Digital Profit Success

Quick tips to build your opt-in list the right way

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It’s time for the third post in the list building tutorial. Today we are going to go over some quick tips that you can use to build your optin list the right way.

As we have discussed before, an optin list is one the best, most effective ways that you can build your business and increase your profits. It can mean the difference between just staying in business and having a successful and profitable business.

As you now know, an optin list basically is just a list or a database of names and email addresses of people who have visited or made a purchase through your website. This “golden” list will allow you to send updates, emails or promotions to those who are subscribed.

Building a list can definitely work to your benefit. It helps you stay in contact and build a good relationship with your subscribers, which can lead to more sales for your business.

Here are some quick tips you can use to build your optin list:

– You should put a ‘subscribe link’ or ‘subscribe box’ on your web site. It is advisable to put it on all your pages. Then make sure that it is strategically positioned, meaning it has to be easily located by the visitors. The upper right hand corner of the page would be a good position.

– Promote your website and promote it even more to make give it more exposure and to get more subscribers.

– Come up with contests or give away freebies and goodies that will require visitors to give out their email address to be able to join.

– Give out information, articles and updates to your subscribers with your links in it. Make sure the information is timely and relevant to your business.

– Offer free courses to your visitors. This will help build your list and maintain a good relationship with your subscribers.

– Do some networking. Join some forums or groups and build relationships with the people there. Social media sites like Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn make this so easy and it’s a good way to add more contacts to your list.

Don’t send bulk email to people who haven’t subscribed to your list. This is spam! Always get permission from people before you add them to your list, or you could ruin your reputation.

Don’t flood your subscribers with information that doesn’t pertain to the reason they subscribed to your list. They will only get annoyed and unsubscribe. You worked hard to get them on your list, so treat them right and keep them there.

As your list grows, make sure that you maintain it well. Keep in contact with your subscribers. Send them updates. Give out special offers, helpful tips and little gifts to let them know you appreciate them.

There are many benefits of having a large list of subscribers. They can keep you in business, help you grow and you will definitely enjoy the profits when they come in.

That’s it for today’s post. In the next post, we will be talking about how to keep your subscribers interested, engaged and coming back for more.

Building and managing your new list

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In this second post on list building, we are going to talk more about building and managing your new list.

Building and managing an optin list provides the list owner direct access to potential customers. As we discussed in the last post, building and managing an optin list includes making it possible for website visitors to fill out an online form in order to sign up to receive email updates from you. These emails can contain updates, information, or news related to your latest products and services.

As you should know, building and managing an optin list is very important. Your list can be used in many ways. It’s a proven marketing technique, that many businesses use to keep customers, subscribers and website visitors updated and engaged in your business.

Gathering email addresses for your optin list can be done in several ways, using many different types of services, scripts and software. For today, we are going to talk mainly about using an autoresponder script or service.

An autoresponder script allows a subscriber to fill in a form and send it in to a specific address. The information is then processed and included in a database file. After that, the list owner can send a personalized reply to the subscriber to thank them for joining their list.

There are several types of autoresponder’s available. They are divided into three main types: remotely hosted, locally hosted, and desktop hosted.

For many list owners, locally and desktop-hosted are far preferred over remotely hosted. Although remote hosted are a very good option in some cases, locally and desktop hosted autoresponder’s will allow you complete control because you are running the program on your own site.

If you have a domain name, you can use as many autoresponder’s as you like, all of which will match your domain name. When you use a remotely hosted program, you won’t be able to use your domain name with the autoresponder, unless you pay for a premium service. Instead, you’ll receive an address from the provider that resembles their link. This can be great for some, although many prefer to have their own domain name listed in the autoresponder.

If you use your own domain name with your autoresponder, you can normally keep it secret that you are using an autoresponder. When you send out emails using your autoresponder, it will display your website email, making it very hard to detect an autoresponder.

If you use a remotely hosted autoresponder, those you send messages to will notice that you are using an autoresponder. If you are just starting out and happen to be on a tight budget and have the technical skills required, a remotely hosted autoresponder may very well be the best solution. You can use it until you get more money and get back on track, although you shouldn’t use it long term. Remotely hosted programs can get expensive very quickly; as the monthly charges will add it quick each month you use the program.

You can find remotely hosted autoresponder’s all over the Internet; all you have to do is search on Google, Bing or Yahoo. Aweber and GetResponse are very popular among marketers.

Although locally hosted autoresponder’s may be preferred by many, they do have their disadvantages. Some types will limit how many domains you can install them on. If the vendor doesn’t provide free installation, you could have a problem installing the script, as most require some degree of technical experience. Although you have complete control over the program, locally hosted programs don’t have as many features as remotely hosted programs. Also, deliverability may be less than compared to a remotely hosted solution.

Desktop-hosted autoresponder’s are good, although they have disadvantages. Some types will limit how many copies you can install on different computers. To get the most from them, you’ll need a computer that is always connected to the Internet. You’ll also need some experience to set them up, and they aren’t recommended for those who have large mailing lists. As with local hosting, deliverability may be less than compared to a remotely hosted solution.

Although there are 3 main types of autoresponder’s the type you choose should depend on your website and your needs. What’s the best idea for you may be completely different to someone else. When you make your final decision, you should always decide on what you need for your company, then pick the solution that works best for you.

Remember, building and managing an optin list is one of the best and most effective ways to increase profits for your business, so it’s important you do it the right way.

That’s it for today’s post. In your next post, we will be talking about building a relationship with your news subscribers.

Some important do’s and don’t of list building

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In today’s post, we are going to go over some of the important do’s and don’t of list building, so that you can get started building your own profitable list right away.

One of the most powerful tools in online marketing is an email list. An optin list is simply a database of people’s names and email addresses. Usually this information is collected from them via a web form, which gives the list owner permission to send subscribers periodic emails on specific topics that interest them.

The best part of this powerful tool is that it gives the list owner the ability to communicate and build a relationship with people who are interested in their business, products, or services. When it comes to effective list building there are a few do’s and don’ts that you should know before you start your own optin mailing list.

First lets go over some of the things you should do:

– Always inform people that they can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. Be sure to let them know that their information is safe and that you will never rent, sell or share their email address with anyone.

– Make sure that let your subscribers know what you will be sending them. It is important that you ask people permission to send them promotional email when they subscribe to your mailing list so that you can reduce your risk of being accused of sending SPAM.

– Be clear about how people can benefit from subscribing and how often will you contact them. Let them know exactly what they will be receiving.

– If you can, contact any new subscriber as soon as you can. Welcome them with notes and tell them what to expect. A good autoresponder service will help you do this automatically.

– Make it easy to subscribe by having a highly visible optin form or link on the main pages of your website. Signing up should take as little time as possible and don’t ask for too much information right away. A name and email address is all you need to get started.

– After someone subscribes then you should collect more data. For instance, you may want to know their company name, industry, or location. You can do this by including a survey in your emails to gauge interests. It’s important to understand where people are coming from so you can make adjustments in your communications or promotions.

– When you write an email, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and ask, “Why shouldn’t I hit the delete key right now?” Your readers didn’t subscribe because they want to hear a sales pitch. They have a reason for wanting information from you. It could be to save time, money, or effort, or improve productivity and success. Your emails must be compelling enough to convince people to sign up, valuable enough to keep them wanting more, and useful enough to pass along.

Next, are the things you shouldn’t do:

– Add everyone who has ever emailed you to your list. Always ask permission first.

– Purchase bulk email lists that you are not 100% sure that are optin. Always have evidence to prove the legitimacy of the email addresses.

– Never abuse the trust of your subscribers. This is a sure way to ruin your reputation, business and your chance of success. When you abuse your subscribers and bombard them with unwanted email, they will ignore your messages, unsubscribe or even worse report you as a spammer.

– Don’t offer fantastic incentives for subscribing. Although this may seem like a great idea, you will end up getting subscribers that only want the reward, not to learn valuable information about what your business, products and services can do for them. Instead, use incentives that are useful such as a free report, seminar, or more information about your products & services.

– Don’t bombard your subscribers with too many emails. How many are too many? This will depend on your message. During the subscription process, let people know what they are getting before they join.

– Don’t be reluctant to address the needs of your subscribers. Keep your information focused. It is important to give them what they want. This will keep them on your list and wanting more. If you’re information drifts off topic or is too generic you will lose subscribers as fast as you get them.

– Don’t spend too much money acquiring email addresses. An optin list is a valuable asset and that means there is an investment on your part to build and maintain it. But, budget reasonably and in advance, find the most cost effective ways for reaching your target audience and know exactly how much it will cost to acquire each new subscriber. Keep in mind potential revenue, and lifetime value of each customer, and chose accordingly.

That’s it for today’s post. In the next post, we will be talking more about building and managing your new list.

Using the power of video in your marketing reviews

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Many people new to online marketing are attracted to affiliate marketing as they enjoy the behind-the-scenes direction of connecting buyers and sellers and making a commission off of that process.

But you eventually need to increase your expert status (even if you don’t have a product of your own) and doing this will convert visitors to your site into buyers more easily. And one way to do this is to use video.

Video isn’t hard to create. You can start off with an iPhone or a mini video camera to capture the video. And getting it live online is as easy as creating a free account on YouTube and then clicking the upload and file selection buttons.

Typically, you won’t even need to do any editing or fancy formatting to your product reviews, but as you get better you will be able to deliver a more polished and professional compilation. You basically want to put out the best video that you can, and here are some tips to help you do that:

1. Look directly into the camera.
You want to be speaking directly to the viewer. You want them to feel like you’re right across the table from them having a friendly conversation. Consumers need to feel like a product is being chosen for them specifically.

2. Have good lighting in the room when you create a video.
You don’t want to be recording in a dark or poorly lit room. Natural sunlight is perfect, so if you can open the curtains and let the sun shine it, it will work wonderfully.

3. Speak up.
Your viewers need to hear you! Also try to minimize any background noise. You can either make sure the house is quiet, or use a noise canceling microphone so that you keep background noises to a minimum. If there is noise you can use a free piece of software called Audacity to clean up and remove any background noise.

4. Try not to speak in a monotone voice.
There’s nothing worse than listening a boring speaker try to make someone enthusiastic about buying their product recommendation. On the other hand, there’s no need to sound like one of those loud used car dealership commercials, either. Just be yourself.

5. Don’t read off a script.
Some people make the mistake of trying to read their product review on camera. Unless you have years of experience that allow you to achieve this flawlessly like a newsreader, don’t try it but do have your thoughts organized. Why not create a few bullet points to help jog your memory and keep you on track. You don’t want to lose focus and sit there for 30-60 seconds saying, “Um, where was I? What did I want to tell you about next? Oh yeah…” That looks unprofessional and people will click out because they don’t want to wait for you to finish. Now, you can edit this out if you have video editing software such as Camtasia but this is expensive, so the best approach is to be organised in advance and get it right first time.

Add the video reviews to your blog and YouTube channel to maximise visibility and see your affiliate commissions increase.

Top Branding Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Business!

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Creating a consistent brand for an online business is a highly effective way to get more customers and clients, to increase awareness of your organization and to generally propel yourself to new heights. Having a strong brand will create many more opportunities for you and will mean that every aspect of your business helps to strengthen every other aspect.
But creating a brand isn’t easy and that’s why there are so few sites on the net that have that strong presence and identity that they need. This is the complete opposite offline where I am sure you can reel off dozens of brands off the top of your head! Here are some of the most common mistakes that companies and individuals will make when creating their brand…

Lack of Congruency
Your visual consistency – in terms of the way your brand looks across various channels and the way you have positioned yourself in your industry and the values you put out MUST be congruent.

Lack of consistency
This is closely linked to congruency.The point of a consistent brand is that it should represent a certain degree of quality and a certain predictability in terms of what users get. People should know that something with your logo on it will be something that they enjoy. So if your website is talking about puppy dogs one week and programming the next, you’re going to lose people. Likewise, if you put out a brilliant product one month and the next thing you release is garbage, people won’t be able to trust you in future. Stay consistent and stay true to your vision.

Poor Visual appeal
Aesthetics are an important aspect of your branding and if you don’t have a strong logo and strong visuals through your advertising and web design, then your brand isn’t going to be memorable to your customers and users. If your logo is a grainy JPG that looks like something you made in college, then it might be time to hire a professional or at least have a rethink.

Missed Opportunities
Every business card, social media account, invoice and email is a chance to strengthen your brand. Make sure you include your logo everywhere and don’t miss an opportunity to show it off.

Lack of Self Awareness
When creating your branding, you are creating the way that people are going to see you. To do this effectively though, you need to be objective and realistic. If you’re a one-man-band tinkering in your free time, then don’t try and brand yourself as a global corporate enterprise. It will ring false and your brand will fail as a result.

Do Your Actions Support a Strong Mindset?

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It’s clear that life doesn’t divide up all good things evenly among all people. Just look around you for the evidence of that;  some people are more attractive than others. Then there are people who are richer or more successful than their peers.

There are people who come from a good background. They are well-educated, intelligent and well-liked. And from the outside at least, it appears that the world is their oyster.

Then, there are people who are average in looks. They don’t have a lot of money, let alone all that they want in life! They come from backgrounds full of various struggles. They may not have attended a prestigious college;in fact they may have little or no education at all.

Yet, so many times, it’s this second group of people who end up far more successful and enjoying more personal satisfaction than the first group. The simple reason for this is their mindset.

Just because someone appears to have it all doesn’t always mean that it is true or that it will always stay that way. And what you see on the outside – the nice car, the fancy clothes – doesn’t necessarily reflect inner happiness and fulfillment.

It’s not enough to wake up every day and tell yourself positive things. Don’t get me wrong; positive affirmation is great, but mindset alone isn’t enough to change your life. You need to take an active role in taking action to leverage that mindset into a new existence for you.

Next time, we’ll look at understanding mindset…

How to Stick to Your Marketing Dream!

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Do you remember when you first made the decision to become an internet marketer?  Many of you will have felt the heady rush of quitting your boring 9-to-5 job in favor of starting afresh where the success or failure of your business rests squarely on your shoulders and yours alone; you are in control of your own destiny now! And you look at the financial gains which are  virtually unlimited and the possibilities seem endless.  It’s an exciting moment, to be sure… but are you still excited?

The problem is that far too many marketers end up treading down a road of frustration and drudgery; what happened to the path that was laid in gold?!?  This causes them to burn out.  They get discouraged as they hit an obstacle, or perhaps they get bored and lose interest; this is a problem with the instant gratification culture we live in today.  Whatever the reason, it’s important to know how to get yourself back on track if you see yourself floundering or lacking motivation.

Many of your biggest obstacles will be mental:  While you want to be constantly learning and getting smarter from your experiences, you don’t want to lose sight of your original vision and mindset.  And don’t learn for learning’s sake; you should be implementing what you learn and not just keep learning more. Learn from your experiences whether they be success or failure and don’t let them make you overly cynical or worse, discourage you.  Remember the excitement you felt about being your own boss.  And remember how excited you felt about bringing your business/product/vision to the market and having a positive influence in peoples lives.  Feel that way again and become that idealistic, go-getter again.

Never underestimate the power of routines to help nurture such mindsets.  One of the biggest struggles with working for yourself is actually motivating yourself to do the work as there are so many distractions at home.  Having a strict daily schedule in place can help you stay focused on the task at hand.  Many productive people  use their first few actions of the day as a psychological trigger to set them up for the rest of the day.  For example, you might begin each day by walking your dog (or going for a stroll by yourself if you don’t have a pet), then brew your morning cup of tea/coffee before sitting down at your desk and writing your first 500 words of the day.  Repeating your process each day can get you in the mood to work and it becomes a habit.

Don’t be afraid to expand or outsource tasks. This may be difficult at first if you have little spare capital  but think of it as an investment; if yo. can get someone to do the tasks you hate then you can focus on those you enjoy and bring money into the business.  Not long ago, article/content marketing was huge.  But do you think that the people making serious money from it were spending every waking hour glued to the keyboard?  No, these people quickly hired writers to allow them to capitalize on the opportunity and grow (and profit) quickly.  Alternatively they may have started a large writing outfit to cater to the marketers working with content volume.  Whatever they were doing, they were running a business and not a self-employment hobby. Remember that a business makes you money whilst a hobby costs you money.

Look at your business and identify which tasks can be quickly outssourced to freelancers to help give you more time to work on your business, not in it.  For most entrepreneurs the first task to outsource is content creation as it is cheap and easy to get done and gives you content or products that you can quickly bring to market.  For others, it may be SEO tactics to increase the ranking of their website.  Outsource the tasks you hate as soon as financially possible and you will be a much happier marketer.

Finally, you need to be able to adapt  You may have started your marketing journey two years ago, and a lot can change in two years, especially in the online marketing world.  Keep learning, researching, and ensuring that your own methods are still considered best practice today; never mistake comfort with effectiveness. But be careful to implement what you learn or you will be left behind.

The key to making your vision a reality is to set goals – both long and short term –  and start working on your highest value tasks first thing in the morning, everyday.