Building a list for your blog is one of the first things you have to start doing as soon as you start your blog. I know this is not always the case because of the confusion and lack of accurate knowledge that’s often experienced by many starters.
One thing is to build the list and another is to maintain it. At both ends, it’s always a hard nut to crack. If you’ve never started a list before or you are not happy with what’s happening with your current list, I might have suggestions that will clear the dust and set things right.
I want to discuss in this part the things you need to build a list and how to use your list effectively as a blogger so you don’t loose subscribers so quick. But first, here are two things you get from your list;
-> 1 Traffic
There is no doubt that your list is the most reliable source of traffic. If your list is built properly, the traffic you get should be quite targeted. These are readers and visitors who opted in to receive your information so they will always click to your blog each time there is an update. Treating this list with a lot of caution will keep it an evergreen source of relevant traffic.
-> 2 Income
We have read almost every where that the money is in the list. That’s true if the list is treated with caution. However, is there money on your blog’s list? How do you milk the money from it?
I have seen many bloggers claiming not to send promotional stuffs to their blog lists. How do they make the money from such lists? Do they really make money from their lists?
If your list is meant to update your subscribers on blog updates, stick to it. I will share with you how to make money with this list later. But first, let’s see how to loose subscribers so fast.
How to loose your list subscribers so fast
Do these things and see how you loose your subscribers so quick. You don’t only loose subscribers. You loose repeat visitors and a great portion of your market value;
- Tell them you’ll only send updates from your blog. You are not going to mail promotions of any sort. Tell them you respect their privacy.
- Then start sending some mails promoting some ClickBank product. Promote some get-rich-quick products.
- Tell them about some wonderful friend who came up with some great product and link to some lead capture page.
- Send mails everyday about some new stuff that’s in the sea coming to earth.
- Now sit and watch how they kick off your list like crazy.
You must respect your blog’s list
- Stick to your promise and send updates from your blog.
- Send them free gifts thanking them for being loyal (from time to time).
- Send them interesting blog posts on other related blogs.
- Respect your frequency.
- You may tell them stuffs about you – Events you will attend, family stuffs, etc
Making money with your blog’s list
I advice against sending some promotional mails to your newsletter especially linking directly to some sales page. This has a really negative effect and can cost you a huge portion of your list.
– > What should you do then?
- Create a money making blog post
- Send an update mail about the post to your list.
If you must do some promotions,
- It should be a hot product that’s really targeted. You must also include in the mail why you are doing the promotion.
- Get a special unique discount code just for your list.
– > Bottom line
If you have something to really promote to your blog’s list, create a review post and mail it to your list. Avoid any list swaps or solo ads services especially if these are meant to promote some products that are not so related to your niche.
Create a second list for money stuffs
You can create a second list and let subscribers know exactly the kind of content you’ll often send to them. Make it quite clear that you’ll be sending money making tips and telling them about awesome new products in the market. Everyone on that list knows what to expect.
What you need to start a list
There are a couple of things that must be in place before you can successfully build a list
– > An Autoresponder
Autoresponders are basically emailing computer programs. They help organize and send mails to subscribers. They can be very simple or quite complex. Here are a few recommended autoresponders:
If you want to make money by sending mails with affiliate links, Aweber and MailerLite are recommended. If you just want updates from your blog, MailChimp is good to start with but note that they will get your account suspended if you start messing around with affiliate links.
If you are on a limited budget and want something basically to start building a money making list, go for MailerLite.
If you want a more complex system with tons of integration possibilities, Aweber is recommended
There are many more service providers coming up everyday. Check out these 6 popular email marketing platforms by Daryne Collier.
– >A Free gift
The second thing you need to speed up the list building process is a free gift. Note that this must be a meaty product – ebook, video, software, etc. The more substance your free gift carries, the more it converts.
These freebies are also called lead magnets. A good lead magnet must address a pain point of your audience. It must help them immediately. That’s why things such as cheat sheets, checklists, and lists of useful resources are also great magnets. Plus, they are very easy to compile and won’t cost you much.
However, some readers may jump in just to get the free stuff. Yes! I’m aware of that. But you’ll always get your own.
NB: If visitors sign up to your list just to get update, the Open rate and clicks get quite high.
Conclusion
This is part 14 in the series of creating a blog that makes money. We have seen tips on how to build a list for your blog and earn trust from subscribers. In the next part, we will be discussing how to grow as a blogger.
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