If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably heard it a thousand times before, stored it in the back of your memory bank, and haven’t had the desire to go back there to get it.

What I’m talking about is the marketing power of an opt-in email list.

To most recognized Internet marketers, this is no “undiscovered secret” at all, but to most “newbies” and those of you who have not been practicing this powerful marketing campaign.

You’ll be astonished by the capabilities this tool will provide you.

Trust me, you will discover a whole new realm of profit once you maximize your loyal opt-ins and present your offer properly.

You may be skeptical about asking your potential customers for their email addresses.

It’s very understandable.

You may not want your visitors to think that you’re snooping into their privacy.

And these days, people are becoming increasingly wary about handing over their email addresses to just anyone.

But there’s a gold mine of opportunity in those e-mail addresses, and many marketers don’t take the time to look for it.

In this chapter, I’ll show you why opt-in email lists are so important to your business, and I’ll hand over the most compelling opt-in offers that will have your visitors instantly signing up.

So many unsuccessful websites simply do not mess with creating email lists.

And you know what?

This is why tons and tons of websites fail. It’s sad to hear about a business owner who spent a small fortune driving traffic to their websites but the sales just didn’t come like expected.

Notice that I keep referring to the plural – “Lists”.

The more you have, the better your business will be.

You’ll develop relationships with each one, figure out what each list needs, likes, and wants.

It’s a fact that hardly anyone ever buys anything the first time they visit a website.

In fact, studies have determined that it takes a typical Internet customer about seven visits to a single website before they buy anything.

If you’re just depending on hits alone, you’re in trouble.

The number one reason for collecting e-mail addresses — and using them — is for establishing an electronic, permission-based, relationship with loyal visitors and customers.

It would seem that the practical benefit of collecting e-mail addresses is obvious.

Yet conversations with novice marketers indicate that many not only do not collect them but also hardly use them even when they do.

That’s a shame.

Collecting e-mail addresses should be a no-brainer in an Internet-driven market.

E-mail is so commonplace and universal that its existence and use are many times taken for granted.

If you’re not actively collecting opt-in e-mail addresses — and using them for marketing purposes — you are missing out on important relationship building, credibility enhancing, and advertisement- improving possibilities that could translate into more sales!

This is your chance to turn one-time visitors into your best customers.

Remember: “The more lists, the better.”

If you’re not providing a way for customers and visitors to express interest in hearing from you in the future, you’ve just lost a potential sale. Remember, your opt-ins are loyal visitors to your site.

They have willingly asked you to send them newsletters, ezines, eCourses, promotions, special offers, and other free information.

They want what you have to offer them! So why not take advantage of this extremely powerful operation?

The first thing you need to do is sign up for an autoresponder service.

There are online services and few software programs out there that can allow you to store and retrieve email addresses, and I’m sure that your web host also provides this feature.

However, I always recommend using online services as opposed to using a software program or your web host.

You can find much better services through an online autoresponder, without all of the hassles that you’ll get from the latter services above.

The more people you have on your lists, the more potential customers you have.

It’s been reported that up to 10% of subscribers to a newsletter will be converted into a sale.

And these people are truly interested in what you have to say.

When done correctly email marketing can become your most powerful way to generate sales.

Your email lists should only contain addresses for which people have willingly given you their contact info (i.e. “opt-in subscribers”) – anything else is deemed SPAM.

Most email addresses are submitted to lists via a form on a website.

You can convince people to subscribe to your list in a variety of ways, some more successful than others.

In the next few chapters, I will supply you with the most powerful means of increasing your opt-in subscribers.

But for now, I want to fill you in on the most persuasive and enticing incentives to offer your future opt-ins.

The Most Compelling Opt-In Offers

• Offer a FREE Newsletter.

I know you’re probably thinking, “Free?”

Yes…this has been proven to be THE best offer to collect opt-in email addresses.

If you offer to provide potential subscribers with information they need (and don’t have to pay for) – information that they are actively looking for – they’ll be glad to subscribe to your newsletter.

These people WANT to know more about what you have to say!

These are the people who are most likely to be open to future offers from you – once you have established a credible relationship with them.

It has been reported through rigorous research that up to 50% in sales can be generated from newsletter auto-responder follow-ups!

It’s also been shown that offering free newsletters is the single, best thing to offer to increase your opt-in e-mail list.

By giving away Free information early on, chances are you’ll be rewarded later with several backend sales.

• Give Away a Free eBook.

It’s a great way of getting more subscribers and growing your online business.

You need to make sure that the eBook is of quality information or you will lose ALL credibility with your subscriber.

Your customer will see right through you if you give them a free eBook full of unattractive information.

You don’t want to lose these customers just because you were too lazy to write something of quality.

Remember, these people are truly interested in what you have to offer them, so you don’t want to lose their interest right from the get-go. If you do this properly, you’ll see return visits from these loyal subscribers. And you know what that means…more sales for you!

• Offer Free Articles About a Subject Related To Your Product or Service.

This is a very powerful list-building tactic. Subscribers gained from articles are more predisposed to what you have to offer because they practically opt-in pre-sold.

Plus, your credibility as an expert in your field has already been established.

By offering information, which your visitors will find useful for free, you can get them to sign-up to your list (i.e. “Enter your email address here to receive your Free Guide”).

• Give Away a Series of Free Reports.

If you offer to teach your visitors about something they are interested in, at no charge to them, you will not only be able to build your list quickly, but you’ll also boost your credibility as an expert in your subject.

The best way to distribute free reports is via an auto-responder delivery system.

You can set it up so your visitors will receive their reports on specified days of the week/month.

You should also offer your visitors the entire series of reports in exchange for their email address (or some other fair trade).

• Give Away a Free Software.

You can’t beat a free download of the software.

If you’re selling software, this is the ideal incentive for your future opt-in.

It has the highest perceived value as compared to other free offers above.

However, not everyone can create software.

The good news is, in the CB Passive Income, you will be able to give away free software to get opt-ins without having to create one.

There are no hard and fast rules about how you should hold or store your email lists (though online auto-responder services are the best, in my opinion) but it must contain the ability for people to unsubscribe (i.e. people must be able to request not to receive any further emails from you).

Providing this ability shows your subscribers that you operate a respectable list and you are far less likely to be accused of spamming.

Without a doubt, the hands-down best, and most compelling opt-in offer is Free Software.

When done correctly, email marketing can become your most powerful way to generate sales.

Your opt-in incentive needs to entice potential subscribers with a benefit that is strong enough to overcome the common objections of not wanting to share their personal contact information.

But once you have their email address, you must design the proper strategy of promoting your product if you want to boost your sales from your opt-in list.

These devoted subscribers are sitting there waiting for your offer – so make sure you know how to present it in a way that will entice your ‘new best friend’.

All right…on to Chapter 2!

Chapter 2: The Golden Rule Goes A Long Way

– Even With Internet Marketing

While there are many marketing strategies that you can use and implement to make money, if I had to choose ONE strategy, it would be to build a list.

Some marketers will disagree and say that testing and tracking is the best strategy.

In my opinion, this is not a marketing strategy per se, but it’s without a doubt a darn good business practice.

You should put this practice to work but be careful ‘cause you can overdo it.

Building a list is one thing, how you build a relationship with that list is KEY, and there is an art and a science to it.

How often have I read posts on marketing forums where someone says, “I have a list of 10 or 20 thousand and I’m barely making anything”?

That’s an easy one…quite a bit!

Then there are people that know how to build very high-quality lists and earn huge profits from relatively small lists.

You’ll be surprised that some marketers make gobs of cash from a list of less than 1,000 highly-targeted customers.

And there are a few marketers who don’t even care to build a list of 50,000 subscribers.

Do you know why?

Because they know how to treat the subscribers that they’ve already got.

The Golden Rule goes a long way – even with Internet marketing. “Treat others the same way you would want to be treated.”

Provide good and quality information.

And if the author recommends something here and there, I’ll usually check out their suggestion – but what’s most important is that you treat your subscribers the way you would want to be treated.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is they don’t treat their customer list as a LIST!

Some studies indicate that roughly 30% of your customers will buy from you again and again, yet many people are afraid to market to their customer list.

There are some niches that have never ever seen this kind of multi-media and you can literally blow them away with your valuable content.

Valuable doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of content.

By taking a “customer-for-life” approach and making them “raving fans” will pay off HUGE dividends.

One of the keys here is to step outside of yourself and try and think like your potential customer.

Also, survey your visitors. Ask them what their biggest problems and challenges are and what kind of solution they are looking for.

Then GIVE it to them.

I know that sounds like an oversimplification, but you’ll be amazed at how many people don’t ask their visitors what they want.

They assume they know better and tend to create a product before ever asking people what they want.

Build a list, build a relationship with that list by providing mind-blowing, over-the-top content, give them a free report or product and show them that you’re a genuine human being that really cares about them.

And you’ll have them fighting at your virtual door wanting to buy your products or services.

Chapter 3: Why BUYING An Opt-In List Is The Worst Thing You Can Do For Your Business

The title is a strong statement, I know. But it needs to be addressed.

Some email marketers – the self-proclaimed “email marketers”– will tell you that the easiest and best way to build your list is to simply purchase one.

Sure, it’s real easy to acquire a list for your email marketing by just buying one.

They’re not too expensive, and they provide you with a long list of names and email addresses.

Ok, I’ll buy that…it may be the easiest, but it’s certainly not the best. In fact, it’s the worst way to build your list.

It may be easy, and you may quickly gather a large list of email addresses – but all of those email addresses are nothing more but addresses.

You don’t know the people on the receiving end of those addresses.

Essentially, the people on the receiving end are uninterested people who will deem any information you send to them as SPAM.

The problem with buying an email list is that none of the people on that list know who you are.

More than likely, since they didn’t directly sign-up for your free offers, they will see your message in their inbox, look to see who sent it to them, realize that they have no idea who you are, and will hit the “delete button” before even reading what you have to say.

You aren’t given the opportunity to develop a relationship with your list.

When your subscribers know who you are and respect your personality, they will buy from you time and time again.

That’s exactly why it is so beneficial to build your own opt-in email list.

Yes, creating a list from scratch is the more difficult and time-consuming solution, but at least it is a solution.

Purchased email lists rarely (if ever) bring the desired results, so the money you spend on them might as well be flushed down the toilet.

The most important thing to do when trying to build your list is to make sure that your subscriber really is interested and willing to read your messages to them.

Because if they’re not eager to read your first message, then they certainly won’t read your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 10th message.

Email marketing isn’t about blasting a bunch of strangers with sales pitches and information they don’t want and didn’t ask for.

If you really want to achieve results with your email list, you need to build your own.

Here is a list of questions you need to ask yourself when building your email list:

Who is your target audience and what do you have to offer them?

What kind of relationship do you want with the recipients of your mailings?

After deciding on your target audience, this is probably the most important question to ask yourself.

Your emails should not be a sales letter. Let me repeat that, “Your email messages should NOT be a sales letter.”

Your website is where you sell them on your offer.

This is where you put into effect all of the “Salesletter Strategies”. NOT IN YOUR EMAIL LETTER.

Even if you’re not blatantly throwing advertisements at your subscriber, but you’re intentions are to “sell to them” in your letter, they will know.

They always do, and this is what leads to your email (and future emails) being sent almost immediately to the Deleted Items folder.

Your newsletter and emails are a way to build TRUST and a lasting RELATIONSHIP with your potential customers.

Email marketing isn’t a “wham, bam, thank you mama” sort of approach. It takes a little time to really gain the trust of your future “marketing partners”.

Respect your subscribers and they will return the favor – guaranteed.

Just simply share your research and knowledge with your list and only recommend top-notch goods and services that you’ve personally checked out and that you honestly believe will help your prospect.

What method or methods will you use to collect email addresses?

This is basically what I’ve been covering over the last few chapters.

But if you haven’t caught all of the ideas yet, keep your eyes and ears peeled because there are some dandies coming up!

You will want to WRITE DOWN your ideas.

What are you going to offer?

How are you going to entice your visitors to sign up?

Be sure to write down these ideas, because trust me…if you don’t write them down, you’ll forget them!

Will your emails come in the form of ads, newsletters, deals and specials, company announcements and press releases, or discussion lists?

I think the best way to present material in the BODY of the email is to make it short and sweet.

You want to lead the reader somewhere else other than the email.

Don’t bog it down with tons and tons of info.

Simply write something catchy that will show your reader where to click on “Check out Lesson #1” of the course that they just signed up for.

Then, in each email following, you can do the same. They will get used to your email style and won’t delete them.

The link that you give them to click on should send them to a page containing the eCourse lesson, free eBook download, newsletter in HTML format, or any other sort of offer they opted-in for.

The BODY of your email SHOULD NOT contain gobs and gobs of text.

Think about it – do you ever read all of that crap when you receive an email from someone other than your friends or trusted individuals?

Think about this…if you tried to send a message to a random list that you just bought, what would you say?

The message can’t be personal. You can’t talk to them like you know their interests. It’s impossible.

And if you try to talk to your “purchased list” like you’re their friend, they will see right through you.

They’ll know you’re trying to sell to them every time I can’t think of one person who wants to be “sold to”.

So why waste your money on buying email lists when they don’t work?

Once you build your own list of loyal subscribers, you’ll start to realize that each one of them trusts you, the information you’re giving them, and the recommendations you suggest.

You’ll be able to talk to them like a friend or partner, instead of a random person you “bought”.

Remember: “Respect the people on your lists, and they will respect you – guaranteed. A trusting relationship goes a long way, even with email marketing.

Chapter 4: How To Rake In The Financial Benefits From Your Loyal Subscribers

In the last chapter, I showed you how important your opt-in email list is and why you should develop it yourself, instead of purchasing a group of email addresses.

We spoke briefly about the most compelling opt-in offers, but we never got the opportunity to talk about the most powerful marketing tool and opt-in offer – the follow-up emails.

In this chapter, we’ll dive deep into the importance of well-written emails, their impressive money-making potential, and the art of writing profitable emails that your subscribers will eat up like candy!

Email marketing is a blessing for small business owners.

An effective, targeted email marketing campaign can drive traffic to your site, get your name in front of qualified prospects and turn leads into sales — for much less than what you’d spend on a traditional direct-marketing campaign.

Once you have developed your email list, how do you turn those devoted subscribers into sales?

No matter what strategies you used to get your subscribers to opt-in on your mailing list, many of them are already pre-sold to your product.

Now, you just have to close the deal.

You can hire a ghostwriter to compose your emails, but the best way to truly acquire a lasting relationship with your customer is by simply “talking” to them.

Nowadays, it’s easy to get away with informal conversations with someone you don’t know all that well.

In fact, many people actually feel more comfortable with the fact that you’re talking to them like a friend.

Don’t underestimate the power of this kind of relationship!

If you are communicating on a regular basis with your subscribers, giving them valuable information, and allowing them to get to know and trust you, you shouldn’t be too surprised about how many of them will actually become devoted customers.

Emails are one of the great bargains in marketing.

They keep your company in front of your customers on a regular basis for very little cost.

Emails are proven to increase sales if used properly.

It’s been reported by research and testing that up to 50% in sales can be generated from autoresponder follow-ups!

And I’m sure you’ll also be glad to hear that if used properly, up to 10% of opt-in subscribers will purchase the product being sold.

In case you didn’t get that – it’s been reported that…

10 people out of every 100 subscribers will buy!

But there are a few things that you have to be cautious of when preparing your emails. If you want to rake in the ALL of the financial benefits possible, you need to follow the tips below.

Trust me, there’s an art to creating a thriving, profitable email.

How should you go about delivering your message to your potential customers without coming off as a huge advertisement billboard?

Because so many of us are already overwhelmed by the daily flood of email, your email will need to be much more than just ads for your products.

Including informative articles, interviews, or other information may help entice your subscribers to actually open and read your newsletter.

Light “plugs” in the body of your newsletter aren’t a bad idea, but remember that your subscribers are looking for quality information – not a sales letter…that’s what your webpage is for.

To increase your sales and get the most out of your newsletter, we highly recommend following the tips listed below…

Registering New Subscribers

When asking visitors to sign up, ask only for the information you need – perhaps just the email address.

Remember, that every additional bit of info you collect is another deterrent to customer signup.

People don’t like to give away their private information, so don’t ask for anything more than what is needed.

Check out your competition

Every business has competition.

Find out what they are doing by researching their product or service.

How are they generating opt-ins? Why is their offer appealing? What could you do better? Is there a gap in their service you can fill?

Content

People get a lot of emails. They don’t have time to read a lot of text.

Emails must be designed to facilitate scanning, but then again you want to give them the opportunity to get a “full dose” of what you have to offer.

So the best recommendation is to provide links like “Click Here for the Full Report”, or “Discover the Answers To Your Problem by Clicking Here”.

Above all, deliver content with real value.

We’re all flooded by email, and if your users don’t perceive your newsletter to be worthwhile, they’ll just delete it and move to the next message in their inbox.

That’s why it’s important to track your click-through rates: they’re proof that your messages are being read – not just your message views.

Also, if you have a newsletter that covers a ton of topics and starts to get too long, be sure to break it into separate newsletters.

Write a Good Subject Line

Writing good subject lines is especially important, both to encourage users to open the email, and to distinguish the newsletter from spam.

I recommend including some actual content from the individual newsletter in each subject line, even though it’s a difficult job to write good content within the 50-60 character limit that is imposed by many email services.

HTML or plain text?

It’s really a matter of what you think will most appeal to your readers.

There really hasn’t been much difference as far as which one sells the best.

It truly depends on your target audience.

So if in doubt, offer two lists: one in plain text and the other in HTML.

Then let your subscribers decide which one they want to receive.

Let’s Make a Profit! Selling to Your Audience

Many people try and sell their products or service directly from their emails.

Do Not Make This Mistake.

This is the job of your website, not your newsletter.

The purpose of your email campaigns should be purely to get people to click on your website.

Two of the most successful ways to do this are:

a) A “Single-Topic” Article in Your Email

Create a single article that describes a common problem that your product solves.

BUT, don’t necessarily mention your product in the article but do point out some of the things to be considered when choosing a solution.

Close your article by simply saying something like “To read more about this problem and discover our Tried-and-True solution – Click Here”.

This link should then direct your opt-in subscribers to your product sales page at which point the user is already thinking about the problem and what to look for in a solution.

Then, they discover your product, which just happens to solve their problem. Viola!

b) A Series of Articles in Your Emails

In each issue of your emails, focus on one particular problem that your product solves.

But again, don’t necessarily mention your product – simply talk about some of the things to be considered when choosing a solution.

Dedicate the whole issue to describing this problem and what to look for in a solution.

At the end of each issue point them in the direction of your product’s sales pages.

Again by the time they hit your web pages, they will be primed and ready to learn how your product solves their problem.

Then, in your next email series, you can incorporate a “new” problem that your product also solves. Get the picture? It’s a great strategy once you get the hang of it.

As noted in earlier chapters, never send your newsletter to anyone who hasn’t specifically requested to receive it.

Writing good follow-up emails are a great way to generate a credible relationship with your customer, drive subscribers to your site, create demand for your product, and thus skyrocket your sales!

Establishing your credibility is the key to making your product or service attractive to potential customers.

And once you’ve done that, your loyal subscribers will WANT to know more about what you have to say.

They’ll be extremely receptive to your offers.

Remember: “The most valuable customer is the one you already have – right there in your email list.”

Chapter 5: Top Ten Strategies To Fatten Your Opt-In List

Is building your opt-in email list hard? No, not really.

As I’ve shown you over the course of the last few chapters, it simply breaks down to just spending a few hours to create compelling opt-in offers and knowing the strategies to increase your click-through rates on those promotions.

There’s no doubt about it, there are good ways to entice visitors to “sign-up” and there are worthless marketing strategies that simply do not work.

I’ve given you a list of very effective and compelling opt-in offers, but there are still many additional strategies to help boost your list.

The opt-in offers I spoke of earlier (i.e. free newsletter, free reports, download, etc…) are simply proposals. Giving them what they want, works.

But what are the best ways to go about promoting your newsletter and special offers? How can you make these offers more visible to your potential subscribers?

Of course, you need to provide alluring offers, but there are other marketing tools that will make your promotion more visible and appealing to your potential subscribers – thus increasing the odds that they will opt-in on your offer.

There’s a large array of strategies that well-known Internet marketers have proven to be successful.

I have compiled together a “Top Ten” list of the best ways to fatten your opt-in list, and actually get your visitors to “sign-up”.

These tactics have been researched by the most recognized marketers on the Internet and have been proven very successful at skyrocketing lists of loyal opt-in subscribers.

Use Pop-up Ads with opt-in forms to collect email addresses and promote your compelling offer.

If you ask any good Internet marketer, they will tell you that THE single biggest way to increase your opt-in subscriber list is to use pop-ups.

Many times visitors find these ads annoying, but it has been proven that pop-up ads are 13 times MORE effective at generating clicks and opt-in subscribers than standard banners and forms found embedded in a webpage.

This is a very powerful way to present your free incentives.

It ensures that your visitors will see your offer right upfront.

Without a doubt, this is the most recommended means of creating a compelling and visible offer to your customers.

Increase the value of your offer.

People aren’t stupid; so don’t treat them like they are.

You need to prove to them that you’re serious about helping and catering to their needs.

You need to show them that you truly want to create a relationship with them that’s worth their while to give you their email address.

Make sure you give away something valuable.

This will stack the odds of you getting their address in your favor.

Every time you sell a product, capture your customer’s email address.

Your customers will already be entering their details on your payment pages and as such, you should be adding their email addresses to your list.

Have a “Members Only” area on your site.

You can fill this section of your site with whatever your target market might find most interesting and valuable.

You can offer downloadable articles that can only be accessed by “members”.

To increase your odds of getting opt-in subscribers, you should make it FREE to become a member.

Add a pop up for opt-in box upon exit in your sales letter.

If you have a sales page with a single sales letter, you should ideally have a pop-up for people to subscribe to you when they want to exit your sales letter.

Include an E-mail Signature.

Every time you send an email, you can use your electronic signature as a way to advertise your opt-in offer.

Although many times your emails will be sent to people not in your target market, you’ll be surprised at how many people actually visit the links in your signature.

You won’t generate hundreds of new opt-ins a day by doing this, but every little bit helps.

Use Co-Registrations.

Yes, if you’re really lazy, you can actually buy subscribers.

Basically, it involves having your subscription offer listed alongside other publications’ offers, so that when someone signs up to the other offers, they are given the option of signing up for yours as well.

We don’t usually recommend this option, but if you have extra money to spend, it’s not a bad tactic.

But like I said before, there are better ‘free’ ways to increase your email list than this one.

Run contests on your website (or include surveys and polls) to entice opt-ins

A contest at your website works on the same principle as signing up for a contest to win a free dinner at a local restaurant.

Both parties get something of value (you get their contact information and they win a prize). Make sure that the registration for this contest is SIMPLE.

Your visitor should not have to spend more than a minute or two to complete the task – otherwise, they’ll frequently opt-out and leave your site before you’ve had a chance to get their email address.

A great way to inform your visitors of the contest is by way of pop-up ads or a “Special Offers” page on your website.

Another thing you could do is to have people subscribe to your newsletter as a requirement of entry into the contest.

If you’ve worked hard on your newsletter and included the tips from our last chapter, they will probably decide to continue to receive it even after the contest or poll is over.

Buying Solo Ads

This is one of the best ways to get more targeted subscribers.

Basically, you buy solo ads from sellers who have Making Money Online lists.

They send your emails to their subscribers to subscribe to your opt-in page.

Even if you’ve only been marketing on the Internet for a short time, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “the money is on the list”.

A good email opt-in list – one that you build yourself – is worth its weight in gold.

It is the difference between being wildly successful and falling into the midst of the no-name businesses on the web.

How you go about building this email list is completely up to you.

But I guarantee if you put a little bit of time and effort into your marketing campaign, and use my recommendations, you’ll see firsthand how opt-in lists will skyrocket your sales

If you’ve never implemented an intense “opt-in campaign”, you will be shocked and no doubt excited when you find this undiscovered gold mine of possibilities! It works, and it works extremely well.

In the next chapter, we’ll discuss the most well-researched and proven marketing strategy to fatten your opt-in list…and the size of your billfold!

Ok then, on to Chapter 6…

Chapter 6: How Using One Single Marketing Tool Can Skyrocket Your Email List By 500%!

Exciting title, isn’t it? I know you’re wondering what that powerful marketing tactic is, so we’ll just get straight to the point.

No matter how you feel about pop-up ads now, you will hopefully realize by the end of this chapter that they are the single most effective way of increasing your opt-in email list – Hands Down!

Before we start, I’d like to first do a little bit of “myth-busting”.

Myth: ‘Pop-up Ads Are A Nuisance and Do NOT Work’.

Of course, we have all encountered an annoying pop-up advertisement over the past few years of surfing the web.

You’re bound to run into a website that delivers you an incredibly absurd pop-up advertisement – one that has absolutely nothing to do with the content on their site.

Obviously, these pop-ups will never be effective at increasing click-throughs.

All they will do is push away the visitors.

Typical examples I’m talking about might include golfing sites, guitar tab sites, and vacation sites.

These website owners are using their pop-ups irresponsibly.

Think about it…who in their right mind that is looking for fishing equipment would opt-in on a pop-up ad dealing with lawnmowers?

I know you want to laugh about this – but you would be surprised with what some website owners are doing with their pop-ups.

Some of these website owners have been given an opportunity to advertise for another company (possibly another business that the same individual owns) and they decide to waste their precious pop-ups with these absurd ads – in this case, a fishing site is advertising for lawn equipment.

It’s all fine and dandy to advertise for another website, but there is absolutely no reason for the fishing website owner to waste his pop-up advertisements on lawn equipment – and in turn, annoy any visitor looking for fishing gear.

Not only will this do no good in terms of “click-throughs” and sales, but the fishing website will certainly push away from its visitors who truly want to purchase fishing stuff.

These website owners are the exact same ones who are giving the rest of us who properly use pop-ups a bad wrap. Internet marketers are experienced and intelligent, so they would never do that.

It’s those irresponsible website owners that have turned the ‘once well-liked pop-up’ into a nuisance for many people.

These businesses are simply not using pop-ups properly and maturely.

And quite honestly, I don’t like all of the negative hype about pop-ups when I know for a fact that

they work – if used properly.

If visitors seem to be irritated by all pop-ups, why are so many well-known and recognized Internet marketers still using them?

The truth is…the concept of pop-ups works – why else would you see a dramatic 2-year, a three-fold increase in their usage?

Any good marketer will tell you they are an extremely powerful tool for instantly increasing your sales and dramatically skyrocketing the number of new subscribers to your newsletter, creating loyal buyers of your product.

I don’t want to say that the other techniques for driving subscribers to your list that I showed you earlier are worthless, because that is certainly NOT the case.

Each and every strategy in Chapter 5 is very effective at list building too – and I strongly urge you to implement as many of those tactics as you can in your marketing plan.

But, I want you to realize that the most powerful, and most well-researched technique to boosting your opt-in subscribers is to employ pop-up ads on your website.

Just like anything else in Internet marketing, there is an art to using these ads on your site.

You don’t want them to be “popping up” all over the place – obviously, that’d be very disturbing and annoying to your visitor, and you would lose your chance of collecting their address right from the get-go.

The problem doesn’t lie in the principle and validity of the power of pop-ups. As marketers, we love their capabilities!

Research shows that they work.

Pop-ups are 13 times MORE effective at generating clicks and opt-in subscribers than standard banners.

The problem that Internet users face is not the pop-ups themselves, but simply how they are used.

As I’m sure you’re familiar with, email spamming is another nuisance on the Internet.

So just as spammers have made email marketing more difficult for the rest of us, the wrongful misuse of pop-ups has given them a ‘bad wrap’.

The solid truth is, when used properly, pop-up ads can dramatically increase your opt-in list, help effectively promote your products, and boost sales at the same time.

There is a strategy of using pop-ups that will not irritate your website guests and will without a doubt benefit you in a variety of ways in the long run.

Impossible, you say? No! If you implement a pop-up correctly, your guests will not be annoyed at all.

Let’s face it: the majority of people who put pop-ups on their sites go about it all the wrong way.

Below I’ve compiled a list of proven pop-up techniques for any marketer’s site.

Opt-In Offer Pop-ups

Honestly, you should include some sort of “sign-up” offer with any pop-up ad you decide to use.

This is the most powerful when you employ an offer for a free newsletter.

Your visitor is most likely interested in your website info, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to capture their email address with a Free Newsletter Opt-In Pop-up.

“Special Offer” Pop-ups

If you’re running a special discount on a product, this is a very effective means of grabbing the customers’ attention.

Remember; if at all possible, try to grab your visitors’ email address with this “special offer”.

Free Information Pop-ups

Who doesn’t want free information? This is a perfect way to promote your Free download, eBook, e-Course, special report, and so on.

Include a ‘sign-up form within your pop-up ad to ensure an increased opt-in list.

Contest Pop-ups

This one is rather tricky to use with pop-up ads, although it can be very effective.

Many times though, visitors will find a ‘contest pop-up ad’ somewhat annoying.

If you decide to use this tactic, be careful not to turn your visitors away because it takes them longer than a minute to register for your contest.

All I can say with this idea is…Be Careful.

Survey/Polls Pop-ups

If you’re running a survey on your site, a pop-up can be a handy way to ask visitors to take part, and then lead them through your questions.

When they’re finished, the original window they started on will still be open and they won’t have lost their place.

At the end of the survey, be sure to ask them if they would like the results of your survey/poll to be sent to them via email.

Once again, another great way to capture your visitors’ email addresses.

Remember, you never want to have more than one pop-up window.

Nothing makes a surfer madder than having two or three windows open up and possibly crash their browser in the process.

You can even set it up so that only first-time visitors see the pop-up window.

By using a script that sets a cookie you can ensure that your popup never appears to the same user more than once.

Now that you know the strategies many Internet gurus use, it’s time to show you how to apply your pop-up ads responsibly.

Entry Pop-ups

These pop-up ads appear as visitors open your website or webpage.

By using an ad as soon as the surfer arrives at your website, you will surely grab their attention right from the get-go.

If you decide to use entry pop-ups, I recommend using a script that sets a cookie, ensuring that your pop-up doesn’t appear to the same user multiple times (you can usually set the number of times the pop-up will appear to each user).

Exit Pop-ups

The name practically explains what they do. They appear as a visitor exits your site. These are a great way to say to your visitors “Before you go, here’s another offer to opt-in…”

Delayed Timer Pop-ups

These are pretty fascinating little marketing tools. You can design a pop-up ad to appear a certain length of time after a surfer comes to your site.

This allows your visitor to check out your site first, without being slightly interrupted by an entry pop-up ad.

It will give them time to “browse” before you make an offer to them.

As you can see, there are several places where you can make a mistake and turn a future opt-in into an annoyed visitor.

But provided you employ the techniques and strategies suggested and take advantage of the technology available to customize these ads for your visitors, pop-ups will continue to be an excellent way to increase your opt-in e-mail list as well as your sales.

It’s been researched and proven – Pop-up advertisements will help to increase your opt-in subscriber list…guaranteed!

Chapter 7: Do This And Your Lists Will Make You Money…And Lots Of It!

So assuming you have built your list of targeted prospects – all interested in investing their time into reading your free information and possibly checking out what other services you have to offer – how are you supposed to actually profit from your list?

That’s basically what we all want to know how to do, right?

“The money’s in the list.” I think I’ve heard that quote about a gazillion times!

Not that I’m tired of hearing it, because it’s short and sweet, and really gets to the point. And what’s so powerful about that quote is that IT’S TRUE.

If the money’s on the list, how do I manage to squeeze it out and get a little bit of it myself?

You want to know what to do next – like send free content… then the next message, mix in an ad, etc. basically how to profit from the list, right?

It’s really quite simple. Help their profit.

Sounds cliché but it’s true.

Research your market, and spend some time learning everything you can about the ‘passion’ of your list.

Then share that info w/ them.

Don’t ram it down their throats, but simply ‘share’ it with them.

That’s how to profit from it.

Some people get it all wrong by sending some free content, and then the next email is a slimy pitch… that’s not going to work.

Honestly get involved w/ the topic and send them interesting stuff about it.

Review some of the other products in your market, citing the pros and cons of buying into it… give your thoughts and then either recommend it or say stay away from it.

People can tell when they’re being sold and when you’re sending them an offer simply because it will make you money.

They can smell it from a mile away and it immediately makes them put their guard up and not trust a word in your email.

Just treat them like a friend and share different bits of info and make recommendations as you come across them.

Send your list valuable, quality information. Slip in an ad on occasion and track the results.

You’ll always get the “unsubscribers”, but don’t fret it.

Those worried about losing subscribers shouldn’t.

Keep building relationships with the subscribers that you still have.

There are lots of ways to approach it, I’m just trying to help you with the mindset portion of it because there really isn’t a formula to follow.

Some people are looking for the formula, like… send 3 content messages, then 1 pitch… wait 2 days then send another pitch followed by 3 all content messages, blah blah blah… And you’ll never have success like that.

One of the points I want to make is that there are many e-books and other sources that talk about how to build the list and the importance of the list but very few continue to give you a proven formula that works every time.

The closest I’ve gotten to finding that formula is by simply following this concept…

Respect your subscribers and they will return the favor – guaranteed.

Do that and your lists will make you money…and Lots of It!

Do You Want A Real Shortcut To Building A Profitable List?

CLICK HERE

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Matt: Mattched IT was founded in June 2006 by Matt and Steve, who had been working together for several years. Initially the business focussed on providing out-sourced development services, but this evolved into our current model – a flexible collective who work with other agencies as well as directly on client projects. And our own products, too.