This post is a series of 3:  Review the first two posts before adding these advanced techniques to your repertoire.

How to Build Your List: Part 1 Getting Started
How to Build Your List: Part 2 Building Momentum

Here are 7 advanced techniques to fine tune and amp up your list building leverage.

1. Reach out to bigger JV partners
2. Increase the frequency of your list building activities
3. Create new and fresh giveaways.
4. Add a product-specific free giveaway to each product sales page
5. Include list building requirements when others are sponsor of your events
6. Start sponsoring events that target your ideal client
7. Take it one step further–become a trade show exhibitor at other people’s events.  Remember, the strategy here is to build your list, not necessarily making sales on the spot, although that can happen.

The first post, all about getting started, is here.  How to Build Your List Part 1

Here are 9 Steps to Build Your List Building Momentum

• Create an opt-in page for your pink spoon or free giveaway (Don’t forget to track your conversions!)
• Begin creating ongoing JV Partnerships
• Add affiliates to your list building strategies
• Include links to your free giveaway opt-in page in your email signature
• Consider hosting a telesummit
• Schedule one list building launch every 4 months
• Increase the number of offers made to your list
• Use social media to invite people to your free giveaway opt-in pag

This is a great way to keep to stay connected with your list as well as demonstrating that you know what you’re doing!

When you don’t have a list or if you have a small list, you can get some practice and gain some exposure by speaking to other audiences and build your list all at once!  This can be done in two ways.

1. Speaking Live to local audiences at meetups, networking groups or associations.
2. Via teleclasses or webinars to other people’s lists.

The key with this strategy is to have a plan in place to be able to add interested people to your list.

When you’re speaking live there are at least 3 different ways to capture your opt-ins.

1. The old fashioned sign up sheet in the back of the room.  (*Note some autoresponder services make it very difficult to manually add people to your list.)
2. Announce your feebie and your website and hope that they will go back and visit your site to opt-in.  Sweeten the incentive for #1 & #2 by doing a raffle or giveaway of some sort for those who register.  (The sky is the limit here, it could be the chance to win a free session with you, a free product, a signed copy of your book, and iPad or Kindle for big events or audiences.)
3. Capture your leads via SMS or Text Message!  Some email autoresponder services like Mailchimp, and big dogs like Infusionsoft, offer the capability to subscribe to a list via text message.  Anyone with a cell phone can instantly add themselves to your list and receive your freebie before you’ve even finished your talk!

When you’re speaking via teleseminar or webinar you collect your leads via an opt-in form.

Depending on the agreement you make with the host of the teleclass or webinar it can look something like this.

1. Set up an opt-in page, specific to the host or audience you will be speaking to.
2. The host sends an email announcement to their list, inviting them to join them for your call/webinar that directs them to your opt-in page.
3. You send them a thank you email introducing yourself, telling them everything they need to know about the call.

Voila!  They’re on your list.  From there you can continue to communicate with them and bring them into your fold.

Note**If by some chance the host will not allow you to host the call registration page, there is a workaround.

You can create a handout for the call/webinar and create a simple opt-in page for the handout.  Then announce the special handout at the top of the call and mention the url where the audience can download it.  You may not get as many opt-ins this way, but it’s better than nothing!

Some hosts will offer to host the page and then ‘share’ the list with you.  This works well if you’re able to upload their list to your autoresponder service, but it has to be done with transparency.  Your unsubscribe rate will be much higher if people don’t understand how they came to be on your list.

As the business owner, it’s important to know the ins and outs of the strategies you put into place, but please don’t get bogged down with the nuts and bolts.

For these list building strategies, your role is simply making the connection with the host, getting booked and creating the content.

Your VA or VA Team can take it from there!

The first step is to decide the format of your freebie.

Free report? Checklist? Audio? Video?

A series or one time thing?

If this is your first time creating something like this, my advice is to keep it super simple.

Take an inventory of any existing content you might have.

• Do you have a series of blog posts or articles you can pull content from?
• Do you have a signature speech or talk that you can re-purpose?
• Do you have a recording of an interview you’ve done that you can have transcribed or simply give away the audio file?
• Have you written a book?

If you don’t have any existing content to pull from, here are a couple of ideas.

• Have your VA or someone you know interview you using questions about how you help people or what you do.
• Select a hand full of people in your target market and request to interview them.  Knowing their wants, needs and frustrations in relation to the work that you do could provide you with tons of content ideas to source articles, blog posts, product and program ideas for years to come!

You have your format.  You have your content.  The last step is the delivery.

Many people are tempted to use their Outlook or Gmail to manage their contacts and lists.  Although it’s a medium you’re already familiar with, please don’t do this.

Go with an email autoresponder service right from the beginning.  Some, such as Mailchimp are free until you have 2000 subscribers or send more than 12000 emails per month.

If you know you’re going to be using a shopping cart you might want to start with their autoresponder service right from the beginning or make sure you are using an autoresponder service that will integrate with the shopping cart of your choice.

This topic can be it’s own blog post. There is much to be considered, ask your coach or VA what they would recommend and why to aid you in making the right decision for your business.

The key is to go ‘pro’ right from the start.  When you try to get by with your regular email program you can’t track open rates, or click-thrus and it’s much harder to manage your unsubscribes.  It’s also much harder to segment your list and send more targeted emails.

Part of going pro is getting the support you need at each stage of your business.   You’ll notice that I don’t get into the technical side of things.  The reason for this is that once you’ve decided on the form your freebie will take and have put together the content and decided on the autoresponder service you will use–your part is done.

This is where you move on to the next list building activity on the list.

Your VA can set up the autoresponder service on your behalf, edit or produce the actual freebie and upload it to your website or autoresponder service.  They can also integrate the autoresponder service with your website…but more about that next week!

Here are five steps to get you started.  For the best results, I suggest you start with just one.  When you have one done, then add the next one to the mix.  With patience and implementation you’ll have a strong, engaged list in no time!

1. Create your pink spoon, or free giveaway. Offering your newsletter or ezine is no longer enough. Keep it simple.  I’ll be writing more about this in a future post, but thing along the lines of a checklist, audio download or special report.  Here’s an example: http://thesecretmoneydrain.com.
2. Speak live or via telesminars twice a month to build your list.
3. Interview experts to get on their radar and offer the interviews to your list.  This adds to your credibility and paves the way to future joint ventures.
4. Launch your ezine or newsletter and send it twice a month. Consistency is key with this and, again…keep it simple!
5. Start making offers to your list.  Start with free sessions and work you way up to VIP Days.

Stay tuned for more posts that get more specific about each of the five tips as well as how to build your list building momentum and then create leverage with your list building.

Well, this happened a couple times in my house this winter and I was the only one who wasn’t getting any better. I had a cough that wouldn’t quit, my voice would be here one day, gone the next. I had chest pains (from all the coughing, or so I thought) and just felt downright terrible.

As the mom, I’m the last one that is ‘allowed’ to get sick and as a business owner—forget about it, I didn’t have time to be sick! So, I’d try this cough medicine or that cold medicine, made chicken soup and basically kept on keeping on thinking I’d get better eventually.

This went on for a solid month. It wasn’t until my prescription ran out for something else, that I went to see the doctor. Did you catch that? I didn’t go to the doctor because I was sick”I was going because I had to go in order to get another prescription filled. It was during that routine exam that she asks me if I was aware that I was ‘wheezing’. Nope, I had no idea that’s what the pain in my chest was. And that’s when I started spilling the beans about all of my other symptoms.

Long story short, the icky cold had turned into a sinus infection and bronchitis. It wasn’t until I was able to take pain-free deep breaths again that I realized how bad I had let things get.

Over the next few weeks I had a few Take It Off My Plate Sessions with potential clients and I was recognizing the same behaviors in them. They were coming to me for a completely different issue than the ones that really need to be addressed in their business.

Where in your business are you limping along, telling yourself that if you just push through it, it will get better eventually?

Are you putting up with that email marketing system that doesn’t do everything you need it to do because making the switch to something better is too overwhelming?

Is the business getting too big for you to manage, yet you struggle with the idea of letting someone else in to help?

Do you put off doing anything new like live events, or offering new programs or products because you’re waiting for things to settle down? Or you just don’t feel confident that you can pull it all off?

Yes there are times when you have to suck it up and just push through–we’ve all had those.

But when that’s not working, you have to draw a line.

You have to go see the doctor. Or get a coach. Or bring on a new team or team member.

When I was sick I didn’t equate going to the doctor with being able to breathe easily again. It sounds dumb as I write it. I saw going to the doctor as a hassle. It meant time away from my office and the work that needed to get done. That’s how many people feel about finding the support they need in their business too. But then, there was that moment, after a few days of medicine, when I could take a deep breath, and it didn’t hurt!

My goodness, the relief!

What kind of relief can you bring into your business?

Sometimes, we’re so far into the thick of things that it’s too hard to see things clearly. The idea of any kind of relief seems like a fairytale.

If that’s where you are right now, schedule a Take It Off My Plate session with me.

In 30 short minutes (less time than you spend in the doctor’s waiting room!) we can get to the heart of the matter and start the healing process for your business.

I’ve had my fair share of breakdowns and break ups with clients.  And I’ve talked to scores of potential clients after they’ve experienced a breakdown or break up of some sort with their VA or VA team.

Here are the main issues I’ve witnessed in one way or other over the years.

Let’s tackle the most obvious one first.

Unclear Communication of Expectations

This one goes both ways.

On the client side, if you need something completed by a specific date and time, make sure you communicate that.

On the VA side, if you need more lead time to plan or complete a project.  Speak up.

It sounds simplistic, but when people fail to communicate their expectations, and those expectations aren’t met, resentment can start to build.

The Blame Game

This is a bitter pill to swallow and it has happened to me before.

Sh*t happens.  You accidentally sent that broadcast and it went out before it was ready. Or, you announced something before all of the systems were tested.  Or you forgot to check your schedule and missed an important client appointment.  It’s awfully tempting to blame it on the ‘assistant’.  Don’t.

Even if the assistant never finds out, although often times we do, you’re damaging their reputation AND you’re missing out on a crucial learning and growth opportunity for yourself.

Everybody makes mistakes.  Heck, even the assistant makes genuine mistakes.  We’re all human.

Don’t freak out.  Acknowledge the error.   Do a quick systems check to see how it can be avoided in the future.  Move on.

Cutting Back on Time When the Chips are Down

Here’s another one that really hits home for me.  Both as a service provider as well as a business owner.

It seems logical to try to reduce expenses when you’re having a slow month or drop in business.

Here’s why it doesn’t work.

The whole purpose in investing in a VA or VA Team is to grow your business.

When you reduce their hours, you now have to take on some or all of the tasks they can no longer do for you.

Suddenly you’re the one planning the next event.  Or editing videos.  Getting the ezine out.  Setting up a sales page. Sending affiliate details to the JV partners. Or dealing with all of those draining customer service emails.

When you’re in a slump these are the last things you should be doing!  Even if you technically ‘can‘ do them.

You should be getting out there and rounding up some new clients.

Offer a sale on your products or programs.

Get back in touch with past clients or referral sources.

Get in front of audiences and give your signature speech.

Contact previous Joint Venture partners and see if you can revamp and re-launch that last successful venture you did together.

Find and meet new Joint Venture partners and see what kind of new offering you can come up with.

Do whatever it takes to generate income.

There is a time and place for reducing expenses.  Getting rid of services you aren’t using comes to mind–but cutting back on your support team shouldn’t be near the top of the list.

How is this a breakdown in the Client/VA relationship?

If you’ve committed to a certain number of hours per month, you’re depending on them to set that time aside for you and be there for you.  The same applies for the VA.  They’re counting on those hours.

What happens in any other relationship when you feel like you can’t count on someone?

Not to mention the risk you’re taking.  That VA will likely need to fill those hours.  Will they still be there for you when you’re ready to ramp back up?

Can you tell this is a hot topic for me?

What breakdowns have you experienced with your team?  Looking back, how could it have been different?  Or have you experienced something like this and successfully turned it around to create a breakthrough?

In my office, my desk is clear, the bookshelf is organized and I’ve even gotten my office supply obsession under control.

It’s not till you peer into my hard drive that you find my dirty little secret.

I keep everything.  Emails, images, e-books, program files I no longer use…everything!

You never know when you’ll need that email from 2008 right?

Fortunately, technology has made it possible for me to hang on to all of those wonderful things in such a way that they are out of sight, unless I need them.  When I need them, they’re right at my finger tips.

Here’s how I do this with my emails.

Gmail.  Need I say more? For my business based emails, I use Google Apps.

I’ve played with lots of systems over the last few years, and this is what works for me.

Everything goes to my inbox.

I used to have everything filtered out so that I had dozens of different labels.  The problem with that was that it was easy to overlook emails or postpone looking at certain folders/labels.  It also kind of camouflaged how many emails I was getting on a daily basis.

With everything going to my inbox I’ve become much more particular about what lists/ezines I subscribe to.  This alone has eliminated a lot of digital clutter and wasted time.

I review my inbox periodically throughout the day.  If something needs my immediate attention or can be handled within a few minutes, I take care of it right then and there.

Once it’s addressed, I archive it.  I have labels/folders for each of my clients and a few other things (not the dozens and dozens like before).  Everything else just goes to the regular gmail archive and if ever I need it again, a quick search brings it right up.

If it’s something that can’t be addressed immediately, it stays in the inbox.  That way, it’s in my face and I won’t lose track of it.

If it’s client or project related, I enter it into my project management system and assign it to a team member.  The email then gets archived.

Some things don’t fit into either category.  They may be ezines or trainings, or other things that don’t need to be addressed right away.  They get ‘starred’ and archived.

That way I can come back to them when I have time.  I usually read through them in the carpool line, at soccer practice, or on trips.

It’s a pretty simple system.  My inbox is no longer overflowing.  Everything that needs to be addressed is handled promptly and everything else is still there for me when I’m ready.

This may not work for you.  But give it a shot.  If it doesn’t work, move on to something else.  The key is to do something.  Digital clutter is no joke!  It affects your productivity and your mindset just like the physical clutter in your home or office would.

Sometimes the job seems too big.  I’ve had clients with over 10,000 emails in their inbox.  I have one client with over 14,000 unread emails in their inbox as we speak. Don’t do that.  So many important things fall through the cracks!  But if you find yourself in a similar situation, there are a couple of things you can do.

1) Get help.  Seriously.  With a little bit of input from you, a VA can hop in and clear those suckers out.  Maybe even find you a few opportunities that you didn’t even know you had!

2) This one might seem a little drastic…archive everything.  Draw a line in the email sand.  Maybe it’s today, or last week, or last month and archive everything prior to that date.  It may be a little scary, but it’s a clean start.

If you’re ready to get some help with your inbox or setting up Google Apps for your business….

Schedule a Take It Off My Plate Session to find out how we can do it for you.

One theme that has been popping up a lot lately is the concept that all you have to do is sell a small product or line of products to make six figures online. Without having a list. Without having established themselves as experts. Without joint venture partners to help them promote it.

Then, when they publish their sales page or website nothing happens. They followed the blueprint. They did everything ‘right’. Aren’t there gurus out there making millions with one product launch?

Oftentimes they’ll assume that the product was the problem or the copy was the problem and they start all over again. And again. Because they’re brilliant and have a ton of great ideas!

In reality, building a business is like building any other structure. You need a foundation.

In a coaching business the foundation is your signature system. Your signature system is exactly that, the system, the coaching, or the process you use to create the transformation your provide.

Here are the Top 3 reasons You Should Offer VIP Days and Private Coaching:

1. Signature System: Working with your ideal clients in a one on one situation that makes it easy to hone in on the solutions that you can offer and the transformation you provide. It’s your sand box or testing ground of sorts to discover what truly works for you and your clients and where your gifts are.Once you have a good idea of their need, your process, and the transformation that occurs, you have the basis for future products and group programs.
2. Credibility: As a result of the work you’ve done in this capacity, your confidence increases as you see the success you’ve helped create time and time again.Your clients will rant and rave about the work you’ve done together which leads to testimonials, referrals and higher visibility, as you become well known for the work you do.
3. Instant Cash Flow: When you offer VIP Days and Private Coaching, your clients will experience greater and more immediate results than they would from a product or group-coaching program. People will gladly pay higher fees for that opportunity. (Tip: Make sure to collect payment before the VIP day takes place and take care of what payment terms you will accept for your private coaching clients.)

Some people shy away from private coaching because it seems to be too time or labor intensive. With the right systems and support in place it can be as easy as just showing up for your coaching appointments and doing what you do best.