I find it odd that half of the Review type Affiliate pages I see do not try to collect Email Optins…

Are you collecting Emails? If not, WHY NOT? They say “the money’s in the list”, and I agree. That doesn’t mean that you have to sell them anything, this means that you can review products and let your readers choose. Although, most of the email lists I’m subscribed to are definitely NOT worth being signed up for.

As a matter of fact, the reason I AM signed up to so many is simply to keep up to date with some information about certain markets. From Internet Marketing all the way down to Health and Fitness. I’m always trying to keep my eyes and ears open for anything “sudden” in the market.

But, although that’s great… it’s also interesting to see how some people SELL, SELL, SELL and never give.

I, for one, do not agree with 98% (yes, I just made that number up) of the Email marketers out there. Most of these people go insane trying to push the newest, latest fads and products. This is a quick way to get a lot of unsubscribers!

So, here is my view on all of this. The good thing is - I’m not a professional Email Marketer. I say this because:

a) You don’t have to pay for this information… and…

b) I’m not going to give you B.S. information that will ruin your list…

I remember when Frank Kern’s Mass Control was growing like Wildfire. Everyone was going crazy about this product and acting like it was something new... ha. I think Frank Kern is an awesome Marketer, but the information that was being “sold” through his videos seemed to be VERY basic. But, maybe that was the point? He was surely going to charge an arm and a leg for this information, right?

I know he did…

But the basics can be found all over the net. I just don’t think that you need to pay for expensive “basic training”, to learn Email Marketing, as an Affiliate Marketer.

I used to sell cars a few years back. While I wasn’t the best salesman, I knew how to sell the right way… MY WAY! My Sales Managers didn’t believe I was right, but I did…and so did my customers. I treated them as humans, not commissions. This is very important in the long run. I watched my grandfather make a VERY nice living in a little town called Coweta, Oklahoma. He owned his own Used Car lot for over 50 years and did very well for himself. Why? Because he didn’t try to sell every single person in town… he didn’t try to sell every person who walked on his lot, either! What my grandfather DID do was create massive rapport!

Rapport is the main factor in any sales environment… I don’t care if it’s online of off! But most Internet Marketers THINK they create Rapport by giving away their cheap, cheesy “free reports”. These reports are simply given away for free in hopes that they get something in return… HOW IS THAT BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP?

It’s not…

My list for this blog is not the fastest growing list, nor is it the most populated. Actually, the list is very small. But I tend to get a lot of positive feedback from those list readers because I only let them know of the absolute best, cheapest products that I KNOW work, because I’ve used them… and how often do I let them know about these products? Very rarely. Actually, my readers can tell you that I’m sending free information that is actually USEFUL to them. I will always do that because I know that quality is MUCH better than Quantity. I have a lot of people on one of my lists for a certain health product. But the question is… does it make me money in the end? Not really. The quality isn’t as good, but they’re also looking for very specific information that’s not easy to give out without completely destroying the list.

I tend to think about what I, and most other people, would appreciate… Now I know there’s a lot of people who will tell you “don’t worry about what YOU think, worry about what OTHER people think”. Well, in this case, it’s OK to think about what YOU would want… because it’s all about the type of person you are.

A lot of Internet Marketers are pure Spammers. I cannot stand people who send out more than 4-5 emails a week. It’s abusive of the system they work with. It’s disrespectful, in my eyes, as well. They tend to act like everything I absolutely could not stand in the Car Business. Someone runs up on the car lot? That’s an “up” and you better be all over that and make sure they don’t leave without the Sales Manager talking to them!

That’s a terrible way to run a business, in my opinion. It’s “do or die”, “now or never” in their eyes. I don’t care if Affiliate Marketing died in 10 years (which it will not)… I think about gaining the trust and respect of the other human being. I don’t see a walking paycheck.

Now… if you don’t agree with me, so be it. You can stop reading now and go check out the latest hyped up door to door salesman working to sell a box of steaks “fresh out of the freezer from the back of the truck!”.

Each Landing page or Website you run should have an optin form, in my opinion. I don’t care what it is… have a way they can optin, somewhere? If you’re spending money or time to get Sales - you need to “get the information of those who stopped by”. In the Car Business, this information was used for Follow Ups…

Now, in the Car Business, you were taught to constantly contact these people and SELL, SELL, SELL. GET THEM BACK HERE! (Sales Manager talking, of course)

My way was to talk to them and ask if I could be of Assistance in their research. If they came to my lot but they were looking for a completely DIFFERENT MAKE (If I were selling Fords and they wanted a Toyota), I would simply call a local Toyota dealership (right after hanging up the phone with the customer) and establish a relationship with another NEW sales person who would split a deal with me (think of another Affiliate Program). I never felt that I could trust one of the Veterans… (in this case, we’re speaking of the “Gurus” of Internet Marketing). I would say that at least half of the time, I made extra cash! Sure, I could have FORCED a Sale here and there, but I wouldn’t have felt right.

In the end… I had a ton of happy customers! I made a lot of referrals to other Sales people and I was sent referrals right back. Customers who didn’t even buy from me would send referrals… those that DID buy from me sent me referrals, as well.

I had built my own little business within another business! Sure, a lot of Sales people do this, but how many?

So… get started with collecting your Optin Emails, right away!

There’s 2 programs I’ve used for Email Marketing. They are:

Aweber.com and GetResponse.com

All you need to do is sign up with a Company such as Aweber or GetResponse and setup your first List. You can find tutorials and guides on both programs. Once you’ve setup your first list, you simply create a Web Form and then get the code for it. Again, all of this is explained in their Tutorials and/or Guides.

When you get the code for the List, simply insert it into the proper place on the site. In Aweber, you’re given the choice of JavaScript OR HTML. Using HTML is the easiest in my eyes, as you can easily edit it and place it in the right spot with fewer problems. You can also edit the Headline that you want to use, right on the spot.

Try to use the most powerful, yet attractive (and enticing) headline that you can possibly use. You’re trying to get them to subscribe here!

Make sure that you place a small piece of text that explains that you will not rent, sell, spam, etc. It does help from my personal tests that I’ve performed!

I also suggest creating something worth signing up for… a “Special Report” (PLEASE make this USEFUL and not junk!), an Ebook, Videos, etc. Give them a 30 day Training program… 7 tips, etc. Numbers work very well for headlines. If you choose to give your subscribers a “# of days” type email setup, make sure you setup an auto-responder that will send out a daily email to them for each tutorial, tip, etc.

Another useful tip would to  create 3D Covers for your ebook or report by using a program such as CoverActionPro.com … this is an excellent set of tools that allows you to quickly and easily make professional looking “covers” for your books, etc. I love this product and I am using it on a daily basis for Covers of my free give aways to give me a more “professional” look. It’s awesome… definitely check it out!

By using a 3D Cover, you can expect to increase your optin rate by a very good margin.

Once you’ve got everything up and running - you need to make sure things are working properly. Sign up for your own list and take notes of everything you see. Is the Thank You page too bland? Create your own! Have your Thank you page give more information, such as a certain product review! I DO NOT suggest placing a download link on this page as you want them to click on the confirmation link to “double-optin” to your list. This leaves you with less subscribers in the end.

Check out how your emails are delivered… do they look appealing? What could make them look better and more trustworthy? Change everything you can immediately before it becomes too late. You’ll thank yourself later!

Work on everything now and remember how you did it, along with the notes you’re taking.

BE SURE that your messages are ALL relevant… remember: if they came for Nutritional information for Athletes, they DO NOT want to be given information on High Blood pressure remedies or Cures for Arthritis. They’re looking for RELEVANT information, so give them what they came for.

You made them a promise to provide them with something free… be sure that they get this information or you will quickly lose their trust!

Make sure that you do not start promoting any products before you give them at least 5 GOOD emails. Be honest with them and show them that you’re a trustworthy person and you will get the same respect back to you. Be consistent with good information and try to do your best to send out friendly, personal messages.

Another mistake a lot of people make is using a Reply email that they will never check… big mistake! Use an email that you will check on a daily basis, or forward the messages to another email you WILL check. People want to speak to a real person if they have questions or problems. Be there for them or you will lose them… I’ve had this problem and lost about 10% of my optins that I got within 2-3 days. I learned quickly, thankfully!

Follow up with your Subscribers and make sure things are going good… make sure they understand whatever it is that you sent them already. Create Videos for them to view or new ebooks they can read. Just show them that you care!

REMEMBER: THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT JUST COMMISSION CHECKS! They can be long term sales if you treat them as human beings and treat them with respect.

Make sure that you’re creating optin lists for every page that you possibly can. Of course, you cannot do this for Hubpages, Squidoo Lenses, etc… but for the pages that you host, you can!

I hope that you learn from this and take advantage of the power of an email list! (or LISTS!)