Teach Something

A great way to continue building your list is to teach something to your referrals.

Is there something you know a lot about within the marketing or online money-making fields? Do you know some simple computer techniques that you can share and explain to others in a very detailed way?

Even if it's something you think most others already know, such as "How to organize your browser bookmarks efficiently," there will likely be some people who have not considered the way that YOU organize your browser bookmarks/folders. Perhaps you have a way to organize which keeps you very clutter-free and allows you to stay focused, instead of searching for sites, trying to sort out random pages in your browser 'favorites' 'folders' and 'bookmarks.'

For the example above, if you can sit down, plan, and execute 3-7 "Lessons" surrounding the topic of "Bookmarking Organization," these lessons may well turn into something valuable that you can load up in your autoresponder and send out to your mailing list.

If your mailing list is quite small or you're struggling with starting a responsive mailing list, then build a page or blog post around an advertisement for your "Bookmarking Organization" lessons (or call them 'tutorials'). Make a special blog post for this - or a 'splashpage' on one of your sites - and simply insert your autoresponder 'sign up' form.

VOILA!

This will be a way to grab new email list members, while your 'lessons' also go out from your autoresponder - to your present mailing list members!

Inside each lesson, include reasonable and useful links - particularly if you sell or promote a product that has something to do with 'browsers,' 'keeping organized,' or a related topic.

Don't go sending out your eBay link for selling some sort of heart-shaped pendant or an Amazon link for potpourri burners from the 'gifts' area of Amazon...but DO go ahead and include a link to, say, some sort of 'affiliate data organizer,' or a link to some article you've published online that relates to organization or browsers (Such as "How to set IE7 Security Settings For Safer Browsing Online" - you get the picture, right?), and remember that 'free is best' at this point.

Nobody is going to get upset with you inserting something additionally helpful and free inside your new 'lessons' or 'tutorials.'

Doing something like 'lessons' for your mailing list will quickly establish you as an expert, and someone who pays attention to detail - particularly if you have tackled a 'simple' topic like 'browser organization' and have created very detailed, easy to follow instructions and tips in your lessons.

The nice thing about 'teaching something' and creating a lesson/tutorial 'set,' is that you can take your time doing this. I suggest putting something of 3-7 lesson length together in as many days. Take a day to prepare each lesson, including time for proofreading and eliminating typos and spelling mistakes. A day per lesson created will also give you time to 'test out' a lesson on a friend before you go ahead and load up your autoresponder! Email it to a friend or print out the lesson page and have a friend, spouse, child (if your child is old enough to be interested in and understand the topic) or co-worker read it and give you feeback on it.

If you're seeking additional ways to make money with your 'tutorial,' set it up - or a 2nd version of it - on one of the paid-to-write sites, such as Helium, or some other article-membership site.