Opt-in email lists are a great way to earn money. In fact, it's so important for online marketing that you'll hear people say that "the money is in the list" over and over again. They say this because it's true. If you really want to make passive income, regardless of whether you sell products, services or both, you can make enormous amounts of money by having an active opt-in email list.
Email marketing is a type of direct marketing that is almost like direct mail – with one major and wonderful difference. With email you are marketing to people who have asked for the information that you have to offer. They asked for it when they opted in or agreed to receive your marketing messages via their email inbox. Plus, with the advent of mobile technology, you're literally right in your audience's hands 24/7.
To allow your audience to opt in, your email marketing software such as Aweber.com will give you the code to place a form on your website, blog or social media accounts. The software then automatically sends them an email that requires an action for them to approve (opt in) receiving email messages from you and your company. So, they sign up at one point on your website, blog or social media – maybe to receive a free eBook or report, and then they receive an email asking for approval. They approve it by performing some action, then they receive their freebie, and finally they are opted in on your email list.
When any visitor comes to your website, blog or social media account, there is great potential for them to never come back. Most people do not remember how or why they found a certain website and rarely come back after the first visit without some sort of reminder. One of the ways you can remind people to come back and purchase your offerings is to get them to sign up for your email list.
Gain Control Over Your Audience – When someone randomly visits your website, you have about seven seconds to impress them. Most people simply will not buy anything the first time they see your website and your product offerings. They'll need more exposure, but more than likely without getting them on your email list they won't ever find you or think of you again. When they sign up for your email list, you have control over them hearing many times about your products, services, blog and website.
More Direct Marketing Opportunities – When you have someone on your email list, they've opted in to allow you to market your products and services directly to them. They've already given you a vote of confidence and shown some measure of trust in you to sign up for your email list. There is no other more direct way today to market to consumers, and email marketing still works better than any other type of online marketing (and some would argue offline marketing as well).
New Engagement Opportunities – With having your client's or future client's email address at hand, you are more able to engage with your target audience. You can survey them, ask questions and get answers that enable you to create even better products and services that will make them feel as if you read their mind.
The fact is, without an opt-in email list that you are actively building and making money from, you are leaving opportunity and money on the table. If you're serious about building a business, whether on line or off line, it's important to start building an email list today.
There are many different types of products and services which you can promote through email marketing. The important thing is not to mix up your lists, and to always send only targeted information to each list. Assuming the information is targeted to those who have signed up, you can promote your services, products and content as well as affiliate products and services to your email list subscribers.
Content – When you post a new blog, an article someplace, even off-line content or press releases, or you want your audience to see interesting content that you've curated, it's important to always promote it to those who have opted in to your email list. Promote it by introducing it, then linking to your website or blog for them to read more.
Affiliate Products and/or Services – If there are products or services that your subscribers need, meaning it solves a problem for them (whether it's your personal product or not), you should promote them on your email lists to your subscribers. As long as you are targeting, and writing creative and interesting emails, your audience will be happy to get your recommendations for solving their problems.
Your Own Products and/or Services – If you create your own products and offer services that your audience needs to solve their problems, you should most definitely be promoting them through your email lists. A great way to do it is to write a blog post about it, then promote the blog post in your email which introduces the problem with offers of solutions for those who click through.
Earning money through product, service and content promotion is an important part of email marketing, and it's the main reason to build an opt-in email list full of targeted subscribers who want and need the things that you promote. To not use it to promote your content, products, affiliate products and services would be a waste of the email list. However, do be sure that you only promote things that really solve their problems and are of interest to those who signed up.
One of the best things about having a targeted opt-in email list is that it's like money in the bank. You can literally give yourself a raise whenever you send a new email to your list by promoting a needed product or service. If you have targeted your list well, you will always have at least 2 to 3 percent response rate for a well-targeted offer.
Create an Autoresponder Series – If you have something to promote (either your own product or an affiliate product), you can create a 7- to 10-day autoresponder series that not only promotes the item, but also educates the reader about the problem that the product solves. The emails should be valuable whether or not the reader clicks through and purchases the item, because that value will show them that the paid item will be even more important than the free helpful emails they are now receiving.
Promote Targeted Affiliate Products – There are so many great products that other people have created that you can promote, so it's very easy to get carried away and move from the scope of your niche. But, that is a huge mistake. Your readers will become complacent and confused. Only promote affiliate products that are highly targeted to your subscribers, that you know to be useful, and that you would tell your mom to use if she was your target audience.
Promote Your Own Products – Create products yourself that solve your audience's problems. You can figure out what problems they have by asking them questions, as well as reading what they say and ask about on forums and groups in which they participate. Anytime someone has a question that you know how to solve, it can become a potential product for you to promote to your email list.
In addition, don't forget that you can also make money in interesting ways via your email list, such as by advertising for others. Don't forget to use every space available too, such as your thank you page. Use your imagination and create every email you send to your list with purpose. Know what you are promoting and why you are promoting it. Also, know enough about the product and creator of the product that you can tell your audience what's in it for them and how it solves their problems better than another product.