When it comes to making money on the Internet you will often hear the expression “The money” is in the list, but what does this mean?
Well if you are serious about using the Internet to develop your business you need to start building a list, it is the process whereby you use your mailing list to connect with your customers. You see if you can capture an existing customer or a potential customers email address, then this enables you to stay in contact with them, and this means that you can use it to sell to them not just once, but time and again.
Now there are two ways to capture people’s email – online and offline. Offline email capture as an example would be where someone fills out a competition form or catalogue request in store, you would then manually add them to your mailing list.
When it comes to online email capture there are a number of ways to do this, and you need to focus on maximising the sign up rate. One of the key ways to do this is to offer a free report in exchange for their email e.g. “Enter your email and get a free copy of my guide to building chicken coops”. The user then enters their name and email (Never ask for any more details than their name and email, as if you do you will not get people signing up – to increase the conversion ratio keep things as simple as possible) and then get the guide sent to them by email straight away as soon as they have confirmed their email address.
You want the free offer to be as enticing as possible, if you just have a simple box asking them to sign up to your newsletter then it is doubtful you will get anyone joining up at all.
However when it comes to capturing peoples email addresses online then you need to take care not to be accused of spamming people, so you will need to choose an auto responder that allows people only to join your mailing list by a double opt-in, this is whereby they have to confirm that they have opted in to your list, thus they cannot later accuse you of spamming then.
Hang on what is the auto responder I just mentioned? Well this is the piece of software that is used not only to capture your prospects email and store it in a list, it is also the software that is used to send them a link to your free report.
You can also pre-load them with emails ready to be sent out stage at different daily intervals for up to a year in advance.
When used rightly they can be used to build up trust with your customer. They can also be used to send out details of a new store opening, a special 2 for 1 deal or new seasons catalogue, or news of a sale.
Hopefully now you can see how “The money is in the list” and use it develop your online business.
A family-run web design and development agency in Maidstone, Web Design Kent from TME can help see your business grow online with online marketers and consultants happy to help see your website expand and thrive every step of the way.
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