One of my favorite net marketing tasks is creating a FREE report or e-course and watching it fill with subscribers on an autoresponder.

You might not realize that this is one of the easiest and best methods of selling your products or affiliate products because you develop a rapport or relationship with your subscribers by giving them quality information. Remember its quality not necessarily quantity that will endear or at least brand yourself as someone they come to know and respect.

So how do you create an e-course that, once its uploaded to your autoresponder, is a forget and walk away list builder?

Heres the way I do it, at least most of the time :o)

1. Pick a subject you know a little about and research it to see if there is a demand or need to know. The best way to research for a subject is to visit the discussion boards or forums. Do a search on Google for the subject, for instance, if you were interested in writing about poodles, you might search for "dog discussion groups". See what poeple are talking about and what concerns, problems and issues they have with poodles or maybe another type of dog.

Next, after determining their is a need for this information, you can start writing or do a search for other articles, reports on poodles to get ideas and content. You dont want to just copy/paste from an article as that is plagiarism or infringement of copyrights. You can rearrange or change the wording so that it is distinctly different and use that content. Or you can ask the author for permission to use his article, with or without any resource box.

2. Now that you have at least one message or lesson completed, you need to set up your autoresponder. If you dont have one, there are a lot of them online, and Ive used many and can tell you that some are good and some Are bad and some so-so. One I use is IsoResponder and it has many good features like a 2,000 subscriber import per day, personalization, tracking how many many opened your email message, a very fast support system and much more.

Basically, you want one that allows unlimited lists, unlimited imports and double opt in subscription (that means the subscriber has to confirm their subscription before they are added. With the CAN-SPAM Act you must be very careful and protect yourself from being accused of spamming. By double opt ins you get the IP # and date they subscribe which will be enough evidence to counter any false accusation.

Because each a/r is set up differently, you will need to read the instructions on how to set it a new list.

Once you a/r has you first message uploaded, with personalization so that the subscribers first name is used in the message, you are ready to begin building your subscriber base.

3. Building Your List

Depending on your a/r you can build your subscriber base in three ways.

Create a form that you insert on your web page. Remember to create the thank you page which the subscriber will be re-directed to automatically after filling in the form. Make it simple, "Thank you for your subscription and look for the first lesson in your email box in the next minute or so" is all you need. Don't try to sell them or they will probably be turned off and unsubscribe or just ignore your future ads. If the a/r has this feature, use the email link in your signatures, on your web pages, in your ads. The third way is to buy leads andimport them into your a/r. This is a great way of quickly building your list, but you need to make sure the leads are fresh, come with an IP # and date of subscription.

I like to create a new lesson or report every day until I have at least 7. If its an e-course then you send out your lessons every day, but if its a report or other message, then space them out to every other day...at least. You don't want them to think you are hammering them with ads.

4. Your Ads

I like to call my ad in each lesson, This Lesson Is Sponsored By. Most readers aren't turned off by this one ad as they are with the lesson sprinkled with ads and your affiliate links. Make the sponsor something that is related to your topic. In the case of the poodle e-course you wouldn't want to sell bird food :o) Dog biscuits, poodle trimming tools, or flea powder would be on target. If you don't have a product to sell, go to Commission Junction, Linkshare or BeFree.com which lists 100s of affiliate products and its fr.ee to join. Or do a search on the search engines.

Keep building your e-courses and reports and watch your sales and income soar!

Dan Farrell is the owner of Affiliate Marketing Tips. You can find related articles and a free newsletter here. Affiliate Marketing