Are You Spoiling Your Opt In List?

   Offering a free bonus is one tactic that many opt in list publishers use to lure new subscribers. Itīs a good way to grab those people who wouldnīt otherwise sign up. And many publishers continue to offer freebies to keep their subscribers from unsubscribing.

   True, your opt in list will stay big and keep growing at a wonderfully encouraging rate, but you have to stop to consider the effect all those free items have on your potential clients. Are you spoiling them?

   A decade ago, web hosts were horribly expensive. The average John Doe wouldnīt be able to set up a website because the costs were prohibitive. Over time, servers began offering lower and lower prices until nowadays, you can find pretty decent hosting for as low as a few dollars a month!

   This is great for us, the masses who want to set up dozens of websites and mini sites, but itīs not so good for the web hosts who are earning less money. The same goes for sign up freebies.

   Offering a free ebook as incentive to turn your name and email address over to an Internet Marketer isnīt bad. Piling the freebies on AFTER that is. You see, if you canīt keep your subscribers interested in your newsletter without offering them free things, then maybe your newsletter is what should be changed.

   Take Allan Gardyn of Associate Programs for example. He doesnīt give much away for free in his newsletters, but they are so packed with useful information that his opt in list has steadily grown over the past few years. That is what you should be aiming for, giving quality content instead of zero cost info products.

   When your subscribers get used to receiving something for nothing, itīs very hard to convince them that they ought to pay for a product that you are promoting. Since the main point (for you) of an opt in list is to earn money, this is a very bad thing.

   The worst part is that this doesnīt just affect you, it affects all internet marketers that come into contact with your spoiled subscribers! Not only do they not want to give you money, they donīt want to give it to anyone else, either!

   The best way to combat this rapidly growing problem? Limit your freebies. Give away something as a sign up incentive and then work on promoting your affiliate links or other paid products. The occasional freebie is ok, but donīt give away more than one thing every couple of months.

   If you lose subscribers over this change, donīt worry about it. They were only in it for the free stuff and wouldnīt have ever bought anyway.

   So, go ahead, make the internet a nicer place for everyone and start selling instead of gifting to your opt in list!