So IS the money in the list?  That was the catch phrase of the gurus for years.  Then some people started saying the money is in the relationship with the list.  So let’s take a look at this…

Why is it better to build a list of subscribers?  Statistics show that a large majority of people won’t buy on the first contact.  Why is that?  Because people buy from people they know, like and trust.   When you first present an offer to someone you’ve never had contact with, they don’t know you yet,  so there’s no way they can like you, let alone trust you.

So that’s why people build a list, to get people to know them, like them and trust them.  But recently many people have taken list building as simply a way to drive traffic without paying any attention to building a relationship.

One thing they do pay attention to is monetizing their list building, though.  They might not take the time to let their subscribers get to know them, but they make sure they don’t miss an opportunity to present an offer.  Now, don’t get me wrong…  I’m not opposed to a good One Time Offer after optin, as long as it’s done in such a way that it helps the relationship with your subscriber, not damages it.

When a brand new subscriber has just entered their email address on your optin form and clicked that button, you have already convinced them to make a small commitment to you and  they usually would like to believe they have made a good decision and often will say yes to an offer you make while they are still holding that attitude.

But you have to realize that this is a fragile position they are in.  Many of them may not have been 100% sure they wanted to take that step forward.  It won’t take much of a negative feeling to turn them around and make them feel foolish or angry for having trusted you.   If that happens the likelihood of ever getting them to trust you and buy from you is very low.

So what could cause such a negative feeling?  Imagine you have come to a page that offers something that sounds useful to you and best of all, it only costs an email.   So you enter your information, click the button and you are expecting to get your free product.  BUT the page you are presented with next looks an awful lot like a sales page… You can’t find a download link and as you scroll down… What’s THAT?!?  A PAYMENT button?!?    What ever happened to the free product you were offered?

Now you are feeling cheated and scammed… did they trick you into giving them your email address for nothing?  There might have been a notice near the top of the page – maybe in small print above the headline -  stating that you would get your free product in the email, but did you notice it in your hurry to download the great offer you had been promised?  Maybe there was a link below the payment button that you didn’t notice that said “Click Here to go to your download page”.  But by the time you got that far and saw the payment button you were already feeling wronged and either depressed for having been fooled, or angry.  You may not have even noticed that the product for sale was a completely different product than the one you opted in for.

Or maybe there was nothing at all telling you that you would get what you came for, because the offer is an affiliate  sales page that the affiliate has no control over.  He couldn’t put any wording in there to make you feel satisfied with your decision to trust if he wanted to.  He couldn’t  reassure you that you will be getting what you were promised because he doesn’t own the page he sent you to.

Whatever the reason, you didn’t know you would be getting your free product and you felt offended or hurt – felt that your trust had been violated – when you were asked to pay.

I have heard some marketers laughing and saying how stupid subscribers can be when they get complaints about this sort of thing.  They say “The offer page  says you will be getting your link in the email … Did you even check your email before you complained?”   Well, I say they are stupid for not trying to figure out what is wrong with their offer.

So I did figure out what was wrong.  And I created a solution that even a non-techie can easily implement.   You can see an example here:  http://otoxpress.com/oto?id=42 And you can get it free and use it yourself  here:  http://otoxpress.com?r=register

It’s still in beta testing so I would appreciate any comments or suggestions, but if you get in now you can in free and I don’t know how long I will be keeping a free version once I have implemented all my planned features.

P.S.  You can also expect to see an OTO once you have signed up, and it’s at a rock-bottom price that will include all future upgrades for life.