It is not possible to build a successful list by merely putting a sign up invitation on your website. With the massive competition for people's time and money you need to create an irresistible incentive for them to give you their name and address. There are several highly successful methods to tempt them.



Exclusive and informative ebooks about your market's interests can be given away as gifts for signing up with your list. Reports about specific products or processes that teach valuable lessons to aid your customer also increase the number of people willing to sign up for your opt-in list. If your market uses such things, a helpful software program that makes their work easier is always welcome.

Another great way to gain those needed opt-in addresses is to offer membership in a special members only area where they are provided with extra services or information. By making them feel "special" they are more likely to continue allowing you to email them your offers. Providing quality information in a recurring emagazine or newsletter will keep your name familiar. Make sure to include the hint that they may want to forward the newsletter to other friends who may find it useful. Since many people keep the html turned off in their email accounts you would want to carry an online version of your newsletters.

While the popup window was originally a marketer's dream come true, it has been so overused and abused that it has become standard practice for people to automatically run software that will prevent them from showing. If you are still relying on popups for your address capture field then you are losing sales everyday. To replace the popup, more often people are now coding their sites with "alert boxes". This is a second field that appears over your webpage which should contain the information about the "special" offer and the address information data fields. There are many options for these boxes; some are static while others can be written to follow the viewer up and down the page as they scroll. Always make sure the alert box can be closed out so your original page can still be read.

Once you have them in your address book it is very important to keep them. As well as offering quality products or service it is a good idea to create interest channels of your clients. By keeping your list focused on the individuals interests and only sending to those who have specifically indicated their interest in a specific topic you will have fewer people unsubscribe because of too many emails off their topic or interest.

Make sure to offer your opt-in list only quality products or information. Once you have them, it will be your reputation that either keeps them and adds weight to your recommendations or bores them into hitting the unsubscribe link in your email.