So I was reading an article over on Daily Blog Tips and one of their newest is about how to build an email address list based on your subscribers.  They describe it as one of the most important things an online entrepreneur can do.

I prefer to describe it as a kick in the metaphorical crotch to your readership, and instead say that building an email address list of your subscriber base is the WORST thing you can do as an online entrepreneur.

Now, admittedly, there’s something to be said for occasional messages to your readership that hit them where they live, in their email inbox about something special you’re doing or offering.  But without a LOT of care and forbearance, all you’ll be doing is alienating your readership and hurting the ones you depend on most.  And don’t even get me started on selling email addresses to affiliate programs….

So I wouldn’t be quite so concerned about the email address list, but that’s a call each person has to make for themselves.

For the Wordpress users amongst you here is another great plugin that will help you in your blogging business. This plugin is probably not much use for you if your blog is more an information product rather than a shop window, that is, if you aren’t looking to sell anything then you probably don’t need this plugin.

However, if you are looking to sell from your blog, one of the most powerful things you can obtain from your readers is their email address. One way to do that is when they leave a comment, however, if you just harvest email addresses from your comments box you are very likely to fall foul of the US anti-spam laws. What you need is explicit permission from a reader to mail them more info, why not have a simple box that they can check to opt-in.

WP OptIn does exactly that. This plugin goes a step further and actually integrates with your existing iContact, Mail Chimp or other email program. It is priced at $29.00 but that is a small price to pay for an opt-in mail list that will grow rapidly.

About 3 days ago, I wrote a post titled How To Gain New Readers With One Simple Marketing Strategy. The purpose of the post was simple: to gain more newsletter subscribers while at the same time providing my readers with a very effective marketing tip. I had simply written the article to make it look like it was a regular blog post where I would share my tip on how to gain new readers with one simple marketing strategy, but as you can see, you need to be a newsletter subscriber to get the rest of the post.

Now don’t get me wrong. Yes, it was bait, but everything was legit. I stated that after signing up for the newsletter, the rest of the tip would be emailed within 24 hours. And that’s exactly what happened. Everybody is happy. In fact, I’m already getting emails from my new subscribers that after reading the tip, they had a significant increase in their traffic and backlinks overnight. I’m glad that my first official newsletter tip is already a big help.

The Results

Let’s dig deeper within the results. After the subscription bait, my subcriber number shot up from 396 to 431… a 35 subscriber increase that happened overnight. Now remember, this only happened because I am using AWeber as my email newsletter autoresponder. For those who don’t know, AWeber has a feature that lets you enable “Blog Broadcasting”. Basically, your AWeber subscriber numbers are sent over to your FeedBurner account, thus giving you another source of subscribers.

What I Learned (And What You Can Learn)

What did I learn from this little experiment? Well, one thing that I learned is that you need to provide your readers with something worthy in order to get them to do what you want them to do. It’s the same reason why they subscribe to your blog in the first place, right? I also learned that this method of increasing blog subscribers actually works. I’ve seen it happen on other blogs, but this is the first time I actually tried it.

Oh and by the way, I’d like to thank all of the new subscribers! If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed yet… what are you doing?!?! Go to the sidebar and sign up for the newsletter!

Time to give away some more cash prizes! Over the next coming days and weeks, I will be giving away some sort of prize(s) through some mini-contests. Today is the start of the first contest where you will have a chance to win some easy cash (not literally, you’ll be paid through PayPal).

Read the rest of this entry »

A few hours ago, I have just sent the email regarding the video download on how to make $100 today (or everyday). I know that I said I was going to send the email 2-4 days from my last post, but the number of people signing up for the newsletter just kept rising. I had to wait until the numbers slowed down before I can send out the newsletter just to make it fair for everyone. So if you have downloaded and watched the video already, feel free to leave some comments below and let us know what you think or if you have questions. Just make sure not to give anything away!

For those of you reading this and missed the newsletter, I’m afraid that I cannot send out anymore free copies. If you think that you would really want to check out the video, I am offering the video for only $2. Email me from the contact page if you would like a copy.

Time to release my first eBook to the public… completely free! I have actually written and released it a few months ago, but I sold it on a bunch of forums for $7 a pop. What’s the eBook about? How to Make Top $$$ With Dreamhost (or other web-hosting affiliate programs). You might already know that Dreamhost is a web hosting network, but you probably didn’t know that they have an awesome affiliate program. You don’t even need to have web hosting with them to become an affiliate. I seriously think that this is the only eBook out there that talks about the method I use to make hundreds of dollars from affiliate programs like Dreamhost (and a few other web hosts).

The whole book is only 4 pages, but that’s because everything in it is all you need to know. You won’t see any useless information that other eBooks of this type always have. It gets right to the point from the beginning to the end, showing you the secret method of making the most money out of your web hosting affiliate program.

How To Get It

Oh, and did I mention that I’m giving it away completely free to my readers? To get the download link, you will actually need to be subscribed to this blog. If you already are, great. You’ll see the download link in the footer area of your next email or RSS feed update and the updates from the new posts after that. If you haven’t subscribed yet, go ahead and fill out the email subscription form below. You can also choose to subscribe through the RSS feed.

I’m proud to present that I am participating in my first major competition/contest against other bloggers. Four other bloggers to be exact.

If you know about the RSS contest between John Chow and Shoemoney back in October of last year, you should know what this one is going to be about. That’s because it’s the same type of contest, but with 5 bloggers: Ian Fernando, The University Kid, the Internet Babel, Thomas Sinfield, and the ever-great Slyvisions. So what’s the contest all about? Simple: whoever, out of the 5 blogs, gets the most growth in RSS subscribers for a month wins.

Below, you’ll see the number of subscribers each blog had before the contest officially started today. Notice my numbers? It was 178 yesterday. Take a look at it now (at the top header). It’s exactly at 200. Already a 22 subscriber increase! And that’s nothing compared to how much more I will get with the strategy and tricks I have in my sleeve.

The contest will then end on the 5th of March.

The idea of starting this contest actually originated as a competition between me and Jason from the University Kid. Then as we talked more about it, Jason decided that it would be a good idea if there were more bloggers in our level that competed against each other. Then we went on from there.

If you haven’t subscribed to my RSS feed yet whether by an aggregator or by email, make sure you do! The only way I can win this contest is by the help of you, my readers! If you visit this blog regularly, you should have already subscribed to it. If not, don’t forget to! I know that there are those who don’t want to subscribe (yet) or don’t want to at all. If you haven’t subscribed yet because you don’t know what RSS is and how to use it, check out this video. But if you still don’t want to subscribe for no particular reason… well, let me tell you that this will change. In the next few days and weeks, I’ll be giving out more offers and prizes that will make you want to click that RSS button, so make sure to check back regularly. But what’s the best way to get the latest news to you? Subscribe!

Ever wanted to send bulk emails to a few or even a hundred or more people? You might try using CC and BCC features of your email application, but what about sending bulk emails without the look of spamming? That’s where Atomic’s Bulk Mail Sender can come into play.

Atomic Bulk Mail Sender is more than just a flexible direct email delivering software, but it can also act as a newsletter service with HTML support. It can be used for personal use, or for your business’s website. This mass emailing program can easily manage your address list, whether your adding new addresses or removing old ones. Since it’s a stand-alone email software, all you would need is an internet connection.

Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that choosing HTML templates for your mail is easy. Using a template can be useful for newsletters or just to send mail with style.

You can also schedule when you want your emails to be sent. This is useful whenever you think you might need to send a prewritten email when you’re not around.

To finish off, I think that Atomic Bulk Mail Sender is a perfect tool for businesses. What a better way to keep in touch with your clients than by sending out newsletters using this great program, or for just sending bulk email without the use of spam. Free to try, you can use the trial version with some minor limitations. If you find it very useful, you can purchase the full version for $79.85. Want to pay less? Check out their discounts and packages to save some money with their other products as well.