You probably know that giving away something of value can help you build your list quickly. Sometimes though, you have a problem coming up with an opt-in gift idea. Use any of the following 14 proven list building freebies in case you are running out of ideas.

1 – Make a simple PDF. OpenOffice, Word and most other popular spreadsheet software programs have a “save as PDF” option. This makes turning any text-based resource into an opt-in bribe quickly and easily.

2 – Use Jing, Screenr or Screencast-O-Matic to record video screen-shots. Videos enjoy a much higher perceived value than text-based opt-in gifts.

3 – Record an MP3 file. The growth of podcasts means more and more people are listening to content rather than reading or viewing it.

4 – Create a buyer’s guide, walking someone through every step of a particular buying or shopping process.

5 – Why not give out a valuable coupon which substantially discounts the price of one of your products?

6 – Create a short 5 or 7 day problem-solving course to be delivered by email. Continue reading →

Can you really make money from a small email list? Do you need to have tens of thousands of subscribers to make a decent living online? The answers to those questions are yes and no respectively. People with relatively small lists of email subscribers make good money all the time.

It boils down to the relationship they have with their list.

Would you like some proof? For example, brand new list builder John R Meese bought a WordPress theme. The theme was a popular item sold by Michael Hyatt, but it was a little “clunky”. John started hitting the word press forums, helping people through the problems they were having with this particular theme.

He began to build a list, which he had never done before, offering his help for free. He eventually built a course that solves any and every question someone using that WordPress theme would have. On just 250 subscribers and 8 emails, John did $10,000 dollars in just 7 days.

Another list building newbie, Cathryn Lavery has always been involved with journaling and self-improvement topics. She built a small list of 2,000 subscribers, and created a KickStarter project so she could fund creation and distribution of the Self Journal: Your Daily Structure for Success. Continue reading →