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• Online Content
LARRY GOINS AND SHAUN MCCLOSKEY
Many websites will choose to use what is known as a "Content
Locker." This is basically a program which restricts access to certain
information unless a visitor submits their email address or joins the
website. If your group's website hosts a lot of useful information,
this can be another method to increase your opt-in list. The content
they will access can come in the form of articles, online education or
even a message board.
• What to do with it
Building an opt-in list is great and can help make promoting an
event much easier, but a huge list does you absolutely no good
unless you know what to do with it once you've got it! The biggest
mistake I see so often is that people neglect their email list. Many
rarely ever send out an email and will only contact their list when
they have an event or product launch coming up.
The problem with this approach is that the people on your list are
likely receiving a number of emails every day. If you don't keep in
regular contact with your list, they start to forget about you. Just as a
plant needs to be watered, an opt-in list needs to be cared for. It's
important to send out regular updates and provide useful
information in the emails. Articles are a great thing to send out, and
this should be done a few times a month. You don't even have to
write the articles yourself. You can have others do it for you for
free.
Here's an example. At Lifeonaire REIA in St. Louis, we just asked
one of our local contractors to write up an article explaining the top
mistakes landlords make when renovating a rental property. We
asked him to do this because during conversation one day, he was
complaining about how most investors try to go as cheap as they can
possibly go on their rental property renovations and then end up
spending twice the money they planned for with the problems that
arise from going cheap. In our conversation he said, "I wish I could
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