Mistake Number Four: “Failing To Start Building an Opt-In List”
You have probably heard the saying “The money is in the list.” Well, let me tell you that statement is true. Once you start building a list of people in a specific niche, you’ll be amazed by how easy it can be to promote new products that you come across in this same niche to your list.
One of my successful Affiliate Marketing buddies, let’s call him Mr. X just because he’s a shy guy (He really does exist … this is a true anecdote). Mr. X is a very successful Affiliate Marketer, making more money online than most doctors do. He’s been doing this for almost three years, the 12 months or so he’s been doing it full time.
Well, Mr. X decided last May (2006) to begin building his list. He had been promoting products as an affiliate for over two years and had ignored this crucial element that brings even more success. And now today, late November 2006, he just told me that he has over 100,000 names on his list! Now his “list” is actually about a dozen or so smaller lists, each in a different niche market.
But think of it. 100,000 people that Mr. X can promote new products to, over and over again. A list this size built in less than 7 months is incredible. But think of how much money Mr. X probably left on the table by failing to begin his list building until recently. Probably more than many folks make in a year, I’d wager.
The moral of the story is this. Get started building your own list now.
List building in an absolute necessity for any successful Affiliate Marketer. There are two excellent resources that you can look into that will help you learn how to begin building your own list from the ground up and then promoting to it, quickly and easily, whenever you uncover a new product to promote.
The first resource is an eBook called “Inside The List” by two fellows named Kyle & Carson. These guys are known as “The Wealthy Affiliates” on the forum by the same name that they run for Affiliate Marketers. Their book, “Inside the List” is an absolute masterpiece for showing you each & every aspect you need to know about to begin building your own list.
The other resource is a set of videos showing you exactly how to compose “killer” emails to send to your list. And the amazing part about this product is that the author, Michael Rasmussen, will give you the basic set of videos for FREE! You definitely need to check out “Email Promos Exposed” if you have ever wondered what to say to your list when you actually email them or if you ever suffer from “writer’s block”. Michael leads you by the hand in actually creating killer emails from start to finish.
There is also a “premium” version to the product that has three more videos, each targeting a specific area of email marketing, one of them being a video for Affiliate Marketing emails. The Deluxe version is $97 but if you’re at a point where you really want to explode your email marketing skills, it’s well worth it.