Running your own business entails more then just selling products or making products. It involves accounting, collections, secretarial work, customer service and so much more. If you don’t have any employees, you will quickly see that the mundane aspects of your business can take up almost half your day if you are not organized properly. Even if you are organized, they will take lots of your time. And it is very important that you have your business in order for many reasons, such as taxes and if you ever decide to sell your business.

But enough about that. We want to talk about setting up a corporation and if it is really necessary for you. First, let me kinda define what a corporation is. A corporation basically is a business that is governed under certain tax laws and is treated as a single entity. What I mean by single entity is that the corporation is basically a person, equipped with its’ own EIN number, which is just like your social security number. A sole proprietership or a partnership is not treated as a separate entity.

Why is that important though? It is a huge advantage and a main reason why people incorporate. Since the corporation is a single entity not related to you, it protects you from liability in terms of being sued and also through bankruptcy. Incorporating is a great thing to do with any business venture simply because of this, because without it, you leave yourself open to litigation personally, even if it is through your business. Say you have an employee who is driving a company vehicle and they kill someone. If you are not incorporated, the family of the person who was killed can come after your business and you since you are not incorporated. That is an extreme case of course, but it shows how you are liable for your actions if you are not incorporated.

Also, with a corporation, it is much easier if you have partners or want to raise some funds as well for your corporation. If you wish to add someone later to your business and give them a small portion of ownership, it is easy to give them shares and much easier to prove in court if there is ever a dispute about it. Then, there are taxes.

Taxes play a huge part. As a sole proprietor, every piece of income is considered your income, so you will be taxed on that whole amount minus deductions. However, in a corporation, you can deduct items and expenses much easier. Plus, you treat yourself as an employee, meaning you pay yourself a salary. Pay yourself a smaller salary and invest the rest into your company with assets to help out with a tax burden.

So what are the different types of corporations and what are the differences between them? Well, there are four major types of corporations, LLC, S-Corp, Close Corporation and a General Corporation. Here is the pros and cons of them:

General Corporation

This is the most common corporate structure. The corporation is a separate legal entity that is owned by stockholders. A general corporation may have an unlimited number of stockholders that, due to the separate legal nature of the corporation, are protected from the creditors of the business. A stockholder’s personal liability is usually limited to the amount of investment in the corporation and no more.

Advantages

• Owners’ personal assets are protected from business debt and liability
• Corporations have unlimited life extending beyond the illness or death of the owners
• Tax free benefits such as insurance, travel, and retirement plan deductions
• Transfer of ownership facilitated by sale of stock
• Change of ownership need not affect management
• Easier to raise capital through sale of stocks and bonds

Disadvantages

• More expensive to form than proprietorship or partnerships
• More legal formality
• More state and federal rules and regulations

Close Corporation

There are a few minor, but significant, differences between general corporations and close corporations. In most states where they are recognized, close corporations are limited to 30 to 50 stockholders. In addition, many close corporation statutes require that the directors of a close corporation must first offer the shares to existing stockholders before selling to new shareholders.

This type of corporation is particularly well suited for a group of individuals who will own the corporation with some members actively involved in the management and other members only involved on a limited or indirect level.

S Corporation

With the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the S Corporation became a highly desirable entity for corporate tax purposes. An S Corporation is not really a different type of corporation. It is a special tax designation applied for and granted by the IRS to corporations that have already been formed. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are partial to the S Corporation because it combines many of the advantages of a sole proprietorship, partnership and the corporate forms of business structure.

S Corporations have the same basic advantages and disadvantages of general or close corporation with the added benefit of the S Corporation special tax provisions. When a standard corporation (general, close or professional) makes a profit, it pays a federal corporate income tax on the profit. If the company declares a dividend, the shareholders must report the dividend as personal income and pay more taxes.

S Corporations avoid this “double taxation” (once at the corporate level and again at the personal level) because all income or loss is reported only once on the personal tax returns of the shareholders. However, like standard corporations (and unlike some partnerships), the S Corporation shareholders are exempt from personal liability for business debt.

S Corporation Restrictions

To elect S Corporation status, your corporation must meet specific guidelines. As a result of the 1996 Tax Law, which became effective January 1, 1997, many of these qualifying guidelines have been changed. A few of these changes are noted below:

• Prior to the 1996 Tax Law, the maximum number of shareholders was 35. The maximum number of shareholders for an S Corporation has been increased to 75.
• Previously, S Corporation ownership was limited to individuals, estates, and certain trusts. Under the new law, stock of an S Corporation may be held by a new “electing small business trust.” All beneficiaries of the trust must be individuals or estates, except that charitable organizations may hold limited interests. Interests in the trust must be acquired by gift or bequest — not by purchase. Each potential current beneficiary of the trust is counted towards the 75 shareholder limit on S Corporation shareholders.
• S Corporations are now allowed to own 80 percent or more of the stock of a regular C corporation, which may elect to file a consolidated return with other affiliated regular C corporations. The S Corporation itself may not join in that election. In addition, an S Corporation is now allowed to own a “qualified subchapter S subsidiary.” The parent S Corporation must own 100 percent of the stock of the subsidiary.
• Qualified retirement plans or Section 501(c)(3) charitable organizations may now be shareholders in S Corporations.
• All S Corporations must have shareholders who are citizens or residents of the United States. Nonresident aliens cannot be shareholders.
• S Corporations may only issue one class of stock.
• No more than 25 percent of the gross corporate income may be derived from passive income.
• An S Corporation can generally provide employee benefits and deferred compensation plans.
• S Corporations eliminate the problems faced by standard corporations whose shareholder-employees might be subject to IRS claims of excessive compensation.
• Not all domestic general business corporations are eligible for S Corporation status. These exclusions include:
  • A financial institution that is a bank;
  • An insurance company taxed under Subchapter L;
  • A Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC); or
  • Certain affiliated groups of corporations.

Keep in mind, these lists of qualifying S Corporation aspects are not all-inclusive. In addition, there are specific circumstances in which an S Corporation may owe income tax. For more detailed information about these changes and other aspects regarding S Corporation status, contact your accountant, attorney or local IRS office.

How to File as an S Corporation

To become an S Corporation, you must know the mechanics of filing for this special tax status. Your first step is to form a general, close or professional corporation in the state of your choice. Second, you must obtain the formal consent of the corporation’s shareholders. This consent should be noted in the corporation’s minutes. Once the filing is approved, your company must complete Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation. This form must be filed with the appropriate IRS office for your region. Please consult the IRS’ instructions for Form 2553 to determine your proper deadline for completing and submitting this form.

The Company Corporation can assist you in preparing and submitting the IRS Form 2553 as part of your incorporating process. Please see our online order form for additional details.

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

LLCs have long been a traditional form of business structure in Europe and Latin America. LLCs were first introduced in the United States by the state of Wyoming in 1977 and authorized for pass- through taxation (similar to partnerships and S Corporations) by the IRS in 1988. With the recent inclusion of Hawaii, all 50 states and Washington, D.C. have now adopted some form of LLC legislation for both domestic and foreign (out of state) limited liability companies.

Many business professionals believe LLCs present a superior alternative to corporations and partnerships because LLCs combine many of the advantages of both. With an LLC, the owners can have the corporate liability protection for their personal assets from business debt as well as the tax advantages of partnerships or S Corporations. It is similar to an S Corporation without the IRS’ restrictions.

Advantages

• Protection of personal assets from business debt
• Profits/losses pass through to personal income tax returns of the owners
• Great flexibility in management and organization of the business
• LLCs do not have the ownership restrictions of S Corporations making them ideal business structures for foreign investors

Disadvantages

LLCs often have a limited life (not to exceed 30 years in many states) Some states require at least 2 members to form an LLC, and LLCs are not corporations and therefore do not have stock — and the benefits of stock ownership and sales.

As with the S Corporation listing, these lists are not inclusive. For more detailed information, please be sure to speak with a qualified legal and/or financial advisor.

Important Note Regarding the Federal Taxation of LLCs:

Before January 1, 1997, the Internal Revenue Service determined whether a limited liability company would be taxed “like a partnership” or “like a corporation” by analyzing its legal structure or by requiring the members to elect the tax status on a special form. Effective January 1, 1997, the IRS has simplified this process.

Pursuant to these new IRS regulations, if a limited liability company has satisfied IRS requirements, it can be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. As such, LLCs are required to file the same federal tax forms as partnerships and take advantage of the same benefits. However, this is still a highly technical area, and if you require further information, it is recommended that you communicate with the Internal Revenue Service or consult a competent professional such as a qualified tax accountant or attorney.
(Thanks to http://www.morebusiness.com/getting_started/incorporating/d934832501.brc for the great info!)

Ton of information here to digest, I know. But, reading over this and making the choice as to which one you want to do for your business is important and will save you money. Most affiliates seem to go with an S-Corp or an LLC, as those are my preferred ones as well. Generally, they will work for almost any business, just that if you ever go big, incorporating then to a general corporation can get a little sticky, but hey, that is why you hire accountants, right? Anyways, this was the boring post that built the foundation, and unfortunately, it is boring stuff that you need to know. However, knowing it will make you a smarter business person in the long run.

1. Setting up a corporation
2. Proper use of a corporation
3. Outsourcing and the paperwork
4. Budgeting and planning
5. What to do with profits
6. Affiliate Marketing math

The topics are subject to change and I know I will add more, but that is just a small preview. I guarantee them all to be full of info that you will want to read and I know I will give you a good, in-depth view on each of the subjects and also shed new light on things you may not have heard of before. Like I said, this is all from my personal business and also my years running businesses in the car business.

It all comes down to what you can sell a person, and when you have an email list, especially a targeted one, you have a pretty good idea of the demographic that you are dealing with. So why limit it to just one product when that demographic obviously busy more then that one product you initially marketed? It is all about cross-selling and up-selling, which is basic sales in almost every industry. So why aren’t more people trying to take advantage of email lists like this and use them to their full capacity? Probably because they never learned proper sales techniques or just don’t realize it, believe it or not.

Alright, so you have been emailing for months now. You are gaining new subscribers, you are slowly making more sales and your business is headed in the right direction. But, your earning opportunities are beginning to get limited, as you can run out of things to sell to just one list, right? You can’t push a diet pill that you recommend one week and then the next week endorse yet another one. That will kill all credibility fast. So, let us expand our horizon and build new, targeted lists that you can sell more products to.

There are two ways you can go about this. I like the second method, but try both, as the second one takes more time and a bit more to setup, so if you are just looking for some quick profit, then go with method one. I don’t suggest it for the long term, but method one sure can help you get started while you set everything else up for method two.

Method One

Method one is simple. You take the demographic that you are mailing and you find similar offers that fit into your demographic. All demographics can be cross-sold, just the EPC won’t be as high because your list is getting further from being targeted. You would now be mailing to a general list instead of a targeted one. But, mailing out makeup offers to a diet niche would have good results right? Of course. What about biz-ops? Yes, they do work in this niche, as it is middle-age women who want to improve their lives. Always, always look at the psychology of your niche too. I mean, people buy a product for a reason, so your job is to figure out why and what else they might buy because of their mindset. Personally, I am an entrepreneur, just like most of you who read this, so what would work for me? Time management software, high tech products to improve efficiency, and accounting tools are all tools that I can use and almost any other business owner could use without even knowing what they do.

So, method one is just to simply recommend other products in your newsletters. Just do the same as you have before, but include other products in your tips or guides as a way to boost your income.

Method Two

Method two should be used at all costs, as it is something that is long term and sustainable. As you saw, method one is good for quick money, but it is not something you want to push all the time on your other list. Recommending one niche over and over on an email list targeted to another niche will lose you subscribers fast and your profits will go down, which of course, is counter-productive. So, here is what you do with method two.

Just like when you built a network of sites in the diet niche for example, you now need to build a network of sites in your next niche you want to target that is in the related niche. Why do you want to keep it the same? Think about it. You paid to get those people to subscribe, so you want to maxmize that to increase your ROI. Also, getting new email subscribers in another niche off of data that you already have is basically like getting free traffic. That is why you need to optimize your traffic as much as possible.

Alright, so build up your network of sites based off your niche, meaning make a general site and then several sub-sites based the main breakoffs of that niche, all on their own domains so that you can promote them separately. Once you have your sites setup with content and such, email your list about the site with a preview of a good article on the site. Give out like a top ten tips list or something to get them to go to the site to see the whole thing, like a teaser. Once there, entice them with a good freebie again to get them to subscribe. Wash, winse and repeat, you now have another high quality, laser targeted email list.

That is it! All you have to do now is the hard part. Actually implement these ideas. It takes time, frustration and some money, but stick with it. You have to look at the long term to build your business the right way, and implementing plans like these will help you build a quality asset that you can cash in on multiple times over. Plus, it is always nice to have a steady, recurring income in an unstable industry like this. Now, go make some money!

It doesn’t. I guess I could come up with some metaphor of how change is a good thing and moving means you are moving in the right direction and blah blah blah. Sure, that is fine and dandy, but this move is all about my family and making sure they are happy. Having a large yard with a pool and a fence already built is like a dream come true for me and my wife since our daughter is autistic and likes to run. The move was built all around her safety and giving the children a great place to play that we can supervise them really well.

Basically, if you are going to take something out of this post, just take the motivation to set a goal for yourself for the day. Set the goal you want to achieve for whatever reason. It can be small or it can be huge. But, just remember, make it obtainable and write it down! Then, work for it and strive and you will hit your goals if you stick with it.

Okay, I am done this corny post. This was just an update letting you know I will update it soon, as I have a post ready to go almost but it just needs some finishing touches. Go make that money!

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Butter
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 Large Onion, sliced up thin
2 Medium Red Bell Peppers
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 cup chicken broth
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

1. Melt the butter in a medium skillet on medium heat. Once it is melted, pour the onions in and saute them until caramel, about 15 to 20 minutes.

2. While the onions are being sauteed, pour the chicken broth in a microwave-safe bowl or cup and put the jalapeno pepper and red bell peppers in with the broth. MAKE SURE TO CUT OPEN THE JALAPENO PEPPER AND SEED IT FIRST OR IT WILL BE EVEN HOTTER THEN IT ALREADY IS!! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and nuke it for about 3 minutes to get the flavors out and soften it up nicely. Set aside when done.

3. Once the onions are getting close to being done, add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar and mix together and let them cook for a few minutes together.

4. Get a food processor or blender out and be careful. Pour the chicken broth/pepper and the onion mix into the food processor and process until nice and smooth, just like a sauce!

This sauce is nice and sweet when it hits your mouth but then it nails you with heat. Seriously, when you first taste it, just dip a little corner of your meat and see for yourself. If you are brave, take a large amount, but I am warning you, this is heavy on the heat! Give it a try and if you love spicy food, you will love this sauce.

Imagine your email list is a woman (or man). How do you approach a potential partner? Do you dive right in and try to get them straight to the bedroom? Of course not! Well, at least I hope not. But anyways, this is what I mean.

You need to take your approach slowly and build a relationship so that your potential mate trusts you. You need to do the same thing with your email lists. If you starting hard selling immediately, your opt-out list will be just like a slap in the face. Not what you want when you spent all that time getting your list ready to go and gathering precious emails.

Alright, so now that we know that we need to be smooth and use some charm to get what we want, how do we do that? Give more stuff away! Start a daily or weekly newsletter to your email list. Give away a free e-book, scripts, tips on whatever or some great coupons you have found, or a combo of them all. Don’t directly link to any of your stuff for about the first month or so. If you are going to link to a site, make sure it is a content site that has real value and not a lander. A lander will get you opt-outs too very fast.

After a month or so of good quality newsletter, you should have a solid user base that is starting to trust you as a source of good information. Now, it is time to start making some money off of them. Now, don’t ruin your credibility by sending out an email template from your favorite affiliate network. No, you still need to send out a good newsletter, just now you want to start to drop the seeds of the product you are pushing. A good example would be to do the following with your email:

Say I am sending out a diet email. Here is a basic sample. Don’t use this exactly, expand on it, as it is just a base sample and not good sales copy.

Post an article of a famous person losing weight and how they did it in your email. Then, after that, say something like:

Can you believe that they did that? They make it look so easy at times that it makes anyone sick. One thing professionals recommend is some type of jump start for your diet. Most people have a hard time starting out, as they don’t have the energy or the self-control to start the diet. Something like DIETPILL(this is your affiliate product, send it to a review site, not a lander) is way to jump start the diet process, as it helps give you energy and blah, blah, you get the drift. Just don’t pour it on too heavy.

The beauty of these email lists is that you built trust and you can recommend them to products and they don’t know it. It is subtle or soft selling, and it is done every day in life. Why not utilize it in your newsletters?

Now, you might be thinking, while this is great, after awhile, won’t they know I am pushing these products? Maybe, but not if you do it the right way. Plus, with the market that we have for almost every niche, the new products that you can talk about is almost endless. It is just about selling your current customers, retaining them after they bought, adding new to the list and limiting the amount of opt-outs. If you can keep your newsletter growing every month while increasing your income, then you of course are on the right track.

A bit of legal reminders here. Don’t forget about CAN-SPAM act when mailing out. Basically, you need to provide a way to opt-out online and offline, which means having an opt-out form online and your business’ physical contact information. If you are worried about privacy, just get a P.O. Box. Also, don’t just scrape emails or buy huge lists for a couple of bucks, because I guarantee you they are not opted-in. Make sure record them opting-in so that you cover your butt. And if they opt-out, make sure you don’t mail them. Finally, if you are running an affiliate offer, to be on the safe side, make sure to run your database against the network’s scrub list. That way, you cover your butt and no one can give you any reason to sue you or hold back your commissions.

That is the basics! Pretty simple, really, once you get the hang of it. Once you get going, it is really easy to stay up with and write the emails. You almost get to know your audience and writing to them is almost like talking to a friend. Once you get to that stage, you will be more successful, as the emails won’t sound as canned either.

Next post will be the finale and it is how you can get even more money out of your list without changing a single thing! You don’t want to miss this one, I promise.

The same thing applies when people arrive on your website/lander. They don’t know you. They have no reason to trust you and you are, more then likely, trying to sell them something. Some things are easier then others, but the more info you ask for, the harder it gets. And if you want them to whip out their credit card, you better build trust fast. But how do you build trust besides brand awareness?

One way is through the use of colors on your landing pages and websites. Don’t believe me? Split test some pages and see the reaction you get. I will go over each of the major colors, what they mean and why you should or shouldn’t use them on your site.

Black

Using black is a big no-no. Besides text and outlining, I would avoid black. Black means death, sorrow and evil, so having a site that is mostly in black is not good for sales. There are always exceptions to this rule, as with every color, but if you want to make the most money, avoid black.

White

White is known as a sterile, bland and sometimes even a cold color. White is good for backgrounds and does help to make a sleek design, but I would limit the usage of it. I like to split test different backgrounds and often just changing from white to a light gray can make a difference. It all depends really on the offer, but it is something that you want to try.

Red

Red is my favorite color in the psychology of color. Red can work one at one time and then turn around and totally bomb. I believe it all has to do with your presentation and how the rest of the page flows together. However, red means excitement and urgency, as well as anger and fear. Basically, it can be used to create a sense of excitement or as a huge stop sign. I always tried to stay on the conservative side in the car business and avoided red at all costs. Honda buyers are typically affluent and a skeptical bunch, so selling to them is tough. I didn’t want to make my job any tougher by giving off the wrong impression, so that is why I did that.

Anyways, try red. Don’t be afraid of it, just don’t overuse it. If you are trying to draw attention to your call to action, that is fine. Try that out and it will probably work. Using is as the main background of your form will not work, trust me. Just be smart and really think out your landing page.

Blue

Blue was my favorite color to wear at the Honda dealership. Not only did it match the logo of Honda, but because it is the best color to build trust instantly. Blue is considered a color of trust, serenity, calmness and even sadness at times. Think of the music, the blues, and what type of message that is sent in those songs. But, I have never really seen any negative backlash from blue. Just don’t use it too heavily, but you really can’t go wrong with blue. Think of doing blue themed type sites with other colors as accents when needed, and you will create some killer sites.

Green

Green is an interesting color because it can mean luck, health, greed or jealously. I avoided green in the car business because I thought it would be viewed as greed. Nothing is worse then being a greedy person at a car dealership. But, on websites, green can be used as a primary color. I would try it out and split-test it with blue and orange type of sites. They have always seem to work out the best for me.

Yellow

Yellow is associated with frustration and anger, so I would not use yellow really at all. You can always split test, but for the most part, yellow is not a primary color that can be used for selling.

Orange

Orange is a great color to use for web design and selling. I use orange and blue a lot for my sales sites, and they always seem to work out the best. Orange creates a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, plus it is a good attention getter. So, if you are selling to a younger demographic, orange is a good starting color to use, as blue is better reserved for the older demographic. Always tweak and test, but those rules are a good rule of thumb to follow.

So how can you use this information? Well, I did explain briefly how each color could work to your benefit, but in the end it is up to you to test what works best on your demographic. Just remember, you always need to put yourself in the consumers’ shoes. Ask yourself when you visit your site, do I trust this site? Would I really do anything on this site? If there a clear purpose and flow to this site? Be honest with yourself. If you can’t get the answer you are looking for, play around with the colors and the flow of the site.

Red can be used to perfection is used right. If you use psychology in your sales copy and incorporate color psychology, then you have a powerful site. Say you are trying to get home biz opp leads. Your sales angle is to stop working the 9 to 5 grind. Use red as a positive stopping force, meaning telling them to stop their day job. Make them stop their normal thinking and get them thinking outside the box. In this case, blue may be a detriment to your campaign, as you want people to be pulled out of their comfort zone a little bit and not be complacent anymore.

Selling is about pinpointing a need of an individual and filling that need. However, the customer doesn’t always give us the information that we need to put together the puzzle. Using subtle little things like this to get the customer to trust your site is all you really have, as you can’t talk to the customer unless they happen to email you. Make the best of your sales presentation and let your site do the talking. Until next time!

1. Give away content

This is the most traditional way I have seen bloggers build up their email list. Content will get you plenty of email subscribers if you can provide high quality content that doesn’t rehash old content without giving any type of new spin on things. Content lists, I have found, are slower to build then any other ones, because it all depends on building off of your words. Sure, people may love reading stuff you write, but prying their email address out of their hands so that you can send them love letters all the time is much more difficult then you think.

However, if you have a strong following and a good amount of activity on your site, people will start to subscribe to your content. Consider adding pop-ups or banners about subscribing to an email list and give some benefits as to why they should. Also, make sure site look busier if you want more people to take it serious. You may have great content on your site, but if you don’t have any comments, people don’t think others are reading it and they likely won’t comment as well. Consider hiring some cheap help and get a bunch of comments for your latest blog posts.

2. Give extra benefits to your email subscribers

I mean, this is kinda a given when you sign up for an email list, but make sure your people know that when they sign up. Point out benefits, give out some secret tips or just tell them what they are missing by not being a part of your email list. You have to sell your email list in a very short period of time, like in a banner ad or pop-up. So do it. Tell them why they NEED to get on your list and what they will miss by not being on it.

3. Give away free stuff

I like this best because it is easy to do, builds your list fast and most of the time, it is cheap, especially when compared to the return you get. But what do you give away? More content is always a good thing! Here is what I mean.

For my one dieting site, it is targeted at people who need to start losing weight but they are having a hard time doing so. So, when they come to my site, my main purpose is to get them to sign up for my email list. However, that is not the main focal point of my site. The main focal point of the site is an ebook that I had written just for me on how to start dieting, which includes everything from changing your diet to changing your attitude. I mean, it covers it all. It is a book that adds real value to the site, and I give it away. But, I need your email so that I can send it to you. Bam, I got their email. It really is that simple. It just takes time and some initial investment and traffic, but it can be done easily.

Tailor the free gift to your audience of course. If like talking about site design, give away some exclusive templates. They don’t have to be killer ones, but make them good. The thing is you are pre-selling and building trust, so giving away something of real value will go a long way. People talk about things they get off the Internet, especially if it is a good value. Learn from that and build the trust of the people you are selling to. Remember, they are people just like you, so how would you be sold? What would make you sign up for an email list?

Just some things to think about here really on how to build the initial list. Now, I didn’t go into how to drive traffic or what to do once you get the email list rolling. That is for next time! Hope you enjoyed this simple but effective way to build your email list. I know it is nothing new or earth-shattering, but I hope you learned a few new things from the way that I look at things. Until next time!

Alright, enough rambling. That is why I can’t update more, because as I write, more ideas and thoughts flow to my head. That is also the reason I don’t use Dragon Naturally Speaking, because then this post might be thousands of words long.

Okay, now on to talking about email lists. You already know that getting a customer’s email is the key to recurring income, so how about we dive right into setting up the list. WARNING! This is not for advanced marketers who are already using email marketing. This is just a basic post of software, how to set it up and integrating on your site. That is it! More will be coming soon, I promise.

As I said before in other posts, I am not a designer, coder or anything like that. I know enough to get by and outsource anything I don’t know how to do or if I need an expert. So, with that being said, let us use the easiest and most powerful out of the box CMS available, good ole Wordpress. Seriously, for any content site that you are creating, there is no reason to use anything else, so start using Wordpress and that only.

I will assume that some of you are looking for free solutions as well as paid ones. If you are running a small list like you probably will, these solutions that I will share will work. The first one is a free solution and the one that I first used, which is PHPList. Simple, effective and free. Does it have all the bells and whistles? No. Can mail effective email newsletters? Yes. Case closed.

There are two paid versions that I have experience with and they are pretty much the most common solutions. Those two are Constant Contact and AWeber. Both are fine and will do the job and you only pay for what you use. In the end, it is all about personal preference and one other thing, which I will go over later.

PHPList is pretty simple to use. You just have to install it and start playing around. But it has all that you need to manage all of your list, including a list builder, the ability to create multiple lists and pretty much everything else you need to start mailing. Also, it is very easy to integrate your signup form into Wordpress using the PHPList Plugin, which is free.

I love the AWeber plugin for Wordpress not because you it is simple to set up, but because that it gives you the option to opt-in your blog commenters as well. Think about how to explode your list with this little plugin. Write a sweet linkbait story, drop a few hundred to get to the top of Digg, get tons of comments, profit. This is one feature that I love about AWeber. Of course you can do that with the other platforms, but it will cost you or you need to learn to do it yourself.

The Constant Contact plugin for Wordpress is similar to PHPList except that you don’t need to touch the site at all to integrate this signup form. Nothing special really here other then it is easy to setup, even for a noob.

So what do you do with this info? This is just basically the software to actually create a list and get you up and running. Next, I will share with you some ways to advertise your newly created newsletter.

First off. I am NOT going to give away my traffic sources other then AdWords. There is a ton of traffic out there for international offers, you just need to know where to find it and then use your brain a bit to go from there. I did this and I am going to help you get started. Just remember, think out of the box and you will be fine.

Alright, let’s start off the research. This isn’t brain surgery. Just go to the top sites in terms of traffic and start your investigating. How about we check out France? (This will help out with an offer later)

Go to go ole Alexa (This link takes you straight to the country top sites) and start bring up the top sites in France. Now, you take a look at the top and it’s no surprise that you see Google.fr, Facebook and Google up there. You can advertise on these of course and I recommend using both as they have lots of traffic. However, Facebook is pretty picky of course on which ads you can run, so to maximize your traffic, you need to keep looking.

Go down to #6 though. It is SkyRock.com, another social site. This site is available in English and French and guess what? They have ads on their site. Do some research get ads running on this site. #8, Orange.fr, is another top site that has an advertising platform and this site is strictly in French. (Hint, Google Translate is your friend!)

I will give you some good performing offers. With all the other traffic sources out there, I am not worried about this getting saturated. So here we go.

Karaktr Media is my first one that I am loving and this acai offer is great because it has a French landing page. (Check out the lander) Run this along with their French colon cleanse offer and you will be happy, I promise!

Finally, another international offer that can marketed to many different countries and languages is through Motive Interactive. This offer is Acai Maxx International (Lander here) and it is pretty much good to go in all the European countries. The nice thing about this one though is that it has an option to translate the site into 5 different languages, making targeting even more broad. Not sure if this is a private offer or not but if you can’t find it, just talk to your AM to see if you can get on offer #50770.

That is about it for now I guess. If you have any questions, let me know. Like I said, I am not giving out traffic sources or ad copy, so please don’t ask, but I will always answer questions otherwise. Good luck with your campaigns and research and go some make some money!