People are peculiar creatures. more alike in our thoughts and behavior than we like to admit. One thing that is true of most people, regardless of culture, and unique circumstances is that they like to know something that other people want to know. We also like to share that information.
It makes us look and feel smarter :-) It allows us to appear to have inside information and we like that. Not only do we like to share information, we like to steer our friends and family in the right direction. People share all kinds of information. They tell their neighbors which exterminator to use and which one does a shoddy job. They recommend the talented barber or hair stylist. The same traits are common among your subscribers.
They consider you a trusted expert, and a great source of products or services, or they wouldn't stay on your opt-in list. You need to find ways to take advantage of this human need to know what-is-what and the instinct to share useful information. Most people will share information willingly and without much incentive from you. However, providing a little incentive usually doesn't hurt.
Your first step is to convince your opt-in list subscribers that they really do have the inside track for success by being members of your list. There are about a million ways to tell people that they are smart and that by being members of your opt-in list proves it. Never miss the opportunity to share that compliment. Your next step is to get these smart subscribers to share your great ezine with their family and friends thus building your list. The easiest and simplest thing that you can do is to. ask them.
Ask them to pass along copies of your ezine or autoresponder messages, and include a link to your subscribe url at the bottom of each issue. That way, those who read "pass-along copies," and enjoy them, will know how to get more :-) You can also Offer incentives for referring new subscribers. I actually PAY my existing subscribers (on some lists) for referring others.
You can offer cash payments for new referrals, having them send the referrals to get something like a value-packed free report. Use an affiliate tracking system such as ProfitAutomation.com to automatically track referral commissions and then once a month, pay those commissions. If you want the paid referral system to be totally hands-free, set it up as an affiliate program using a script like Rapid Action Profits. With Rapid Action Profits, they would use a referral link to sell an inexpensive report, and when a referral gets the report they pay the referrer directly. The token fee for the report, is deposited directly to the referrer's Paypal account.
This is a very powerful way of using subscribers or customers to build a list of paying customers. Many people treasure a list built this way more because it's a list of PROVEN buyers. If you are not familiar with RAP, you can check it out at: http://TheRealSecrets.
com/RapidActionProfits/ You can see how I implemented using RAP with an ebook that I wrote called "Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires." I let my subscribers sell the ebook for $5 (a real bargain for their friends) but the payment goes directly to them, and it's paid INSTANTLY. Since they don't have to wait for Payments, it's a very powerful incentive for those with cashflow problems. You can see how I've implemented using "Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires" to incentivize subscribers to make referrals at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/ClickbankMillionaires/ Another powerful way to get your existing subscribers, and even just random website visitors, to make referrals is to use a tell-a-friend script on your site. Perhaps, tell your list that referring your ezine to 4-6 people will earn them a free gift, and set the form to forward them to that download once they've completed and submitted the form.
Don't base it on the number of people who actually sign up, but rather on them referring your list to their friends. Many of their referrals won't sign up, and you need to avoid creating frustration in existing readers who are trying to help you build your list. You can find good tell-a-friend scripts in many places.
The Rapid Action Profits script mentioned earlier even has a tell-a-friend script built in that allows customers and subscribers to make referrals right from your download pages. I've just given you a few quick and easy ways to leverage your existing list to grow your opt-in list even faster. The leverage comes from you simply getting existing subscribers to recommend you to their contacts.
You can do this with or without offering an incentive. Simple isn't it :-).
Willie Crawford is an Internet marketer with over 11 years of experience at generating record-breaking sales and massive email lists using viral marketing techniques. Rebrandable books created using Viral Document Toolkit are a favorite tool! See the demo video at: http://ViralDocumentToolkits.com
