Where to find them A couple of months back, we discussed targeted - PDF document

PRESENTATION - LIST BUILDING I Love Marketing Meetup: June 2015 List Building for Fun and Profit Presenter: Justin Harris In the Meetup Blurb, I promised to answer these questions about list building: Where do you find these people? How do you get them to opt-in to your list? What do you do with them once you’ve got them? Where to find them A couple of months back, we discussed targeted traffic. Finding people to invite to your list is all about understanding who your current customers are, what you like or don’t like about them, and using that information to harvest more of customers you like while avoiding the customers you don't. 1. Decide who your best customers are and why they are your best customers. 2. Follow and interact with them on social media . Find out as much as you possibly can about them. 3. Use what you learned to Craft Ads , Long-Tail Search Terms , and Content that will entice those prospects to visit your website and other internet properties. 4. Create promotions and special events (online or offline) that are of interest to your best prospects. 5. Be everywhere . You are a media company. Find a way to post your content in many different formats and in many different places. Get your content on your own properties as well as

other people’s properties. Don’t be Spammy. How to get them to opt-in to your list Trade valuable content and/or experiences for their email and other information. Over time and with different types of content and promotion, you can collect not only email addresses but physical addresses and phone numbers . Exploring the use of physical mailings and SMS marketing could help you raise the Lifetime Value of your customers . Other demographic and psychographic data can be collected with easy one or two question drip surveys , once you have gained their trust and established your ability to provide value. This information will help you create the bait (ads, SEO, content) that will help you grow your list and gain new customers. These additional information, whether physical location (city/state) or demographics (job/ family/ etc) can also be used to segment the list. Segmenting is advanced list magic and generally for big lists so you can be more specific about what you offer in your communications. Ryan Deiss at www.digitalmarketer.com is a good resource for advanced list building, segmenting and email marketing. Due to the varied nature of the businesses in this room, let’s discuss our lists and how we are using them: How many people have an email list? Are addresses collected via website or another method? Share experiences, good or bad, building a list? Offline business are often better equipped to handle email

marketing because of the infrastructure of employees and systems they already possess. Also the level of trust for a physical location is very high compared to an internet address. Most offline businesses do little or no list building at all. Free prize drawings in store Business card drawings (DO NOT LET THE CARDS SIT IN A FISHBOWL) Guest register Printed Materials (Flyers, packaging, bags, receipts, etc…) containing QR codes/NFC swipes Swag (pen, keychain, usb drive…). But make it count and make it relevant to your products or to your promotion/event. Customer Service (get permission to follow up and send occasional promotions) POS requests (just ask for it) Offline Offers can Include: coupons, discounts, free shipping, exclusive notifications of promotions, sales, special events, prelaunch or prerelease events, new product releases, free samples, loyalty programs, beta testing opportunities... Again, Explore SNAIL MAIL and SMS opportunities. Online Collection of Emails Email Marketing Service Providers: Aweber, Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, EMMA... Videos of reviews and instruction are abundant online . AWeber is about $20/ month to start. Mail Chimp is Free for about 2000 names and 12000 emails per month. They are all probably very similar in capability. Pick one and get busy. Be Careful of Spam:

Make sure there is a double opt-in . Talk prospects through it. Tell them what to expect. Show them the email that is coming to their account. Ramit Sethi: Has used a countdown timer to spur action. Make sure it is crystal clear how to unsubscribe and when someone unsubscribes, take them off the mailing list. I’ve seen efforts to retain subscribers by segmenting them to a list that receives less email. Include a physical address in the footer or at the bottom of your emails. This is also a compliance issue of the anti-spam laws. How to Implement Signup Forms on Your Site: Often people won’t arrive on our site through the front door. They may not see the home page because they followed a piece of content from a search engine to your site. Place signup forms in many places. (Derek Halpern) Feature box at top of any page. above the content top of the sidebar end of an individual post in the footer on the about page pop-ups and Hello Bar You don’t need to use all of these spots but as a rule make sure there is more than one opportunity to signup on every page.

Landing Page Funnels: You should have landing pages throughout your site that tease your best content and asks readers to sign up for updates or additional content. Promote those landing pages (Popular Posts/ Featured Content/ Self-Promoting Ads/ New to the Site Guides). Featured Download/ Exclusive Content: Use words that sound more exciting than a free ebook or newsletter sign up. Give them Choices: Consumer psychology tells us that people have a single option aversion. When given a choice between two options they are more likely to choose one than none. When given a choice of yes or no they find it easier to choose NO. In retail we see this when someone walks up to you and says, “Can I help you find something?” Instead ask questions that lead to other questions: “Is this your first time here?”, "Would you like to try a sample of …”, “I see you’re looking at xxx, can I explain the differences between the brands?" Extreme Choices: Use humor/ pressure/ shame to guide a choice. “Lose Weight” vs “No Thanks, I’m not interested in being healthier." Social Proof Paradox: You don’t need a large list or tons of followers. If you have 25 people on your list, get a testimonial from one of them and feature it. People need a story. Feed starving children in Africa or South America. Indiana Pizza Restaurant. Inline Promotions/ Content Upgrades/ Related Materials: Create additional content that makes the blog post I’m reading more useful. Guides/ Templates/ Cheat Sheets/ etc...

Calls-to-Action should reflect content: There is a human disconnect whenever visitors see buttons on your site that say ‘submit’ or ‘send’. They should see ‘Get your How-To Guide Now!” or “Yes! I want to watch the video" About Page is a Squeeze Page: Make sure the story on your about page tells the reader how you can help them and give them the chance to sign up for more exclusive content. Landing Page Funnels. Comment/ Respond/ Converse: Monitor the comments and conversations on your site and on your social media properties so you can respond. Nothing will do more for your customer relationships than human interaction. What to do once you’ve got them Continue to provide educational and motivational content until they are prepared to become customers. After they are customers, keep in contact via email AND social media by providing nurturing content. Take opportunities to use real and personal methods of contact. Intentional Social Media: Don’t just post and run. Follow your best customers. Look for opportunities to help. Comment on their posts and content. Be Human. Create content that people want to see . Not necessarily what you want to talk about. Quora.com Buzzsumo.com ubersuggest.org User comments and social media

Create Actionable Content: Something that your prospect can absorb and use within 20-30 minutes is valuable. Immediate results raise your street cred. Responsibility to your content: With every piece of content you release, you have a responsibility to back it up with conversation. At least for a while. Unannounced Bonus Content: Give a little bit more when you can BE EXCELLENT - STAND OUT: Most of the time, being excellent isn’t about the pomp and circumstance. It isn’t about the grand gestures. It is about the little things. Attention to detail and personalizing for your customers. Jimmy Fallon reviews previous interviews and takes notes on the families and personal details of his guests. Formats: Written/ Audio/ Video/ Graphic/ Interpretive Mix it up - Try new stuff Re-use, recycle, repurpose Giving away Lead-Generation Content: Type 1: Educates and Compels the Prospect Forward. Type 2: Nurtures and Develops the Social Relationship. Types of content: 1. Newsletter and Email Content: Not the same thing. Not the same as blog content. Many sites have different signups for Newsletter, Email Updates and Blog Posts.