A Behind the Scenes Look at How to Build an Email List for Affiliate Marketing

If you’ve been working online for more than a few weeks, you’ve probably heard about how important email marketing is.

It’s been over 15 years since I started my first website, and guess what I still here all the time:

The money is in your list.

Based on my personal experience, I definitely feel this is true, however it certainly does depend on what type of online business you’re working on.

So this guide is from my personal experiences on how to build an email list for affiliate marketing.

It’s not from some email marketing company trying to sign you up for their software.

This is what has worked for me, and hopefully this guide can get you on the right track to making email marketing work for you.

This guide is for you if...

You've never done email marketing before, and you're looking to incorporate it into your existing business.

You do affiliate marketing and want to add this as a new monetization method.

You're an entrepreneur looking to build an email list for your course or future products you plan to sell.

By the end of this guide, you will understand exactly what email marketing is.

But if you want a textbook definition here it is:

Email marketing is sending emails to your customers, or potential customers.

Now that’s a pretty simple explanation. It can get more complicated when you dive into all the options.

But ask yourself this question:

How many times have you checked your email today?

I check my email many times a day.

So if you can get into someone’s email, you can build trust, and reach them whenever you want to.

This is why everyone keeps saying the money is in your list!

A lead magnet is something you offer for free to your audience, in exchange for their email address. 

So they must be willing to give their email address in order to get it. 

I can remember the very first lead magnet I created...

It was a buying guide for electric shavers.

So here's how it worked:

I offered my website visitors a free buying guide.

All they had to do was submit their email into an opt-in form, and I would email them my fully researched buying guide.

In this example, the lead magnet is a free buying guide which works well with product related niches. 

Here are some key points to remember about lead magnets:

Choosing the right electric shaver can be very confusing. 

Many people really liked the idea of a free buying guide that outlined everything about electric shavers, and recommended the top models for specific skin types and facial hair. 

And the best part was that I already had all this information on my website. I just repurposed it into a downloadable PDF. 

Here are some other common types of lead magnets:

Here's something people don't tell you about lead magnets:

They can be something that is very general for your niche (such as a buying guide for electric shavers), or you can make them specific to a particular piece of content you have (a shaving checklist for men with sensitive skin).

So your lead magnets could be general, or very specific. If you have a few pages on your website that get a ton of traffic, consider creating a lead magnet for that specific page.

Creating your lead magnet is super simple.

All you need to do is create a Google Doc with the content for your lead magnet.

So gather all your product reviews into one big document, or create a simple checklist, or step-by-step blueprint.

Then head over to Fiverr and pay someone to make a super professional ebook.

It's really that simple.

Click here to see the designer I use for all my lead magnets.

There are so many options out there for landing page software.

I'm not going to review any of them in this guide. I'll just tell you what I personally use.

Bottom line:

You need some type of landing page software or service in order to capture email addresses.

This is where you talk about your lead magnet and where someone can submit their email. Your landing page and opt-in forms will also connect with your email software.

Here's a screenshot of my landing page for my 5 Step Blueprint:

I use OptimizePress for all my landing pages and opt-in forms.

This site is using the OptimizePress theme, and all my landing pages use the software. It's a WordPress Plugin.

If you use WordPress, I would highly recommend OptimizePress.

It's super affordable and so easy to use.

All you need to do is choose one of their many templates, create a new page, and customize it with your own content.

Learn more about OptimizePress on their official website:

https://www.OptimizePress.com

If you're building an email list for affiliate marketing, then you're used to making product recommendations by now. 

But did you know that the Thank You Page is a great place to offer some type of promotion. 

After someone gives you their email address for a lead magnet, you can re-direct them to a Thank You Page. 

This Thank You Page can have a link to download the lead magnet, instructions on how to get the lead magnet (go check their email), and finally in certain situations you can make some type of product recommendation. 

Here's an example. 

Let's say your lead magnet is an Insider's Guide to Learning Guitar Online. 

Well your thank you page (after someone submits their email into your opt-in form) can offer a free trial to an online guitar lesson website.

This works great for people that don't want to go check their email for the guide, and just want to start a free trial right away.

The free trial is an affiliate link and if they sign up for paid lessons I get a commission.

In the example below, you will see I use my Thank You Page to explain that I also have a 4 Part Video Course for the people who request my 5 Step Blueprint. 

Bottom line: 

Use your Thank You Page to make a product recommendation if possible. 

There are tons of options for email software.

Some are better than others, but I'm not going to pretend I've tested them all out and compared them side by side. All I can do is recommend what I personally use.

I started with a company called Get Response. They have a lot of great reviews and I had no issues with their service.

But when all the email software companies started to offer automation, I switched to Active Campaign because there were more tutorials available at the time.

Basically, automation allow you to really customize what types of emails get sent, when they get sent, and for what reasons. It's pretty amazing software.

What I like best about Active Campaign, is that you can jump on a live support chat and get help instantly. If I don't know how to do something, I just ask a support agent. Their customer service is great in my opinion.

You can learn more about Active Campaign on their official website:

https://www.ActiveCampaign.com

The image above shows the workflow of one of my email marketing campaigns.

I offer a 5 Step Blueprint (lead magnet) for people who are looking to start affiliate marketing.

I have a landing page that explains the blueprint and it contains an opt-in form.

When someone puts their email in the form, they are sent to a page that thanks them, and discusses other material I plan to send them (free video course). I tell them to go check their email.

My email software sends them a welcoming email that contains the lead magnet and introduces myself. 

They are also sent into an email automation sequence that offers them more content about affiliate marketing.

During the email campaign, I can offer courses and products they might find useful.

That's it.

Those are the simple steps that can be applied to any type of business.

I don't have anything for sale. 

I will just share the resources I personally use.

This guide could probably be expanded into a mini course at some point, but right now it's 100% free.

The only thing you could do to support my tutorials is sign up for the services I mentioned using my affiliate links.

For example, if you're ready to get started with Active Campaign, the email software I personally use, you can sign up with the link below and I will receive a commission. Same goes for OptimizePress.

That's it.

Here are the official website links:

Active Campaign Email Software: https://www.activecampaign.com

OptimizePress Landing Pages: https://www.optimizepress.com

Lead Magnet Designers on Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com