Learn to Build a List

Recently I have noticed a lot of focus about list building. Well why not? It is an essential part of marketing, even an offline business has an email or mailing list. Maybe because recently joining a list was a way to earn a ClickTrackProfit Bigfoot badge. I bought a badge which looked like this:

My efforts for list building from the Bigfoot badge hunt : 40 subscribers...plus 3 still needed to verify their account.

What I find hard to understand is that people joined the list in the expectation of receiving something. Any list should have this vital element. Even if this is only information, but in my case I would be providing a badge. However, people still didn't verify.

Why do people have to verify? This process is essential to prove it is a real email address and that the person is real. You want people to read your emails and this is the part when you say please whitelist my emails, check in the spam folders etc. Sometimes it is out of our control as email providers think its spam and block your email altogether. Occasionally someone will join under several emails as for some reason they are not receiving it or did not verify one email.

I recently decided to purge my list. There is no point bragging you have 10K subscribers when half of them have not verified their email.  If subscribers (or future/ potential subscribers) are not receiving my emails why keep them on the list.

Another fact of list building is unsubscribers. This made me think....There would be a high probability of people unsubscribing after this badge hunt as they got what they wanted out of subscribing.  How can I or what can I do to retain people on my list?

So, over the last couple of weeks I have performed a mini experiment on my list of subscribers to this blog. I wanted to engage the list and offer them an exciting offer too good to refuse! If they didn't open their email I sent they missed out. I named the email: Thank you for subscribing...gift inside. Out of 275 only 14 clicked the email and only 8 people took me up on this offer below. I want to live up to my FREEREWARDS4U name.

I wanted to reward my list and thought how do I keep subscribers reading the emails I send. So I simply sent this email:

I'm feeling very generous today. There is nothing I am going to invite you to join. All I ask is your continued support of my Freerewards4u blog and stay subscribed. Please feel free to send me a splash page of your choice and I will promote it and give you 500 views!

Please email me at freerewards4ucontact@gmail.com with your splash page and name/email address you used to sign up with so I can confirm your subscription.

Enjoy this bonus!

Kris Rogers
http://freerewards4u.net

There was no strings attached just a thank you. Aim: Time will tell me how many unsubscribers there will be. Yes, this was an experiment and I'm also happy I can help some people with their advertising. So to those 261 people you saved me 130, 500 credits! Of course I never imagined any more than a handful of people would take up the offer and I'm not sure I have that many credits to spare. Phew! I am likely to offer other freebies to my list as they are the life blood to what I am trying to achieve...to keep and grow an engaged list.

The whole purpose of a list is promotion. Jon Olson recently said on a TELive that promote to your list and promote on your blog. On a splash page in TEs promote that blog to build your list. I totally agree. This seems to be the best method. Gather your list and promote to that list. This is YOUR list. I want to keep this list growing. Click Track Profit teaches people how to build a list by using an autoresponder and I use Rocketresponder because I get all the stats I need to see what works and what doesn't. It shows who is clicking on your emails and who isn't and much more. These two programs together work brilliantly. Start building your list today and you won't be disappointed. 

Until next time

Kris Rogers

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Finding the time: Managing offline versus online time

If time flies away where does it go to?- Kris Rogers

I am not very good at time management. I missed that lecture at University and failed to read the handout they gave but boy I wish I took notice now. I would guess the information would be about prioritizing your tasks, whether they be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, if there is such a thing.

My offline time is usually family oriented as I don't have an offline job. I can't sit down for long periods of time because of back issues. So during an ordinary day I combine work around the house with my surfing. I hardly ever sit/stand still for very long. But when I am up and about I generally carry my Ipad tablet with me. Lately, my son has been playing table tennis most nights of the week so I surf and watch him at the same time. Even if I go to an appointment I can surf. Who wants to read tabloid news in the waiting room magazines anyway?

I have a daily "To Do" list which I set up on Google Calendar to keep me focused. I use Traffic Browser when I know I will be at my computer for an extended period of time. Distractions such as Skype, email, Facebook and Twitter sometimes eat into my time but I then focus on my to do list. When I know I am going well with my time, I write a daily blog post to "The Strays" Click Track Profit team that I belong to.
We are currently recruiting so please apply to join us. Most of my priorities revolve around this team and I'm having so much fun making friends with people from all over the world.

A typical day for me would be from midnight EST (my 1:30pm) start the Daily Challenge until my bedtime with the other sites in my to do list surfed also. I usually start the larger tasks ASAP, with the smaller tasks I surf also. For example Sweeva is a small task I complete and surf 10 sites there a day. I have a small lunch break at 1:30pm and get stuck into the challenge and read emails. I may watch a T.V program while I surf. Then the kids come home from school or I pick them up. While I'm waiting for them in the car I use my phone to surf ;) May be only a few pages but I hate wasting time. When the kids are home I can't surf as much because I talk to my kids about their day or I'm just doing a few household chores. I'm teaching the kids to help out a lot more. I'm constantly switching between the computer and house hold tasks. It's a socially quiet part of the day online. So if I have some online project to do I start this also.

Around dinner time I take more offline breaks than online as its mayhem time, or I'm getting ready to go out, but I am generally checking emails, Skype or Facebook. I also check I'm on track in the Promoters contests I have entered for the week and adjust credits as required. While I'm eating dinner I watch some more T.V online and surf on my tablet. Most of my surfing is done in my evening either while watching table tennis or at home when the kids are off to bed. So I get quiet time in the last few hours of the day before bed about midnight or a bit after if my to do list looks neglected. My online friends are usually online at this time so it can be hectic socially. I usually have my tablet with me in bed and surf til the very end....

I'm not a morning person. I'm a sleep in person who requires about 9 hours sleep to keep away the afternoon headache the following day. I get really tired and cranky by mid afternoon if I don't get sleep. Just ask my family! This can lead to me feeling physically ill by late evening. So depending on my bedtime the night before I'm usually up and about about 9am-11am. My kids are old enough to get themselves ready and walk to school which is close by. I check my emails and continue with the days tasks which is usually finishing the Daily Challenge if I feel I can/will do this. Otherwise, if I know I have shopping or an appointment I cut my losses and stay at Tier 4 to finish what I can and do the Strays blog post hopefully before reset at CTP. If I have spare time I do more household/ offline tasks and open a few vaults at CTP.

Time management is more about organizing your online activities,  its not just about the surfing part, to be more efficient. Just like Traffic Browser is a good way to surf, TECommandPost is good for organisation. You can find all those credits/ banners/ commissions in one place. This benefits my promoters contests and promotions I want to do. Being online is something I enjoy. However, remember there are also enjoyable things to do offline as well with family and friends. Enjoy life!

Speaking of special promotions has anyone noticed the new tab above on the header of this blog? Has anyone seen this splash page? http://kreate.me/Jo5 Hmm. Something is a buzz?

Until next time
Kris Rogers

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What is the right thing to do?

Sometimes this is a good answer to many a kids inquisitive questions and dilemmas. As a Christian there is the saying" What Would Jesus Do?". Its our conscience and our guide within. What is a good thing to do, what is the right thing to do? When I produced the two raps songs I had the choice about what to do, who to credit and this wasn't hard. When I completed my Library degree I learnt all about plagiarism and copyright. Lately I have even seen the same blog posts going around! Maybe its a copy/paste from the site itself like as an email in the "affiliate" area. The latest is also a splash page picture which has been changed slightly and not credited to the original artist.

And then there are pure mistakes and accidents...Things that are done but weren't meant to be and other people can be offended. We all get tired and the good old brain sometimes is a little slower than usual. I call it the "excuse my brain..the assembly line is slower than usual today", or brain fuzz. Ok, here was the deal, accusing someone that I thought was copying all due to me not clearing my cache! Banners especially are the worst for me. They look like my banner then I click on it and it goes elsewhere. I had to apologize profusely and cleared my cache, not that I outright accused this person but hoping they hadn't thought I had. I had the choice whether to say anything at all. I knew who this person was and it was very out of character for them to do a deliberate act. I wasn't angry with them either. I did the right thing because I learnt from this person to clear my cache often. If I didn't let them know I may have always wondered or held a grudge against them. Now I know it was an innocent mistake. Sorry to bring up a biblical reference but the right thing to do...based off scripture is," If your brother (friend) sins/trespasses against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your  brother (a friend.)" Matt18:15. Brackets are my interpretation. This scripture worked both ways as my comment may have caused offence. Working it out and chatting helps a lot. Saying sorry isn't hard either.

This question can also apply to splash pages. Today a great person from this community Skyped me to let me know a Squeeze page of mine wasn't working correctly. They couldn't put in their name into the sign up box. How long would it have been for me to notice this? I would have wasted endless credits for people that couldn't sign up correctly that say "forget it" and keep clicking. I would do the same. Time is precious in the TE community. If I see something amiss or I know someone and their splash isn't working or offline, I would tell them. I don't mean to beat my own chest but its the right thing to do.

Doing the right thing also applies to offline life. I was at the supermarket today and put a basket away for the customer ahead of me and her transaction had already gone through. I was in a bit of a hurry. I realized that she still had produce she hadn't paid for in the basket which was the same color as the basket.  She was so grateful when I asked her if the produce was hers. This was going to be the main part of her dinner and was so thankful because she would have gone home without this and have to come back again. Its really windy and wet here also so not a good evening to be out. It's the little things that can make a huge difference to someone else. I had the choice to ignore the product and leave it in the basket but I spoke up as I would have liked the same thing done for me if i was in the same situation. Remember I was in a hurry. So I had to wait for another transaction before I could be served.

Therefore, it may only be a small issue but addressing it and moving on is a part of doing the right thing. Do unto others as you would like have done to you is a very common phrase but when applied works brilliantly. Most importantly you may make more friends or get to know online ones more. Doing the right thing and having the right things done in return make me very happy.

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