Your List is Your Income

Your List is Your Income
By Alan AC Armstrong

So you have finally decided to get a slice of the online action and become a marketer. But now what? Getting started online can be very confusing to anyone new to the internet, having to develop web sites, sales pages and build lists and then to ensure that they all work seamlessly together to generate traffic and convert sales.

Did you notice that I said build your list? Do not be tempted to buy any ready-made lists regardless of how good a deal it may sound. If you're buying the list you can rest assured that others are also buying the very same list. Yes, you might well receive a list of thousands of names but you haven't earned a single one of them or gained their trust so the potential to convert sales is minimal. Building your own list means these visitors are interested in what you have to offer and have freely signed up to receive emails from you. Better to have 10 on your list than 1000 who have no idea who you are or what you are offering.

I am going to assume two things here. The first is you already have a product or service to sell. The second is you have or are willing to build, buy, or otherwise obtain a web site.

Once you have your product or service and a web site, how do you go about sending traffic to it? How do you develop a list of potential customers that can buy from you in the future?

Well the first thing you need to set up is an auto responder so you can effectively build your list. An auto responder will allow you to pre-write emails to send to your list on a pre-determined schedule in a pre-determined sequence. The auto responder will ensure that your product or service remains in front of subscribers and at the same time help you to develop a trusting relationship with them.

Once your auto responder is set up you need to create the all important squeeze page where people who visit this page are able to subscribe to your email list. Notice I said squeeze page, not web site. Why so? If you have the sign-up location on your actual web site your visitors may or may not sign up. But if the only way they can access your web site is to subscribe to your list then you are so likely to quickly grow a marketable list. For an example of this common technique in use you can click my link at the end of this article where you will arrive at my squeeze page and subsequent opt in form. Unless you provide me with your name and email address you will be unable to proceed any further.

Ok, so now that your campaign has been set up, you need traffic and preferably lots of it. My favorite sources of traffic is through article writing, search engine results (writing articles pretty much guarantees that your web site will climb in search engine rankings), and using inexpensive PPC campaigns. I won't say too much here about using PPC ads except you should avoid spending a lot of money by bidding only on the lower priced key words. PPC can provide a good rate of return but it's better to ease into this type of marketing and monitor every cent you spend. All of these methods can send serious amounts of traffic to your web site, (my last PPC campaign cost me $162 for the month, received over 4000 impressions, with 317 click-throughs, and 51 sales between $89 and $765). But keep in mind that these are long-term income investments and not get rich quick schemes so be prepared for the long haul.

Finally, you need to guard your list no matter what. That means never sharing it, giving it away, sending useless information to it, selling it, or spamming it. Think of your list as your sole source of income and respect it. And if you start affiliate marketing then never send your list to some product you know nothing about. Treat your list well and they will probably purchase from you. Perhaps not today, or even next month, but treating them right and emailing them regularly with quality information and product links, your potential for establishing a long term income should rapidly increase.

Want to learn more about what it takes to become a successful internet Marketer? I have just completed my guide "Everything You Wanted To Know About Setting Up An Online Business But Didn't Know Who To Ask!", Download it for FREE here: http://www.gloss-and-substance.com

About The Author
Alan Armstrong is a professional Graphic Designer and Internet Marketer. His "Gloss And Substance" packages are tailored towards article traffic generation, list building, auto responder campaigns and backend profit techniques.

For more information about his Internet Marketing Products visit: http://www.gloss-and-substance.com

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