25 Must Have Techniques for Building Your ListAt least one of these 25 ideas will help you get more people signing up.

I want to help you get to the first thousand, so you can see how easy it is to get the next thousand.

Landing Pages Are Gold

1. Blogs generally don’t convert very well, so be sure to have a landing page. You might get 1 to 3% from your sidebar opt-in form, but the landing pages I’ve created have converted up to 49%.

2. Headlines are important, especially on landing pages. So spend some time crafting a killer one.

3. Tell your visitors why they should subscribe. They won’t do it just because.

4. Give them only two options on this page; opt-in or leave. If you have the right elements, they’ll sign up.

5. Provide them with multiple opportunities to enter their email address. One above the “fold” and one for the “scrollers”.

6. Use social proof. If they see that others have taken that step and subscribed, they’ll be more likely to do so.

7. Don’t ask for too much information so soon. This transaction marks the beginning of the relationship, you don’t need much more than a name and an email address to start building trust.

Content is King

8. Sell your offer, even if it’s free. Free is a powerful word, but it’s not enough. Free junk doesn’t cut it…show me why it’s wonderful!

9. When writing the copy for your offer, always focus on the reader. Remind them of the problem and tell them how they can solve it with your free gift.

10. Remember, features don’t sell, benefits do.  Sell the sizzle, not the steak….the smell, the taste, the special occasion….not a slab of beef.

11. Use a call to action: Tell your visitors exactly what to do to sign up. Don’t assume they know what the next step is.

Your Content is the Bait

12. Your content should attract a targeted audience. These are the people who will eventually buy from you so make sure your future offers are congruent with the original free gift. Ex: I give a free e-book on setting up a blog….subsequent offers should target bloggers.

13. Don’t waste your guest posts traffic. If you have an opportunity to write for a completely new audience, don’t send them to your homepage. Send that traffic to your landing page for best results.

14. If you’re recording video and posting them on YouTube, send them to a landing page.

16. Your blog has a lot of valuable real estate. Don’t place affiliate ads and adsense where your subscription forms should be.

17. Experiment with new locations frequently. You never know how a pop-up or a HelloBar will perform until you try it.

Promote, Promote, Promote

18. Lead generation is 50% “set and forget” technical stuff – and 50% promotion. Once you have everything up and running, ready to collect emails, spreading the word becomes your number one priority.

Get Personal

19. People want to learn from (and connect with) a real person – no matter how big your company is. Add personality to your content, landing pages and emails and your existing subscribers will share what you’re doing with their friends.

20. Reply to emails from your existing subscribers. Share more and you’ll get more.

Test Everything, and Then Test Again

21. Don’t assume that everything you’re reading in this post will work for you. Or that once you implement these ideas, that’s the best you’ll do. Test everything.

22. Test the different locations that you’re placing your opt-in form.

23. Test the headline and copy of your landing pages. Use different words.

24. Test the layout of the landing page. Move stuff around.

25. Test the images. If you don’t have one, add one. If you do, try taking it off.

You’re not building a list of emails, you’re building a list of people who are actively searching for a solution to their problems.

Have you found this useful? – Share it!
Do you have a question? – Ask it!
I’d love to hear your comments! – Leave it below.. talk soon.