5 Ways to Help Build a List #30DSM – Day 13: 30 Days of Social Media

In today’s lesson Wendy Moore of Savvy Web Women offers five ways for you to build your list of potential clients as well as tips after each point so that you can implement the key ideas. I have also added some resources and links to the bottom of today’s lesson.  Suzi.

There are many, low or no cost ways you can easily use to help build a list of loyal customers for your website or blog.  Start with just one and build from there.

1. Offer a free newsletter.

The newsletter method is very effective in building your list especially if it contains valuable information that people can use in their business. Sharing topics, useful tips and strategies on your area of expertise will make your newsletter attractive to people.  Your aim is to get your newsletter opened – make it interesting!

Social Media tip:  Automate! Use a system to send out your newsletter, such as www.savvywebmail.com, that automatically posts your newsletter to your Twitter profile.

2. Include a subscription form.

You can add visitors to your website to your list through getting them to subscribe.  This is done by providing a form on your website or blog where visitors can register their name and email address in exchange for receiving your newsletter for free. Include a short description of what your newsletter is about and the benefit of signing up.

Social Media tip:  On some sites, such as Facebook, you can add your website form right onto your social media profile.

3. Write an eBook, record a video or audio.

Everyone loves free stuff.  So why not offer a special bonus as a free gift to anyone that subscribes to your newsletter?

An eBook need not be very detailed or even professionally written. You can just include a compilation of some of your best articles or interviews you may have given.  Perhaps you’ve recorded a teleseminar about your topic – these make a great audio download.  Get the call transcribed and you have an instant eBook to offer.  A free gift is a great way to reward loyal subscribers and also to attract new ones.

Social Media tip: Upload your videos to YouTube first, then share them by embedding the link or code in your website or blog.

4. Ensure quality content.

Quality is what most visitors look for in the information (articles, blog posts, etc.) that they read.  Many people are time poor, so make sure you offer quality content – information that is useful, interesting to read or that solves a particular problem for the visitor.  Your aim is to encourage people to return to your website so keep your content fresh and updated.

Social Media tip: Don’t have a blog yet? Create a Fans page in Facebook or Group in LinkedIn and share your content online.

5. Post engaging articles.

Providing well written and interesting articles is one surefire way of attracting people. You can post articles to your own site, but make sure you take advantage of the many free article directories around the globe and also social media sites, such as Facebook.  Not only will this expose your articles to a far bigger audience, you provide other people with the opportunity to syndicate your articles on their blog or website, which helps drive valuable traffic back to you and your business, all for free.

Social Media tip: Make it easy to follow you! Add a link to your blog or website so people can syndicate your articles with a simple mouse click.  Great content for them, great exposure for you.

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Wendy Moore is founder of www.savvywebwomen.com and committed to showing women everywhere how to be internet savvy.  Wendy made it to the very top of the corporate IT world, managing multi-million dollar budgets, before gut-wrenching stress demanded she reappraise her life and follow her true passion.

With over 14 years experience in the Information Technology industry, Wendy now educates, empowers and inspires others and says, “It’s all about education and gaining from other’s experiences. I’m passionate about helping women in small business better understand and utilise the amazing power of the internet.  If you could make money without seeing a single client, how would getting your time back change your life?”

 You can learn more about Wendy and her programs and products at her website,  www.savvywebwomen.com.

TODAY’S TIP
Can you make use of any one of these five ways to start to increase the number of potential customers you are adding to your prospects list? Which one?

A word about lists – By Suzi Dafnis
As someone who has had hundreds of thousands of names and details on the databases of various companies I’ve owned I am very big on protecting the privacy of those who entrust me with their details.

While some people freely exchange details with others in joint venture arrangements, depending on why, and under what circumstances, someone has given you permission to use their name, I suggest you consider how you use their details.

Permission to email them a newsletter is not blanket permission to send them information about unrelated items.

Always treat their details with the privacy and respect they deserve.

If you haven’t read it, get a copy of Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing book. While now a few years old, it’s still very relevant and a must for marketers.

ADDITONAL TIPS AND RESOURCES:

Offer a free newsletter
Facebook: Include a link (see this sample on the Sydney Writer’s Centre Facebook page) to have people join your newsletter.
Twitter: Include a link in a Twitter post directing people to a form to complete to sign up.
Blog: Include a widget (powered by an email list management company like aWeber). This widget on the main page of this blog was installed this way too.

Include a Subscription Form
Post a link to your website on any of the social networks to drive people to your site. Offer a reason to exchange their name for a bonus. This example here of the ‘free report’ from Social Media Myth is a good example.

Write an eBook, add video or audio
Wendy makes it sounds easy (and it is…), but if you’ve never done it before writing an eBook is a whole subject in itself, and beyond the scope of 30 Days of Social Media. However, here are some tools for implementation if you want to ‘have a go’.

An ebook can be as simple as a PDF version of a document created (and well laid out) in Microsoft Word. Or, you can look at tools like blurb.com to create ebooks from blog posts as well as other written docs. I also recommend: How to Write and Publish your own eBook in 7 Days.

Some easy tools for recording video or audio. A few of my Mac favourites are:

• iPhone apps Audioboo and Voice Memos
• Garage band, or using the camera right in your laptop and loading to YouTube
• Quicktime player

Google and find apps to suit your needs.

Offer Quality Content
Quality content is what makes or breaks you when it comes to having people know, like and trust you. Ensure your content is relevant to your audience and provides what they are looking for i.e. is it bite-size chunks and tips, links to resources, editorial pieces that are indepth and comprehensive?

I highly recommend if you’re creating your own written content taking a course on how to write for the web. Checkout Sydney Writer’s Centre for some of their courses.