This post is going to be short and to the point.

We received this question from a fresh faced newbie email marketer the other day.

How can I build an opt-in list (fast)? 

We see this question or variations of it all the time. People super-eager to kick-start their email marketing campaigns. Sometimes companies even ask us if we provide them with email subscriber lists (the answer to that one is no).

And in all the cases our answer to "How can I build a double opt-in email list - fast?" follows along the path to opt-in prosperity as mapped out below.

Continue Reading

The first time I ever used a "real incentive" to bribe subscribers onto my list was a couple of years back.

I had stumbled upon some tickets to an upcoming workshop being offered by a popular bestselling author. It was going to be a busy week for me and I realized that I wasn't going to be able to go to the event.

"Why not run a give-away contest on the blog?" was the idea that popped into my head.

So I did.

And my list size exploded.

And since the event was in a niche I was already working in, these new subscribers were a perfect match for my business at the time.

So maybe it's time for you to run a giveaway on your site.

You may be thinking that it's gonna be a complete waste of time and money.

Continue Reading

There's an art and science to creating high converting landing pages.

Every marketer out there has their own secret formula.

Some people use long form sales letters. Some use short. Some use video. Some don't use video at all. Some people create side-scrolling sales pages and some marketers let users scroll through pages and pages of info.

What we've learned over the years is that you have to find out what works best for YOU.

With that being said...

The nice people over at Quicksprout believe they've unlocked the secret to creating a high converting landing page. And they've distilled that wisdom into an informative infographic that you'll find below. Here's their 9 fundamental elements of a high converting landing page:

Continue Reading

When Derek Halpern hit the internet marketing scene with his Social Triggers site he completely blindsided everyone.

The IM Niche is one of the toughest markets to crack. But for Derek, he broke into it like a kid ripping into a pack of smarties. Going from relatively unknown blogger to doing keynotes for marketing conferences.

Derek is a bit of a rebel when it comes to most things – including how he grew his email list. Going from 0 – 15,000 subscribers in about 10 months.

And while most people are giving away eBooks, reports, whitepapers, webinars, coupons, giveaways etc to grow their list.

He’s doing something totally different.

And it’s working.

Continue Reading