You've probably heard it dozens of times if you've researched internet marketing much... "Collect email addresses from your website visitors." Not many people elaborate on it much more than that. It's this simple:
If you're not collecting email addresses and following up with an autoresponder, you're missing out on A LOT of revenue.
It doesn't really matter which industry you're in or what niche you've chosen. You need to be collecting email addresses from your visitors. It's "The Rule of Seven".
The number varies from study to study, but the generally accepted rule is that you need to have an average of seven "touch points" with a person before they will buy anything from you.
How can you do that if they visit your site, spend a few minutes, and disappear back into the giant cyber abyss, likely to never be seen or spoken to again?
This is why you HAVE to get email subscribers, but how? There's really not that much to it. Offer something of great value to your target market in return for their email address. Many people on one of my lists receive these SIMPLE7 lessons from me because they originally requested my ebook, "No More Bull$#!%: An Honest Approach to Affiliate Marketing" which I took a great deal of time to write myself and add value to their lives.
I write all of my content and lessons personally, but you have other options.
You can buy PLR content, which stands for "private label rights" meaning you are buying the rights to sell or give it away that content.
I'm 100% against PLR content for blog posts or articles because Google HATES duplicate content and it doesn't build your website or brand at all. But for something like an opt-in incentive they can work pretty well. Just make sure to read it yourself to make sure it's delivering a lot of value to your subscribers. We'll talk a little more about that in the next lesson, but to find PLR eBooks just Google:
YOUR NICHE + plr ebook
For example, if you ran a diet website you would search Google for:
diet plr ebook
Or if you ran a website in the golf niche, you would search Google for:
golf plr ebook
Simple as that. Now what if you can't find any PLR eBooks in your niche? Well you can either anchor down and write it yourself, or you can hire a freelance writer to do it for you. These eBooks usually don't run more than 15 or 20 pages, so you'll pay somewhere between $100-$500 for a 100% original and unique eBook to giveaway on your website. Not a bad deal when you think about it.
If you don't want to write it yourself, just post a job Elance.com or oDesk.com with your project requirements and freelancers will bid on the job. You can look at all of your bidders' past work and feedback then pick the one you like best. Pretty cool, right? I've done over $25,000 on Elance.com over the years and have encountered some really great contractors.
After a visitor opts in to your email list you should have an autoresponder that sends messages out to them in the following days. The first message should contain what you promised to get them to opt-in (like the eBook).
An autoresponder will automatically send that first message and then two days later you can have it send out another message, and the day after that another, etc... It all happens automatically without any action on your part. You just have to set the campaign up which is very easy to do. They're very handy little tools for an internet marketer.
The most popular autoresponder in this industry and the company that I've used for years is Aweber.com. The first month is only $1 and following months are $19/month until your list grows pretty large (at which point you should be making quite a bit of money). I also love Aweber because they have a giant resource library to help you get setup and use advanced email marketing strategies.
You should install an opt-in form ASAP after setting up your website, regardless of how much traffic you're receiving. If not, you're missing out on subscribers which means you're missing out on a lot of revenue.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, just take a deep breath and relax. With a little practice this will be second nature to you and you'll be running a profitable internet marketing business ;)
If you're not collecting email addresses and following up with an autoresponder, you're missing out on A LOT of revenue.
It doesn't really matter which industry you're in or what niche you've chosen. You need to be collecting email addresses from your visitors. It's "The Rule of Seven".
The number varies from study to study, but the generally accepted rule is that you need to have an average of seven "touch points" with a person before they will buy anything from you.
How can you do that if they visit your site, spend a few minutes, and disappear back into the giant cyber abyss, likely to never be seen or spoken to again?
This is why you HAVE to get email subscribers, but how? There's really not that much to it. Offer something of great value to your target market in return for their email address. Many people on one of my lists receive these SIMPLE7 lessons from me because they originally requested my ebook, "No More Bull$#!%: An Honest Approach to Affiliate Marketing" which I took a great deal of time to write myself and add value to their lives.
I write all of my content and lessons personally, but you have other options.
You can buy PLR content, which stands for "private label rights" meaning you are buying the rights to sell or give it away that content.
I'm 100% against PLR content for blog posts or articles because Google HATES duplicate content and it doesn't build your website or brand at all. But for something like an opt-in incentive they can work pretty well. Just make sure to read it yourself to make sure it's delivering a lot of value to your subscribers. We'll talk a little more about that in the next lesson, but to find PLR eBooks just Google:
YOUR NICHE + plr ebook
For example, if you ran a diet website you would search Google for:
diet plr ebook
Or if you ran a website in the golf niche, you would search Google for:
golf plr ebook
Simple as that. Now what if you can't find any PLR eBooks in your niche? Well you can either anchor down and write it yourself, or you can hire a freelance writer to do it for you. These eBooks usually don't run more than 15 or 20 pages, so you'll pay somewhere between $100-$500 for a 100% original and unique eBook to giveaway on your website. Not a bad deal when you think about it.
If you don't want to write it yourself, just post a job Elance.com or oDesk.com with your project requirements and freelancers will bid on the job. You can look at all of your bidders' past work and feedback then pick the one you like best. Pretty cool, right? I've done over $25,000 on Elance.com over the years and have encountered some really great contractors.
After a visitor opts in to your email list you should have an autoresponder that sends messages out to them in the following days. The first message should contain what you promised to get them to opt-in (like the eBook).
An autoresponder will automatically send that first message and then two days later you can have it send out another message, and the day after that another, etc... It all happens automatically without any action on your part. You just have to set the campaign up which is very easy to do. They're very handy little tools for an internet marketer.
The most popular autoresponder in this industry and the company that I've used for years is Aweber.com. The first month is only $1 and following months are $19/month until your list grows pretty large (at which point you should be making quite a bit of money). I also love Aweber because they have a giant resource library to help you get setup and use advanced email marketing strategies.
You should install an opt-in form ASAP after setting up your website, regardless of how much traffic you're receiving. If not, you're missing out on subscribers which means you're missing out on a lot of revenue.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, just take a deep breath and relax. With a little practice this will be second nature to you and you'll be running a profitable internet marketing business ;)
Tasks 0/4 completed
Top Helpers in This Lesson
Join the Discussion
Reply
MarieC
Premium
Just completed your training, Ian. Boy, was it well-done, too! I am amazed at the level of instructional prowess you and other WA trainers possess. Your teaching points were very clear, well-organized, and very applicable to my niche website experiences thus far.
You suggested offering my visitors a useful opt-in incentive such as an ebook. I found a couple of plr ebooks related to my niche and downloaded them. One of them (Bird Watching for Beginners) is excellent and I will use it right away. The other, (Making Money Online from Your Hobby) unfortunately, was not as good. It contained a multitude of grammatical errors and fluency issues, making it unsatisfactory for my readers. I'm considering writing my own ebook on the same topic, incorporating the information and knowledge I've gained from WA over the past couple of months into the manuscript. I think I'm finally up for that big task!
Finally, I will continue to strengthen my niche website by continued application of your 7 steps -- in particular, using solid data to drive my improvements. Analyzing my data from Google Analytics is becoming much easier for me as I learn how to interpret all of the facets involved (visitor behavior, page content stats, bounce rates, referral sources, conversions, etc...).
Thank you for providing us with such excellent instructional support. Now I'm off to apply more of what I've learned from you today!
~Marie
You suggested offering my visitors a useful opt-in incentive such as an ebook. I found a couple of plr ebooks related to my niche and downloaded them. One of them (Bird Watching for Beginners) is excellent and I will use it right away. The other, (Making Money Online from Your Hobby) unfortunately, was not as good. It contained a multitude of grammatical errors and fluency issues, making it unsatisfactory for my readers. I'm considering writing my own ebook on the same topic, incorporating the information and knowledge I've gained from WA over the past couple of months into the manuscript. I think I'm finally up for that big task!
Finally, I will continue to strengthen my niche website by continued application of your 7 steps -- in particular, using solid data to drive my improvements. Analyzing my data from Google Analytics is becoming much easier for me as I learn how to interpret all of the facets involved (visitor behavior, page content stats, bounce rates, referral sources, conversions, etc...).
Thank you for providing us with such excellent instructional support. Now I'm off to apply more of what I've learned from you today!
~Marie
pribs
Premium Plus
I just saw your review, and thank you so much! That helps people know what to expect coming in. I'm so happy that I've helped you, and very much look forward to hearing how it helps you expand your business in the future!
And don't worry, I know it's exhausting. I actually wrote them as a set of courses that's spread out over two weeks to my email list, so covering it all in one night is no small feat. You're a trooper!
And don't worry, I know it's exhausting. I actually wrote them as a set of courses that's spread out over two weeks to my email list, so covering it all in one night is no small feat. You're a trooper!
