Marketing

MARKETING

How To Harvest Online Mailing Lists From Your Web Site Without Spamming

Build Your Customer List By Inviting Them To Keep in Touch With You

by Michael Declan Dunn

The recent controversy over spam (unsolicited email) has convinced many people that they should not build email mailing lists.

Email mailing lists are the center of many profitable sites for one reason: people choose to be on the list. How do you create a list like this and turn your visitors into customers?

The secret is in the tradition of direct-response marketing. On first contact, it is unlikely that people will buy what you are offering online. It is up to you to make sure that contact is maintained, so you can develop credibility and slowly convince them to become your customers. This is commonly referred to as an "Opt In" mailing list, because the customer takes the action to be included on your list.

One of the best ways I have found to achieve this is by using your site as a means to develop ongoing contact, and building your customer base. You are not just offering a product or service; you are offering them a reason to keep in touch with you. This is a normal sales cycle and can be enhanced by using the following methods:

1. Establish as many points of contact possible on your home page.

Never expect visitors to return to your Web site. Bank on the fact that they will never return. Use your home page as a place to generate emails, phone calls, faxes, and inquiries. Use your autoresponders wisely; get them set up to answer a basic guestbook ("Tell Us Why You Visited"), surveys, sales letters, special announcements, mailing lists, and contests. The more ways you give them to contact you, the better your chances are for understanding who is visiting. Gathering email addresses is really the name of the game.

2. Place your offer where people will notice it.

A Web site has a few hot spots which will literally triple your response rates if you use them right. The screen a visitor looks at is wider than it is tall. If you want a hint, take a look at the computer interfaces on the two most popular machines, Windows and Macintosh. Most of the places to click on are located on the top and bottom of the screen; the left-hand margin in particular is a favorite place to put your initial offers on a Web site. Both place all the action points, the points for people to click, in the frame of the screen. The hottest spot to put your words is the upper left-hand corner. People who read English read left to right. Their eyes are naturally drawn to the upper left-hand corner. Place your first point of contact in the upper left-hand corner, and develop your important sections down the left-hand side. Use the bottom of your screen as well, especially the lower right-hand corner. This is where their eyes scan.

A survey found that responses to banners placed at the lower right-hand corner of the screen increased by 200+% over banners located in the middle of the screen. Bank on years of experience and put your headlines on top, on the left-hand side, and toward the bottom of your screen. Use the middle of the screen for graphics and for listings of areas to visit in your Web site, as well as more headlines.

3. Ten percent of visitors will explore your site. Give them enough, but not too much.

You will find that people visit about 20% of your entire site, and ignore the rest. This is normal. People will spend about seven minutes at a successful business site. For chats, games, entertainment, and high-priced news media, these rules may differ. But few people can afford to play that high-risk, low-return game. If you focus on updating your site and making it fancy, you will lose marketing time. You will also be out of business quickly. Give them enough information to make the sale, and follow up via traditional means as well. Telemarketing is an excellent tool to use with a Web site. After all, the Web revolves around different ways to use the phone.

Be careful about adding to visitors' information overload; many sites throw tons of information up, thinking it builds credibility. Quality, not quantity, is what will impress your customers. After all, in a recent survey 73% of people contacted said their lives were "insanely busy." Overwhelming them with content and too many links is a sure way to burn out your audience on first contact.

Make it simple and easy to work with you by choosing enough content, but not relying on it to close your sale. Like most consumers, we all need a bit of time and convincing before we will work with you.

4. Use Web pages as optional entry points.

You can use more than your home page to get people exploring. If you want to promote a specific product, you can direct them to that page. Then give them a place to contact you and make it clear how they can explore further. Hint: Include many links on your home page, but limit the links on other pages. Links are choices. Get them to focus on your message, then get them to your home page, your table of contents, and to your order page.

5. Utilize direct response techniques.

On first contact, it is unlikely that anyone will buy what you have to offer. You need to give people something of value for no money and little effort. Examples of this include the following:

* Coupon they can print out or email to you via a form. A dentist gives people the same kit (dental floss, toothbrush, information) that he does online. He uses the coupon to generate a response.

* Free report. Find something special, issues, news, special announcements, and use it to enhance your product sales. For example, "The Ten Biggest Rip-Offs Chiropractors Pull" would be an excellent report to answer an objection to someone's chiropractor services.

* Free online newsletter. Some people call these e-zines, but basically you distribute a 1-2 page document every few weeks with information and your advertising.

* Bonus reserved for you. Create a specific page for people you are marketing to. Give them a page tailored only to your specific offer. Example: A Web Greeting Card delivered online for a specific season, like a Christmas Card.

* Forms to ask questions and get people onto your list. A form is quite simple. It is where you type in information on the screen. This will dramatically increase your responses over a simple link where they email you. Forms make people think you are working for them by listening and giving them space on your page to respond.

6. Create a dialogue, a mastermind group.

A mastermind group are people gathering to learn, brainstorm, and take their ideas to the next level. If you can create great interest in discussion, you will gain high traffic and advertising revenue will become a reality. Get them talking and you become the expert.

The real goal to building your customer list is traditional. Build loyalty and become an important part of your customer's business by helping them understand why to work with you.

Don't make them work hard; your Web site is really the first step in the sales process. Following up, and keeping in contact, is where success comes in.

Michael Declan Dunn is a Web publisher/trainer/designer online with a newsletter called The Web Letter . Stop by his other Web site, A Cybrary of the Holocaust .