One way to grow your list quickly is to hold a contest.

Here’s why it works:

In order for people to participate in the contest and have a shot at winning a prize, they need to opt-in to your newsletter list. And because everyone loves to enter contests, it’s one of those things where people tend to tell their friends.

Example: Don’t count on people to think of telling their friends. Instead, you should actually encourage them to do so! Using a Tell-A-Friend (TAF) form can also help with the viral effect.

But there’s also a potential problem…

You can see that this is one of those tactics that has the potential to attract people who are unwilling or unable to buy your product. You can get around that potential problem by following these tips…

• Make sure your contest prizes appeal to your target market.
  One way to bring freebie seekers out of the woodwork is to offer “general interest” prizes. If you do that, then you’ll end up with a list of people who aren’t all that interested in your niche products and services.

Example: Let’s suppose you’re running a dog training site. If you decide to run a contest, then ideally you should offer dog-training related prizes. Whatever you do, don’t offer things like cash, iPods, gift certificates to restaurants and similar.

So what, exactly, should you offer up for prizes?

• Ideally, offer your own products and services as prizes.
  Makes sense, right? That way the only people who enter your contest are those that are interested in your niche-specific products.

Of course, a freebie seeker who’s interested in your niche is likely to still enter your contest. But that’s better than having a list full of freebie seekers who aren’t even interested in your niche.

And besides, having freebie seekers who are interested in your niche can actually be beneficial. Even though they might not buy your product, they can still participate in the viral effect by telling OTHERS about your contest.

• Post your contest offer selectively.
  You’ll want to advertise your contest on niche-specific forums, blogs and other sites. Try to avoid the general “contest” sites, as those types of forums are brimming with freebie seekers.

• Ideally everyone should be a “winner” of your contest.
  You’ve likely set up your contest so that you have a grand-prize winner and several “runners up” who win lesser prizes. But if you’d like to make some fast sales, everyone who participates in the contest should get a “prize.” And that prize, specifically, should be a limited-time but very generous discount on your products.

Here’s a great tip to make more sales after the contest

You may be tempted to run a regular “random drawing” contest. However, you’re likely to make a lot more money if you create a contest that centers around contestant participation and, in particular, getting the contestants to “sell” themselves on your product.

After all, much of our marketing activities center around persuasion. We spend hours of our time and thousands of dollars creating sales letters, follow up emails, and squeeze pages, upsells and other sales pieces.

• So what better way to sell something to someone than to have them persuade themselves to buy?

And that’s exactly what you can do if you set up your contest right.

Example: Your contestants may be required to write a one or two page “essay” on why your product is right for them, what are the best benefits of your product and so on.

When the contest ends, you’ll have many people on your hands who are ready to buy because they’ve convinced themselves that your product absolutely rocks.

And that’s when you offer them the “consolation prize” of a limited-time discount… and then sit back to watch the sales roll in!

[1] Click Here To Gain Access To Our FREE Online List Building Training Videos

About the Author:
This article was created by Tim Dodd, Head Trainer at 3dInternetMarketing.com. 3dInternetMarketing are fast building an excellent reputation showing online business owners where they can quickly & easily earn additional profits from their existing client base and how they can literally tap into an unending source of well qualified, eager to buy, new customers. To learn more visit [2] www.3dInternetMarketing.com today.

Duplication Rights: You may copy and use all or part of this article for inclusion within any online or offline media on condition that you include the “About the Author” paragraph in its entirety.