This is article 2 of a series of 5 ways to use the most essential part of Wire: The Contact Area. It lets you manage your connections in new ways, build lists to target audiences, keep detailed notes and updates on contacts, and follow up on leads. In this article I want to help you use the networks you already have, or can gather quickly to build an email list.
In case you missed the 1st article click the button below:
These are “reasonable” things any small business owner can do to build opt-in lists. What do I mean by reasonable? These are ways you can use your existing networks to grow contacts organically without having to buy expensive, and unpredictable lists. Any business owner can do it… and I’m going to give you some ideas to make it happen. Let’s get going!
Import Email Contacts – All of the people you’ve emailed back and forth with are potential contacts in Wire. You can export your email list from your specific client, or simply email people one by one to ask their permission to add them to an email newsletter list.
Business Cards – If you’ve kept ahold of those business cards you’ve been handed, you can input all of this contact information into your Wire Contacts Area. Send them a Single Email from you Wire account and ask them to opt-in.
Ask Past Clients – This is the best way to start any list. If you have repeat, loyal customers ask them all to sign-up for your newsletter. If they’re someone who comes into your store or contracts with you on a regular basis, they’re most likely someone who wants to know what’s going on with your company.
Export Your LinkedIn Contacts – You may not know this, but LinkedIn lets you export your contacts, including a contact’s email. You can ask these connections if they’d like to be an Opt-in for your new Wire account.
Ask Your Other Social Media Contacts – Use you social media presence to ask the people who follow your company to sign up. There’s a lot more information on social media below.
Networking Events – All throughout the U.S. and Canada there are tons of opportunities to go to professional events. Business Network International (BNI) groups, trade shows, community events, professional meet-ups for your industry are all opportunities to grab leads.
Cross-Promote With Another Company – Every small business owner has suppliers or contractors or other companies they’re friendly with. Take it as an opportunity to comment on their social media posts and ask them to pay you back by commenting on your content.
Have People to Sign Up In-Store – If you have a retail store make sure to have a clipboard for people to sign up for your list. You can use the old fishbowl method too by putting one out on a counter and asking for business cards (and newsletter opt-ins) in exchange for a Giveaway entry.
Add a Link To Printed Materials – Don’t underestimate the power of those brochures, flyers and mailers you distribute. Make sure to add a link to a Form or your Wire page to give people the opportunity to see more of what your company has to offer.
Include a Flyer in Shipped Products – Do you ship out a lot of your products? Have some flyers printed off with a link to your Wire page or Newsletter Form Page, and place them in the shipment.
I’m going to add a link to another post on how to market your company through social media platforms. But here are some simple ways you can get started right now:
Use Facebook to Your Advantage – It’s the world’s largest social media platform and makes it easy to network. You can create a sign-up Call-To-Action button on your Facebook Business Page header image, use Facebook Ads and organic posts to ask for sign-ups.
Twitter Means Immediate Reaction – Twitter isn’t for all businesses, but if you want to create an immediate buzz around an offer it can be a powerful tool. You can edit your Twitter Profile to include a link to a Form, Tweet out a link or even use their Advertising platform.
Make LinkedIn Connections Work For You – Use LinkedIn Groups and Sponsored Updates to your advantage. If you have a large network there’s no reason not to appeal to them to follow what your company’s up to. As we said above, you can also export your LinkedIn Connections to a .CSV file to upload into your Wire account.
Google+, Pinterest, Ello, Instagram, YouTube… they’re all outlets you can use to get the word out about Wire and get people to sign up for your email newsletter list. The secret to social media is to find out what works for you, and where you can connect with YOUR AUDIENCE.
Include a Form Link to Your About Page – The About Page on any site is one of the most valuable, and most visited, for any company. Why not have a linked form for a newsletter sign-up? Make sure to have a simple and clear call-to-action to get people clicking.
Add a Form Link to Other Areas of Your Site – You footer, side bar, and a call-to-action in your web page content can all be areas to add a Form sign-up. Don’t overdo it though. Too many links can distract from the content on the page.
Add Links to Your Blog Posts – At the bottom of your posts, place an appeal for people to sign up for your newsletter. If a visitor visits your blog and reads through the entire article it means they like your content. It also means they are likely someone who’ll want to keep up to date with your company. See example at bottom of blog post.
Offer A Valuable Product – If you’re a marketer, a software company or have a large online presence, then why not offer some of your helpful content in exchange for a newsletter sign-up? You can use an e-book, white paper, infographic or other pdf material and allow access only after a form sign-up.
Use RenMind Wire to Your Advantage - Use all of your Wire applications to get the most of your lead generation tools. Whether it’s Giveaway, Review or Offer, cross-promote as much as possible. Also, make sure to add an automatic Thank You response and paste in a Form sign up to reach anyone who interacts. When you use Publish, the blogging tool, place a Form call-to-action at the bottom of the post. Your Wire front-end page (what visitors see) is an integration of opportunities for people to find out more about your company. When you become truly great at being a Wire user, there’s tons of opportunity. Share all of your Wire campaigns on your social media feeds.
Buying a list from a reseller is another option to build contacts, but we don’t recommend it. These lists often have unverified emails and contacts that never agreed to receive your emails. Buying lists can be an easy way to accumulate bounces, high unsubscribe rates, and SPAM complaints. This can lead to being blacklisted by the major email clients, like: Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and many telecom providers.
The best thing to do is to organically build contacts lists through the people you’ve formed relationships with and the people you win over through your marketing efforts and company reputation. Take a few minutes and look over this list. Pick out at least 5 different suggestions that you think will work for you. If you keep building on what you have, go with it and take on a few more of these methods. Keep at it and watch your email opt-in list grow.
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This entry was posted in RenMind Wire on its very own Wire Blueprint feed on May 10, 2016 by Bryan Buckles. RenMind: Grown in Omaha, Nebraska.
