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Reach Out And Touch Someone -
6 Ways To Grow Your House List For Fun And Profit
By Frank Fiore
Online merchants are getting desperate. You can see it all over the Web these days. So desperate in fact, that they’ve taken a leaf out of the book of “Successful Marketing for Porn Merchants”. No, not marketing sex or using blatant sex to market. But using some of the ‘in your face’ marketing techniques that have been perfected by the online sex industry.
With the decline in response to passive banner ads placed on a web site, frantic online merchants have turned to an ‘in your face’ two word marketing tactic of the porn industry which I will not mention here due to regional and gender sensibilities. Suffice to say that the first word means ‘circumnavigate’ and the second an ‘idiot’. But ad agencies prefer to use the innocuous term “interruption marketing vehicles’ for this attention getting, traffic generating tactic.
You know what I’m talking about. Those pop-under and pop-up browser windows with one, even two, ads to a page that appear when you enter a site, leave it or both. Now, you don’t have to imitate the porn industry to - excuse the pun - reach out and touch someone. You can generate lot’s of repeat visitors, more links to search engines, and lower your cost per visitor for practically nothing.
How? By building, growing and communicating with your house list. If you’re doing business on the Web, you already have the start of one – your current customers. The trick is to grow that list and not only grab additional sales form your current customers but attract and convert prospects as well. And you do all this using a regular and informative email vehicle – the best of which is a newsletter.
In previous ‘Frank Remarks’ columns I’ve spoken to the value of creating an email newsletter for your business. But all is for naught if you have no one to send it to. And this is where building and growing a house list becomes so important. You can rent opt-in lists but that can be pricey – anywhere from .10 to .35 per name. But surveys have shown that you should get a better response from your house list than you would from a rented list. And besides, the names in your house list are free!
So how do you build a good house list? Do this.
FIRST - Get an offer. Users are not going to hand you over their email address unless there’s something in it for them. So you need something to entice them. The best way is to offer them something of valuable in your email newsletter. I’ll say it again. Newsletters offer ‘news’ – not ads. If you want to attract subscribers and keep in their good graces you have to provide them with information that they are interested in and can use. A newsletter’s primary object is to ‘inform’ – not promote. That doesn’t mean you can’t plug your product or service in your newsletter. Just limit your advertising to no more than 20 percent of the content – and keep it at the end.
SECOND – Promote your newsletter on your site. Place a subscribe box on your home page and a way to subscribe on every page of your site. It doesn’t have to be in your main or secondary navigation. Your newsletter promotion can look like a small banner ad on your web pages touting the value of your newsletter to whomever and from wherever they reach your web page. Also add an opportunity to subscribe at the end of your check out process. If you require a free registration for visitors to personalize their visits to your site, include an opt-in for your newsletter there, too.
THIRD: Have your subscribers spread the news. If they find your newsletter of value, ask your subscribers to forward it to a friend. Better yet, send them to a page listed or linked in your newsletter where they can enter the email address of friends, family and colleagues who they feel would find your newsletter of value. Of course, you need to confirm the referred address via email, politely say that so and so thought they would be interested in a subscription, and then give them a chance to opt-out before you include them in your house list. The last thing you want is to be accused of is spamming.
FOURTH: Promote your newsletter on other web sites. Look around for web sites that compliment and not necessarily compete for your business. Then see if they’ll do a co-registration deal with you. See if they will add your newsletter opt-in in addition to the newsletter that they offer during their newsletter subscription process. For example, About does this with my <a href=http://onlineshopping.about.com/gi/pages/mmail.htm>Online Shopping newsletter</a>. When a reader subscribers to my newsletter, About asks if they would like to subscribe to a complimentary newsletter as well. In my case it’s a House & Home newsletter where subscribers can receive information from About Guides on living, gardening, pets and more.
FIFTH: Advertise your newsletter to comparable audiences. Here’s a tip. Newsletter advertising is far cheaper than banner ads – and they get better results. By advertising in newsletters that match your audience, you not only save money but your ad is targeted as well. You can find a list of newsletters and eZines you could advertise in at http://www.newsletter-directory.com or you can buy newsletter and eZine space at auction at http://www.ezineadauction.com.
SIXTH: Promote your email newsletter in meatspace. You’ve spent a lot of time and money on your printed material – business cards, brochures, promotional flyers, letterhead – so promote your newsletter there and include the URL to the subscription page of your web site. And if you exhibit at trade shows, make sure you give visitors to your booth a chance to sign up for your newsletter.
The bottom line is this. By growing and using your house list you can generate repeat visitors with periodic newsletter mailings, more links to search engines if you archive your content rich newsletters on your site, and lower your acquisition cost per customer – far less than renting lists or buying banner ads.
Such a deal!
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