Tactic 1 – Be sure you have a squeeze page

A squeeze page is one of the most versatile tools in Internet marketing today. It can be integrated into your web site, or it can stand alone as a fully functional one-page site. A squeeze page is simply an e-mail converter: It offers an enticing free product, such as a special report or eCourse, in exchange for the visitor’s e-mail address and permission to follow up. Your squeeze page must do two things:

1. Capture e-mails, and

2. Automatically send a sign-up confirmation and follow-up e-mails.

The key to a successful squeeze page is knowledge of your target market:

- What will it take to entice your visitors to opt in?

- This squeeze page offers two free gifts in exchange for the visitor’s e-mail address: a free eBook and a free 21-part eCourse.

You only have one opportunity to convince visitors to enter their contact information. It’s vital to give visitors a compelling reason to opt-in.

There are many places on the Worldwide Web to get good auto-responder programs for following up on your new leads. Aweber is a popular program that makes it easy to keep in touch with prospects and customers.

Research shows that it can take as many as seven or more follow-up e-mail messages to convince people to buy your product or service. That’s why it’s so important to have an automated follow-up program built into your squeeze page.

Tactic 2: Offer a free e-consultation on your squeeze page

The offer of a free e-consultation or mini-course is a great way to entice visitors to opt in. People love to buy packaged learning. The offer of a free mini-course is one of the most effective tactics for convincing visitors to leave their contact information.

When you have a new lead in your database, the most effective tool for follow-up is an auto-responder course that’s automatically programmed to be sent to your leads.

Most people don’t have time to take full advantage of all the free offers they sign up for on the Web. Even if your initial offer of a great free product entices visitors to opt in, they may never actually take the time to read it. And if they don’t read it, they won’t remember you.

That’s why it’s vital to follow up with auto-responder e-mails. When you research your target market and know what your customers need and want, you are in a position to take full advantage of auto-responder programs.

Some marketers follow up immediately with a series of seven daily e-mail messages to keep pushing the customer’s hot buttons. Others prefer to send an immediate confirmation of sign-up, and then program the first follow-up e-mail for one week after sign-up.

Your follow-up e-mails are an ideal tool for building your brand. Sharing your knowledge and expertise with prospects is the best way to build trust and establish yourself as an online expert. Offer a series of brief tips in your follow-up e-mails to keep your business, product, or service in the minds of your potential customers.

Always include a clear call to action in your follow-up e-mails. Your resource box is the ideal place for reinforcing your brand and including a call to action. Your resource box is also the best place to embed a link to your sales page. That way your prospects are only a click away from completing the sales cycle.

Tactic 3: Cross-promote through joint venture e-mail campaigns

Successful Internet marketers know how to find ideal joint venture partners for cross-promoting each other. Look for an established company or Internet marketer who sells to a niche market that would be interested in buying what you sell.

When trusted experts and service professionals refer you to their community of buyers, you gain instant credibility in the minds of loyal customers. And associating your business with a successful company or service professional is one of the best ways to establish credibility with your own prospects.

A joint venture e-mail campaign is a very effective viral marketing tactic. Always be sure to include a “Tell-A-Friend” tool in your cross promotions. And make sure you have great information products to show potential joint venture partners.

Tactic 4: Co-registration

Co-registration is a tactic that encourages visitors to opt-in to your list in the process of completing an offer.

A great way to achieve the full potential of co-registration is by promoting a contest on your site. When visitors enter your online contest, they leave their e-mail address and give you permission to contact them. Co-registration can be integrated into offers of free software, eZines, and other online promotions.

When you create valuable information products to build your brand and establish your expertise, you generate opportunities to get listed on high-traffic sites as part of their co-registration offers. When visitors register for a contest or service at an affiliate’s site, they are given the option of checking a box to receive your follow-up information on an area of interest to them.

Tactic 5: How to get the most out of eZines

An electronic newsletter—or eZine—is a powerful list-building tool. Newsletters are easy to deliver by e-mail; they’re a great way to get prospects and customers involved in your business; and they’re ideal tools for staying in touch with loyal customers and prospects.

Identify eZines that serve readers who would want to buy your product or service. Offer your articles to the publishers. By including a link to your web site or squeeze page in the author’s resource box, you can reach thousands of potential customers in just a few hours.

You also need to send out your own newsletter to keep in touch with customers and potential customers. You don’t need any experience in Internet publishing to start writing a newsletter. Follow these simple tips to get started with your own eZine:

- Keep it short and simple to start with. Send out an e-mail letter with news and information every 2 to 4 weeks to stay in touch with your target market.

- As you get better at writing newsletters, you can start to enrich your publications by adding graphics and stories.

- Always be sure to add something of value to your customers’ lives. They may not need you today; but if you stay in touch by offering valuable tips and information, you’ll be the first person they go to when they make a decision to buy.

Tactic 6: Add your information product to a giveaway site

Giveaway sites can be effective marketing and list building tactics – the only problem is that there are more and more giveaways popping up, so it’s more important than ever to know which ones to join and which to leave. generally, stick to giveaways run by well known people.

Tactic 7: When to use an index page

If you have a large web site, visitors will need to be guided as quickly as possible to your opt-in page. The value of an index page is its ability to lead visitors to areas they’re most interested in. If you need an index page, be sure to make it easy for visitors to get to your opt-in page by clicking just once.

If you don’t have a web site, many servers will host a simple index page for you. In this case, your index page becomes your lead-capture page. Like a squeeze page, its only purpose is to entice visitors to give you their e-mail address and permission to follow up.

Beware of clutter. An index page should not be full of noise—resist the temptation to fill your index page with text and images that only distract visitors from the real reason they got there. Make it easy for visitors to find what they want, and they will have a compelling reason to opt-in to your list.

Tactic 8: Writing articles

Throughout this special report, I have emphasized the importance of creating content-rich information products. Writing web articles is one of the fastest and most powerful ways to generate leads and establish yourself as an expert.

People love to read articles that offer real solutions to real problems. If you take a few moments to search for topics of interest on the Internet, you’ll find a few articles that reward you in some way for the time you take to read them. Yet most content on the Worldwide Web today is poorly written—and painfully boring.

Never underestimate the power of Web articles to generate leads and build a community of loyal customers. The best way to build a list is to write and publish content-rich web articles that add value to people’s lives. Always write about real problems for real people. When you do, your list will skyrocket.