If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that said, well, I'd already have a fortune! :-)



However "broken-recordish" it may sound, it is a truthful statement. The fortune REALLY IS in the list.

Fact is, if you possess the knowledge of how to grow and profit from opt-in lists, you can pretty much write your own ticket.

And, if you'll read the remainder of this article, I'll pass that knowledge right on to ya.

It comes down to getting folks to do four things...

1. REQUEST. First things first, you need to convince people to "opt-in" to your list. That is, get them to join your list of their own free will.

Usually, this involves giving away a mini-course, report or newsletter from your web site. All you need is..

- An Attention Grabbing Title. (I could have chosen "4 Keys to Successful Email Promotions" for this article, but is that as attention-grabbing as "How to Pull in As Much Profit As Your Wallet Will Hold From Opt-In Lists"?)

- A Handful of Bulleted Benefits. (A short list of 4-6 desirable things subscribers will learn if they join your list. Think "what's in it for me?")

- An Opt-In Submission Form. (Your autoresponder system will provide this for you.)

NOTE: The BEST way to get folks to join is to embed the above mentioned items DIRECTLY in the most prominent place you have your site visitors' attention. Usually this is 3-5 paragraphs into your sales letter or 1/3 of the way into an ezine article.

2. RECEIVE. After visitors to your site have "requested" information by joining your list, it's critical that your emails be delivered successfully to their inbox. With all of the filters in place (among other hazards) this can be quite a chore.

One thing you'll want to do for certain is check your SPAM rating to make certain it's in an acceptable range. Again, most of the better autoresponder services offer this feature for you.

You can also do things like...

- Get your subscribers to "approve" mailings from you.

- Authenticate yourself as a legitimate mailer when you receive a "response challenge" from protection services such as Spam Arrest.

- Use alternative formats of your email messages such as "downloadable email messages" in PDF format.

3. READ. When your emails successfully arrive at the inboxes of your subscribers, another task awaits - getting them to actually open your message and read it.

This is going to depend upon your "subject line". It is paramount that your subject line be intriguing enough to convince your readers to stop what they are doing and take a look inside.

One way to get this done is to create a swipe file of email subject lines that have convinced YOU to read the messages and then modify those subject lines for your own use.

Ex. I received an email that had the subject line of "This affiliate tip is almost too easy" that caught my attention and forced me to read the associated message.

This subject line could easily be used in a variety of different niches...

- This dieting tip is almost too easy

- This time management tip is almost too easy

- This marriage saving tip is almost too easy

4. RESPOND. When you have convinced your subscribers to open your email message and read its contents, the only remaining "task" is to get them to respond.

You want them to take action. Click a link. Go somewhere. Ultimately, spend money with you.

The only way you'll be able to do this is follow a simple catch phrase I've been teaching for years: "useful, but incomplete".

It simply means this: your messages must provide content that is useful to your subscribers (otherwise, they'll unsubscribe faster than you can say "oops"!), but is also "incomplete" in that there is some additional offer that could enhance or maximize that content.

Ex. You might write an article that shares "7 Ways to Profit With Autoresponders" to send to your list. That's "useful" information to those who are interested in that particular topic. It's also "incomplete" because they need an autoresponder service to put the information into action. That's your cue to promote your recommended autoresponder service.

See how it works?

If you want to pad your wallet with profits by using opt-in lists, this is how you do it:

Get people to do these four things

- Request

- Receive

- Read

- Respond

This is a system that has never failed, will never fail. I've used it. Others have used it.

Now, it's your turn to use it.