Build a List and Make Money Online

Why Build an Email List?

Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to make a full-time income from home. You can build your business to be as large or as small as you wish. You are the person in control. There’s no boss telling you what to do.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

A key to affiliate marketing success is an email list. Not just a list of email addresses. But a list of online buyers. People brag about having a large list. Yes, the money is in the list. And I do believe each name on your list is worth $1 per month in sales.

But I’d rather have a smaller list of actual buyers. Think of it this way. Would you rather have a random list of 5,000 email addresses or a list of 100 buyers spending $50 per month?

The Art of Selling

• • • • • • • You have to have something to sell
            • Then identify your target buyers
            • Tell them about  your product
            • Convince them your product is the solution to their problem
            • Close the deal

The Key to Internet Marketing

You are operating a digital retail business. 

That’s it. You’ve digitized a brick-and-mortar store. You have competitors. You’re mining a huge population. You want followers. You want buyers! And the marketplace is crowded. Virtually every successful retailer sells online these days. They augment physical store sales with online marketing. Want to buy a fridge? Go online.

Anything you want is online. Including information. Especially information. The library card of my youth is now a search engine. All I need is a method of payment and I can buy a boat, car, or a loaf of bread. And have it delivered to my door. All online.

Stop thinking solely digital and take a lesson from the analog world. Extole virtues of your product. Tell how it makes specific problems go away. Be a huckster. Read how ad giants marketed before the Internet (BTI). Craft your message and lure prospects to your store. Then sell, sell, sell.

Think Retail

Many years ago Planters Peanuts operated a store in Baltimore. I believe it was on Fayette Street. The aroma of fresh roasted peanuts hit you yards away from the store entrance. A person dressed like Mr. Peanut gave samples to passers-by.

How could one resist the aroma, free sample, and the opportunity to buy a bag of fresh roasted peanuts?

Today we market products as then. But in a digital manner. We choose a niche. Entice prospects. And close the sale. We’ve got everything but the aroma. You can describe that to bring in buyers.

Too many people don’t make money online because they quit. They don’t know the process. They don’t establish a relationship with prospects. They give prospects little reason to trust them.

Think of the many people passing by the peanut store each day. The buyers liked peanuts. The people taking samples liked peanuts, too. But they didn’t always buy. Hundreds of people passed the store and ignored it. Perhaps they didn’t like peanuts. Perhaps they were in a hurry.

The point is this. Not all people experiencing your online marketing are going to care about your offer.

The Real Goods

Your success is measured by money in the bank. Traditional retail sets sales goals. One is the return on investment per square foot of retail space. For a store to be profitable it must return X dollars per square foot of store space.

Online we look at different figures. One is Click Through Rate (CTR). That’s determined by clicks on your link divided by the number of impressions (ads). A good CTR is 2%. That means for every hundred people seeing your ad or post only 2 people click on the link.

That’s why so many online marketers advertise. They do not rely on organic marketing such as social media posts. Click on the images in this post. Each image links you to an offer. That’s an example of organic advertising.

A prominent online marketer says, “The person with the most money wins”. 91% of the time the political candidate with the most money wins. Paid advertising pays off. But the political candidate doesn’t spend all the money on ads. There is more to marketing than paid advertising.

Your Affiliate Marketing Business

There are endless affiliate marketing possibilities in terms of products and services to choose to promote. Although it is suggested when you first start that it’s a good idea to choose topics that you have some interest in, particularly if you need to write content for your website.

However, you should try and steer clear of scams. I mean the offers that tell you if you buy their product you will acquire a fortune virtually overnight. Because that doesn’t happen.

Sure you can make an annual six-figure income via affiliate marketing. Those who do know they have to do some work to make that happen. That’s why we preach avoiding the shiny object syndrome.

There are quite a few things you can do to increase your affiliate commissions.  One of the most effective is building your own opt-in list of potential customers. Then you must turn that list into buyers.

Click on this link and sign up for my email list. People who do get information that’s not on my blog. They also receive free items to help grow their online business. And they receive notifications of tested products. They do not pay more for those products. But I receive a commission from the product owner.

Many people that visit your website not only don’t buy anything they don’t come back. So it is up to you to make your site enticing. When a visitor comes to your site you must capture information about your visitors.  Then your job is to keep in contact with them.  Inform them about the new products you are promoting.

This is done by getting them to subscribe to your newsletter or mailing list. You can offer incentives to get them to sign up.  The incentive is a lead magnet. It may be a free downloadable eBook or something else that you think has value to them.

Lead Magnets

The best lead magnet is an item of high perceived value. Something that truly benefits the prospect. My best lead magnet offer is something the average person cannot buy. That takes a lot of thought. But it pays off better than some rehashed ebook or outdated WordPress plugin.

Here’s an example.

Click on this link for free membership in a group that trains you to make money online. Use that link. It is a free Silver membership. Take advantage of the training. It is free.

When you sign up I capture your email address. That allows me to correspond with you. I use aWeber for my autoresponder. Click on the aWeber link and I capture your email address. When you subscribe to this site (link) I capture your email address.

Of course, you can unsubscribe from any list. The idea is to get your attention. A lead magnet is a bribe. It is a gift offered in exchange for your email address. An effective lead magnet has perceived value. If it satisfies the prospect they stay on your list. Working that list is not just sending stuff. Communicate value.

Always Solve a Problem.

Don’t try and sell your new signups with every email. Provide some useful information as well. People will soon unsubscribe from your list if you are just doing a blatant sell every time you contact them. But having your own list is also a good way to start building credibility and trust with your customers. Especially if you provide useful information as well.

When communicating with customers and prospects give them an “Ah-Ha” moment. If your niche is tropical fish give a tip that enhances their setup. If it is woodworking share something only experienced people know. Something not found in books.

Every once in a while give your followers a list of items necessary for success in a niche. Or a simple one-page explanation of terms used in the niche. For a food-related niche share tips like, “Reheat pizza in a frying pan on the stovetop, not the microwave. That way you get crisp crust”.

Always give value. Write that on a post-it and place it near your terminal screen. Always give value. That way you become a go-to person. An authority.

Last Words

It’s commonly acknowledged by affiliate marketing gurus that their lists are extremely valuable to them. And necessary for success. Particularly when they are intending to launch new promotions. With a strong list, marketers don’t have to go through all the hassle of getting on the front page of Google because they already have a list they can pre-sell to.

There are many ways you can build up your affiliate marketing commissions but one of the easiest is to start building your list of potential customers right from the beginning. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to put an opt-in-form on your website and can pay you dividends for that bit of time taken.

Here’s a marketing tip.

Register a domain with niche keyword(s) in the URL.

# # #

Thank you for reading this post.

Please share it with family and friends.

Follow me on all major social media.

Sign up for my free premium list. Use this link.