By now, you all have heard the refrain, "The Money is in the List". If you haven't, it simply means the more people you have in your list of e-prospects, the more you can email more offers to, and make more money. And the major way to do this online is through a squeeze page, or lead capture page. Grab their name and email before heading to your main website where you do the selling.
But there is another way of accumulating names, or list building. One I've been doing for over 10 years, and that's through print ads. I mean newspapers, magazines, post cards, sales letters, flyers and the like. Yes, it does take a little longer and a few more dollars, but don't overlook this possibility. You can do this as a supplement to your online list building. I'm going to show you how to do this without spending a fortune. And rather quickly.
You Need A Mailing Address
First thing is to have an address for your prospects to reply to. Do you want hundreds of letters coming to your home? Concerned about nosy neighbors? Concerned about possible violations of zoning laws, home owner associations rules and apartment managers? Better to have an independent address. And if you should move to the other side of town, you can keep the same address. One, rent a PO Box at your post office. Or Two, rent a private mail box such as The UPS Store or similar. Check your yellow pages for mail receiving stores. They also accept packages from UPS and Fedex.
Publish Ads
Publish ads, either display or classified, in local weekly papers, Thrifty nickel, or Pennysavers. Postcards is another way. They can be printed quite cheaply at Vistaprint. Either mail them to people who mail you opportunity jobs or other opportunities; Or if you're short of funds, place them on vehicles in parking lots. In bad weather, use those multi-story parking lots downtown. Start collecting names into a database to continue your list building. People who participate in these chain letters are looking for a way to make money, but probably don't realize chain letters are illegal.
Offer a FREE Gift
As with a squeeze page, offer something free, usually a report in your AD, and charge $1 or 3 stamps to cover your postage costs. What to offer? The best is something you have written yourself, an original. That way there is no one else giving away or selling the same report. Don't have time to write one yourself? I have hundreds of reports, called Private Label Rights, which means you can legally copy and print to give away or sell. Drop me a line, and let me know what niche you are marketing. Is it pets, dating service, financial, real estate, etc. The report you give away should be related to the niche you are marketing. Most of these are either free or very low cost, less than $10.
Another way to create a unique report, if you don't want to write your own, is putting together several reports from sources, and taking a part from each to make one new one. That way it is still unique and not likely someone has an identical report or article.
Submit Your Article For Publication
Another method to help in your list building is submitting your article to print publications for them to publish. It's done online by submitting articles to places like EzineArticles.com or Goarticles.com. In print, it's called a press release sometimes. Submit to weeklies for publication, and if they do print it, will draw you a great deal of leads. And that is the name of the game.
When mailing, always send a self addressed envelope along to make it easy for your prospect to reply. Just don't put any postage on it, let them pay the postage if they are serious. Also, always ask for their email address, many do have one. Another way to add to your list building system. Vistaprint also prints envelopes.
Do a search on "Mail Order Publications" and you'll find dozens of publications that cater to mail order enthusiasts. Usually they are monthly publications. One nationwide service is Nationwide Newspapers. They work with weekly and monthly publications nationwide. You can run an ad in one city, or one state or the entire nation. You can reach them here: http://bit.ly/newspaperads Don't get carried away with advertising, as costs can add up quickly. Best to test different ads to see which works best. I don't want you to bust the budget with offline list building.
Here is a partial list of publications. Write to them for sample of their pubs. Send a couple of stamps or a buck to speed up your delivery.
• Sales Times KWP Press 3998 Hwy 62-412 Hardy AR 72542
• Liberty Printing POB 326-LWS Gold Hill, OR 97525
• Biz-ness Gazette POB 4225 Elkhart, IN 46514
• Mail Order Opportunities G&B Records POB 10150 Terra Bella, CA 93270
• Shore to Shore CHA Service POB 1980 Rogue River OR 97537
• Ben Frank's Almanac Kelly Co Box 655 Pinellas Park, FL 34664
• Popular Advertiser J. Kirkman 102 Arrowhead Dr Guyton, GA 31312
• Home Income Publication Group POB 399 Lubec, ME 04652
• Adams Publication HBM POB 71458 Ft Bragg, NC 28307
• The Business Gazette 44207 W Knauss St. Maricopa, AZ 85138
This is only a partial list. Many others will advertise in these publications. You can then get more sources of advertising. All of these will contribute to your list building.
Surveys
Another method of list building is using surveys. Just do a search on "survey software" on any search engine, and you'll get multiple sites for doing surveys, both online and offline. Some are offering free trials so you can see which one you like best. Surveys can be run of your customers to determine satisfaction and what else they may be interested in. Or run surveys both online and offline to find out what people want, then cater to their wants. Remember, you'll sell a lot more to what they WANT than to what they NEED!
Make you ads enticing. Offer a freebie. Create a great headline to attract their attention. Buy a copy of National Enquirer or other Tabloid to get ideas for headlines. This is a great way to supplement your list building and start increasing your income in addition to your online business.
In summary, there's not that much difference between online and off-line marketing. Follow the same basic rules and use common sense. Take the time to place your advertisements and keep a record of what ad is being placed in what publication. Also code your Ads, use a letter for each different ad. Example, PMB 248A and 248B, etc. It takes a little longer for results, but it can be very lucrative. Remember, there are still millions that do not go online, they still spend money.
Bill J Lyman c/o Data One Services 1732 S Congress Ave. PMB 248 Palm Springs FL 33461. Need a squeeze page: http://www.onlineebiz.com. You have permission to reprint this report online or offline without changes and you can add your link to this article.
Copyright © Bill Lyman 2010
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_J_Lyman
