Jon Morrow is a blogging superstar. In fact, he\u2019s been quoted saying he was the \u201chighest paid blogger ever.\u201d He was getting paid thousands of dollars per article. Seriously. For good reason, he\u2019s incredible at what he does. So it\u2019s really no wonder that he can build an email list effectively.<\/p>\n
What Jon Uses<\/b><\/p>\n Firstly, when you come to the homepage you see a feature box. As he\u2019s teaching people how to boost the traffic their blog will get, his incentive \u2013 a PDF file of good headline templates and an explanation \u2013 is perfect for his audience. On average, these boxes convert at around 10%.<\/p>\n To implement this technique, you can check out a Feature Box<\/a> plugin here.<\/p>\n The next noticeable thing for list building is the use of SumoMe, a plugin for WordPress that creates a few opt-in boxes \u2013 as a pop-up box, scroll-in box or bar on top of the screen. After looking around the site for a while, it wasn\u2019t clear how SumoMe was being utilised. (Nothing triggered an opt-in.)<\/p>\n But after some more digging and looking into the SumoMe functionality, it appears that Jon has decided to use it simply for their sharing buttons. The sharing button functionality is pretty much irrelevant to list building, but SumoMe overall is very powerful for list building.<\/p>\n To implement this technique, you can check out SumoMe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n Amazingly, that\u2019s all Jon has on his site. Which probably has you asking, \u201cThen how did Jon build such a huge email list?\u201d Well, if you read his content \u2013 you\u2019ll know the answer. It\u2019s guestblogging. He teaches it, uses it and quite simply lives it.<\/p>\n There are a few tools that Jon uses, as mentioned above, but at the core of his success \u2013 he\u2019s just writing his way there. There is a lot to be learned from Jon when it comes to this, but that\u2019s not what this article is about. Go check him out if you\u2019re interested in that aspect of list building.<\/p>\n Copyblogger.com is a site you know of, I\u2019m sure. However, Brian Clark has another interesting little blog called Further<\/a>. If you\u2019ve never checked it out, it\u2019s basically brain food and self-improvement posts. It\u2019s great to read, but it\u2019s also interesting to analyse what Brian\u2019s done to list build on it.<\/p>\n What Brian Uses<\/b><\/p>\n The first thing you notice when you come to Brian\u2019s site is that it\u2019s a little different. It\u2019s not like other blogs. It takes you straight to a landing page instead. There\u2019s a solid reason behind this too, Brian advertises the blog as a weekly newsletter as opposed to an actual blog.<\/p>\n What does this do for his audience building? Well, it gives them little choice but to sign up to his email list. They can check out the current and past editions of said newsletters too, which are very much like blog posts in structure, but the main focus is on them signing up right away.<\/p>\n This is quite a unique list building technique, but something like LeadPages<\/a> or another landing page alternative that allows you to customise the template would work well here if you\u2019re interested in it.<\/p>\n After a few moments on the landing page \u2013 I was actually scrolling to see if there was more to the page \u2013 a pop-up box then appears. It provides a condensed copy of the landing page, an email box and a submit button. There is nothing too technical or persuasive about it overall.<\/p>\n This technique can be implemented using SumoMe<\/a>. The SumoMe plugin in question is called List Builder.<\/p>\n Navigating away from the homepage, and on to any of the post pages, results in an opt-in box appearing above and below the post. These boxes are very similar to feature boxes, just designed to be very minimalistic and fluid with the theme.<\/p>\n This technique could be achieved with Feature Box<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n Overall, Brian is very minimalistic in his list building techniques and his blog\u2019s design overall. What makes his blog so successful is the way he\u2019s marketing it as a newsletter, which really sells the email list sign up with very little persuasion from him. It\u2019s rather genius when you think about it.<\/p>\n Derek Halpern, the wizard behind Social Triggers, is a bit of an internet marketing guru. And when I say a bit, I mean he\u2019s an absolute goliath in the internet marketing scene. So if you\u2019re at all serious about learning to build your list, sit up and pay attention. He knows<\/i> what works.<\/p>\n What Derek Uses<\/b><\/p>\n The very moment you load up Derek\u2019s site, you get welcomed by the sight of him in a flashy suit. Right off the bat, he\u2019s telling us \u201cI\u2019m successful, I can help you.\u201d Then he follows it up by telling people they\u2019ll learn things like \u201cHow to turn Random Traffic Into Loyal Subscribers.\u201d<\/p>\n Everything he\u2019s doing here screams \u201cauthority.\u201d He\u2019s setting up the stage for you to trust him because he knows what he\u2019s talking about, right away. Once you\u2019re sold on that, if you need to learn how to market better online \u2013 you\u2019ll have absolutely no problem signing up right then and there.<\/p>\n To implement this, Feature Box<\/a> can create an opt-in box similar to this effect. If none of the templates fit your goal, you can always create your own using their custom template option.<\/p>\n Derek really doesn\u2019t ease up on the punches on his homepage. If you\u2019re not sold by the authority opt-in box, the very next thing you see as you scroll down the page is \u201cA FEW WAYS I CAN HELP\u201d with a bunch of reports of his. All with a download button, which leads to a 2-step LeadBox, below.<\/p>\n You can use this technique by installing LeadPages<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once we go beyond the free reports and continue to scroll, there\u2019s then a section that highlights sites that Derek has been featured on. A few examples like Forbes and Fast Company really do the job of continuing to highlight that authority.<\/p>\n This authority then translates into trust, as noted above. And when people can trust Derek, they\u2019ll be more likely to sign up to his mailing list because they really believe he can help. This is a pretty simple psychology trick, and one that Derek himself has actually written on previously.<\/p>\n This is a pretty easy-to-implement trick. Just take the logos of places you\u2019ve been featured and place them in a relevant spot on your site, to assert your authority.<\/p>\n Realistically speaking, if you\u2019re scrolling down a page \u2013 you\u2019re going to continue to the bottom. So if Derek is putting in all the effort to represent authority all the way through said page, it makes sense that he would place an opt-in form in the footer too. It captures all the stragglers you\u2019ve convinced.<\/p>\n A very easy and simple technique to put into practice, any opt-in box put into the footer\u2019s widget area would achieve this.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n Derek\u2019s not-so-unique formula here is being an authority. Yes, the technology plays a huge role in the way he\u2019s capturing the emails, but what plays the biggest factor here is how he\u2019s representing himself. He\u2019s making himself seen as someone that can teach you something. And people believe it.<\/p>\n The technology itself, as mentioned under each point, is very easy to implement. The difficult part of reproducing Derek\u2019s strategy is representing the same level of authority that he does. However, as a starting point, here are a few things to think about to begin establishing that authority:<\/p>\n Noah Kagan is an Internet giant. He\u2019s grown two products to over 500,000 users each. Mint is actually standing at over a 1 million users right now. So yeah, he definitely has an idea as to what it is he\u2019s doing. Let\u2019s take a look at what it is he\u2019s using on his marketing blog, OkDork.<\/p>\n What Noah Uses<\/b><\/p>\n As soon as you arrive at Noah\u2019s site, you\u2019ll see his face grinning at you. Instantly he\u2019s beginning to establish trust with the reader. But he follows up on this very quickly with \u201cGet access to 85% of my best business hacks\u201d <\/i>as the title of the feature box.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019re not instantly sold by the smiling face and the promise of being given access to his best business hacks, he drops this explanation in just below. \u201cYou’ll learn exactly how I started 2 multi-million dollar businesses, grew a 700,000+ email list, and where to find the best tacos in the world.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n To recreate this technique, Feature Box<\/a> has a number of templates similar \u2013 as well as the option to create your own custom template.<\/p>\n On the very same page as the subtle advertisement above, there\u2019s a much clearer advertisement. It reads \u201cClick here for my Free Viral Content Cheatsheet\u201d <\/i>and opens up a LeadBox when clicked. If you were an internet marketer, that gift would certainly appeal to you.<\/p>\n This technique wouldn\u2019t be that difficult to recreate, but it really does depend on your blog theme. If you want to view it, you can see it in action here<\/a>. What you\u2019ll need is LeadPages<\/a> and some WordPress theme knowledge to create it!<\/p>\n In case you hadn\u2019t already opted in from his authority feature box on the front page, Noah makes another appeal for you to sign up for his marketing toolkit. When you click on this page, found in the primary menu of the site, you\u2019ll be brought to another opt-in page.<\/p>\n This page is very simple. It has an explanation of what you\u2019ll get and a couple of testimonials \u2013 to ensure he\u2019s continuing to build that authoritative trust with you. If you wanted to recreate a page like this, all you would need is an opt-in form and some nicely written copy.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n Overall, Noah\u2019s approach is pretty subtle. You don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re being attacked by opt-in boxes, you don\u2019t feel like he just wants your email \u2013 it\u2019s a very casual kind of set-up. It\u2019s very suiting of Noah\u2019s personality in both his writing and his talks.<\/p>\n However, the key selling point that Noah has going for him is the immense value he provides those who do decide to opt-in. He makes it clear that what he has to offer will <\/i>benefit any entrepreneur. That\u2019s why his products are so successful. Because he truly knows what he\u2019s talking about.<\/p>\n\n
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