Internet and Businesses Articles

"The money's in your list" - how many times have you heard this statement? Plenty I'll bet... Ever wondered why it's been repeated so often it's like a mantra?

Simple, it's the truth. Anybody who owns a list containing the contact details of people interested in their products or services, has a high degree of control over sales.

Luckily, there are numerous low or no cost ways you can rapidly double, triple or even quadruple the size of your opt in subscriber list. Here are 3 of them:

1) Increase Your Opt In List Through Ezine Advertising.

Many ezine publishers incorporate advertisements into their emails. Most will charge for this, but there are ezine owners who publish ads for free.

Without getting too involved, here are the three basic types of ezine ads:

i) Solo Ads - separate emails dedicated to a single advert, and are the most effective. Unfortunately, nearly all ezine publishers will charge for a solo ad.

ii) Top Sponsor Ads - a short classified ad published at the top of an email. Not as effective as solo ads, but most ezine publishers will charge for these.

iii) Trailer Ads - these are short ads published in the middle or at the bottom of the email and are the least effective. They are often grouped with a number of other ads, and are the most likely type of free ezine advertising you'll find.

If you are prepared to search, you will find ezines which publish free ads, and many ezine publishers allow new subscribers a free solo or top sponsor ad.

2) Increase Your Opt In List By Posting to Forums.

If you think the only people to frequent online forums (or discussion groups or bulletin boards as they are also called) are spotty faced techno geeks, you are wrong...

Successful business people (and some of the wealthiest) use forums and they do so for 4 major reasons:

i) They are looking for advice - people like to ask for opinions about various products or services before purchasing. They also ask for help on using the multiplicity of ideas, tools and services available on the internet.

ii) They are on a search for new products - the replies to people looking for advice often contain links to new ideas, tips, tools and services, making forums a great place to search (and just as great a place for you to promote your list).

iii) They are searching for ideas for their own products - the types of questions asked, and the number of people asking similar questions often leads to the creation of a successful product.

iv) They want to make contact with others - quite often the owners of the tools and services recommended to those searching for advice will set up joint ventures with each other.

This is good news for you as a list owner if you frequent forums related to the topic of your list, because in no time at all you will be able to post numerous helpful replies to other forum user's questions. Most forums will allow you to use a "sig file" at the end of your post. This is where you place a brief advertisement and the link to your list.

3) Increase Your Opt In List Through Small Changes to Your Everyday Business Stationery.

A common misperception is to think list building is only an internet marketing "thing". The plain truth is offline businesses also benefit from building their own email lists.

If business is slow, you could send an email to your list containing a "discount coupon" for a particular product or service you sell. A boring morning idly watching people stroll past your shop window could quite easily turn into a mad rush, which leaves your cash register bulging to the point of busting.

To get people to join your list, you need to make maximum use of every piece of normal everyday business stationery.

On every invoice, statement, packing slip, delivery note, parts list, itinerary, you name it, you must have a brief advertisement and the link to your optin form.

You can build on these three tips and put together a formidable list building arsenal. Don't sell yourself short by using only one method, use as many as you possibly can and you could build an incredible list in a relatively short space of time.

Colin Evans is editor of the List Building Tips newsletter. Get a free detailed 7 step process to supercharge your opt in list, visit ... http://www.list-building-tips.com