Article marketing is pretty easy to explain — you write simple little articles about a topic and then give people a link at the end of the article where they can get more information. That link takes them to a web site where they can then find out about a product and buy it if they desire.

It really is that simple, although there are easy tricks you can pick up after getting some experience under your belt that will give you better results — I’m going to try and help you take a shortcut and explain one of those tricks in this article.

This is the 9th article in the series of tricks that can help you make article marketing pay off and I call this one, “Don’t Let Them Escape!”

I’m not talking about an online version of “Hotel California, where you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave” — while this is a little less dramatic, it can make a big difference in your online business.

I’m talking about that standard marketing tactic, list building.

A lot of article marketers don’t want to think of that aspect of ecommerce — they just want to write articles and send the traffic to a sales page. But let me give you what I think is the most compelling reason to take the time and build a list of people who are interested in your topic.

Looking At The Conversion Rate

Every sales letter has what’s referred to as a conversion rate. That’s the ratio of people who see the sales letter versus the people who buy the product. It’s usually described as a percentage — for example, a sales letter that makes 3 sales for every 100 visitors would have a 3% conversion rate. A conversion rate of 3%-4% is considered very good in the online world.

Here’s the only problem with that — there are many more people who don’t buy than do, and if a prospect leaves your web site without a trace, there’s no way you can follow up with them.

Which means there’s no way to make the sale.

If, however, you offer them something of value in return for joining your list, you are now in a position for two things to happen…

1. As you continue to send good content about the topic to the people on your list, a relationship of sorts is built and your credibility as an expert is increased.

2. You can continue to promote your product or service over time. It’s been shown that people usually need 7-8 “promos” before they’re ready to buy. People who see your web site once and leave don’t get that repeated exposure.

Building A List Is Not Rocket Science

There are a couple things you’re going to need in order to build a list…

While an autoresponder isn’t technically required to start building a list, manually mailing out emails to a growing group of people isn’t something you can do and retain your sanity. Plus, creating “systems” for your business is the only way to get the entire process automated so you can make sales without managing every aspect of it.

The other thing you’re going to need is an “ethical bribe” — something of value to give the prospect in exchange for their email address. This can be a whitepaper or special report, an exclusive piece of software, etc. It should be something directly related to your niche.

Don’t let them escape because you may never get another shot at making the sale. Start building your list now and as it grows over time you’ll find sales of your product or service growing along with it.