My 5 Strategies to Build HUGE And Responsive Lists (I bet there is one you do NOT know about)!

When I started out as an affiliate marketer I decided to put aside the list building part. It was not a very smart idea, if I had started earlier my list would probably be 3 or 4 times bigger by now. Interestingly I started to build a list ONLY after I became a vendor... Now I'm building lists whenever possible, even on my adsense sites. Here are some strategies I want to share with you, feel free to share yours.

Strategy #1 - Amazon

One overlooked method is by leveraging the power of Amazon to build your list. How does that sound for a change? And it's extemely simple to put into action.

The first step to go about this is of course to create an account on Amazon (if you don't have one already). This is very simple, just go to Amazon and click on "Your Account -> Start here":


Then update your profile with detailed information about your business and what you offer, and have your website's link in there. Here is how to update your profile (you need to be logged in obviously):


On your account page, scroll down until you find the "Personalization" section and then click "Your public profile":


If this is a new profile, you will see this page - just click "Create Profile" and make sure the name entered is the one you want people to see:


Now this is a very important step - you will be able to enter the address of your website. Make sure you enter the address of your OPTIN PAGE.


Then you will have a chance to upload a picture of yourself and write about your interests... I recommend you to give as much information as you can.

Once updated, you'll have a profile page like this one.

You can now start driving traffic to your profile page by using Amazon. This can be done by writing reviews of your favorite books. Of course it is a good idea to write reviews for books that are relevant to your optin page.

People who go through the review will have the opportunity to visit your profile by clicking on the review's title. An easy way to get people to know more about you.

If you want to make a killing with this method, you must review popular books in your market and write useful reviews. Show that you know what you're talking about!

Strategy #2 - Your Contact Points

First, figure out and note down all the "contact points" that you have with your audience. For example, you can put up a small sign up form at the bottom of all your web pages. Try adding your opt-in form at the end of your blog posts, a link to your optin page in your emails and other prominent ones where people will notice. And don't forget to add a powerful call to action.

Strategy #3 - Ask for Referrals!

One more underused method to build your email list is to directly ask for referrals. As simple as that may sound, it works. Adding a signature link in your email that asks the person receiving the email to recommend others is a very easy way to spread the word. However, in order for this to work effectively, your content, whether it is your newsletter or a blog post, needs to be high quality and worth recommending.

Alternatively, you can work with other newsletter publishers or marketers in your niche, to exchange the "Thank You" Page. In other words, use the space on your Thank You page to help recommend someone's newsletter so that they can do the same for you. It's just referring one another and working on a joint venture for each others benefit. This tactic is popularly known as "co-registration" and can add up subscribers to your list quickly and easily.

Strategy #4 - The Not So Common Free Reports

As you probably already know the most common (yet effective) way to build your list is to offer a free report in exchange of a name and an email address.

But it is sometimes a good idea to reverse the process. You can let people download your report directly, without having to subscribe to your list. Confused? Don't be.

What you'll actually be doing here is, including a link back to your opt-in page in the report itself, so that people who find the information interesting can sign up to get more free info. Nowadays more and more people are becoming cautious when it comes to giving out their contact information. With this tactic they will feel safe and it will be easy for them to decide on it. If you provide good quality information in your report, it builds a sense of trust with the new visitor and increases the chances of him opting in to your list.

Strategy #5 - Ad Swaps and Solo Ads

If you can't wait to build your list and want to speed up the process, then a good idea would be to get into Ad Swaps or buy Solo Ads. There are many good, quality ad swap communities on the web that you can use for your list building purposes, which skyrocket your subscribers number. All you need to do is find a marketer who is in the same market as you are and directly approach him asking for an ad swap, and if he says yes, send him the ad copy that you want him to shoot out to his list of subscribers. Your joint venture partner will then give you his ad to send out to your list. Then you just need to get decided on a time and date when you both will be sending out each others ad and that's about it. The more ad swap partners you work with, the bigger your list will grow; it's as simple as that.

The problem with this approach is that you need to find trustful partners - there is a service called Safe Swaps that does almost all the work for you.

With Solo Ads you don't need to send someone's ad to your list - but this comes with a price and it is often in the several hundreds dollars.

Bonus - A Mistake You Should Stay Away From

Many marketers who are just starting with the list building game make an assumption that they can build an email list in their target market and do nothing. Then, one fine day, they wake up and send their list over-hyped sales pitch. That is a recipe for disaster...

Yes, you do mean business when you're building a list but you also need to learn to respect your subscribers, and build a strong relationship with them.

This simply means staying in touch with them by providing quality information and useful recommendations. Don't treat them like if they were stupid people - they are not.

These are some of the strategies I wanted to share with you... If you have any question, or if something is unclear, don't hesitate to ask...