You’ve heard it a thousand times…
“The money is in the list!”
This is true, but only if you know how to build the RIGHT email list and use it correctly.
In your affiliate marketing career, you’ll find that a strong email list will prove to be your greatest asset. Most successful JVZoo users say that building an email list is crucial for a new affiliate marketer in establishing their business and for generating income.
If you are starting from zero, building a list can seem overwhelming. Keep in mind throughout the hard work of building your email list that it will be totally worth it in the long run.
Social media and an awesome website might seem important…and they are! But, changing algorithms and fighting for search engine ranking are difficult to control. Your email list is the ONE thing you can control completely.
So, what’s an email list? Everyone in my Gmail account right now?
If you have an email account, chances are you are on someone’s email list. You probably receive regular emails from your favorite stores, restaurants you enjoy, or newsletters from someone you follow. You got on their list because you either made a purchase or took some sort of action to opt-in.
In short, you gave your permission to be on their email list. And, that’s what you want to keep in mind as you build your list: get permission from your subscribers. The worst thing that can happen is to get marked as SPAM because they never agreed for you to come along and try to sell them something.
Think of your email marketing as if it were a human relationship.
Because it is!
There’s a human on your side of your own email and there’s a human on theirs as well.
Now, before we get into how to build that list properly, we need to get you clear on your goals.
- Why are you building a list?
- What is the purpose of your website?
- Who are the people you want on your list?
- How will you make money from each subscriber once you get them?
These are important questions that you should ask yourself before you begin to build your list.
If you are brand new to JVZoo and affiliate marketing, check out the JVZoo Academy. You will get in-depth training on how to build your list when you join. But, we’ll give you some basics here to get you started building your email list.
Let’s pretend you are a complete newbie and just starting to build your email list:
- Decide on an email service provider. You need this to send out campaigns, get subscribers, and manage the activity of your contacts. You will also want to be able to test your campaigns to figure out if they are working. AWeber and GetResponse integrate perfectly with JVZoo! Both providers offer a free trial so you can decide which one you like better.
- Give people a reason to subscribe. No really, I mean GIVE them something. Come up with a compelling freebie that solves a problem for people. Make it relatable to the products and services you are planning to offer in your business. This is what you will give to people in exchange for their email address.
When they do that…voila…they have agreed to opt-in to your list!Even if you plan to use JVZoo primarily as an affiliate and sell other people’s products, it’s still a good idea to create a freebie such as an instructional eBook, a tip sheet, or a helpful video that will provide people with real value. Give someone something, and they are more likely to give you something back. In this case, you want them to give you their email address. You’ll be growing your email list in no time! - Set up your opt-in form. This handy little tool is how you actually gather email addresses from your subscribers. You can get detailed info on how to set up your opt-in form in the JVZoo Academy. Your email service provider should offer a way to create an opt-in form. There are a ton of options on how to do this. It just depends on what kind of website you have and how you would like the opt-in form to look and function. The two most important goals of the opt-in form are:
- to convince a person to give you their email address so that they become a subscriber
- to send the subscriber emails to your email service provider so you can keep them organized in one place.
Once the opt-in form is set up, place it in one of the following high-converting locations:- In a feature box
- At the top of your sidebar
- After each blog post
- In your site’s footer
- On your About page
- In a little bar across the top of your page
- In a popup box
Do a little research on how to add your opt-in form to your site in one of these locations and move it around to see which location works best. Add it to your email signature. Don’t forget to use social media to spread the word. Tell everyone!!
- Make new subscribers feel welcome. Using the tools available in your email service provider, set up an email that triggers immediately when a new subscriber opts in. Consider a series of 3-4 emails. The first one should include access to the freebie they expected to receive. Some opt-in pages will immediately direct to a “thank you” page where they can access the freebie. But, set up a welcome email anyway, just to be sure they received their gift! Give your new subscriber a brief introduction of you and your brand if you have already established it. Lastly, give them a quick explanation of what they can expect from you.
- How often will you send them emails?
- What will you be sending them?
- What actions should they take to get started?
- Where can they connect with you on social media?
- Keep your email list interested. Your email list is a living thing. You’ve got to nurture it. Subscribers come and go, change their email addresses, and change their interests. Statistics show that you are likely to lose at least 22% of your database every year! If you don’t give your subscribers a good reason to stay engaged, they will unsubscribe. Start providing value right away.
- In your welcome emails, you explained what they can expect. So, give it to them!If they are expecting info on products, start sending it their way with consistency. Here at JVZoo, we keep our users informed daily about the JVZoo Product of the Day. That’s what they eagerly expect from us and they knew that when they opted in.There are a ton of strategies on how to get your list to engage, stay interested, and become raving fans of you and your products.
But, that’s a whole other blog post…
For now, start with the simple basics we just covered.
If you focus on delivering valuable content, information, and suggestions to the inbox of each of your subscribers, you will build strong relationships and trust over time.
Do a good job with this, and your subscribers will become your customers.
Do a great job with this, and your customers will become raving fans who will spread the word and your list will grow like wildfire 🔥!
Need more help in building your email list? Join the JVZoo Academy HERE, and check out these premium sellers on JVZoo:
