Welcome back.
This is a continuation of the previous email on list-building, so if you missed that one, it's posted in the archive.
Now, as promised in the last issue, we're going to talk a bit about squeeze pages, and how we've used them for StomperNet and SMARTS.
If you don't know what a "squeeze" page is, let me take a second to clarify.
When you're building a list, you need a destination where your visitors will arrive and find your opt-in form, right? You can really put an opt-in box anywhere on the page: build it into the navigation, put it in-line with the copy, put it in a pop-up…
The list goes on.
But a "squeeze" page is a specially designed web page that makes an offer to provide certain information to the visitor ONLY if they opt-in to your list. It "squeezes" the visitor so they have only two choices. Join the list and get the information they want, or leave without it.
It may seem harsh, but if you're giving away valuable information at no charge, the least you should ask for is an email address to follow up, right?
Well since their inception, the "squeeze" type page has become the standard of list-builders and marketers everywhere. It's simple, it's direct, and it's effective.
In fact, it's a 99% probability that you're reading this now because you opted-in to a squeeze page for one of our launches. We use them as our primary lead-generation platform.
We put a modern spin on the old fashioned squeeze page in a number of ways.
First, we use VIDEO - we're really hammering home the importance of video for the Stomper members in 2008. In fact, in addition to my own video tutorials, we've brought on two more video faculty to handle the subject with the depth and scope we wanted.
But I digress.
Video is now, and video is the future when it comes to marketing online. We use it with great success as our "squeeze" mechanism.
Now, we certainly aren't pioneers at using video for a squeeze mechanism.
It's been done before, but most of the time, visitors were shown a "teaser" video, and get SQUEEZED for an opt-in in order to watch the rest. Now that's a VERY powerful squeeze method, and I'd still use that with an appropriate product or service.
The human mind just can't stand an incomplete story, and having a visual "cliffhanger" in your squeeze videos can be just like on television. They simply can't resist finishing the story! Only online, in order to catch the "next episode", they need to provide a contact email address.
For the StomperNet and SMARTS launches though, we decided to do something a little different. We combined the video squeeze with another method called the "reverse squeeze".
Now the "reverse" has been around a while for copy-based landing pages, and the idea is that you take what would normally be the "reward" for opting in, and you offer it UP FRONT for the user. Then, at the end, you ask for the opt-in. "If you enjoyed this report and want to hear more from us in the future, sign up here!"
This relies on a different psychological trick called "reciprocation". That means that simply by offering something of obvious value, people will be compelled to reciprocate in a fair way when you ask them to.
It's a legitimate marketing technique when used ethically, but it's another seductively powerful trick. It's often employed by hustlers and outright crooks - again, because it's EASY and it WORKS.
But back to the analysis, the idea of a reverse squeeze went hand-in-hand with what Brad and I were trying to do with StomperNet. It was all about moving the "fre'e line" and giving people massive value and asking nothing in return. We did that in an effort to PROVE our claims by giving REAL VALUE, and we did it to trigger MASSIVE reciprocation.
Remember, the rule of reciprocation is that it triggers the desire to provide FAIR compensation. We knew StomperNet was going to be somewhat pricey, so we had to give something away of equal value.
So, the StomperNet squeeze pages took a complete, self-contained educational video and put it right up there at no charge. They were lengthy, they were FULL of content with no fluff, and they were direct. They weren't designed to SQUEEZE anyone for the whole story.
Instead, we stretched out the concept of what the SQUEEZE was. We didn't squeeze you for the full story of that single video. We squeezed visitors if they wanted early notification of the NEXT video, and to see all the videos that came before.
We wanted to prove that StomperNet and SMARTS were a FAIR VALUE for the price we asked, so we gave AWAY something of great value. In fact, we wanted to give our visitors a whole series of deluxe, killer tutorial videos, and all we wanted in exchange was your name and email.
Does that make sense?
We simply took the basic concepts of the video squeeze, the reverse squeeze, and moving the fre'e line - and we combined them all together into a single, killer lead generation strategy.
And I hate to keep bragging on it, but it resulted in two of the top 3 launches in our industry's history.
And we owe that success to the lists that we build with that mechanism and strategy.
Allowing our affiliates to send leads to that mechanism proved to them that it worked, too. That concept of the "reverse video squeeze" has become a very popular format since our successful launches.
Frank Kern used it for "Mass Control" and Jeff Walker used it for "Product Launch Formula 2.0″ - Eben Pagan, the guy who taught Brad and me about the fr'ee line concept, used video squeezes for his recent info product course as well.
To continue on what I talked to you about last time, YES! If you're involved in internet business of ANY KIND, you need to be building and messaging your lists.
If you aren't already DO IT. It's a MUST, it's as simple as that.
It's one of the oldest forms of online marketing. It's one of the most widely abused, too. It worked back then, it worked last year, and as we proved at the beginning of 2008 with SMARTS, list building STILL works.
Sure, we put a fresh spin on it, and we used the newest technologies we could - but that was really just about capturing attention in a crowded marketplace.
I didn't give you all that "inside" information to discourage you if you lack those resources. You really don't need that stuff to get started with lists, or to succeed with them.
You just need to put the basics in place and just DO IT.
Be yourself, use all the Web 2.0 services you have available to you, and just put your messages out there. Socialize, build connections, gain followers - but NEVER FORGET - markets are PEOPLE.
We call it a "squeeze" but maybe the harshness of that word is what makes people avoid it…
Maybe we should call them "massage" pages. Or "back rub" pages. Yeah? Come on!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed getting a peek into the thinking and design behind StomperNet's own list-building and squeeze strategies, and I REALLY want you to go out and use these ideas in your businesses - starting TODAY!
Until next time,
Keep Stomping
~Andy Jenkins
P.S. If you need some help getting started, again, I recommend the beginner videos over at Shawn Casey and Tellman Knudson's Listbuilding.com. If you aren't building a list in your business right now, you ARE wasting time. Go check it out, it won't cost you anything, and HUNDREDS of their subscribers have already met the challenge of building a squeeze and starting their lists. All you need to do to get the tutorial videos is opt-in.
P.P.S. Pay special attention to what kind of landing page that is. Seem familiar? 
That's right. Video reverse opt-in. This stuff must be working pretty well.