This is the first of our five-part “Building Your Affiliate Marketing Opt-In List” series. You’ll learn how to build a list, convince visitors to opt-in, drive traffic to your opt-in form, and then how to treat your list once you have one.

Every affiliate marketing guru worth his/her salt will tell you “the money is in the list.” They say it loud and they say it often because it’s true. The “list” they refer to is your “opt-in list.”

You might not have an opt-in list right now or you might have one but only have a few names and email addresses on it. But an opt-in list really isn’t optional if you’re an affiliate marketer.

If you want to make money as an affiliate marketer …

YOU MUST HAVE AN OPT-IN LIST!

To get started, you’ll need to

Choose an Autoresponder Service!

An autoresponder service is an online service that provides you with an opt-in box code that you place on your website so that you can collect the names and email addresses of your visitors who choose to opt-in.

There are hundreds of autoresponder service providers on the Internet. But it’s important to remember that there are major differences between autoresponder services. You want to choose a good autoresponder service that will meet your opt-in needs.

You will find both free and paid autoresponder services. We do NOT recommend that you use a free autoresponder service. The phrase, “you get what you pay for” comes to mind.

You need to choose an autoresponder service that:

Is easy to install: It should be easy to create an opt-in box and install it on your website
Provides automatic subscribe and unsubscribe: You shouldn’t have to take any action at all regarding either new subscriptions or unsubscribes.
Provides tracking information: You should be able to test and track your messages easily.

Has list management capabilities: You should be able to choose to send messages to one list or to several lists.

Has adequate security features: Security features should insure that not only your personal information is safe but also that your subscribers’ information is safe.

Offers FREE 24/7 technical support: Find a service that offers phone as well as IM support.
The autoresponder service we recommend is Aweber

In part two of the five part “Building Your Affiliate Marketing Opt-In List” you’ll find out how you can convince visitors to provide you with their name and email address.

• NOTE: Even though Lurn, Inc. receives compensation for products and services promoted in our blog posts, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences about those products and services.