Email Marketing – Page 21 – TP Javeton WebNet

An Opt-in List as the Sole Money-Making Vehicle

A mutual consent list

An opt-in list, which is also referred to as a subscriber list, can be a crucial component in any site or Web-based company; and even in the case of a small venture such as a niche profit site, an opt-in list can make a world of difference while also putting some extra money in the owner’s pockets. In fact, opt-in lists are so important to the revenue-generating apparatus to an Internet-based business that e-commerce sites – big and small – seldom operate their businesses without one.

Opt-in lists allow companies to market their wares and websites via email communication and promotions, activities that are commonly referred to as email marketing, but there are guidelines and “Best Practices” that email marketers must adhere to. An opt-in list can be thought of as an agreement between a site owner (email marketer) and a subscriber, whereas the marketer consents to sending a newsletter from his/her company, and the subscriber consents to receiving such a newsletter.

Based on such consent the marketer can keep subscribers abreast of latest trends pertaining to the subscribers interests, as well as what is currently available on the marketer’s website, and whatever is coming next. And as a result of the mutual consent between the two parties, any email sent to subscribers is not considered spam mail. It is also based on this agreement between the two parties that a great number of promotional materials (such as catalogs, newsletters and such) sent to subscribers are read successfully. This is all made possible because the subscribers themselves have signed up for the material which obviously indicates that they do want to be sent those items.

List-building: A nuanced art

Building a list is crucial, but only a small percentage of Internet users actually subscribe to an opt-in list, since many people find promotional email annoying; but if you, as an email marketer, provide quality newsletters or promotional material, you will probably get very positive results in building up and growing your list. Another way you can achieve such results is by having good content on your website; because if site visitors like what they see and read on your website, then they surely would want more, and a newsletter would be a great way to entice them back to your site.

Other than a vehicle by which to market your products and services, an opt-in list can also be used to earn extra money, but not all lists can be used to accomplish this goal, however; because only those who have already built a successful list with a huge number of subscribers should attempt to maximize earnings directly. ultimately, the more subscribers you have, the more money you can make from your list through a variety of techniques, some of which are outlined in the following paragraphs.

Advertisements and affiliations

There are many corporations who will consider paying a fee to have their banners and ads promoted to a list with many subscribers; because since selling or renting out lists is generally not a good idea, many companies forego such a risk and, instead, place ads with lists that have a huge subscriber base. Your newsletter could be placed with many ads and each one could result in more money for your efforts.

Establishing affiliations with Web-based companies that have at least a semblance or similarity to what your site is about can also supportt your list management efforts, because these companies will provide links and brief descriptions of what they offer in the way of products and services. As a result, every click made on the “affiliate link” that directs or leads a subscriber from your list to their site, the company will pay you. This is known as P4P or pay for performance.

Making deals with other companies by asking for a small percentage of the sales done through your list can be an effective way to generate additional income and give your subscribers a variety of items to choose from; and every sale generated by customers that have come from your list and have gone there because of your newsletter, the other company will pay you a small percentage based on those sales. The more people who buy from them, the more money you make.

Consignments and ebooks

Consignments and ebooks have been very popular approaches to doing business on the Internet. Pertaining to consignments, you may get products from other sites on a consignment basis and sell them to your list via a newsletter you create just for that purpose or via your standard newsletter. By placing descriptions, articles and photos of the product(s) in your newsletter, there will be those who will buy from you, and when that happens you can order the specific product from that other site and sell it to the subscriber(s) who requested the item.

Selling or giving away e-books or a compilation of your articles to your list in the form of manuals and how-to articles is in great demand; and there are people who, for various reasons, will consider shelling out money to obtain knowledge about certain aspects, techniques and information about a variety of topics. With your existing subscribers trusting your expertise in a given area, an e-book could be offered and sold; or even used as an incentive.

Networking and credibility

Developing a network out of your list by getting people to invite their friends and relatives to your site and subscribe to your list is perhaps the simplest and most straightforward approach you can take to build and grow your list. It’s important to keep in mind that the larger your list is, the more people will be able to click on your product links and affiliate links which in turn will make your advertisement rates higher.

Subscribers are willing to pay for information if they know that it can be trusted and relied upon; but perhaps the more important aspect of their decision making is whether or not the entity providing the information is credible. Such credibility will go a long way to enhance your list-building prowess, and in helping you to simply use your list to get more and more people to subscribe, as well as browse your site. Lastly, you can earn a lot of money from your subscribers by making them your partners, and your list will be the bloodline of your growth and marketing success.

Induce Opt-in Subscribers to Trust You

Promotional email as a service

While placing barriers and various other protective devices to keep email accounts spam-free has become increasingly popular over the last fifteen years, there remains a category of users who subscribe to email that promotes products, services and various marketing websites. This is mainly because these subscribes want to know more about what the particular promoters are offering that can be beneficial for them.

They expect to be kept posted on what they are interested in and updated on what’s new in the market or field they have elected; but the reasons for their acceptance of these marketing emails may entail far more than just being kept abreast of market trends. One of the most important reasons to subscribe to an opt-in list in the first place is the time saved by the subscriber, especially in view of the fact that scouring the Web for a particular piece of information (some refer to this as research) can be a rather time-consuming task, and most working people don’t have that kind of time to spare.

So those subscribers who view these email communications as a service in and of themselves, accept them as such and have no intention to put up email-prevention barriers. These are the kinds of subscribers and customers that most businesses would be elated to have, but may not have identified the basic element needed to get them, or demonstrated possession of it to the satisfaction of would-be subscribers. And since that basic element is trust, it is not easily meted out in a non-discriminate manner, especially in an environment like the Internet. It has to be earned.

Trust, reward and best practices

The simple fact is that when your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty! At the same time however, many internet users have gone to great lengths to protect their email accounts from spam mail, couple with the spam protection offered by some free-mail Internet providers and ISPs (internet service providers), while other Internet-based companies screen the mails their members and supporters receive. So there is a no-holds-barred effort to protect the email inboxes of many Internet users, the “protected” group.

So whether or not you are a member of the protected group of Internet users, if you subscribed to a list, you should be able to receive the email you authorized the promoter(s) to send; and if the promoter adhere to email marketing best practices, email marketing guidelines and the law in creating and managing the opt-in mail list, any email s/he sends containing promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and marketing media should in most cases get through to your inbox.

But this has not always been the case because some email marketers – past and present – failed dismally, to act in accordance with the high ethical standards set forth by industry leaders, thereby evoking cynicism and distrust among Internet consumers. They seem not to know that the best way to build a good opt-in list is to induce people to trust them, thereby laying the groundwork for faster and better responses and build up, as well as satisfactory results.

Build a list and gain trust

In other words, if you are an aspiring email marketer, speed is essential because the faster you build your opt-in list the faster word about your site and company would be spreaded around the marketplace; and the bigger the scope of your opt-in list the more traffic you will get, resulting in even more profits. But while the math is easy when you think about it, getting the numbers may not be as easy as it seems, unless you build your email marketing business on a solid foundation of trust.

Getting the trust of your clientele shouldn’t be such a difficult task, especially if you have a legitimate business, because such trust should be based upon your expertise. You have to understand that people rely most on other people who know what they are talking about; so it is important to garner all the knowledge and information about your business as you can. To be quite frank, if you decide to go into a business you probably should have some interest in that field; because if you don’t, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense to pursue the particular field.

Show your clients that you know what you are talking about. Provide them with helpful hints and guidelines that pertain to what you are selling. Talk about how to install a roof if your into hardware products or provide articles on insurance settlements if you’re a settlement lawyer. You don’t have to be a big corporation to make use of an opt-in list. If your customers see you as someone who knows what he is doing and saying, they will trust you quicker than someone who doesn’t.

Keep subscribers trusting you

Be true to your customers, if you want to hype up your products and services, provide guarantees. The more satisfied customers you get, the bigger probability there is that they will recommend you. Generally, people will trust someone they know, and when those people recommend you, the job of gaining trust becomes easier. They will go to your site and check it for themselves and be given a chance to experience what the others have experienced with you, so make sure to be consistent in the service you provide.

Another tip in getting a customer to trust you quickly is to provide them with an escape hatch by showing them that you are not there to trap them. Keep a clean list that would enable them to unsubscribe anytime they want; and emphasize on your web form such information on how to unsubscribe from the list. Guarantee them that they can let go of the service whenever they want to, because there are those who would be wary of getting stuck for life and therefore would worry that they’d have to abandon their email accounts or be pestered with spam.

Remember that when you gain the trust of your clients you must do everything in your power not to lose that trust. For example, don’t – for the sake of a quick buck – do anything with their email addresses (selling them, swapping them, etc.), because you will lose many subscribers from your list as well as potential subscribers. But the true quickest way to gain the trust of your subscribers is when you are recommended by someone they trust, so be diligent in your approach to managing your subscriber list, as well as what you do to keep them comfortable.