Are you successful with your Internet business? Better yet, do you think you are successful with your online business? When most online entrepreneurs are asked with these questions, they often brush it off. This is because most of them, who have not yet realize the right way to succeed in Internet Marketing, continue to believe that the mere fact that they have a website is already enough to succeed on the Internet.
The truth is, they all end up very upset because they fail to realize the secret behind the success in Internet Marketing.
Having a website is not a guarantee that your online business will succeed. How will you succeed if people will not realize that your business exists online? The key to Internet marketing is to get your business noticed.
An effective way to do this is to build an opt-in list. In fact, most of the people who are already experts in Internet marketing will tell you that building a highly targeted opt-in list is the most effective and important tool in Internet marketing.
Basically, an opt-in list is a list of email addresses of people who have agreed to obtain any kind of information from online businesses like you. The term “opt-in” means that you have their permission to send to them whatever newsletters, brochures, or promotions that you have in your online business.
It is extremely important that you have their permission first before you send them information because unsolicited emails will be regarded as spam, and spamming is an illegal activity in the Net.
Because of the feasibility of building an opt-in list on Internet marketing, most of the online entrepreneurs consider it as the most treasured tool online. They need this list in order to get the consumer’s attention and sustain interest.
By creating an opt-in list, you will be able to maintain solid contact with your previous buyers at the same time boost your sales because of the fact that you have a sure target market always ready to purchase items from you.
An opt-in list is considered to be the most important item in an Internet marketer. In fact, if in case something bad happens like emergencies and catastrophes and they could only save one item, it would be their opt-in list saved on a backup disk.
Just imagine how these people value their opt-in list. If this is the case, then it must be really something, right?
So, for people who are not yet aware of the importance of building a highly targeted opt-in list and would like to know how to build them, here are some tips that could be very useful.
1. Decide on your niche market or your target market.
Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.
It is extremely important to know your target market in order to focus on something. It would be really confusing and time-consuming if you will build an opt-in list with no particular market in mind.
Moreover, having a niche market would bring more focus on your marketing campaigns and would derive better results because you have direct your emails to people who would most likely be interested in them.
2. Be sure that your selected target market is available on the Internet.
The mere acquisition of a niche market is not a guarantee that you can already start building your opt-in list. Since the concept of opt-in list is specifically generated to aid in the growth of the Internet market of a particular entrepreneur, it is important to have a niche market that is available through the Internet.
The concept is basically simple, how can you promote your online business if your niche market is not available on the Internet? Hence, it is extremely important to verify if your target market is available online.
3. Verify if your chosen target market is income-generating market.
Building a highly targeted opt-in list will just go to waste if your niche market is not generating any income at all.
Try to verify their income-generating potential through the search engines, wherein you will find some paid ads related to the keywords you have searched. This would only mean that if somebody is willing to pay to advertise focusing on the same target market that you have in mind, chances are, you will be able to reap positive results on your target market.
4. Generate solutions to the problems of your target market by using Internet forums.
Creating this type of forum will initiate the underlying solutions that will answer to most of your target market’s problem.
Through their posts and threads, you will be able to identify your target market’s problem and will be able to come up with a great solution. In turn, it will be very handy when you make your opt-in list.
Indeed, the success of an online business or Internet marketing greatly depends on the opt-in list. It is where the online businesses could come up with newsletters that would allow them to promote their products at the same time create the need for it. In turn, it will generate more income and make more money.
As they say, money is in the list – that’s why most businesses consider opt-in list as valuable as gold.
Thank you for this post, Paul. I have to ask – does someone have to literally ‘ask permission’ to obtain these email addresses?
I heard of the term but didn’t give too much attention to it. Thanks again!
Great question, Bing! The answer is, yes! You cannot “add someone to your list” just because you have their email address. You cannot add them if they give you their business card. You need permission. So, if someone has a store and by the register, there is a sign up that states, “Sign up for email specials,” that is expressed permission. If someone gives you a business card and you ask, “May I add you to my newsletter list,” and they said yes, that is expressed consent.
There are actual laws (although it seems many do not follow them) that address this. In the US, it is the CAN-SPAM Act.
Thank you for your reply, Paul. It’s very helpful.
Excellent!