“ Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all ” – Thomas Carlyle
Now, let’s talk about some of the tools you’re going to need to succeed with list building. There are a few different ones, but don’t be intimidated. Just sign up for one at a time, and you’ll be all done before you know it.
Auto-responder
The very first thing that you’re absolutely going to need is a good, reliable auto-responder. There are a bunch of different kinds out there, from software you put on your computer to online services.
That said- I HIGHLY recommend that you stay away from most of the “free” services. Remember that nothing in life is truly free. Even though you may not pay a dime for them, you may be paying in terms of horrible reliability, time wasted, and who knows what else.
As far as software, the problem is that you have to be pretty technical. They aren’t normally easy to understand, so instead I recommend using a service.
I’m going to recommend two providers that I’ve personally used and that I personally endorse.
The first one that I’m going to recommend is AWeber. This is one of the most popular auto-responder services among marketers because it’s easy to use. You can test AWeber for the first month for just $1, so there’s no reason not to get them a shot.
AWeber is nice because besides being affordable and easy to use, they have a lot of options. They have different styles of opt-in boxes, use different forms within the same list, conduct split testing, and more. These things help you as your business grows, because you’ll want to constantly be testing new things to see what works best.
Below is a quick screenshot of what you should see when you get to AWeber.
The other auto-responder service is GetResponse. They’re very similar to AWeber in that they have a lot of the same features and allow you to do similar things.
The advantage GetResponse has, pricing-wise anyway, is that you can actually get started with them for free. Granted, you aren’t able to do 100% of the things you can do with the paid service, but you have enough tools to get started and see if you like it.
They also claim to be the “easiest” email marketing tool. Even though that’s up for debate, it is pretty simple to use, which may make it your #1 choice if you aren’t the most tech-savvy person in the world!
Both services are reliable, so whoever you go with really just comes down to personal preference. Just keep in mind that once you make your decision, stick with them as long as you can. It’s possible to switch providers, but it can be a hassle switching all of your subscribers from one service to another.
Hosting
Now, the next thing that you’re going to need is you’re going to need a good, reliable hosting provider. Once again, I don’t recommend that you use a free hosting provider.
You just never know what’s going to happen with them. They usually bring in all of their revenue via advertising, which isn’t exactly something you want to build your business around.
And remember that this is a BUSINESS. You don’t need the highest quality tools out there, but you should be willing to invest in solid tools for it to work properly over the long-term.
There are a lot of good hosting providers out there but there is only one can I highly recommend right now.
That’s HostGator. They’re fantastic. Even though they’ve recently changed management and I know some people have switched, I’m perfectly happy with them. They have great uptime, which basically means that their servers almost never go down due to hackers, power outages, etc. Plus their customer service is great. They’re always friendly when they help me with a website issue.
(note that I took this during the Christmas season, hence the snow)
They’ve got a few different plans available, but I recommend going with their Baby Plan. You get unlimited domains, disk space and bandwidth. It’s also very affordable at about $8 per month, so you’ve got no excuses because that’s less than a meal at a restaurant!
Domain Name
Now, the next thing that you’re going to need is a domain name. This is your address on the busy streets of the internet. Without one, how in the world are customers supposed to find you?
Obviously this can be just about anything you want, but it should be related to your niche and what you have to offer. Having a website like “BobsFavoriteStuff.com” is a bit silly if your business is about helping stay at home mothers with their vegetable gardens.
So let’s say you’re in the gardening niche and you want to build a list that gives out tips and ideas about gardening to your subscribers. A domain name you could go with is something like JohnsGardeningTips. com. Anyone who sees this has a clear view of what the site is all about, right? It’s some guy named John who is sharing gardening tips.
Easy.
At the end of the day, it’s completely up to you. Just make sure the domain name is related to your niche and to your offer. If it’s short and easy to remember, you get some bonus points, but they aren’t necessary. Just look at the success of Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to Be Rich. He has a long domain name, but he’s still had a lot of success over the years.
Oh… and one more thing. Try to use a “.com” if you can. You can use something else like a .biz, .net, .org, whatever if you want… but 99% of people think of the .com extension, so I always recommend getting one if you can.
There are a few different places you can purchase a domain name from. In fact, you could even buy one from your hosting company like HostGator.
That said, the two I recommend are GoDaddy and NameCheap. They’re really the only two places that I recommend you buy your domain names, because they have very good prices and they’re reliable.
To save a few bucks, you can search for coupons on Google for these two services. I’m able to get most of my domain names for less than $5, and I NEVER have to pay full price!
Squeeze Page
The next thing that you’re going to need to build your list is a squeeze page. This is the page where you’re going to send your visitors so they can signup to your list.
You can make your own if you know HTML or you can make it easy on yourself and use a tool. The most common tools are WordPress themes and plugins, or HTML templates.
The easiest option is to get something for WordPress, since this allows you to not just build squeeze pages but also build out a full website as well.
A great option to do this is with Lead Pages. This service allows you to create any kind of page you want. Squeeze pages, sales pages, download pages, it’s all there.
But the REALLY cool thing is that Lead Pages is constantly adding new tools and statistics to their service. They want to make sure their clients are happy, so they share which of their squeeze page templates are having the most success among all of their clients!
Granted- this service isn’t cheap, but as we discussed earlier, it’s always a good idea to invest in high quality tools and services with your business.
Another option you have for building squeeze pages within WordPress is Optimize Press. It’s similar to Lead Pages in that it allows you to build membership sites, squeeze pages, sales pages, everything. It’s all done within the WordPress platform so it’s easy to manage.
It’s a great tool, and since you can keep using it for product after product, it will save you a ton of time and frustration over the long run. Like Lead Pages, it’s definitely worth the investment- you just have to consider which one looks more appealing to you.
Keep in mind that both of these new style squeeze pages convert very well. I’ve had conversions of well over 50% on these types of squeeze pages, compared to something like 30% on regular squeeze pages you often see most marketers using.
NOTE: When I talk about conversions, I’m talking about how many people who visit your site also sign up to your email list. So if a squeeze page has a 30% conversion rate, that means 30 people out of every 100 who visit your squeeze page will sign up for your email list.
So this is also worth the investment if you want to use some of these high-converting, fresh-looking squeeze pages for your offers. The better your conversion rate, the faster your list will grow.
One more time, here are the main tools you’ll need. Once you have invested in these things, you’re ready to rock and roll:
- Auto-responder
- Hosting service
- Domain name
- Squeeze page
From here, it’s time to move onto setting up your sales funnel, starting with your free offer.
