aWebBiz Internet Marketing Blog

It’s important to set up your list right from the start.

Since you want the best possible relationship with your list members, let’s focus on planning ahead and using the right tools so that your efforts will be rewarded.

Choose A Good Domain Name

Choosing a domain name might seem way too basic for a guide on list building. However, if you don’t have a trustworthy domain name it can affect your list building abilities in a negative way.

Your domain is important because you’re going to place your list’s opt-in form in several different places. Having a good domain will ensure that people visit your site in the first place, and see your opt-in form.

Some tips. Choose a domain that…

1. Ends with .com or .org (not .biz or .info)
2. Has no numbers, if possible.
3. Is easy to spell.
4. Is short.
5. Is not hyphenated.

You can purchase domain names at GoDaddy.com.

Get Reliable Hosting

Another important piece of the puzzle is having reliable hosting. If you are using a free service provider or one that is not reliable, your website will look unprofessional (if it’s even up and working).

In fact, the free service providers often have their own advertisements in place on YOUR website (which are distracting), or just do not look professional.

If your host is too cheap and not reliable, your website might not even be there for people when they want to sign up. Having reliable hosting is a very important first step if you want to build a massive list. If you need reliable web hosting, you might check out HostGator.

Sign Up With A Good Autoresponder Company

Having a good autoresponder company is absolutely essential to online business success. An autoresponder allows you to store your e-mail leads, gives you your opt-in form code, sends your autoresponder messages, and tracks how many of your readers opened and read the emails. It is an essential business tool, and, yes, all of the gurus use autoresponders.

Just like your hosting company needs to be reliable, so does your autoresponder company. The good news is that it isn’t expensive to get an account. I use and recommend Aweber.

I do NOT recommend hosting your own autoresponder on your server. The SPAM laws make it very easy for your IP to get blacklisted as a spammer – which means that your leads and customers will not receive your emails. Professional services like Aweber, on the other hand, work tirelessly around the clock to stay on top of all industry updates and ensure a high level of email deliverability.

Always Get Permission

This tip goes along with the one above dealing with spam. As an e-mail marketer you need to make sure that you have permission to send people e-mails. This means that they must opt-in to your list rather than you e-mailing them out of the blue.

You have two options for creating an autoresponder list:

1. Single Opt-in: Your reader signs up on your website and is automatically added to your list.
2. Double Opt-in: Your reader signs up on your website and is sent a confirmation email that contains a link that must be clicked before adding him/her to your mailing list.

Many marketers choose a double opt-in. Why?

The second step reminds people that they have, in fact, signed up to receive messages from you. This can cut down on many of the complaints that might otherwise occur. It also prevents spammers from submitting fake emails to your autoresponder and clogging up your account.

Make List Building A Priority

Building your list should not be an afterthought. If it is, it’s never going to be as large or responsive as you want it to be. Building your list needs to be at at the top of your mind as you build or expand your business. Making it a priority means studying the tips defined in this document, as well as tweaking and testing your own findings.

Do you want to improve your email marketing skills? If so then register for the free webinars below.

Free, Live Email Marketing Webinars ~ Become an Email Marketing Master

Affiliate marketing is one of the most “passive” forms of online income there is.

- No products to create.
- No customers to deal with.
- No shipping or refunds or anything.

Easy peasy. Well, once you get started it is.

The hard part has been HOW to get started.

1. Buy a web design program for $300?
2. Hire someone to create a website?
3. Set up something free that you have no control over and could be taken away any time?

eek. Not great options, until now. Jimmy D. Brown, highly successful online marketer – and fantastic mentor, has put together a course teaching how ANYONE can get started with affiliate marketing with NO experience, NO $300 website software — and build a lasting business.

He was kind enough to share an excerpt from one of the lessons of his course. Keep reading to see his teaching style. I think you’ll like it.

—–

Excerpt from Affiliatenaire
by Jimmy D. Brown

Welcome – welcome – welcome!

We are entering into some exciting times now. Today’s lesson and next week’s lesson mark the final “setup” activities.

Today we’re going to “populate” your blog with content and next week we’re going to publish the first issue of your newsletter.

Then, it’s time to…

Promote, promote, promote!

Woohoo!

So, we’re closing in on those first sales. Keep going. You’re almost ready to begin seeing some results from your efforts.

I’ve heard from quite a few members who have told me they are “finally getting somewhere” due to the step-by-step, drip-feed format we’ve been using. Trust me when I say, it’s only going to get better.

But, it does illustrate a good point: the hardest part of success in internet marketing for most people is getting out of the gate.

It’s been my experience that those who get things setup end up making money. The staggering failure rate that is reported as the “norm” primarily is a result of the lack of getting the foundational things in place.

If you quit and turn back, you’ll be stuck in the starting position once again. And off to find another “option”. One more stat in the staggering failure rate.

If – you – stick – with – this – and – follow – instructions – you – won’t – fail!

Introduction

The ultimate way to get buyers is to strategically use presell content to convert browsers into buyers. It’s time to start blogging!

Your first step is to populate your blog by posting at least five or six messages initially. That way, anyone who visits your blog in the near future will see a busy blog, which makes them more likely to return. If they visit and see just an article or two, they may assume the blog is abandoned (which means they won’t bookmark it, subscribe to the RSS feed, or visit it again).

After you’ve populated your blog, you then need to commit to a regular posting schedule. Obviously, the more you post the better. So if you can post a short article each day, that’s great. But if not, then commit to posting at least three or four times per week.

SIDEBAR: We’ll talk more about “regular” weekly blogging later. In fact, I’ll give you so many ideas for getting ready-made content and creating fresh content that you’ll have plenty of options for years to come. For now, we’re just gonna focus on populating your blog with initial content so it has some “meat” to it when people visit.

Removing people from your following list:

Removing someone from your following list means that you will no longer receive their updates on the web or on your phone. To trim down your list, visit your following page to stop following more than one person at a time.  Remove a specific person by using the follow drop down box on their profile page.

Although you can’t stop following someone’s web updates from your phone, you can stop getting their updates via text message by sending LEAVE username, or OFF username, from your phone, like so:

• off candice
• leave candice

Even if you stop getting someone’s device updates, you’ll still see their updates on the web.  Before you remove a person, remember that you don’t have to stop following people who reply to much or send too many updates for your text plan.  You can change your reply settings to filter out unwanted replies, and your device settings per person if you don’t want to receive text updates from everyone.

Blocking  people on Twitter

Blocking someone instead of removing them means that not only do you not want to follow them, but you want to deny them the ability to follow or reply to you.  Blocking is done from actions section in the person’s profile sidebar.

Blocking someone means that you (and your pic) will not appear on the blocked party’s profile page, friends time line, badge, or anywhere else. The person will not be notified that they’ve been blocked, and they will be unable to follow you. If your account is public, the blocked party can still view your profile page, but can’t receive your updates in their timeline or on their phone.  

1. Log in to Twitter.
2. Go to the profile page of the person you wish to block.
3. Click Block (under actions panel in the sidebar)
4. Click OKAY to confirm the block

You’re done!

Is it irreversible? No. If you change your mind, you can easily unblock a person by following the same steps.  The link, of course, will read unblock, instead of block.