Forum

[Aletta]

You hear a lot of people saying that "the money is in the list".

Have you tried building a newsletter/autoresponder series for your website?

If you have, has it worked well for you?

If you haven't made one, why not?

(Not meant to sound reprimanding... I can think of a lot of reasons why I wouldn't feel like creating a newsletter series, but I want to hear your thoughts!)

 

[gradyp]

Personally, I intend to start one, just haven't yet... Trying to get my site a bit more complete first and try to get it generating a little revenue to afford aweber first.

Grady

 

[jcdean]

I did once, in the make money on line niche. I used to promote Wealthy Affiliate.

I probably should have stuck with it but didn't give it long enough time.

I found it easy to get sign ups, a little harder to get your emails opened.

I hope to give it a try again in a different niche in the future.

 

[cterao]

I have three newsletters. Two don't go past the 6-part mini-course and the other one only lasts for about 2 months.

The reason I don't put more effort into it is because it seems like there is always something more pressing to work on (SEO, article marketing, spinning, etc.).

I only have like 30-80 subscribers on each list, so it doesn't seem like the most important thing to work on. I'd rather focus on getting people to my site in the first place, then worry about things like lists.

PS: Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that their sign-up rate is actually lower with a pop-over sign-up box?

 

[smuigal]

Back in 2002 I had a newsletter with 2000 members. It was just getting off the ground and well, my health got to me and I had to go offline. I actually sold Netwoozy.com for $1500.00. This was back when making money in the list was a totally different ball game. I was not making much and I also didn't have the right mind set to really do well with it. People actually begged me to stick it out but I was too sick to try.

So... years went by and from time to time I'd check on Netwoozy to see if the new owner was doing anythjing with it.
About 2 years ago I came back online to try again. I missed my Netwoozy site and the owner who purchased it didn't ever do anything with it which I thought was really sad. I decided to ask him if I could buy it back.

He said, "How much you wanna buy it for?"

I said, ....<<<drum roll>>>

How about 20 bucks? He said YES! He felt bad he never did anything with it and so I got it back for 20 dollars.

OKay, so anywho. I have been wanting to get my Netwoozy newsletter going again and since I just gave myself a raise ;) I'm going to open up an Aweber account sometime this week and start it again. My creative juices have been overflowing and I do believe I'm ready to start it up again.

WHY I HAVE WAITED - PROCRASTINATED

For me, writing a newsletter is more than just making money. It's a responsibility. I actually purchased offline material to write my online newsletter. Somewhere in the lessons I believe Mark even said something about paying someone $100.00 for each newsletter he has written for his relationship site. So, I'm thinking that Mark agrees with me. :) Quality is vital if you really want to make money with your list. Actually, you can get by creating a list with little quality but if you think long term success, I do believe quality will provide that long term success.

LIST BUILDING - MORE THAN MONEY

You can make money with a list, this is a fact. But I hope that "pride" in your work can come into play here. So many marketers think of their list like an ATM machine. All they want to do is soak their members for money. I believe it should be a partnership. You, the list owner, have a responsibility to provide quality content that your members can walk away feeling satisfied in what they read. In response to your generosity of providing this excellence, your members will take your advice and buy products from you from time to time which is how you are paid for providing this excellence.

I'm actually thinking of charging a very small fee for my newsletter. I will probably test this out. I can't afford to buy offline materials and spend the hours in research for my readers without getting paid. But I refuse to promote anything that will not help people succeed so that is going to really put a dent in my promotions which of course lesson the amount of profits. Perhaps I'll have a free version and a paid version. ???? I dunno... AH DRATT... ok, so I'll start the freebie so I don't procrastinate more and then... perhaps toss in a paid version along the way. ;)

So, that's my story. I have waited for over a year to start a newsletter because I know it will be very taxing on my brain and time, but now that I am making enough money to outsource for all my other work, I can focus on a newsletter.

:)
Chrisi

 

[Aletta]

Good replies, people. What I'm hearing is kind of what I figured myself.

I'm just thinking about it because I was talking to Mark the other day, and he was saying how surprised he is that so many affiliates skip (or skimp) on the newsletter part, when it's actually one of the things that will make you the most money AND it's relatively immune to the varying whims of the search engines.

I figured that for most of you guys it's a big enough thing to get a site up and running and get traffic coming to it. The newsletter kind of seems like extra credit.

Also, if you're not passionate about your topic enough to write them yourself... it could get really expensive to have one ongoing. A year's worth of emails (probably around 80 emails) could cost you upwards of $800 if you outsourced them. (Remembering you need really good quality ... probably even better quality than what you put on your actual website.)

Kind of hard to justify the extra expense (plus Aweber subscription @ $20/month) when you're not earning much through your site already.

 

[SirMatts]

Hey Just had to give some feedback to this also. I did fiddle around alot when i started out with affiliate marketing a few months ago with PPV CPA and all kind of stuff, but then i realized im doing this affiliate thing not to create my self a job but actually to be able at some stage create myself a lifestyle.

While there is a lot of money to be made in PPV and CPA you have to constantly work hard and optimize every single campagin, and i don´t know how you outsource it and it would be very hard to do if not impossible.

That is when i realized I have to get back into this affilioblueprint stuff and actually start to build a long therm business with sites that can stick around for a long time and sites that can have lists.

I think most of us are after that lifestyle to not need to work that hard everyday and make a convient income. I do think the big impact is actually in the list, its the list that is going to give you those few work hours and ofcause outsourcing.

Ive not built any list yet either but its the making, im working hire some outsourcing force right now, when these persons are educated then its time for major listbuilding training :)

I do belive there is alot of truth in what Chrisi sais about quality of content.

I remember what Frank Kern said in those promo videos to list control

"everybody says the money is in the list" but that is wrong
The money is in the relationship with the list!

So how do you build a great relationship with your list?
By providing awsome content...

oki same thing but i like a lot how he said it :)

All The Best
Matts

 

[smp063]

Hi All,

Personally I thought I was a long way off this position. However I have come across a situation at the moment on my site that calls for it.
Due to budget though, AWebber is out of the question. I see that there is an autoresponder included in the premium hosting here.
- Does this do much the same thing?
- Is there anywhere here that shows how to use it
- Any for's and against's

Thank you
Steven :))

 

[SirMatts]

Hello Steven,

I would check out MailChimp in that situation

http://www.mailchimp.com/pricing/view-all

Seems like you can have a list for 500 subscribers and send 3000 emails a month totally for free.

If you check out the customers section they have some really reputable companys that use their services such as mozilla for example.

One thing you might want to consider is to chat with support and check if you sign up for free and might later change to another autoresponder company if there is some way to export your list.

You don´t want to loose your list just because you change autoresponder service :)

 

[smp063]

Thanks for that Matt

Much appreciated, will check it out
:))

 

[Aletta]

We don't have an autoresponder in our Premium package. I think you're probably getting muddled up with the opt-in form generator thing, or the pop-over generator.

When it comes to an autoresponder, it's best to go with the big, reputable players that have been around a while. They'll have systems in place to appease ISPs so that more of your mail gets through without going to the spam box.

That's why we use and recommend Aweber. Mailchimp sounds good too though... particularly with the freeness. I had a little play around with it myself, but I'm so used to Aweber that it just felt wrong :)

 

[wollowra]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that their sign-up rate is actually lower with a pop-over sign-up box?

Hey Clayton,
I have mixed results with this..
I think it depends on the niche and type of people you have on your list.
You also need some really good content to make them want to opt in.
Still testing this one.
Regards
Troy

 

[smp063]

We don't have an autoresponder in our Premium package. I think you're probably getting muddled up with the opt-in form generator thing, or the pop-over generator.

Hi Aletta,
I was referring to the Affilorama hosting control panel. Under the heading "Email", one of the options is autoresponders. I realize it would not be as technical as Aweber but thought it might be an option as I did not realize that there was a free autoresponder service available. Back to to my original question then, will this do much the same thing or is it only for basic replys?

Thank you
Steven :))

 

[Aletta]

Ahh, I see!

That's part of the random stuff that comes with the hosting. Hosting Cpanels are always full of random stuff :)

You can't use this to create an autoresponder SERIES. I think you might be able to use it to send ONE reply to someone who emails a particular address directly.

Not quite the same :)

 

[smp063]

Ok, Thank you, will not bother with that then,
Will look into mail chimp & go from there

Steven :))

 

[smp063]

I Have taken the plunge :))

Got an auto responder series set up & I still have a few hairs left too:))
Just nervous now. See how it goes.
Trial & error I suppose
Live, learn & grow.

Steven :))

 

[dave333]

I have an aweber account and (unfortunately) just hit 500 subscribers, meaning i'm now paying $30 per month. Which is about what my site is struggling to make.

I like the fact that I have setup about 10 months of autoresponders and I have a relatively low unsubscribe rate.

I LOVE that it now has an RSS componant. I send out a broadcast to all subscribers a few times per month, this is automatically posted to Facebook, my Twitter page, my website (as a new post), and all blogs I have floating around the net for this website.

This means that new content is always being added and all blogs pointing to my website are continually updating.

Seems like a good SEO tool if nothing else.

This is probably the only reason I'm still using it. I'm also setting up new websites and believe this will eventually pay for itself. - The next rate rise is at 2500 subscribers i think.

 

[TRoskell]

Hi
I have actually just got to the newsletter part of the blueprint and have been thinking of leaving it till the end (I know I shouldn't). I would just rather start building up some traffic write more articles and do some marketing so I am actually getting some visitors first. Is it Ok to leave it until the site is a little more developed - ie. I have all 30 articles done and have started promoting it?

 

[smuigal]

OKay Woot! YES, I now have Aweber and a newsletter. I've stared several in fact. For my tropical website where I plan on selling costumes I put one there where people can join to get about 21 tropical drink recipes. We'll see how that one does.

My financial website has recently taken off like a rocket. This month it's already earned $150.00 in Adsense so I'm pretty happy about that. I want to put a newsletter together on this one too, but well, I'll probably have to find a pretty good writer for this one.

Anywho... I'm happy to report I finally got my act together and started my newsletter. Now I have to get the videos produced that I promised. Which is happening next week since I was a really productive gal this past week and got lots of work done.

My subscribers are increasing by just a few everyday, but that's about 60 to 90 a month. Plus, I have a new strategy that will help to boost those members tremendously.

ZO... that's my news :)

Yep, they are a pain to get started but they are totally worth it.

:)
Chrisi

 

[Fostin7]

I'm gonna use it as soon as I have the money. :P

 

[Rodderz]

I agree with Clayton that in the beginning what you need is people to find your website. Theres little point in having an amazing newsletter series that no one will ever sign up for (because no one knows about your website). Moving forward its essential though.

I am personally not a fan of pop overs that pop when you are trying to browse a website, and tend to loose respect for sites that use them. I do have them on a couple of sites for when users try and close the tab, but never just popping up all over the place, its very annoying.

 

[jmpruitt]

Although traffic is important, setting up an email list quickly is also. I have sites that I waited on and took months to make sales directly to the site,

I have other sites that I started with a list, even with only 10 or so emails built in, and within a couple of weeks was able to start making sales. honestly when I go after a new niche, I write up a 10-15 page report, 10 or so emails, and a squeeze page all before I even buy a domain. That is all set up the first day on the site, and often I have my first subscribers within a couple of days of putting it all online.

Remember, you don't have to have everything perfect to start. I have done it on some pretty badly laid out sites. The value of the content is more important than anything else.

 

[stefan1601]

I don't know about other member's sites, but the average visitor in my site only look for 1-2 page before they get out (either to a merchant page or just leave the site), so I don't think a popover will be that annoying.

People only interested in a particular issue that they search for, they won't reading all the pages in your site.

 

[jmpruitt]

it all depends on what type of site you are building, and how well you write. I have some sites that the average time on my site is 30 minutes. however, I run several blogs, and build up a lot of repeat traffic with people coming to see what all i have to say this week.

If your site is obviously there to make sales of a product, people can tell, and will not stay long, but if you engage people and really try to help them out, it will be obvious and they will stick around, and come back for more.

 

[stefan1601]

I think the "page monetizing" part in AB course will definitely screaming that the site is built to sell something.
Do you think we should reduce the number of the affiliate links in the page so it will seems like we "really try to help them out"?

Also, I think people will only spend a lot of time and come back to a site that continually adding new content (such as blog or forum). Are you talking about such site?

 

[jmpruitt]

I run several blogs, and my AB sites are still being updated, I have one with 120+ articles on it. I try to add at least 1-2 articles/ month, and more if I can.

I only use 3 affiliate links per page, one in the image, one text link, and one after my opt in box. this is not too much, especially if you have good articles that are informative. I have one site that 45% of my visitors are repeat visitors, and I get about 150/day.

 

[submp3s]

Just joined the forum, and found this thread a little late, but to go back to the original focus..

I would always recommend starting a list and a newsletter as soon as possible. Imo it shouldn't just be "added on" to a site once it hopefully takes off and starts to get traffic, but it should be the main focus / goal of the site. Design your site around your newsletter opt-in. Make your primary goal to get subscribers. Add it first and plan out your autoresponder series in advance.

This is what I would recommend to any personal friends and family who wanted to get into IM , and what I would insist on in any future businesses I got involved with.

This is simply because of all the different marketing techniques I have used - articles, blogging, seo, ppc.... over the last 3+ years, nothing compares to the profitibility of email marketing - of being able to stay in touch with your buyers and people who are actively interested in your niche - not to mention when it starts to get really interesting when you are able to do mail swaps and partner with people with other big lists - these JVs / swaps have the potential to drive 1000s... tens of 1000s of people to your site and are much more powerful than any ppc or article marketing you can do... at least without months / years of building up and tweaking...

My website is driven by my newsletter, it is successful because of it, and without it it would be a failure - it would convert at probably half the rate it does, sales would be equally less, and it would slow the growth of the website down massively..

Please, I urge you to get into email marketing, it will be slow to start with... but when you get:
[*] 1-2k people you will really start to see the benefit and make regular sales
[*] 2-5k people you will be making healhy profits, consistently
[*] 5-10k people, you can start to do some partnerships perhaps, you will be making more money, and can possibly look towards doing IM full time
[*] 10k+ you will be recognised within your niche, and will actually be successful....

this 10k subscribers figure probably varies from niche to niche, and it depends on how you nurture and look after your list, but I am soooo passionate about email marketing, give or take a little, I think these figures are pretty accurate, at least to my experience over the last 3 years.

 

[BlogPressSeo]

Hello

Yes i am starting newsletter services for one of my site and its really helpful.

 

[digiblue]

Email marketing really is the cream of the crop when it comes to the principles of leveraging your time. The beauty of an autoresponder is that you can set up a money machine in each niche you enter and it can run on autopilot. You will still need to do broadcasts every once in a while and change up your messages every now and again but once you do have a solid system in place it does largely become automatic. The leverage of autoresponders is truly powerful.

But to utilize this power it has to be done in the correct way. Capturing a lead the way to get someone into your marketing funnel but if you look at the methods that people are using they do not stand out and capture attention. The amount of opt-in boxes I have seen in the sidebar with an offer like "enter your email to get a 6 part mini course", and then they wonder why no-one opts in. Do you feel compelled to enter your email after you read something like this. I sure aren't and I bet many other people wouldn't either!

You need to SELL whatever it is that you are using to get the opt-in. Make your words sizzle and include a picture. Capture attention, most people will only quickly look at the sidebar and glance over the opt-in box, your job is to make it stand out, otherwise another lead is gone uncaptured.

I think many people skip on the value of the report or course that they are offering for the opt-in. I don't like to use other peoples reports I like to spend my time creating my own so that I can make it super high quality and give away massive value. But if you don't have time to do this you can leverage other peoples reports but it will not be as effective in my opinion (as long as you have the capabilites to create a high value report or newsletter series). If you do use other reports to get the opt-in test out a few different ones when you have enough traffic to see what converts better.

Even if you don't change the reports, you should think about changing your opt-in box to test to see if different words, phrases, pictures, positioning gets more opt-ins. I usually beat the testing drum pretty hard but it is so vitally important.

What I like to do is create my Website with the initial launch content already on it. Then I will write a high quality and super valuable report to get the opt-in, then I also like to create a mini-course (although I hate calling it that) I prefer calling it a blueprint or a system. For instance if you are in the ab market: Fitness Model Abs 7 Day Super System.

This blueprint or system will usually cover the major roadblocks someone in the target market would have to go through to get the end result they achieve. A new lesson covering that roadblock would be covered on that one specific day. For instance, using the ab market again the roadblocks may be:

1. Diet: What to eat to get 6 pack abs and what not to eat.
2. Exercise: What exercises are most effective at burning abdominal fat.
3. Motivation: How do I stay motivated to diet and exercise.
4. Meal Plans: How to cook meals that burn fat.

These examples are just off the top of my head so usually I would immerse myself in the market before finding the roadblocks. In this example I used 4 topics that need to be covered but ideally it should be more. Some could be split into extra days to beef up the course. Some of my initial autoresponder series last 14 days straight, that is an email everyday at first and then every week or so after that and the focus is on covering roadblocks. But it really depends on your market but I would suggest no less than a 7 day "course" to begin with. But I would also recommend using an free report or video series to get the opt in and then use the "course" as a bonus for joining. This has a double wammy effect and increases opt-ins.

Another thing I like to do is include an opt-in box or an ad which leads to my squeeze page at the end of every post or page on my Website. The only time I would not include this, is if I am targeting a specific product with a review then I would include an ad for that specific product to keep things really targeted.

If you are using Wordpress I also add a plugin which will allow my to install and ad at the top of every post or page which leads to my squeeze page. This is called WP Greet Box. You will need to tweak the settings for this function but it is seriously cool, definitely worth checking out. I also include a pop up box to capture leads but I have this only pop up if they try to leave my Website. I don't know about you but if I have come to a site to read an article and then a box pops up straight away or even a few seconds later I almost always immediately close it without looking at it. But test this out always in your market :)

I also like to include a slide up box or footer ad for capturing email leads. I usually have this to display after 5 seconds. This is better to display at the start and have the pop to display at the end (when visitor clicks to go off site). The footer ad is not as intrusive as the pop up.

Anyway I might have to end this post as it is getting a bit long and I am probably rambling. But I hope you guys got some value out of some of these points I made.

All the best,

Alex

 

[aditd]

I just use Twitter/Facebook to get in touch with my clients/visitors.
Newsletter seems complicated due to spam policy.

 

[stevenCR]

I have started a newsletter.

I am in the middle of integrating a popoverwindow to attract more bites. It is likely to increase success by 200% or more. For me i think more, because the site is great content that the newsletter links might get lost in all the good stuff.

I think its important to make your newsletter attractive. Keep it short and to the point. Always have a link and say 'click' to find out more... or something like that.

 

[Cecille L]

Newsletters need to be both attractive and informative. You need to show to your subscribers that you are not just after making a sale but genuinely out to help them or provide them helpful information.

 

[annabellefrost07]

I've tried newsletters - even have had them out on twitter. Personally, have not had much luck with it. Always made sure it was short, sweet and had interesting info, but somehow, the moment anyone sees 'newsletter' - they just avoid it!

 

[jmpruitt]

hey Annabelle, when you advertise it, you don't just say " sign up for my newsletter!" instead you offer an incentive like a free report, video, mini course, or something of value, and offer people that. Then ask for their email adress so that you can email it to them.

This is how you capture leads to build an email list.

 

[Cecille L]

I've tried newsletters - even have had them out on twitter. Personally, have not had much luck with it. Always made sure it was short, sweet and had interesting info, but somehow, the moment anyone sees 'newsletter' - they just avoid it!

You don't have to say "Sign up for my newsletter" or "Sign up for my mailing list". Take a creative approach to it. Get a free report or eBook to distribute and then say something like "Get my free report that shows you the secrets to losing weight fast" then have a download button right after the name and email address fields. That way, you get to have their names and email address before they get access to your download.

Hope that helps. Have a good day!