Money By Listening to the Needs of Your List
When it comes to profitability of being a list owner, there are many different ways you can monetize the fact that you have loyal subscribers. Affiliate marketing is just one method.
One way that you can heavily increase the amount of money you are bringing in is to create a product of your own and host an official launch for it.
Not only does this deliver profits if you create a valuable product, but it also gives you the opportunity to greatly increase the number of subscribers you have when your affiliates send all of their subscribers to purchase your product.
Every time someone buys the product, they are added to your buyer’s list, which is the most valuable list you can have online of off. If you recruit the right affiliates, you can add hundreds or even thousands of subscribers with one launch.
These will contribute to your overall profitability in the weeks, months, and years to come if you are able to keep them as loyal subscribers. When you create a launch, you want to make sure you are basing it on what your subscribers have said they need most that is missing from the marketplace.
By doing this, you will ensure that when the launch goes live, you can email your list and send a lot of sales in the first couple of hours. Depending on the platform you’re using, this can often boost you onto the bestseller’s list, where both consumers and affiliates will spot your offer and either sign up to promote it or purchase it for themselves.
Set Up Deals No One Else But Your Subscribers Can Get
Subscribers should be receiving perks that the general public does not have access to. You have a wide range of flexibility in what you allow them to access that is closed off to the public.
You can create downloadable reports that are free gifts for subscribers only. For example, if you are creating multiple lead magnets, you may want to upload the other ones as free gifts that your existing subscribers can download too.
But not everything has to be at no cost. You can also set up paid deals for your subscribers that the general public does not get access to. This can be for a product that you are launching (like my subscriber-only white-label course on Email List Building & Monetizing. Or you could send out special offers on something that you have launched in the past.
You can also go to your competitors and see if they will set up a special coupon or discount code that your subscribers can use for a limited period of time or indefinitely if you want to promote their product.
Even if they don’t have a specific launch listed, you might be able to look at their product line and ask for one or more products to be bundled up for a special deal for your subscribers that can go into your follow-up campaign for current and future subscribers alike.
If you want to chat about building an email list or you need help, go to ConnectWithWalt.com and click the orange “Let’s Meet” button to set up a short conversation.