One of the best ways to build a list that you can sell to online is to use a squeeze page. This is a page that simply takes visitor's names and information and loads them into your autoresponder. From there you can build a relationship with your list and pitch products that they will hopefully want to buy.
But the first step is to actually get those visitors to give up their name and email addresses. SPAM is a big problem, and many people are leery of giving up their information unless you are offering them something that they really want. You can't just offer them any old thing and hope they will sign up. You have to make your offer stand apart and truly be amazing.
How Big Will Your Offer Be?
Some marketers who are just starting out will make the mistake of thinking that a big offer is automatically a good offer. This is far from the truth, and anyone who has been researching building a business online has seen their share of crappy products and offers. When it comes to your free offer quality definitely comes over quantity. Remember, this is how you are making your first impression on your list. If what you provide is good, people will stay on your list and buy from you in the future. If you only offer low-quality products you will likely lose subscribers as soon as you get them.
If you are new to this, don't be afraid to keep your offer to a modest size if that is what you are comfortable with - put a few high-quality items together and you should have a convincing offer.
As time goes on you will better learn what works and you can expand your offers from there if needed.
Keep the Offer Relevant
You need to make sure that whatever you are offering to your subscribers is relevant to the niche you are in. If you are in the green living niche, an offer comprised of dog training and foreclosure information will not convince visitors to sign up on your list. This may sound dumb, but you might be surprised at how often marketers just toss whatever they happen to have into an offer, even when it makes no sense.
Stick closely to your niche when you are creating your offer and you will see many more people signing up to your list.
Creating Your Offer
There are a couple ways you can go about making your free offer. One option is to gather together products that have already been created by others and package them together. By getting products with PLR or resell rights you can get great items without a lot of investment. You could also create the products yourself, which is great if you know how to go about it. The final option is to outsource the creation of the product, which can be expensive, but you know you are getting a high-quality item that nobody else has.
All of these options have pros and cons, such as cost, uniqueness, and time invested. One isn't better than the others, so you will just need to decide which method is best for you and the kind of list that you are building.
Putting together a killer free offer is something that will take some time the first few times you do it. But once you have created a few offers and gotten people onto your lists, it will get easier and easier. Soon you'll be putting offers together like a pro.