Lead capture pages or often known as splash pages and squeeze pages are one page websites designed with one purpose in mind. The focus of a squeeze page is to collect the name and email address of your visitors who may be interested in gathering more information from you on your selected niche topic. In order to entice your visitors to sign up to your email list and have the possibility to gain more sales in the future, you need to offer them something free that will benefit them or that’s they can’t get anywhere else.  Many people use ebooks or software that can be easily downloaded, and others offer an ecourse to teach a specific subject that will show how to make money or solve a problem.

These three steps will help you get your lead capture page set up and ready to build your list of email subscribers.

1. Develop the Lead Capture Page – There are several ways you can set up your page. Many networking marketing businesses use lead pages as an introduction to their business. They will have their header on the top, some pictures, introduction, bullet points, highlights and anything else they feel will help get people interested and encourage them to sign up to learn more and eventually join them in their business efforts.

If you are running a niche business, you could simply have a photo of the freebie that you are offering, list the benefits of the product, and then an autoresponder box where the visitor can fill in their name and email address for their free gift. If it is an ecourse or newsletter you are offering, you will want to tell your subscribers what you plan to teach them that will help them.

If you do not have any technical know-how, this doesn’t mean you can’t still build professional lead capture pages. There are some free services online like the Instant Squeeze Page Generator* that is a simple, fill in the blanks program. Each page is set up for you to either just click to choose the option you would like, or you can type your own information in the provided box. Once you have completed all eight steps, you are given a link to your finished page. You can then decide to leave it hosted on their website with a link back to them at the bottom of your page, or you can copy the code into an html editor, save it as an html page and upload it to host on your own server (this option may be for those with a little tech know-how, just not proficient with actual coding).

2. Give them the Good Stuff – When you get things set up, you may want to end up joining what is known as a giveaway event. This is where several marketers get together to offer freebies and build their list as a joint venture. If you do not have a free gift to offer, the Instant Squeeze Page Generator* membership will give you one as well.

Here is a quick screen shot of some of the layouts and possible formats you can choose for designing your lead capture pages.

Options for available gifts to choose:

If you don’t like the layout of something that you have chosen, you can simply click the back button to the step you want to change and select others until you get the look and feel you want.

3. Launch your New Page – After you have completed your lead capture pages, the next step to building your list is to let people know it is out there. You can add the link in signatures on forums, in groups, on your emails, and more. You can use free classifieds, article marketing or any other free or paid method of advertising that you find works.

Now get out there and start creating your own lead capture pages and build up your list which will help make you more money and grow your business!

As always, if you have any questions or need more clarification on anything you read, just post a comment and I will respond to you. I would love to see some of your completed lead capture pages for those of you wanting to share when you are done.

*affiliate link

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Thanks to my guest blogger today, Sue Painter – The Confident Marketer.  Sue has wonderful insights for growing your online business.  Enjoy!

I’ve just finished three days with Fabienne Fredrickson, where I’ve had the chance to talk with many entrepreneurs and solo professionals and hear about their businesses. One of things that hits me hard is that so many people told me they have either a very small database of potential clients (prospects) or, despite years in business, have no list at all. This is a major issue for entrepreneurs, one that will quickly hamper their success and make it a lot tougher to make much money. After hearing this so many times both at this workshop and over the past few years, I’ve wondered why this is such a common problem. I’ve wondered if entrepreneurs don’t realize why their list is truly the heart of their business.

If you have a business but no database (commonly called a list) of prospects, you are in heavy water. You have not created a program to pull customers toward what you have to offer, you don’t know who has been interested in your products or services up until now (because you have failed to gather their contact information into a database) and, worst of all, you have no way at all to reach out and touch those prospects over and over again, keeping them in your marketing system. Instead of having a golden egg that makes you money, you have a badly cracked egg.

• Prospects need and want to hear from you over and over again. Research shows that most people will not buy from you on the first contact (we’re talking contact by e-mail or Internet here). It takes an average of 6 to 9 contacts. Why is this? People want to feel like they know and trust you before they open up their wallets. You are probably just the same way. And, over the Internet, it’s harder to build that know and trust factor because you are not standing right there in person, face to face. (By the way, this is one reason that video works well in Internet marketing, but that’s a whole other blog post!)
• If you don’t have a system that automatically gathers up the first name and e-mail address of people who hit your website, you never even know who might have been interested in buying from you. You’ve paid to put up a website, but it isn’t supporting an automated marketing system. This is a sad thing! Don’t you want a good portion of your marketing to be automated? It sure does save time and money! And it helps you to pay for that website’s design and hosting, too.
• Every business prospers only to the extent that it keeps new customers coming in the door. Even businesses that are running at capacity and can’t currently take more customers still must be marketing, because customers come and go. Constantly building your list of prospects and keeping in touch with them so that they will remember you when they do need what you are offering is critical.

Sue Painter is the President and founder of The Confident Marketer.  She works with bright, driven individuals who have a burning desire to create financially successful work that aligns with their inner vision.   Sue is passionate about helping solopreneurs create work that is satisfying and financially successful.

Sue has identified niche markets and successfully led individuals and organizations to profitably meet those markets for over twenty years.  She is a former contributing writer for Massage Magazine, where she specialized in practice building, marketing, and business articles.  The previous Business Editor of Tradebank International’s monthly member newsletter, she has published dozens of articles focused on marketing, networking, and customer service.

Sue is a certified Book Yourself Solid coach, an expert author for ezinearticles.com, and an expert for both Solo-E.com and SelfGrowth.com.  She is a member of Ali Brown’s Millionaire Protege Mastermind Group and serves as one of Ali’s Platinum Mastermind Leaders.   Natural Awakenings Magazine recently honored Sue as one of the top ten “Women of Wellness” in her city.

It used to be, before the telephone, before cellphones, before the Internet, sending notes was the norm – we sent them out to invite people to events, thank them for gifts, send out our condolences and even just to say hello. Even when doing business, everyone from shopkeepers to oil barons sent out cards to begin relationship and seal deals. These days, with all the technology available to us, it’s almost accepted to send out a text message that says “Nice 2 meet U. C u soon.”

Sending out cards and notes may seem archaic, but they seem to be coming back in vogue, perhaps because people hardly get that personal touch anymore (think about it – compared to a decade ago, how many birthday or Christmas cards do you get a year?) Cards can also be used for business – and will definitely put on a lasting impression to your clients.

Have no idea how to begin? Here are some tips to get you started:

Have an updated contact list – having a list will make it easier for you to organize your campaign, but make sure your information is complete and updated. It would be pretty embarrassing if you were to send the wrong card to the wrong person or not have it reach your important client.

Select your message carefully – if you’re sending out holiday cards, read the message carefully to make sure you won’t offend anyone (assuming you’re sending out a lot of cards.) You wouldn’t want to risk sending out something which can make you look bad, when your intention was the opposite.

Use titles – You may be on first-name basis with your clients, but using their titles on the front of the cards shows respect and gives importance to their achievements, so make sure you include that “Dr.”, “Mr.,” “Esq.” etc. with their names.

Spell Check! –  OMG, this is a biggie! Make sure you read each and every line and make sure every word is spelled correctly, lest you make some embarrassing faux pas.

Send them on time – get your holiday cards out early, especially for businesses. They may be leaving work early to take time off. For thank you cards, try to send them no more than a week after, or they may forget what you are thanking them for!

Remember, building relationships is the core of any business and key to its success. Taking the time out to do simple tasks can cement your reputation with the right people. Don’t always have the time to do everything yourself? Get a little help and still have that personal touch with Send Out Cards and it only takes a few minutes to choose, write and send your card. Click on the link today to find out more.

Click Here – Send Out Cards if you are looking for any of the above!

Prior to starting my Online Business Management company, I owned a Professional Organizing Service, called Completely Organized. I have always had a knack for sorting, stacking, and putting like things together, so it came quite easy for me to share my natural gifts with others through a business. The unfortunate part was that this was prior to Social Networking and my market was local, and they weren’t ready to pay someone to get them organized.

But I still have those skills and I use them in my business today. Now I have to be honest. I’m not always good at doing them, I know what to do and I talk a good game, but sometimes I just don’t manage to stay as organized as I would like. So in honor of “Organize Your Home Office Day”, here are a few things that will keep you organized and start and end each day with a clean desk.

• Start your day by reviewing your To-Do List (more about this further down)
• Tackle your priority tasks first
• Set times throughout the day to check email and respond. Close it down when you have finished
• Make phone calls in bundles (except for urgent calls)
• When working on projects, let the calls go to voice mail and return them when finished with the project
• Keep current files in a stack-file on your desk or nearby for easy retrieval
• When working with documents make a decision to only handle once – file, follow-up, or shred
• Keep all your tools handy, but tucked away, not on your desktop
• At the end of the day, review your To-Do list again. Congratulate yourself on your successes and progress. Start a new one with the top three priorities of the next day. These are the three things, that will make the biggest impact on your business if you didn’t get them completed.

Well, that’s my list. Hope you found something useful to help you get more organized. What are some of the things you do daily to stay organized?

I had the opportunity to attend a teleseminar this morning by L. Drew Gerber CEO & Partner of PressKit 24/7. It was part of the Big Fish Nation program I am a member of. Big Fish empowers women entrepreneur’s to take their business to the next level through hard core business skills with a spiritual approach to success. Today’s teleseminar focused on Online Press Releases.

Drew shared with us that he defines PR as, Your Relationship with the Public and that you should begin using PR from the onset of your business. It will increase brand recognition, and boost your sales of products and services. 90 percent of reporters are getting their information from the Internet, so an Online Press Kit is essential to your Online Business Success!

As part of his company, PressKit 24/7 he has established a source to bring potential media opportunities right into your Inbox. PitchRate.com is the name of this site and it’s completely free! You can register, include a profile, select your area of expertise, along with subcategories and daily you will receive a digest of media opportunities. You can also search on the site for keywords relative to your business.

Drew loves games, and so do I! So he has offered the participants of today’s teleseminar an incredible prize for the person that gets the most people to sign up for PitchRate. That’s where I need your help! If you would like to get daily feeds of media opportunities and grow your business through online press release marketing, please sign up for this free service. And then send me a quick email to (terri.avirtualbiz@gmail.com) and put your name in the subject line. And of course, I’d love to get your feedback to share with Drew.

It’s very important that you send me an email, otherwise, I won’t know that you signed up and can’t count you in my group. I’ll follow up and let you know if YOU helped me win!

I am constantly amazing by the number of plugins, widgets and features that are available for my WordPress Blog. I actually have this one and I have a static page that I have set-up through the blog platform for my Tasting The Internet, One Byte at a Time Program.

I am hosting a Free Webinar on February 26th at 2 pm eastern, “Why Should I use Twitter?” and I needed a sign-up form for people to register for the webinar. After checking with my friend and colleague, Rebecca Zwar with Social Web diVA and Invisible Assistant, she shared an incredible plugin called GWA Autoresponder for WordPress.

I have been very pleased with this plugin so far. People have registered for my webinar and they receive an automatic autoresponder with some freebies that I’m giving away and then I’ll be able to add them to my newsletter list and communicate all the details of the webinar.

If you are looking for a easy to set-up, fast to learn and effective autoresponder for your blog, look no further than GWA Autoresponder for WordPress.

Oh, and by the way, there’s still time to register for my Free Webinar, “Why Should I use Twitter.”

Seems like there is something new coming out every day for Twitter. That’s fine with me. I love Twitter and all things Twitter.

So I thought I would share a few of the things I have found, and use, in case you haven’t already heard of them.

The first one is TweetLater.

With TweetLater, you can send a direct message to every new follower, schedule tweets and establish keywords and alerts for tweets that will come to your inbox in an email digest.

The ability to schedule tweets is a great tool, but to also include the other two features, TweetLater gets my vote for a Top Twitter Tool

Terri Brooks, Certified Internet Marketing Specialist
www.avirtualbiz.com
www.tastingtheinternet.com

My husband says, I have been “running the roads” a lot lately. That’s a southern thing if you don’t understand that phrase. But he is correct. I have been going a lot of places in the last couple of weeks and according to my calendar, I’m not going to slow down until around Christmas.

Now for a virtual professional, that’s a bit of a culture shock to actually go outside of your virtual world. But I love getting out of here. I love to visit and talk with people and network everywhere I go.

I shared a booth with one of my clients at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon in Knoxville last week and enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones. And of course, sharing my business and the services I provide for administrative support and online marketing. I walked away with a great list of people to follow-up with this week.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial was being dedicated this past weekend and I was honored to be invited to a reception and the dedication ceremony. The Mayor’s were there, as well as other politicians, high-ranking military personel and many familiar faces from my time with the organization. The ceremony was incredibly moving and I was proud to be an American and to have been involved in the early stages of the memorial’s planning. And it proved to be a great place to network. I was invited to be on a local radio show and several people are interested in learning more about my business.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks and the many networking opportunties to share what I do and how I can help other business owners with their administrative and marketing needs.

So Honey, I have a few more “roads to run.”

Do you love to network, but don’t have time to follow-up? You’re not alone. The majority of networkers love to mix and mingle with potential new clients at various events, but when they get back to their office, they toss those valuable business cards in a drawer and plan to follow up tomorrow. For most busy professionals, tomorrow brings its own new projects and before you know it, several weeks or even months have gone by with no follow up. Hundreds, or maybe thousands, of dollars in potential revenue has been laying in your top desk drawer!

We have the solution to keep you on top of your follow-up and make you a leader in business prospecting. Our Prospect Follow-up Service – Cards to Cash, provides a quick turnaround to those new business acquaintances and presents a professional image of your business.

Our package offers:

• Each business card scanned into a working database
• The design of a real Follow-up card with your logo or business card imprinted on the inside flap
• The card is mailed to the new prospect on your behalf
• One telephone call is attempted to the new prospect to set an appointment
• Business cards and database file will be mailed back to you for future reference
  

And the best part is that this service is very affordable, around the cost of a nice cup of coffee.

Are there business cards right now laying in your top desk drawer? Have you been too busy to follow-up with the contacts you made at the last Tradeshow? Contact us and we will get your name back in front of these potential new clients. Visit our website at www.avirtualbiz.com, or email to info@avirtualbiz.com.

If you are a small business owner or a solopreneur, just how many hands do you have? You have a great product or service and you are an expert in your field, but are you spending all of your time telling others about what you do and not really doing it? That’s called marketing folks! Congratulations, you have just become Director of Marketing for your company, but what about the work that needs to be done to keep the business going?

That’s where most of us get bogged down. We have a great idea or product. We decide to start a business to help others with our services and we begin the process of business cards, brochures, websites, networking groups, signing up for all the social media sites and talking to everyone we know about our great new business! But wait…who is doing the work? You are now in charge of marketing the business, AND doing the work. After a long of day of marketing, you get to put on the worker hat and spend the rest of your night doing the actual work. Sound familar?

There is a solution. You can outsource those marketing tasks and free yourself up to do what you really wanted to do in the beginning. You have an extra hand…just reach out and take it. Visit www.avirtualbiz.com to review virtual services available and for many other resources that can put you back in your business.