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In addition to adding an opt-in box on most of the pages of your web site, you will also want to create a squeeze page. A squeeze page is simply a dedicated page to gather up leads to your list.

You’ve seen them before, I’m sure, but if you’d like to see one in action, go to http://awebbiz.com

Understand Your Purpose

Many marketers get this wrong. They think that they can add tons of offers, Adsense, and other things to their squeeze pages. This is very damaging to your goal, which is getting people to sign up for your list.

People should be asked to do one thing and one thing only when they visit your squeeze page. Put some compelling copy, along with an opt-in box that clearly spells out what they’ll get and how to sign up — and that’s it.

Examine Other Squeeze Pages in Your Niche

One of the best ways to make sure you got a good handle on what a squeeze page should look like is to visit other marketer’s squeeze pages. You can see what kind of headlines they used, what their copy looks like, and whether they used opt-in box graphics. That way you can just put a spin on things that are already working.

You can also take note of what you think is harming their conversions and improve things for your own squeeze page.

Create Compelling Squeeze Page Copy

While you might create long sales letters for your products, shorter copy is ok for your squeeze page. (Half a page to one page of text.) Make sure that you have a compelling headline that grabs attention, as well as bullet points that point out the benefits of joining your list.

Make your opt-in box visible above the fold. You might even consider putting the box both above the fold and below the fold to make sure people can easily sign up.

They are some niches that do well with graphics and other added features on the squeeze page. There are others that do better with very simple, no-frills design. The best thing for you to do is to split test different designs to see which increases your opt-in rates.

You may be surprised at how much a simple change (like a change in color) can increase or decrease opt-ins. While testing might be time consuming, you’ll get results that will add money to your pocket.

Offer an Incentive

While you might think that you’ve made the benefits of signing up to your list very clear, you’ll find that you can increase conversions if you offer some kind of incentive to sign up. This might be in the form of a sneak preview of a premium product, a free white paper, e-books, or an e-course.

The important thing is that you make an offer they can’t refuse — something free in exchange for a simple e-mail address.

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

Recommendations:
aWeber Autoresponders - Quickly create and run your campaigns with powerful, easy-to-use email marketing tools.
Go Daddy – Where I purchase all my domain names.
Hostgator – Very reliable and low cost hosting service which I have been using for about ten years.

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

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

Recommendations:
aWeber Autoresponders - Quickly create and run your campaigns with powerful, easy-to-use email marketing tools.
Go Daddy – Where I purchase all my domain names.
Hostgator – Very reliable and low cost hosting service which I have been using for about ten years.