Assuming that you have been taking action on what I have been teaching in this series you now have the foundation of a great list! Once you have began too build your list of opt in subscribers you must consistently work to establish and strengthen your relationships. Building your list is the first step and managing your list effectively is how you convert your list into a stable businesses.

Segment Your List and Focus on Your Subscribers Needs

I highly recommend segmenting your list and make it your practice to send targeted emails to each segment of your list as well as more general messages that apply to your entire list. The classification each particular subscriber from unqualified prospect to loyal repeat customer and everything in between, your subscribers should feel that you are speaking to their specific needs.

Here are a few recommended categories in which you can classify your subscribers:

• Unqualified Prospects
• Qualified Prospects
• Loyal Followers
• New Customers
• Loyal Customers
• Former Customers (Subscribed but no longer buying)
• Unsubscribed

Publish an E-zine to build Relationships

One of the best ways to build a strong relationship with your list is by consistently publishing an e-zine containing relevant, actionable content that adds high value for your subscribers. The format and frequency is up to you and I would recommend studying popular e-zines in your niche and strive to add something unique to your market.

Despite what others may suggest, it is perfectly fine to sell through your e-zine, just don’t become too promotional and make sure that each issue delivers extreme value and that any promotion that you include are congruent with the content contained in the e-zine. If you are an Internet marketer you cannot afford to be afraid to make offers, your list actually experts you to make recommendations of products and services that you believe will help them in their businesses.

Here are some great ways to add value through your e-zine:

• Survey your readers to allow and allow them to express their biggest challenges, greatest opportunities or most pressing questions.
• Include your subscribers questions and feedback in subsequent issues of your e-zine.
• Make it easy for your subscribers to interact with you. Provide a link to a comment or contact form on your blog as an efficient metod of gathering comments and posting replies.
• Acknowledge and reward your loyal e-zine subscribers. Provide them with free resources and tools to demonstrate that you value their relationship.

Educate with Emails That Sell

When you sit down to write a subscriber email be sure to add value first and sell second – this will demonstrate your authentic purpose to your readers and breakdown any resistance they may have to being sold. No one takes the time to opt into a list for the sole purpose of being endlessly pitched on products, services or opportunities. However, if you make it clear through the consistency of your messages that your desire is both to inform your list, make recommendation and share opportunities, you will simply be fulfilling the expectations you have set before them.

Here are some great ways to add value through your e-mail:

• Provides tips and resources that will help your readers improve their business
• Provide tips and resources that will help your readers make more money
• Provide tips and resources that will help your readers solve big problems
• provide tips and resources that will help your readers grow as individuals

Be selfless and discover your authentic voice when writing to your list. It is ok to be personal (in fact recommended) to be personal, again you are building a relationship. People buy from those they know, like and trust. By sharing a bit about your personal life, your aspirations, your challenges and accomplishments you will establish true relationships and lasting loyalty with those who have chosen to follow you.

I am here to help you succeed and achieve abundance in all aspects of your life!

P.S. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to my list and allow me to build a lasting relationship with you.

P.S.S. The illustration included in this post is from my new e-book and audio package that will be published on April 30, 2010. I will be giving the first 10 copies away to my followers – more details to come.

(c) Copyright 2008-2010 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

Note: I am a Affiliate Marketer and it should be assumed that links provided within the content of this blog and individual blog post are affiliate links from which I may be compensated for sales made at the recommended sites. All products and service recommendations are made as a result of my personal experience with the product or service provider.

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

I have just created a new “7 Part Viral Marketing Bootcamp” that I am delivering by email to subscribers of my list. I have decided to post the first lesson here today and invite readers of my blog to sign up for the complete series. This is a high value series as viral marketing should be an essential component to your business business plan in 2010 and beyond.

Simply read and enjoy this first lesson and if you feel that it benefits you, click the link and the bottom of this post to receive the complete series of releases beginning on April 1, 2010 – you will received one lesson each day for 7 days.

** Note – your e-course will start with lesson one, but please be aware that it will contain a special link to download resources recommended to take action on each lesson. The lesson one resource is not included in this blog post.

In Lesson One let’s take a look at a few viral marketing methods:

The pure essence of a viable viral campaign is a willingness of those who receive your content to promote, forward, repost or bookmark your content without being provoked through an ethical bribe or other reward. However, your goal is to build your campaign in such a way that instructs the reader how to help their friends and associates by sharing the content provided. It doesn’t hurt to make it clear that your intent is to give the information way to as many people as possible.

In this lesson we are going to go over the different types of viral marketing tools (methods), so that you can become familiar with them.

Blogging: You must have a blog – period! Your blog should serve as the hub for all of your online activities including your viral marketing campaigns. You blog will serve as the launching pad for every viral marketing method taught in this course to a greater or lessor degree and is essential to your success online.

Blogs can be used to establish authority, gather subscribers, link to other online properties, attract a tribe of loyal followers and distribute all of your content including audio and video distribution.

Email: Sending targeted email messages to your list of subscribers or a purchased double opt in list is a very effective method for spreading your message to a targeted audience. The most effective method for delivering your email is through the use of an auto-responder on a regular basis. Be sure to always provide the recipient with an easy one click link to unsubscribe and only send email to those who have requested to receive the type of messages you are sending.

I recommend cultivating your subscriber list as well as your purchased list. Do not attempt to sell anything in the first couple of messages, give an item of value to them free of charge. You can offer an e-book, audio recording or access to a content rich video – strive to add value and build trust!

Newsletters: A digital newsletter is a natural extension to your initial email and blog posting efforts. Most professional auto-responder services offer newsletter templates that can be easily customized and distributed to your growing subscriber list with relative ease. The key to any good newsletter is the relevance of the content to your targeted niche. Your newsletter should be free, timely, informative and not over promotional. You should offer important updates, recommend resources, educate your readers and offer extreme value.

Mass Article Distribution: Write articles about your niche topic using keywords to target your readers, which increases the chances of having your content go viral . Be sure to develop a targeted resource or signature box including your website URL and contact information to be posted with your article. Grant  your readers with permission to re-publish and share your articles with others as long as your resource box remains with the article.

Niche Forums: Forums or chat rooms offer a very powerful platform for spreading your brand virally and developing a loyal community that will elevate your business to a entirely new level. At a minimum you should join and participate in one or two popular forums in your niche and become known as someone who adds value to the community. Be mindful of the rules that govern each forum and promote your business and resources within the established guidelines and do not post spam as this will destroy your reputation in the community.

In addition to participating in established forums, also consider adding a forum or chat room to your blog. In the beginning it may require a significant time investment on your part, but once a few active members emerge, you can reward them by making them a moderator and begin to share the work required to keep your forum going strong.

PLR E-Books: Private Label Rights or PLR can be used to create a valuable library of e-books to give away to your list. I would not recommend simply downloading a PLR product and giving it away without extensive editing and a method of capturing a maximum number of subscriber names and email addresses.

Be sure to select a title from a reputable resource that has braod appeal in your niche. You must read every word of the e-book to ensure that the content is consistent with your philosophy and intent. Be sure to edit the e-book as needed to include exclusions and additions so that the content represents you and your brand. In addition, you should add an about you page, a recommended resources page, and links leading back to your blog and other resources.

Control the delivery of your e-book by utilizing a squeeze page as your method of distribution of the e-book. This will enable you to capture the names and e-mail addresses of those interested in claiming their free copy of your e-book.

I recommend Sure Fire Wealth PLR (click the link for a free Silver Membership) as a excellent resource for quality PLR software that is easy to use.

PLR Software: There are many excellent sources for PLR software packages that you can test and then re-brand as your own. This is a great way to provide a resource with high perceived value with minimal cost and maximum return on your investment. Provide your software for free and encourage your subscribers to share the URL to your squeeze page allowing them to claim there own copy.

I recommend IM Buzz Software as a excellent resource for quality PLR software that is easy to use.

Website and Blog Templates: Design your own website or blog templates, include your own marketing information on them and give them away as free downloads or as an electronic package. Grant permission for recipients to pass them along as long as your viral banding information remains in tact.

This method allows others to utilize your content in on their website and blogs in addition to e-zines, newsletters and other distribution points which will result in the viral effect in spreading your content across the Internet.  This process can also be accelerated by utilizing a mass-submission tool to distribute your articles to numerous article directories through automation.

Niche Video Distribution: Video is hot! You Tube is now the number two search engine on the Internet and there are millions of users who watch, bookmark and share videos everyday. Regardless if you are posting videos to You Tube, sharing videos with a service like Video Forward, or posting video to your blog, video should be a central compnent to all of your viral campaigns.

Social Media Applications: One of the best methods to leverage the emergence of social media with your viral campaign is developing and promoting a flash game or other application with broad appeal.  The idea of creating a game application may seem overwhelming, a game came be created on a modest budget and can be a very effective list building tool as long as the idea is createive enough to attract a following.

This is a very advanced method and will require a financial investment for development and promotion to build momentum for your game. Once you develop a small following on one of the major social sites, you can quickly add thousands to your list. Consider a few recent examples including Mafia Wars, Farmville and others on facebook.

As we close this first lesson I want to touch on one of the main things that make starting a viral marketing campaign such a good idea. It is the simple fact that it costs a lot less to implement than traditional advertising and can be much more effective in a shorter period of time.

You will also want to keep in mind that viral marketing is just one basic components of your overall marketing plan. It should be linked with other strategies such as setting up squeeze pages to collect subscribers.

Once you incorporate viral marketing into your business plan, you will increase awareness about your business, generate fresh traffic to your websites, build a responsive and solid subscriber list and generate sales.

To subscribe to the complete course send an email with the words “Viral Bootcamp Free Memeber” in the subject line to:

viralbookcamp@aweber.com

Each day for the next 7 days you will receive a lesson that will help you learn the how you can use viral marketing to increase awareness and profits for your business.

Explore the links provided here and discover for yourself how easy it is to leverage viral marketing in your business. Once you have begun to use viral marketing come back to this post and offer your feedback by commenting here. If you found this post helpful, please be sure to bookmark it so that others can benefit as well.

Do you publish an e-zine? An e-zine is a web-based newsletter that is more highly designed to take on the appearance of a traditional magazine and it can be a powerful tool for building a list of loyal subscribers. Unlike auto-responder campaigns, your e-zine should be published less frequently, perhaps once or twice each month and should include information on topics beyond your business. This is the perfect format to share a little about your life in order to provide your reader with a chance to get to know you better.

E-zine ad swaps involve trading advertising exposure in your e-zine in exchange for exposure in another e-zine in your niche or a closely related niche. I recommend negotiating a direct swap making this a great free option although if the other publisher has a much larger distribution list, you may be asked to either pay a small premium or perhaps allow the other publisher two issues in your e-zine in exchange of one in theirs.

I recommend setting an objective to have two ad swaps for each issue you publish and closely monitor your opt in results by using a tracking link or promoting different pages in each e-zine. Continue to advertise in the publications that convert to opt-ins or sales and move away from those that do not. If you see traffic and opt-ins peak and begin to fall off assume that you have obtained maximum penetration of this list and begin looking for a replacement.

Focus more on building your brand and delivering value than making a sale. If you write ads that demonstrate your authority in your niche and give away a high value e-book, special report or auto in exchange for a name and email address from the reader. Keep in mind, you will have plenty of time to sell after the subscriber has joined your list, which of course if your objective.

Choosing Your Ad Swap Partners

Research e-zines in your market and trade up, meaning you should seek out better known publishers with larger list than your own.

You should choose a relevant e-zines with authority in sub-categories of your niche to partner with your ad swaps. The publishers should not directly compete with you, but be in a businesses that complement yours. By being strategic you will reach a targeted audience who are already engaged in your niche and ready to buy from you.

Most e-zines are archived online which means that the reach of your ad may grow overtime long after the campaign is complete. As a result, your ad swaps will continue to deliver traffic, build your list, and produce sales with no further financial investment.

There is a psychological key here that you must fully understand. Participating in As Swaps allows you to leverage the trust that your partner has established with his or her list as you are essentially being endorsed by the publisher. From the readers perspective, if you were not a trustworthy authority, the publisher would not be willing to promote you in the e-zine or recommend you to their list.

Trust is the basis of every mutually beneficial business relationship and it is often earned over time. By seeking first to ad value to your ad swap partners and their subscribers, you will develop true loyalty and earn the right to make recommendations of products and services that a large percentage of the list will accept and from that group many will buy.

Be patient in this process but do not wait too long to convert subscribers into buyers. You are continually training your list members with every ad you place and every e-mail you send, be sure to balance out the amount of free content you provide and the monetization offers you make as you grow your list.

How do you get started? I recommend a great set of resources by Charlie Page the editor of “Ezine Traffic Formula” get it free here and the creator of the “Directory of Ezines” membership site. These are both great resources for you to use to maximize this list building strategy. The first step is to make sure that your own e-zine is up to par – Charlie’s free book will help you to accomplish that. Then use his directory to find the best quality e-zines in your niche.

Here is the link you will need to get started:

E-zine Traffic Formula Free Offer

E-zines can really jump start your online business and they are the perfect way for marketers without a large subscriber list to place their marketing or brand message in front of thousands of qualified prospects every month.

If you decide to implement this strategy I would love to hear from you. Feel free to post your question here as a comment so that others may benefit. Likewise, once you have executed on this strategy for a couple of months, come back and let me know how it is working for you.

I am here to help you succeed!

P.S. Charlie’s book normally sells for $47 and your free download is instant!

E-zine Traffic Formula Free Offer

(c) Copyright 2008-2010 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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One of the primary purposes of your blog should be to collect subscriber names and email addresses to add to your list. The best way to achieve this is to consistently post great content to your blog to generate traffic and then offer a item of high value free in exchange for the subscribers opt in to your list. I like using either a free e-book, a seven part email course (delivered over 21 days), or a free video based product.

Let’s examine the options of offering an e-book in greater detail and take a look at a couple to tools to help you get up and running quickly. I am also going to show you a short cut used by many of top marketers on the Internet!

I. Free E-Books

Marketing free e-books is an effective way to build your list regardless if the content is your original work or work for which you have obtained “resell rights.” If you follow the recommendations found in this post, you will be able to create numerous viral funnels that will drive traffic to your blog and build your subscriber list by simply giving information away.

If marketed correctly your e-books will be viewed by thousands of Internet users over time making them viral. the more relevant the content is to your targeted audience the greater the opportunity for your e-books to be seen as valuable within your niche.

II. Write Your E-book Written

Be sure to select a relevant topic that your niche will respond to and create a high quality e-book. Just because it is to be given away for free, the subscriber is entitled to truly valuable content. Remember, you are making a first impression with your e-book.

Please understand, you do not have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning author to write an authoritative special report or e-book. Simply select a topic you know something about, do any additional research needed to create authoritative content, organize your material in a logical sequence, and write in a very instructional manner as you would be speaking to one person, make it personal to your reader.

If the idea of writing an e-book seems overwhelming you can employ a ghost writer or use resell rights for published work or private label rights products from a quality source.

Here is the shortcut I promised – use resell rights e-books.

III. Using Resell Rights

I have published an e-book titled “James Holmes Exposes Resell Rights Secrets,” which provides a number of tips to help you use resell rights to build and reward your list with relative ease. I highly recommend clicking on the link above, acquire a copy of the e-book by immediate download and take action.

IV. Quick Tips

1. There are few hard and fast rules when it comes to creating an e-book, you can provide a ten page special report or a one hundred page book – there are no limits to how you present your content.

2. Always deliver your e-books as a digital PDF, only offer to mail an e-book if it is part of a larger course that should also include recorded media, either MP files or DVDs. Your subscribers are looking for the immediate gratification of receiving your material as soon as they opt in – they will not want to wait for snail mail!

3. Be sure that your e-book is created to be viral by including several links to your website, blog, and other resources including affiliate links and your contact information. If the e-book is a free offer, be sure to provide “give-way rights” in the copy write section of your book.

4. Be sure to include a “subscribe” link in several places in your book so that anyone who ends up with a copy can easily join your list.

5. Do not stop with one e-book, you must continue to produce content on a regular basis, reward your current list members with new material and keep your offers for new subscribers fresh. The more content that you can produce and distribute online, the more traffic you will generate and the bigger list you will build.

V. Leverage Your E-books to Build Your Subscriber List

There are several ways that you can use your e-book to build your mailing list, pick one and master it:

1. Simply offer the complete e-book for free in return for your visitor’s name and email address.

2. Authoring an e-book helps to establish you as an expert in your field and builds your credibility.

3. Post your e-book on a variety of  niche sites and social media sites in order to maximize the number of opt ins and download your viral e-book receives.

4. Generate sales for your paid content such as e-books and courses by giving away the first two chapters of your e-book along with a special offer to buy the full e-book as a new subscriber.

5. Offer your paid content for free as limited “time sensitive offer” to create true urgency and deliver a valuable resource for free to new subscribers.

I welcome your comments or questions, so please feel free to leave a comment and if you like what you have read, be sure to re-tweet this post.

I am here to help you succeed!

P.S. Here is a free account that allows you to re-brand vial e-books: Get Free E-Books

(c) Copyright 2008-2010 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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One of the first membership sites I joined upon entering into the realm of Internet Marketing was Colin Klinkert and Frank Bauer’s Viral URL.  I have been a big fan of Colin’s work since that time and have since utilized many other sites and services the team don under has released. On Wednesday February 17th at 11:00 PM EST (Thursday at 2:00 PM in Brisbane, Australia), Colin Klinkert will be my guest on the Internet Business Blueprint Podcast to discuss his journey, viral marketing, his biggest challenge, and where we are headed in the internet marketing space in 2010.

Join us for a lively discussion on viral marketing and how to get the most from viral tools. We will take your questions live and the chat room will also be open.

To attend log in here: http://www.JamesHolmesRadio.com

The Guest Line is here: (646) 727-3058

So who is Colin Klinkert?

Colin was born in South Africa and immigrated to Australia for High School and College after living several years in the UK.  A brilliant marketer and innovator in the viral marketing niche. A perfectionist and collaborative creator of a number of successful projects.

Here are several of Colin’s websites:

Viral URL

Viral Host

Viral Networks

In addition to these sites Colin Clinkert also maintains several additional sites and has additional projects under development.

Be sure to visit the show page: The Internet Business Blueprint Podcast

Be sure to join us live and take advantage of a rare chance to speak to one of the most innovative marketers in the viral marketing niche. I will look forward to your questions and feedback from the show.

I am here to help you succeed!

(c) Copyright 2008-2010 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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Spam filtering has made it increasingly difficult to ensure email deliver-ability to your opt in subscribers, which is critical to your success in monetizing your list and delivering value to your subscribers consistently. An incorrect spam filter classification can reduce your click through response rates by as much as 20-30% of your total number of messages sent.

Here are are 12 specific actions you can take to ensure your email gets delivered.

#1. Always be CAN-SPAM Compliant

This is RULE NUMBER ONE! The January 2004 Federal CAN-SPAM law introduced a number of rules regarding the delivery of email. It’s important you have your legal counsel review your practices and ensure you are in compliance. The two most important rules include having a valid postal mail address listed in all commercial messages and a working unsubscribe link that is promptly honored to remove the subscriber from future messages.

#2. Get Your Subscribers Permission

Confirming that the people who ask for your information have actually requested to be on your list is the number one step in the battle for deliverability. You should be using a process called confirmed opt-in or verified opt-in to send a unique link to the attempted subscriber when they request information. Before adding the person to your list they must click that unique link verifying that they are indeed the same person that owns the email address and requested to subscribe.

#3. Get Your Subscriber’s Best Email Address

Always ask you new subscribers to opt into your list using their “real or best” email address. Many online marketers and information seekers use a throw away or catch list as a means of sorting through opt in email. Typically this is set up using a free email service such as G-mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. This means that the address you are mailing to can be easily thrown away or at their capacity, which will result in bouncing email addresses that hurts your delivery statistics.

By confirming an email address that is hosted with the subscribers primary ISP, you develop a higher quality list, dramatically increase your deliverability an achieve higher click through rates.

#4. Maintain Your List and Sort Out the Bad Addresses

Review your campaign stats after every mailing and promptly remove all email addresses that are bouncing. Make note of the address and send a direct private email that request a new email address, advise the subscriber that you had to remove them from your list and provide a simple opt in gift to persuade the subscriber to subscribe back into your list. If this email bounces, move on and do not invest anymore time correcting this problem.

There are times when a bounce is caused by a temporary situation, such as a full email in box or ISP downtime. A less aggressive practice would be to review addresses that return a permanent error more that three times in 30 days should be removed from your list. Keep in mind that ISPs track the number of emails you send to accounts on their servers that are closed and with enough frequency may in turn block you from address as a result.

#5. Use the Multi-part Message Format

For marketers HTML messages provide a powerful opportunity for branding and sending multi-column messages to format newsletters and e-zines. Most auto-responders offer both HTML and text formats for sending your email, the best services for marketers offer a feature known as Text/HTML multi-part mime format, which allows you to create both an HTML and text version of your message and the format delivered will depend on the receivers email client.

AWeber conducted a study in 2004 which determined that plain text messages are undeliverale 1.15% of each mailing and HTML only messages were undeleverable 2.3% of each mailing. consider this, many spam messages are HTML formatted and it can be difficult for spam filters to determine spam from requested email. I personally feel that the brand opportunity is greater than the risk of a small percentage of your messages being filtered out. I always use the multi-part format and so should you.

#6. Write Spam Free Content

Many ISP’s filter messages based on the content that appears within the message text itself in addition to the sender’s email address. Be sure to use an auto responder service that includes a “spam grader” feature that measures the likelihood of your message to be blocked as spam based on your content. The “spam grade” is determined by the frequency of words appearing in your message that are deemed to be spammy such as make money, business opportunity, etc.

Don’t make your messages appear to be spam by using odd character and spacing to disguise spam sensitive key phrases (for example ca$h). If you must use a phrase in your message that results in a high spam grade, try to replace the phase with the same meaning and re-score your message. Repeat this process until you find a phrase that works.

#7. Advertiser’s Website URLs Matter

If you are offering advertising opportunities on your newsletter or e-zine, take care to research potential advertisers before allowing them to place ads in your newsletter issues. If they have used their website URL to send spam, just having their URL appear in your newsletter could cause the entire message to be filtered.

#8. Use Images Selectively

Properly titled images can greatly enhance your SEO results and should be used to enhance your newsletter and e-zines. When it comes to email, I would largely avoid using images or do so sparingly.

#9. Always Use Links and Rarely Use Attachments

With viruses running rampant and spreading thru the usage of malicious email attachments many users are wary of attached documents. It’s often better to link to files via a website URL to reduce recipient fear of attachments and reduce the overall message size.

#10 Monitor and Protect Your Reputation

As you grow your list and begin to deliver a growing volume if email across a growing number of ISPs it become a necessity to monitor, manage and protect your reputation within the ISP community. Many new and experienced marketers alike are unaware that you can take a proactive stance in exposing your good practices to the “Reputation Services” that many ISPs reply upon to identify safe senders.

Take the initiative to become listed with these services and as a result, your messages will be given far less scrutiny or in many cases may no longer be subject to filtering as long as your reputation is maintained.

Here are three reputation services your should consider:

http://www.bondedsender.com

http://www.habeas.com

http://www.isipp.com/iadb.php

#11. Relationships & Whitelisting

Several of the major ISPs including Yahoo and AOL have specific whitelisting programs and postmaster website management tools developed to ensure your email is delivered on the condition that you messages meet their stated policies and procedures. Again, be proactive and advise the major ISP’s and email service providers of your opt in and mailing procedures and policies related to subscriber email.

#12. Always Give Your Reader an Easy Opt Out

No matter how hard you try to ensure the quality of your list, from time to time a subscriber will forget that they opted in or decide that they no longer want to receive your mail. When these circumstances occur you must make it easy for them to opt out, which will decrease the chances of a false spam complaint.

The major email service providers include a subscription management function which places an opt out script at the bottom of your messages by default – verify that this is the case with the provider you use. If not, create a signature to include in all of your email message resulting in a one click opt out function.

Email deliverability is about ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to the intended recipient. While no single tip will enable you to get 100% of your email delivered each one utilized as a group can go a long way to reaching that goal.

By following the advice provided here you can ensure that your email is delivered and that your sender reputation is maintained as a viable asset in your online business. I welcome your comments or questions, so please feel free to leave a comment and if you like what you have read, be sure to re-tweet this post.

I am here to help you succeed!

(c) Copyright 2008-2009 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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Effective List Building Part 4

As an entrepreneur you are rewarded for two specific outcomes:

1. The Value You Provide

2. The Problems You solve

When it comes to list building the rewards you earn are loyal responsive subscribers who choose to remain on your list and sales of your info products, affiliate programs, business opportunities, and other resources you recommend.  My goal in this post is to help you maximize your list building activities by providing your subscribers with extreme value first, allowing you to create loyalty and solidify your relationship with your list.

Here is my strategy for adding value as a component of  effective list building!

Give Your Subscribers What They Want and Need

Be consistent and targeted with the information you send to your list. Keep in mind that you attracted your subscribers based on a invitation or item of value likely focused on a specific niche. For example, if a subscriber opted into your list for an internet marketing product, they likely will not expect you to email them information about cooking or how to restore a vintage automobile. If you work in a variety of niches, you should build separate list for each niche and only mail across all of your list when the information is relevant to the entire list.

If you email your list with targeted information that provides added value for their lives and helps them grow their businesses, you will develop loyalty and maximize your rightful opportunity to monetize your list. People like to buy from those they know, like and trust – you can develop these three qualities by seeking to add value first and monetize second.

Provide High Value Content and Resources for FREE

I have constructed “My Private Vault” to give high value resources to my list free of charge. The vault includes software, videos, audio MP3s, e-books, marketing systems, training materials and so much more. I offer literally thousands of dollars in value to my list every day in order to help them grow their businesses. You should be doing something very similar to this and then watch your list grow.

In addition to adding value to your subscribers, you can also use free items to “pre-sell” your paid products and services by providing your subscribers with a free sample of a paid product or a complete version of a paid product. By doing this you allow your list to try it before they buy it and in the long term all parties will benefit from this high value sales cycle.

Build a Quality List and Maintain it

From day one set your objective on building a quality list and maintaining your list quality as it grows. The highest quality list is a targeted list of loyal subscribers who choose to remain on your list and are responsive, meaning they choose to open your emails and follow your recommendations.

Here are 10 Key Tips to Get You Started

I have found that presenting your opt in as a “subscription” to a newsletter or inner circle list works best across multiple platforms. Keep in mind that you need to identify an opt in gift (example) worthy of attracting subscribers and then take action on the following marketing ideas.

1. Offer a free subscriptions to targeted (by niche) Ning communities
2. Offer a free subscription to popular forum members in your niche
3. Offer a free subscription to members of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter
4. Offer a free subscription through online classified advertising sites
5. Offer a free subscription in your email signature and auto reply from your email service
6. Issue press releases virally to publicize your free newsletter
7. Offer a free subscription on ALL the pages of your blog and website
8. Acquire relevant opt-in e-mail lists and introduce yourself with a free subscription creating a actual opt in
9. Offer a free subscription to members of professional associations in your niche
10. Use a “Tell a Friend” script to encourage your subscribers to spread the word and provide “gift subscriptions” to their friends

Closing Thoughts

Building a subscriber list is essential to the long term viability of your online business and creating a responsive list requires focus and commitment to adding value to your subscribers. If you follow the advice I provide in this series of post on effective list building, you will be well on your way to developing a thriving, responsive list of loyal subscribers.

Be sure to leave a comment and share this post with your friends and members of your social networks. Remember the more value you provide and the greater problems you solve the bigger your reward.

Remember, I am here to help you succeed!

(c) Copyright 2008-2009 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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Effective List Building Part 3

List Building Doesn’t Have to be Difficult

New and intermediate marketers operate under a false impression that the only way to build a list is to have a visitor opt into a subscriber form on your website or blog. Unfortunately this leads to a lack of action because they get stuck either because they don’t know how to put a web form on their site or they put the form on their site and do nothing more.

The long-term impact on the business of these marketers is a lack of sales. The longer you go without an organized and consistent list building strategy, the more difficult it will be for you to begin making real money online. If you read this blog post carefully and take immediate action, you will be on your way to building a responsive list with relative ease.

Subscription Opt In Forms an Obvious Place to Start

I believe that every serious online marketer should have a blog which services as the hub for their primary online activity. That being said, placing a web form on your blog that offers a free item of extreme value to your visitors for subscribing to your mailing list is the obvious place to start, so this is your first assignment.

Here are a few bullet points detailing how you establish a high converting subscription magnet to encourage your visitors to (join) opt in to your list.

1. Offer a valuable ethical bribe, which can be any item that creates desire from your visitor.

2. Make your form attractive using a template or custom web form. These forms can easily be created using an auto responder service such as Aweber. Refer to this blog post: Aweber Web Form Generator

3. Ensure that your subscriber form (or a subscriber form) appears on every page of your site. Depending on how a page viewer finds your site they may arrive at a page other than your home page. Most standard blog templates present a static sidebar that appears on every page. I would suggest placing your opt in form on the sidebar or in the header of your site.

4. Keep it simple to encourage an opt in by your visitors. It is best to ask for a fist name and email address only – asking for more information will lower your conversion rates with each additional question on the form.

5. Deliver the opt in gift immediate to reward your new subscriber and begin to build your credibility and trust.

Gain Organic Traffic by Creating Content

Dynamic content creation is such a big topic that it requires an entire series of post and cannot be covered here. The bottom line is that you should be posting to your blog weekly, writing articles, bookmark your site, become active in social networks, and re-purpose your content in a variety of ways.

Buying Traffic is a Solution if Your Budget Allows

If you have a sufficient budget, you can purchase traffic or subscribers from a variety of resources. I will cover this specifically in future post, but here are a few ideas. You can use pay per click, e-zine ads, solo ads, classified ads, advertise on other blogs, and purchase subscribers from list providers.

Build Your List with Your Funded Proposal

One of the most powerful ways to build a list is through a self-funded proposal. I use the Prosperity Marketing System as one of my automated funnel in addition to hosted sales pages offering a free e-book or audio mp3 files. In my opinion, having a series of self-funded proposals posted across the internet is the best free or low cost method for building a quality list.

In addition to building your list, a self-funded proposal also develops buyer among your list members allowing you to identify segments within your list most likely to purchase your products and services in the future.

Here is a Golden Nugget

You have likely heard it said that “the money is in the list,” the truth is that the money is in the buyers within your list. So providing your list members with extreme value for free in the beginning builds your trust and credibility. Once established you must convert free opt in subscribers to buyers, even for a small monetary amount such as a seven dollar special report or a paid membership to your site.

Build a Targeted List

It is critical in all aspects of your business to be very specific about your market and develop an effective message to market match. Once a visitor opts into your list, you should consistently provide them with content, products and services within their targeted areas of interest. If your subscribers suddenly find that your content and recommendations no longer fit their needs, they will simply (unsubscribe) opt out.

Recognize the Lifetime value of Your List

Having a large responsive list of loyal subscribers allows you to effectively market on a continual basis as long as you do not abuse the privilege. If you use care to market relevant products and services while consistently rewarding the loyalty of your subscribers with free reports and other bonuses, you will secure the long term viability of your business.

Be sure to provide me with feedback concerning this post and your own thoughts on effective list building. Be sure to follow this entire series and share you have discovered with your friends.

I am here to help you succeed!

(c) Copyright 2008-2009 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

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Effective List Building Part 2

List building is largely a numbers game but many marketers forget that quality matters when it comes to earning revenue with your list. If you want to monetize your subscriber list you must first provide real value for your members for free and then within your funnel convert those subscribers to buyers.

The basic formula that I teach to achieve our objective is simply offering visitors to your websites and blogsites a high value item free as a reward for opting in, I refer to this as an ethical bribe. Keep in mind that this is a reflection on your brand and for your future customers it is their first sample of the quality and value you provide. As a result you want to give away some of your BEST information. If you give your new subscribers cheap or low value products and information, they have no reason to pay for what they will perceive to be more of the same.

When you provide high value information as a free gift and continue to provide quality content through your auto-responder messages, you begin to build trust by establishing your expertise and you create a desire in your subscriber to obtain more of your content and a willingness to pay for the value they receive.

To recap there are three steps in the funnel:

Step 1. Provide a high value opt in gift

Step 2. Use auto-responders to provide high value content through consistent communications with your list

Step 3. Convert subscribers to buyers based on the value you have provided (give them a reason to buy)

Nurturing Quality Leads

People are attracted to join a subscribers list for a variety of reasons, your online presence, perceived level of success, demonstrated expertise and other qualities you have successfully presented through your self promotion and marketing your sites are all valid reasons for a prospect to opt into your list.

Now that you have gotten the attention of your visitor give them value and trust that the most likely buyers will self select and purchase from you as a result of your actions.

Most professional marketers will tell you that their objective is to earn one dollar per month for every name on their list. So, if you have a 500 subscriber list, you would be earning $500 per month, a 5000 subscriber list would earn for you $5,000 per month and so forth. I have found that these number do tend to be valid as an average and you should make this your goal.

As you put together your front in reward (ethical bribe) and subsequent auto-responder messages be mindful of to attract targeted prospects, so your opt in offer must be focused on the products and services you intend to sell. In addition, your follow up messages must likewise be targeted on your niche and continue to offer high value content associated with a link that leads to an offer. It is essential to provide offers early in the process of your communication.

Maintaining your Subscribers list

When a visitor opts into your list they are giving you permission to communicate and market to them as your relationship evolves. However, be careful not to abuse this privilege by spamming your list. There is a delicate balance between communicating too much and not communicating enough to maintain there interest and evolve your relationship.

I recommend that you send a keyword targeted email to your list two or three times per week and include an offer in each of these communications. There are some marketers who email their list everyday, I think this is too frequent and those who market to me with this frequency tend to get their emails opened less often.

In addition to your weekly email messages, I would also recommend that you publish a monthly or bi-weekly e-zine or newsletter. This is were you can add additional value, make bigger ticket recommendations, author reviews, and summarize information previously sent during the preceding weeks. The e-zine format also lends itself to sharing non-business related aspects of your life to further build a relationship with your list.

Knowing What to Give Away

If you are a newer marketer and have not yet created your own products, there are a variety of ways to obtain high value items to give to your list. One of the best resources is membership in “Viral E-Book Explosion,” which will provide you with a large inventory of e-books and audio MP3 files that you can re-brand and give away to your subscribers.

I will share additional ideas concerning the use of private label rights (PLR) and master resell rights (MRR) later in this series, but for most leveraging Viral E-Book Explosion is a perfect solution.

Get Viral E-Book Free Here: Viral E-Book Explosion Offer

Knowing What Your Subscriber Needs

The most effective marketing always if focused on the needs of your subscribers and customers and your ability to provide solutions for those needs.

• What is your niche?
• Who are your customers?
• What do they need from you?
• Why do they need your products and services?
• What is their tipping point that will cause them to buy from you?

If you keep the needs of your subscribers in mind as your first priority and develop a funnel that addresses those needs effectively, you will build a responsive opt in list over time. Once you have received an opt in subscriber you should treat them like gold and recognize that there is a longterm value for every member of your list.

I am here to help you succeed!

(c) Copyright 2008-2009 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.

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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com

Note: I am a Affiliate Marketer and it should be assumed that links provided within the content of this blog and individual blog post are affiliate links from which I may be compensated for sales made at the recommended sites. All products and service recommendations are made as a result of my personal experience with the product or service provider.

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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.

Effective List Building Part 1

List building is a crucial piece of the success puzzle when it comes to creating a successful Internet marketing business. The bottom line is clear, you need a list regardless of which business model you choose; information product marketing, affiliate marketing, direct sales or any other the other handful of variant models you have to choose from. The bottom line is to be successful you must place your message in front of your market with consistently.

There are a variety of channels that you can use to deliver your message, but few are more effective than a responsive double opt in subscriber list of buyers who already know you, like you and most importantly have grown to trust you. Once you have a subscriber list in place, you should plan to earn one dollar for every name on your list each month. Then if your desire is to make more money simply grow a bigger list.

I will be focusing a lot on list building in 2010, both in my personal business and in the training I share on my blog. To get things started, I wanted to provide you with a simple checklist providing actionable ideas that you can implement today to begin building your list.

10 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List

#1. Remember that content is king: Provide relevant, unique content and actionable content. Your visitors will not give you their email addresses just because they can subscribe to your newsletter free of charge. You have to provide unique and valuable information that will be useful to your subscribers.

#2. Add a subscription opt-in form on every page of your website: Make sure it stands out so it is easy to find. If appropriate, you can also include it in more than one place. For instance, your opt-in form might always appear in the top-left corner of your site, while you also include an opt-in at the bottom of some of your popular articles.

#3. Make it easy for your readers to sign up. The more information you request, the fewer people will opt-in. In most cases, a name and an email address should suffice. If it’s not necessary, don’t include it here. (Note: If you don’t have a Privacy Policy, put the words “privacy policy generator” into a search engine and you should be able to find a suitable form for your readers to review.

#4. Instill confidence by publishing your privacy policy. Let your readers know that they can be confident you will not share their information with others. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Privacy Policy web page and provide the link to it below your opt-in form. As an added benefit having a privacy policy posted on your site is recommended for higher quality scores.

#5. Give value first in exchange for an opt in. This lets potential subscribers review your newsletter or e-course before they sign up to determine if they like the content you provide and the manner in which you deliver it.

#6. Create an Archive that you subscribers can access easily. A digital archive of past newsletters, podcast, etc will allow you to present past content and add value to your new subscribers. The credibility that comes from have a large body of original content that has been delivered over time is hard to beat.

#7. Collaborate with other newsletter publishers and bloggers. One simple way to create equal value between yourself and another newsletter publisher is to exchange content by guest posting to one another’s list. Be careful that you do not siphon off parts of your list to a direct competitor and the list exchange that you complete should provide like value in a separate portion of your niche – this will allow you to add the greatest value to the reader and not jeopardize your list.

The issue of list siphoning is far less a concern when guest posting and welcoming guest host on your blog. Just be sure that the content being written is congruent with the content your readers have become accustom to receiving.

#8. Reward your loyal subscribers. Reward your readers consistently with resources and high value digital products to show your appreciation and further set yourself apart among other leaders on the Internet. It is a benefit to become predictable by allowing your readers to anticipate the timing of the next perk as a continued member of your list – they won’t want to miss out.

#9. Don’t be afraid to ask your subscribers to tell their friends. Viral list building is powerful! If your subscribers are getting value from the content you provide and the rewards you give, why wouldn’t they want to share what you have to offer with others.

#10. Allow others republish your newsletter content with two condition. Allowing others to republish your content as long as the content is not modified in any way and as long as your attribute box of your design is included with the article linking back to you.

If you take action on these ten ideas you will be on your way to growing a responsive opt in subscriber list and can expect to receive value back in multiples as a result of your consistent efforts.

For more list building tips grab a copy of my e-book:

List Building Secrets for Entrepreneurs

I welcome your feedback and additional comments.

I am here to help you succeed!