Build Your List Using JV Giveaways

Today’s post focuses on list building and is written by David Walker. It is generally accepted the best way to make money online is through your own mailing list. If you don’t yet have a list or are in the very early stages of building one, JV Giveaways are an excellent way to get new subscribers.

What is a JV Giveaway?

If you have never heard of a JV Giveaway before then don’t worry. The premise is very simple. Giveaways are a type of free membership website which usually run for a short space of time, such as a week or fortnight.

These events are usually themed and more often than not aimed at the internet marketing community, although there are giveaways in other niches such as health, self improvement etc.

Product owners, also referred to as “contributors”, submit one or more of their free lead generation products, also referred to as “gifts” to the event so that people can search through the website and download them.

The list building aspect comes into it when people want to download a free product. These people, referred to as “members”, must first opt-in to a contributor’s list via a squeeze page in return for downloading the product.

Where Can I Find Them?

There are numerous giveaways taking place every month and they are usually promoted by word-of-mouth.

You may have seen links to giveaways on blogs, Facebook or Twitter or promoted via email if you are on any marketer’s mailing lists.

For your convenience, here is a list of current JV Giveaways looking for both contributors and members which is updated on a daily basis. Bookmark and check often for new list building opportunities.

Why You Should Participate in Giveaways

As we have already established there are numerous giveaways taking place on a monthly basis, each of them providing you with an opportunity to add new subscribers to your list.

Secondly, giveaways are free to participate in. It takes just a few minutes to register your account and add details of your free product so you don’t have anything to lose by taking part.

Some giveaways are hugely popular and can attract tens of thousands of visitors in a very short space of time. If you are struggling to attract traffic to your own blogs or squeeze pages, then joining a giveaway is a great way to put your product in front of a very large audience for free.

What You Need to Contribute

Even a relatively new internet marketer can become active in giveaways as you only need the basic necessities to take part:

A Product to Give Away

You need something to entice members to join your mailing list and that’s where your free product comes in. A product you have created yourself is the best option but if you haven’t done this yet and want to get started in giveaways straight away, then you can submit a product you have resell or redistribution rights to.

The advantage of submitting your own product is nobody will have submitted it to a giveaway before and you are enhancing your own personal brand rather than somebody else’s which is what you are doing by giving away somebody else’s product.

An Autoresponder

Your autoresponder collects and stores your new prospect’s name and email address and delivers your product to them automatically when they opt in.

There are several professional options out there, which I recommend over a free one because your list will grow quite rapidly, such as Aweber and Get Response.

A Squeeze Page

Finally, you need a simple page which describes the main benefit of your free product and has your opt in form embedded.

Less is more with a squeeze page and a headline, a couple of bullet points highlighting the main benefits and perhaps a graphic of your product is all you need.

You could even use a video to describe your product if you wish.

Promoting a Giveaway

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free lunch and contributors who submit their gifts are also expected to promote the event. The host and the contributors all promote the event, driving a huge swell of traffic to the event in a short space of time. That’s the theory, anyway.

If a contributor does not get any members to sign up to the event under their referral link, the giveaway website script will “downgrade” their status down to that of a member and remove their gift.

Many giveaways adopt this policy which is not very newbie friendly and unless an event states otherwise, you should assume this will happen.

Therefore, if you don’t have a list you should promote the giveaway by any means necessary, such as posting your referral link on Twitter, Facebook and in the signature file of any forums you use.

If you have Skype contacts, agree between a few of you to register for giveaways under each others links. In the early days you won’t get that many referrals but even one or two should be enough to spare being downgraded.

Giveaways can be a great way to add new subscribers to your list and are vital for newbies who want to build their list from zero. Use them each and every month for a consistent source of free traffic and fresh leads!