How To Build An Opt-In List - Fast!

Traffic is well and good to expose your products or services to as many people as possible. But sometimes, this is not enough. A visitor may not choose to be a customer today, but what if he decides to purchase your goods or contract your services tomorrow? One he leaves your pages, however, chances are he’ll be gone for good.

This is the reason why opt-in lists were invented. Having an opt-in list is a way of capturing a lead so that you do some follow-ups later on and hope that he’d convert to a sale eventually.

But first, what is an opt-in list? An opt-in list is more commonly known as a mailing list. It is a database of names and email addresses of user who have chosen, or opted, to subscribe to the list so that they may receive emails from the mailing list owner.

From this definition alone, it is very apparent that a successful opt-in list must have a very enticing proposition that would encourage the potential subscriber to subscribe to the service. This proposition may come in many forms:

• an informative eZine or newsletter that shall regularly be published and digitally distributed to his inbox

• a free digital product like an eBook, a special report, templates, or a programs

• a free service like email accounts, web hosting and the likes

Among these types, an eZine is by far the most popular for the subscribers, and the most effective for the business owner. With an eZine, the business owner can continuously do his follow-ups on the subscribers through the ingenious use of educational content strategically populated with ads and ad links for his products or for his affiliate programs.

Permission from the subscriber is essential for an opt-in list. This would assure that the emails you will send won’t be dismissed as spam, and won’t be left unread to collect dust in the subscriber’s inbox.

To say that having an opt-in list is a vital strategy for the success of your eCommerce venture would be an understatement. The fact of the matter is, an opt-in list is a must for a sustainable online business. So if you’re selling a product or leasing out your services, or perhaps you are engaged in resale rights marketing or affiliate programs even, you need to have an opt-in list, and fast!

Here are some steps to help you build a subscribers base at the soonest possible time:

• Target your market and know what they want. Opt-in lists are vehicles primarily designed for follow-ups. You need to connect with your market so that you may be able to address their concerns more efficiently. Remember, the ultimate goal is to sell them something. Knowing what they need would help you provide something that they want.

• Use programs that would personalize your otherwise generic feeds. Referring to your subscribers by their name would go a long way in winning their trust.

• Generate traffic to your site. Before users can subscribe to your mailing list, they must first be able to go to your site. There have been many marketing campaigns that were designed to drive a large volume of traffic to a website. These can be employed for the purpose of lead generation as well:

1. Using search engine optimization tactics like selecting the right keywords, integrating the same in your site, frequently updating your source code, and perhaps even engaging in a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign.

2. Article marketing, by writing some articles relevant to the subject of your business, submitting them to the many free articles directories in the web, and including a resource box that contains a link to your site.

3. Links and ad exchange.

4. Advertising your site through non-conventional means, like forum marketing, placing ads on someone else’s eZine, and even trying offline advertising.

• Offer a truly irresistible proposition. Being the business owner, determining an irresistible offer might easily escape you. The best test you could do is to ask yourself this simple question: would this proposition be something that I myself would enroll in a mailing list for? If you answer in the affirmative, then you have the perfect freebie to offer.

• You could also try exchanging leads with other webmasters, which would result in an increase to both of your subscriber base.

• Build relationships. Though follow-ups are usually done through pre-set autoresponder feeds, try to send some individualized emails from time to time. This would make them feel special and give them the impression that you’re sincere in wanting to cater to their needs the best way you can.

 I have also used this list building service: