List building on Your Blog – A Guest Post By Donna Merrill

Philip Verghese 'Ariel'

List building on Your Blog A Guest Post By Donna

I’m so glad to introduce Donna Merrill my Guest Author today.

I’ve known Donna for quite a while now, she has been a long time pro blogger who always gives such great information to her readers.
I visit her blog at DONNAMERRILTRIB.COM every chance I get to stay up to date on the cutting edge of the blogging world.

I also hear great things from people who have coached with her. She seems to have a knack for helping people get past those nagging obstacles that hold them back.

I know she has also had a professional practice as an intuitive consultant for many years, so I guess it’s no surprise she knows how to help people move forward in their lives.

In this article, I’ve asked Donna to share some of her list-building expertise. It’s the heart of growing your online business, and she is pretty passionate about helping her clients and readers get this part of their business right.

So, enjoy some great information from a top blogger and marketer, written in a style that is uniquely hers.

Thank you so much Donna for accepting my request to be a Guest Author here @Philipscom  Indeed, I am honored to have you on our page.
May you have a great time of sharing and caring fellow bloggers around the world.
Best Regards

For Philipscom

Philip Verghese Ariel

Over to Donna…

List building on Your Blog A Guest Post By Donna

List building on your blog, it turns out, is the single most important thing you can do.

I should say, it’s the most important thing to do if you’re trying to build a business with your blog.

It’s the most important thing to do if you want to monetize your blog.

It’s the most important thing to do if you are trying to brand yourself as a leader, authority or expert.

It’s the most important thing to do if you if you’re trying to build a relationship with your followers.

Bottom line… list building is the single most important thing you can do with your blog.

Why List Building Above All?

Well, let’s see.

What better way is there to accomplish all the things listed above on your blog?

How about promotional sidebar banners?

I think just about any blogger, you can find (maybe you, too) puts promotional banners on their blog’s sidebar before they do anything else.

The results typically turn out to be pretty disappointing though, don’t they?

The only ways that sidebar banners amount to a decent amount of sales in most cases is

1. The blogger is a highly acclaimed expert in his niche, like in the case of “The Dog Whisperer’s” blog (Cesar’s Way), or
2. The blog is a micro niche site that focuses very tightly on one single purpose (like reviewing photography equipment).

Other bloggers feature lots of CPA (cost per action) or rotating commercial links, including Google Adsense.

Ad links, though, require a huge traffic flow. If your blog is getting a huge traffic flow, instead of going after nickel and dime, one-off ad revenue, you should be converting your visitors into subscribers to your list.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use ad links, too, but it does mean that you should not (in my opinion) consider them above list building. Think of them simply as a supplemental monetization strategy.

Technology For List Building

Technology is great for list building.

There are many WordPress plugins and options softwares that help you grab the attention of your readers.

While most people get annoyed by “pop ups” that tell people to subscribe to your list for this or that reason, they are effective.

Most bloggers I know swear by the popups that offer a free ebook or some such thing, to entice their readers to opt in (subscribe) to their email list.

Pop ups can slide up, splash down, shake around or anything else. They can be set to be activated at certain time intervals, or can even be automatically tripped by an “intent action” like trying to exit the blog.

Exit pops, in fact, seem to be one of the most popular forms of this technology.

They basically prompt your reader to “join my list” before leaving your blog. As usual, this prompt needs to be accompanied by an “ethical bribe” (also called a “lead magnet”) like “join my list to get my free video demonstration.”

There are plenty of places to buy this technology, and some is free. Just do a search for something like “best opt-in form software.” You’ll find plenty of good resources.

In addition to pop ups, you might also like to explore the “Hello Bar” that is a static opt-in banner that sits at the top or bottom of your blog. Many bloggers like the hello bar because it doesn’t pop up, and so is less annoying.

Content For List Building 

I think the most effective way to build your list is to embed your opt-in offers within the content of your blog.

When you write a blog post, ask your readers to subscribe to your list to get more information about the topic you are writing about.

So, for instance, if you’re writing a blog post about the best ways to produce instructional videos, think about who will read that blog post.

Obviously, they will be people interested in developing video trainings.

So as you’re teaching them some good techniques to use, you add a link or even a form within the post itself that says something like… “Sign up here for my free ’10 Best Ways To Create A Video’ training.”

This is extremely effective because you’re not just asking somebody to join your list, you’re asking people you know are interested in video training to join your list.

That’s a very important distinction.

Once you get your blog reader to join your list, you have their permission to send them emails.

You’ll use emails to offer him/her products to buy, to continue to build a relationship, to further brand yourself as an expert and authority in video production.

That’s the best strategy for using your blog to build a loyal following, a solid customer base and a steady flow of sales.

Do you actively and strategically employ list building on your blog? How is it working for you?

I’d love to read your comments below.

-Donna Merrill

POST SCRIPT: THIS POST HAS BEEN MENTIONED IN THIS POST: HOW TO GET MORE COMMENTS…

Source: DonnaMerrilTribe

Pic Credit: Freedigitalphotos

The post List building on Your Blog – A Guest Post By Donna Merrill appeared first on Philipscom.