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Grow Your List with an Effective Client-Capturing Device
Donna Gunter
You may have heard the saying that "the gold is in your list" for your online business. I've found that to be the case, despite any number of social marketing techniques like blogging, MySpace, etc. It's always extremely helpful to have a list of people to whom you can market.
How do you develop that list and keep adding people to it? You create a
client-capturing device. A client-capturing device is a free giveaway that is of
value to your target market and serves as a solution to a big problem that
challenges your target market.
Once upon a time, the offer for a free ezine was sufficient to capture a
visitor's contact info. Alas, that is no longer the case, so you have to up the
ante and provide even greater value to your visitor. Your client capturing
device can take any of several formats -- an ebook, a recording of a teleclass,
a 6- part ecourse, a short downloadable video.
Here is a list of 8 qualities that your free giveaway must contain in order to
capture the most clients:
1. Compelling title. Make sure the title of your client-capturing
contains a solution to a major problem with which your target market struggles.
My title strategy is to use a number and a solution, like 5 Secrets to.... or 7
Mistakes Made By.... When your visitor sees the title, you want him to think,
"I've got to get that!"
2. Benefit to visitor. In addition to your compelling title, create 3-4
sentences to describe the content of your client-capturing device. Making an
offer is not enough -- you need to convince your visitor that you have the
perfect solution to his problem and that he can get that solution very quickly
by providing his name and email address to you.
3. Graphic enhancement. A picture is worth a thousand words, and people
like to "see" what they're getting. Have a cover or graphic image of your
giveaway created that matches the look and feel of your website or blog.
4. Format. You want your client-capturing device to be as easy to use as
possible. Therefore, if you're giving away an ebook or special report, create a
PDF file that anyone can download and open. If it's an audio file, save it in
mp3 format, which can be opened by any audio player. If you want to share
videos, embed them into your site using a player that is compatible across both
the PC and Mac platforms.
5. Relevant and useful content. Don't hold back in your giveaway. Provide
a complete solution to your visitor that can be implemented immediately. Limit
the amount of upselling that you do in the content, and save the bulk of that
for any followup autoresponders that the visitor receives.
6. More information. Create a page with all the pertinent info about your
giveaway. Some visitors will request their copy of your giveaway immediately
when they see the offer on your opt-in form, while others will require a bit
more convincing.
7. Testimonials. What have previous users said about your download? Add
to the excitement and the desire of getting your giveaway by listing how
beneficial others have found your information.
8. Put a price on it. To accentuate the value of your giveaway, put a
price on it. Make it reasonable for your target market and not completely
outrageous. If it sounds too good to be true, most visitors will believe just
that and leave your site without requesting your giveaway.
In whatever form it might take, your client capturing device needs to provide
some solid information to help your target market solve a pressing problem and
not simply be a piece of fluff that advertises your business. If your giveaway
is all fluff and no substance, you will have lost this prospective customer for
good.
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