Advice to those who are Newbies or Stuggling in Making Money Online

Hello everyone,

I wanted to give some advice to help those who are new to making money online or are struggling.

Now, I want to be clear that there are many ways one can make money online and start an online business but I wanted to share a method that I strongly believe in.

One of the main key elements to building a long lasting successful online business is to build a List. A list is a bunch of people who have opted-in or subscribed to your business.

You get people to opt-in or subscribe by offering a gift or something of value related to what your business is about (example, Free ebook, Free video course, etc...) in return for their name and email or just their email.

You need a 3 page website to do this. The first page is called a squeeze page, the second is called a thank you page, and the third is a download page.

Squeeze page: The whole purpose of this is to get people to opt-in. So you don't want this page to be cluttered. You also don't want to give people different options on what to do. You should simply state what your offering and then have an opt-in box.

Once people sign up they will be directed to a thank you page which tells them to confirm it was them by going to their email and clicking on a link to confirm.

Once this is done they are taken to a download page where they can get the free gift or product you were offering on the squeeze page.

So now, once they confirm they are on your list and your list is managed by something called an autoresponder. An autoresponder can send out emails to your list. You use these emails to help build a excellent business relationship with your list. You send out free products, helpful tips and useful information to help them. Remember to always send information related to what they signed up for.

Here's how you make money - You can send out your own products or affiliate products to your list. Since you built a great relationship with them it does increase the chances that some might buy. Again, your list is managed by an autoresponder. This way managing a list of thousands of people is not hard to do. If anyone want to unsubscribe all they need to do is opt-out.

Summary - Always provide excellent customer service and treat your list like real people. A lot of people hide behind a computer. Be there for your list and interact with them. Remember to always over deliver and provide tremendous value. You want to build trust!!!

Of course, there is much more to this but I could go on forever. I just wanted to try and help some people out.

Hope this helps!!!

Kevin Rime

 

Well...looks like you practice what you preach since you do use an opt in form on your website! One thing I'll add to the above is to list three of the most popular autoresponders below:

1. Aweber
2. Get Response
3. Constant Contact

 

Thanks Kevin. Building an opt in list is essential, especially with all of the laws about spam.

Great post and great advice.

 

Thank you for your great idea, Kevin

 

In the process of creating email lists, this is unquestionably one of the most powerful ways to do it. When it comes to email lists as a way to build your small business, you need to think about a few of these major features of producing a double opt in e-mail list.

· It is an e-mail list that your subscribers really want to be on
· Your targeted opt in email lists increases sales revenue
· Your email marketing opt-in list database enhances your blogs
· Opt-in list building is easy and quick

 

Building a list is the most crucial part to building a long sustainable business online. If you dont have a list of already qualified customers then you will be chasing after people or trying the latest SEO techniques, but in my opinion having a list is your biggest asset to succeeding online!

 

I'm glad everyone everyone found this thread helpful.

Christian Cole - thank you for pointing out that this method is for a double opt-in. Yes, the method above is what's called a double opt-in. You can do what's called a single opt-in but I believe having the person do that extra step in confirming they requested the free gift is important in building a list of better quality. Plus, in my experience with autoresponders they will charge you more per month depending on the size of your list so especially when your new and watching your budget, you want a list of higher quality which can lead to better income results and lessen the chance of a spam complaint.

 

Make Money Online is not as simple as it looks but you have shared great idea...

 

Solid advice.

It's a mistake to think of your list simply as a bunch of names in a database. There are real people attached to those names. They voluntarily joined your list because something you said in your promo caught their attention and moved them to take action.

That's great for openers, but to get to the money that's "in the list" you must know how to followup. The fortune is in the follow up.

So, your automated sales funnel should be used to enlighten, educate, inform, persuade, recommend, encourage, guide and help your list members find solutions to their problems and reach their individual objectives.

The way you execute that process is what determines the kind of relationship you'll establish with your list. And that relationship directly impacts the quality of the results you'll experience.

Very useful post!

Hermas

 

Hermas - Thank you for elaborating on this. You make some great points. I just wanted to add that so many companies (even the big well known ones we see advertised everywhere) just know how to market and get new customers. They do not know how, want to, or focus on effectively taking care and providing top notch customer service to their existing customer base. It seems like once they have you then you just become a number to them. They could make so much more money from repeat buyers and customer referrals if they focused more on this as well. It might even save them some advertising/marketing dollars.

 

I agree that a list is powerful I am sure. I have done very very well and have never even had a list until recently so I don't necessarily think it is the best or most effective way to market, it is certainly a good one.

I haven't had a list and I have never ever chased anyone around for anything. I have sites set up on autopilot that get good organic traffic and consistently earn me a very good living without ever using a list. To think of any way as the best way is simply a belief that I feel will limit you. There are tons of ways to make a lot of money online with or without one.

I say this because when I started, I saw these posts here and on another forum of how you must have a list. I let it overwhelm me and I believed it and therefore stayed stuck, because i simply didn't know enough to build a list yet. When I let go of that idea, I started making money.

So from where I sit, in my case, a list is just a means to me to take this all to the next level now.

 

robinincaroline - Thank You very much for sharing your experiences and giving your feedback. You are absolutely correct when you say, "There are tons of ways to make a lot of money online with or without one." This very true and everyone has their way to find success online. Again, thank you for your great feedback.

 

I am going to disagree with all of you here.

Building a list is not the most important thing to consider if one wants to do well with affiliate marketing and the fortune is not in the follow up any more. I have seen this change in the past year online.

There are a lot of very successful internet marketers that I know of that no longer build a list to succeed online.They just send people to the sales page or video presentation page to close people.

Years ago it was true that you need a list but don't forget that today, many of your subscribers are already on 5-15 other lists.

 

Thank you so much for your feedback but I am going to have to respectively disagree with you. Now just building a list is such a broad term and the intention of my thread was to help people get an understanding of a proven business model that works and still works. I know it does because I use it and know many others that do and do very well at it.

Building a list is such a broad term though and there are so many aspects to it. Just like when people say, "Provide Value." These are general terms but knowing exactly how to do this is a real skill.

I also have to disagree with you when you say, "the fortune is not in the follow up any more" The reason I say this is because lets say you have put in the hard work to build a responsive list of 5,000 subscribers and you make just one offer to them at $27 and just only 3% purchase the product. That's $4,050 in sales for just one product. Now, of course your take home pay depends on if it is your product or what your affiliate split is. Plus, conversion ratios, costs of product, etc... all make a difference.

Now, what if that was a re-billing product so you keep getting paid month after month for as long as they are part of what they signed up for and keep making their monthly payment. Example, a membership site.

What if you had 10,000 or 20,000 people on your list. It is possible to do this. It's up to you and how hard you want to work.

I don't think it really makes a difference if your subscribers are on 5-15 other lists because if yours stands out then you will separate yourself from them. Plus, there so many people that start using a computer every single day. Not, to mention the fact of all the people starting to look for ways to make money from home.

Yes, there are a lot of marketers that sell right away but why wouldn't you still want to build your list? Especially from someone who has already purchased from you? Why would you want to let them walk out the door?

Many marketers that sell right away will still build there list because the money is in the list.

Honestly, I think it's more of the opposite. Before you could sell people right away but now people are bombarded with sales pages that I think you need to build a quality responsive list and build a rapport with them. In business, I have found that the best customers come from referrals. So if, you are providing a great service and people come to know, trust and respect you they will refer people to you. I think by having a list helps give you a solid platform to do this.

You could also provide a mix. Have people opt-in and give them a free gift(s) and also provide an offer to a sales page afterwards to them. So you are bringing both aspects into it.

Again, thank you for your feedback and perspective. Everyone has different view points and by expressing them is how we learn, educate ourselves and determine which path to success fits best. There are different roads to get there.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

I agree with you. I will write up why and post it later. But the key thing to remember is having a system, proper advertising, and a sphere of influence. Email lists are almost irrelevant these days. Oh and the last part something to sell that has a market for it.

Most people today use throw away email addresses too. I do, because those email addresses I use to subscribe to something within months become worthless from all the spam that comes along with it.

I have legitimate lists running Veretekk (I mean 100,000s in the database). Anything over a year old only manages a delivery rate of 20% and an open rate of less than 1%.

10 years ago that was unheard of. 10 years ago delivery rates and open rates were astronomical.

 

Hi Tom,

It's great to hear from you and thank you for your feedback.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the way they operate their business.

Everyone has different view points either based on their experiences or what they hear or read.

In all honesty though, I respectfully disagree with you. Especially when you say, "Email lists are almost irrelevant these days." I can assure you my conversion rates are much higher than what you posted and my list is far from irrelevant. If my list was irrelevant then my online business would take a HUGE hit.

Again, it all depends on how you market to your list. What do you provide for them? Do you use video marketing to connect to your audience? There is so much that goes into it and how to build a responsive list.

Yes, many people throw away email address. I do the same with some. Again, this is why you must set yourself apart from the rest of the average marketer.

I can also tell you there are many lists that I am on and I read and follow up with the information they send me because they provide value.

I agree with you however when you say, "But the key thing to remember is having a system, proper advertising, and a sphere of influence." Everyone needs a business model and in my opinion building a list is a big part of my business model which I see results from.

Again thank you Tom for the feedback.

Kevin

 

That is your opinion and what works for you.

I really think that in the make money online niche, since many are building their network marketing organizations, the fortune is not in the follow up. The secret is to send as many people to a video page that pretty much sells the opportunity and the person has to make a decision if that business is for them or not.

I have a good experience with this and that is just my own opinion.

For other niches that are not in the home business and make money online niche, this may not be the case and it may be a good idea to build a list there.

 

I think that regardless of any marketing strategy it is important to create value for the customer. I always say that people aren't interested in what you do. They're interested in what you can do for them. People have to see the benefits of what you are offering, and if you can do that you shouldn't have any trouble closing the sale.