Ebook Marketing: Is It True That I Really Need An Opt-in Email List?

Many e-book business owners intuitively understand the value of a appropriately laid out business plan. In fact, without such a plan many feel that they are lost. For the idea behind it is to continuously support the business owner to grow his business. In other words, it is a map how to find new customers.

So when we say that we want to grow our ebook business, we are almost certainly talking about an increasing number of customers (although other factors may be there also). For the more customers we can get, the more profit we will be able to acquire.

But it is not only customers that we are looking for. We are in search a particular type of customers, namely those who also are pleased with out products, and as a consequence of that, will be returning to buy new products or services from us.

So it is not enough, as seen from a long-term business viewpoint, to have completed some sales and having some new customers; we also need to take care of our already existing customers and offer them new products and services.

What Are You Doing With Those Who Visit Your Site or Blog?

Let us assume that you have traffic to your website. Thousands of visitors come to your site every day. What do you do with them? Are you just letting them come to “window-shop” and do nothing? Or are you counting on them to buy something? What happens if they don’t purchase anything?

The question, in other words, is this: Can you afford to let non-buying visitors go? And, even more essential, can you afford to let buying visitors go? After all, since they have already proved that they are eager to buy from you, why not build a marketing system to cater to those users?

All efforts to bring in visitors to your website have cost you something. So why let them run away to possibly never return, if you can prevent it? By implementing an email opt-in list on your website you can get the most money in return for your ebook business costs.

You will not only make more money, but you will also serve your customers better. They will sign up to your email list and take part of your messages. And when they gradually get more and more convinced that they want to buy from you, they will one day (usually later than sooner) do so.

The Opt-in Email List: Seeing Our Ebook Marketing Plan In Action

So my idea is this. The most intelligent thing to do, from a business point of view, is to invest some time in preparing an optin email list for your company. By collecting email addresses we are, so to speak, building a map of the territory and our customers. In other words, this list of potential customers may be seen as real proof that our ebook marketing plan is working.

The skeptic may, however, claim that there is no need for any emailing list to verify the business plan. For the people on the opt-in list haven’t necessarily purchased anything yet from you. For that reason, it is not any fail-safe sign of a business plan that works. Rather, the only measure that we need is the exact sales figures, for they tell us exactly how successful our business is.

Although the above objection may have some truth to it, let me say this. It is true that potential customers do not necessarily indicate the amount of the current sales; as for current sales, the sales figure alone is the best gauge. However, as is known from statistical analysis of sales figures and potential customers, it is reasonable to expect that there is a certain percentage of those who have signed up for the opt-in e-mail list that eventually, in the future, will become buyers, and perhaps even be recurring buyers.

So if we may accept this proposition as accurate, then we could say that a growing number of people signing up to our optin list surely may indicate that our ebook marketing model is working, and that our future looks bright. The strength of the list lies therefore not so much in the idea of being a gauge of the current state of our business, but is more of a measure of how our sales are going to manifest in the near future.

Email Lists: Also For Analyzing Customer Behaviour

So by implementing one or several email lists you may boost your sales and simultaneously getting a better picture of what lies ahead for your company. But opt-in lists are not just about immediate sales or sales projects either. They may also be used to increase your knowledge of your customers.

One way to do that is to be careful to note the time at which the customer signed up. If you have just had an AdWords advertising campaign, and you detect that the customer signed up two hours after you launched the campaign, and six hours before you stopped that campaign, you may conclude, with the help of other analytic information, that this person opted in to your optin email list as a direct result of your advertising. So he was attracted to the offer that you presented in your campaign.

Another example of identifying customer behaviour could be to use different opt-in forms for different places on your website. When the user signs up, you can then see which form he has used to join your list, and it may give you an indication of what type of customer he is. In addition, it may also give you an indication of how well that individual form performs, compared to other forms — statistics which may come in handy if you need to alter your site to provide a better user experience.

Implementing an Opt-In List Is Good Ebook Marketing

In essence, then, optin email list building is a must for the serious ebook marketer. By using the e-mail opt-in list, the marketer can repeatedly send messages to the subscribers and continuously offer new advise, tips, and information that may not only educate the reader but also build trust. So when the trust is there, in conjunction with the right product, there is sales.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Johnny Jones currently writes for the EbookBrothers.com website, where he shares his experience on ebook marketing, and on particular topics such as opt-in lists: hot or not? etc. For a free subscription to the EbookBrothers.com Newsletter (with free articles and tips on how you can succeed with your own ebook business plans), visit EbookBrothers.com now, before the free offer expires.