When you are first starting your opt-in list, it may seem like a bad idea to divide your list in two, especially if you only have a handful of subscribers. However, it really is the best thing you can do, no matter what stage you are at in the email marketing game.

The most common reason to divide your opt-in list is to keep the active subscribers on one list. Your tactics for getting people to buy should be quite different between those who have already bought and those who have never answered a call to action in your emails.

Subscribers on your opt-in list who have already bought something from you have proven that they trust you enough to go ahead and pay you money for what you are recommending. This is a big deal and one that should be taken advantage of.

Once someone has bought from you, they are far more likely to buy again, so it is a matter of presenting the right offer. Now, it makes sense that it will take less convincing to get the sales opt-in list to buy than those who have shown little or no interest in buying from you.

Consider it. You could end up earning more by splitting your opt-in lists.

At the very beginning, when you are getting started in email marketing and have no list to work with, it can get a bit frustrating. After all, you need someone to send your email newsletter to if you plan to make this thing work! Many opt-in techniques seem to be aimed at already established email marketers, so today I´ve compiled some opt-in techniques that will work to get your list started.

Write an ebook or ereport. Having something to entice visitors to your website to sign up for your newsletter is still one of the best ways to get started and is a very useful opt-in technique that actually works.

Guest write for a blog or two. Many blogs allow guest writers to come and post one article on their blog, with a link to their site. This can be a good opt-in technique to get a bit of publicity and aim people at your landing page.

Article marketing. This is definitely a good way to go. While you may not get hundreds of subscribers, this is the very beginning, so it´s worth putting some work into it to get even a few people on your list. In addition, these articles will work for you for years to come, bringing in a steady trickle of visitors.

Get listed in ezine directories. This opt-in technique doesn´t require that you have any subscribers and most directories are actually free, so it´s a nice low-cost opt-in technique, as well.

Starting your list means using some different opt-in techniques. These will still work when you have subscribers, but in the very beginning, it´s pretty hard to work out a JV offer when you have nothing to leverage!

There are many opt-in techniques that you can use to build your list and many of them work quite well. One opt-in technique that many email marketers are using these days is article marketing. The concept is quite simple, you get people hooked by providing an informative, free article on one of many article directory sites and at the end, invite them to register for your opt-in list to get more information.

Article marketing has been made out to be one of those get rich quick schemes and the result is a lot of spammy articles clogging up the article directories. In order to get your article noticed, here are a few tips.

• No advertising. Don´t mention your company or say anything else that might be construed as advertising within the articles. Save that for the bio at the end.
• Keep it informative. Your article shouldn´t be just a teaser, people hate that. Instead, include lots of real information and then offer more in your email newsletter. They´ll be more likely to sign up.
• Make it easy to read. Use bullet points and subtitles to keep readers interested in your article.
• Not too short, not too long. About 500 words is a good length for an article. You´ll find many that are quite a bit shorter, but they don´t have room to give any information. Too long, however, and you´ll lose your audience before they get to the end where your opt-in information is.

Article marketing can be an excellent opt-in technique if you do it right. Basically, it comes down to writing quality articles to get people´s attention. If you can´t or don´t have the time, consider hiring a freelance writer to do this for you and give them the list above.

Opt-in techniques are usually focused on getting as many people as possible to sign up for your opt-in list, but that isn´t necessarily what you need to be doing. Yes, having a lot of subscribers will boost your sales rate . . . but having interested subscribers, a targeted list, will increase it drastically without the need for thousands of subscribers!

It´s often better to have a few subscribers that are fascinated with your product than hundreds who have no interest and only signed up to get a free ebook. You´ll be wasting time and expenses trying to reach all those non-interested readers.

Instead, it´s better to focus on opt-in techniques that build a targeted list. This means making sure that you state up front what your email newsletter is about. It also helps to ensure that any free gifts that you offer in a giveaway or as motivation to sign up for your opt-in list should be related to your list.

Look for ways to incorporate more targeted methods of attracting subscribers. It is well worth the effort to have a group of subscribers that is very interested in what you have to say. Opt-in techniques that create a targeted list are far more useful to email marketers than those designed to grab huge quantities.

Everyone loves free stuff and they are at the root of many successful opt-in techniques that can be used to grow your list to mammoth proportions. But it´s not enough to simply put a free item on your website in exchange for signing up for your email list. If you really want to build your list, you need to expand outside your website.

Giveaways. We´ve talked about this before, but giveaways are an excellent way to gain a lot of new subscribers. Granted, many will unsubscribe after they´ve received your freebie, but you´ll still find your list considerably larger at the end of the giveaway.

JV partnerships. Join up with someone else in the business and promote each other´s products on your thank you pages, in your email newsletters and anywhere else you can think of.

Brandable products. Making your ebook brandable is an excellent opt-in technique. People will want to give it away because they can earn money with the affiliate links and meanwhile, you´ll be collecting email addresses from the influx of visitors to your website.

These are all useful opt-in techniques that can be used outside your website to increase your subscribers. It´s something that can greatly benefit your business. Start thinking outside just getting sign ups from website traffic and aim a bit higher for extra big lists!

Opt-in techniques that create a buzz are something that work extremely well for building your list . . . but how exactly do you go about creating that rush of excitement that makes people want to sign up for your opt-in list? There are a variety of techniques to get your website visitors to sign up for your email marketing list.

Exciting Opt-In Techniques

• Limited time offer. Creating urgency is a great opt-in technique that you can use with just about any giveaway, a free ebook or discount, etc. Let people know that it is only for those who sign up within the next week or two.

• Contests. Holding a contest that requires people sign up for your opt-in list is a great technique to boost your list. You can give away your own product or ask companies to donate.

• Subscriber only. Why not offer special coupon codes to only your subscribers? Let people know that they have to sign up for your list if they want to receive these handy codes and coupons for discounts.

Creating a sense of urgency or exclusivity is a great opt-in technique that the big boys have been using for years. It´s a method that you can use to get more people to sign up for your opt-in list as well and functions extremely well.

There are a lot of opt-in techniques out there and some of them are very good. But some will destroy your list and cause your email marketing business to come crashing down around you. Avoiding the bad opt-in techniques is definitely a good idea if you want to earn money online.

Opt-In Techniques to Avoid

• Single opt-in. While it might seem easier for your subscribers, single opt-ins almost never work out. People forget that they signed up and they don´t have an email for confirmation, so you will almost certainly be labeled as spam at least a few times, something that can really hurt your reputation.
• Asking for too much information. The more information you have on your subscribers the better, right? Wrong. While that information helps you target your subscribers better, the multiple question opt-in technique will cause a drastic drop in sign ups. Anything more than a name and email address is probably too much for the majority of people.
• Not delivering on a promise. If you say that you´ll be sending out tips on a daily basis, you had better do it, not just once a week. When you make promises to your subscribers, you need to follow through or you will find yourself with a destroyed rep and a dying business.

Opt-in techniques are important, but it is equally important to figure out how to deliver what your subscribers want, without making them angry. Get people to sign up, but don´t mess up and cause them to mark you as spam, which could be a factor in bringing your email marketing business down.

When it comes to opt-in techniques, you want to make sure that your email is up to date, or you´ll end up losing subscribers as soon as they sign up. How does this happen? Very easily, unfortunately!

Think back to when you wrote your autoresponder messages? How long ago was that? It´s easy to get caught up in sending out new offers and writing additional emails for your older opt-ins, but don´t forget to update your autoresponder, as well. It´s a very important part of email marketing, to keep your opt-in techniques up to date.

While the basic information that you wrote in your autoresponder messages may be relevant still, make sure that any references to dates are changed regularly or simply eliminated. In fact, when you are writing autoresponder messages, it´s best to just aim to write with the future in mind.

Skip dates. Save the mentions of specific dates for your irregular emails, the ones with special offers.

Go with evergreen material. Writing information that will be useful and true for years ensures that you won´t have to spend much time on updating your autoresponder messages.

Make note of needed updates. If you write about your upcoming products, make sure to update this section on a regular basis. It can help to remind yourself with a note.

Opt-in techniques that keep your automatic email newsletter up to date will save you a lot of time in the long run, freeing you up to work out new email campaigns.

You can find a lot of opt-in techniques online. There are hundreds of ways to capture email addresses and entice your visitors to sign up for your newsletter. But incorporating too many of these opt-in techniques can be dangerous for your business! Very complicated opt-in techniques often have the opposite effect than intended and will actually drive people away, instead of attracting them.

A general rule of thumb is to make sign up a one click affair. If your visitors have to click through various pages to sign up for your opt-in list, chances are they won´t bother. They would have to be pretty interested in order to go through all the hullabaloo necessary to sign up for your email newsletter and most people just don´t care that much.

Another good thing to look at is how much information you are asking for. Are you requiring the visitor to fill out a veritable life survey? They´ll likely get bored before they finish. Instead, stick to a name and an email. You can add other fields that are optional, but keep it to a minimum, since even the look of a large form can be enough to scare some people away and this isn´t a good opt-in technique.

Basically, you want your opt-in techniques to stay nice and simple. The easier it is to sign up, the more subscribers you will get and the more potential clients you will reach. So, keep your opt-in techniques simple and to the point and worry about gathering more information later, once you´ve captured those email addresses for your email marketing campaign.

By now you know that you should be gathering email addresses from as many places as possible. This is one of the biggest opt-in techniques of all, adding your auto responder address to article bios, having sign up forms all over your website, getting brick and mortar customers to sign up in your guest book . . . but are you treating them all fairly?

Think about the process for a minute. What happens when someone signs up for your email marketing newsletter on your website? Since opt-in techniques are pretty standard these days, your auto responder probably sends them a confirmation email with a link to click on in order to say that yes, they do indeed wish to receive your emails.

Next up, your welcome email. And then the content starts to flow in. But what if someone gives you their email address via an offline opt-in technique? Often, these emails get added directly into the auto responder and these people won´t receive a confirmation letter or the welcome email . . . and since they didn´t sign up online, they might not even remember giving you their email, resulting in spam reports which can be damaging to your reputation.

It´s important to treat all subscribers with the same care. Make sure that your offline signups get that confirmation letter and your welcome email to remind them why they signed up.

Email marketers are always on the lookout for new opt-in techniques that will help grow their list and over the years, there have been some great ideas. One of these is to actually get people to sign up for your emails offline! Why not? Here are three offline opt-in techniques that will help you grow your list and bring in brand new subscribers.

1. Hold a draw. Set up a draw box and offer some fabulous prizes. Get people to fill out a short form with name, phone number and email address. Most of them will give you their email happily in return for a chance to win something. You can offer free products or a free dinner out, etc. There are plenty of ideas to choose from. Set your draw for a specific date so people can be sure to get their entry in by then and have multiple prizes. This will help convince more people to sign up, there is a better chance of winning!

2. Offer a free gift. A real one, not an ebook. People really value physical gifts, so why not give out something small and brandable like a pen when they sign up for your email marketing newsletter? If you like, just get visitors to your business to write down their email address and then hand over their free gift.

3. Guest book. If you have a brick and mortar business, get visitors to sign the guest book and make sure they leave their email address. Anyone who has enjoyed their time with you will be more than happy to write it down so they can get updates.

Offline opt-in techniques can really help you grow your list, particularly if you frequent trade shows or have an offline business. Be sure to capture emails both online and off, for a bigger list and more potential clients.

You already have your own email list, but every email marketer knows that there is always room for growth! A super easy opt-in technique to grow your list is to simply advertise in other people´s email newsletters. There are two methods of going about this.

Paid Opt-In Technique

This calls for using proper ads. You´ll need to design a simple logo or write a text ad and publish it in an email newsletter. You will have a paid ad like any other advertiser. To make this work, you will need tight copywriting and a convincing reason for readers to sign up with your email newsletter.

Free Opt-In Technique

Not everyone has scads of money to spend on advertising, particularly in larger email newsletters. If this is the case with you, you may want to try this option. Just write a very interesting, informative article, designed for email newsletters and offer it free to a marketer. The trick here is to offer it to just one person. This will be an exclusive article that only they will have access to. This makes the deal very appealing. The catch? You´ll have a short one or two line bio at the bottom of the article with a link to your website!

Choosing the email newsletter to advertise in is fairly easy. You want email lists that are similar to yours or that cater to people who would be interested in what your newsletter has to offer. The opt-in technique won´t work if you are pitching cat food to dog lovers!

Check out ezine directories, subscribe to a handful of lists that interest you and then put your opt-in technique to work in the best ones. Depending on the effectiveness of your ad or article, you could bring in literally hundreds of new subscribers with this opt-in technique.

Many people want to know more about a business before they start handing over email addresses, so having a great About page is an excellent opt-in technique. You can mention it with a link under or above your sign up form. But for an About page to turn visitors into subscribers, you really have to make it a great one. A few ideas on that:

Make it interesting. Don´t just recite the boring details (”MyBiz began in 1999, as a startup . . .”), add some interest. Use anecdotes, but don´t ramble as that would defeat the purpose of this opt-in technique.

Include a testimonial. This adds interest and helps people trust you. A good way to use testimonials is to have them in a box or side note.

Make sure people can contact you. Add at least one form of contact info to the About page, email and possibly telephone. If you want, your mailing address can also be included. This really helps visitors trust you more and they will be more likely to give you their email address.

Let them know what you do. State your mission and business idea clearly on your About page so there is no question as to what it is that you do.

Study other About pages. Look at some successful websites and check out their About pages for ideas.

Have the sign up form on your About page. This makes it nice and easy for visitors to sign up once they´ve read about your company and is a valuable opt-in technique.

An About page is useful on your website anyway, but by including a link near your sign up form and another form on the actual page, you turn this into a very handy opt-in technique.

You have probably read about a lot of different opt-in techniques, how to attract people to your sign up form and encourage them to hand over their email. However, there are still plenty of websites out there that are missing one very important opt-in technique . . . easy sign ups.

The amount of time that you have to capture an email address isn´t much. Someone might be willing to type in their email address and even their name in order to receive your free ebook and daily tips, but they probably don´t feel like filling in 3 pages of opt-in forms! The majority of readers will just click away if your sign up process is longer than a couple of lines.

Just today, I came across a website that offered a free ebook prominently in their sidebar, a great opt-in technique. The sign up form required just an email address, another good opt-in technique. However, as soon as I clicked submit, I was taken to another page where I had to type in my email address again. Then yet another window opened asking for far more information than I was willing to give, including mailing address, phone number, fax, etc. Though only the name was required in order to continue on to the free ebook, simply the sight of a big form would send most people scurrying away to another website, if they had even bothered going on to the third page of the sign up process.

My point is this, you can use all the opt-in techniques you like, but if your sign up process is too long, no one will finish it. You´ll be driving potential clients away from your email newsletter and since the money is in the list, as they say, the most important thing is to capture that email address. It would be nice to have geographical info, but asking for that will limit the number of people who sign up. Keep is short and simple and you´ll build your list in no time.

Opt-in techniques abound, but one very effective way to get people to sign up for your email list is to place an opt-in form on your PPC landing page. Most small businesses are already using PPC in order to draw more attention to their webpage or product, but rarely do we think of combining opt-in techniques with paid advertising.

PPC can be a great way to draw targeted traffic, but if you can´t make them stick around, you´ll lose out on potential sales . . . unless you capture an email address. That´s where your handy opt-in technique comes in, place a sign up form above the fold, very prominent, on your PPC landing page.

If you have a special offer, make sure you state the benefits of joining your opt-in list. This will capture more subscribers than if you simply put a sign up form on your landing page. Offering a free ebook, e-course or membership should be enough to motivate visitors to give you their email address.

In today´s hectic, spam-filled internet world, you need to stand out from everyone else in your opt-in techniques. Grab people´s attention when they click on your PPC ads and get them to sign up right away, before they lose interest and wander off your website. Then you can be sure to follow up and establish a relationship which could lead to sales later on.