The JV University

BLOG POST BY WILLIE CRAWFORD – CO-FOUNDER OF THE JV UNIVERSITY

One of the biggest complaints that we hear from novice Internet
marketers is that they can’t compete with others in their niche
because they “have no list.”

One of the solutions frequently offered is to suggest that they
stop whining, and start building a list. Somewhat more
productive advice is to suggest that they join one of the free
list-building giveaways as a starting point.

Naturally, that brings us to the question of “are free
list-building giveaways” worth the trouble?”

Do they work?

Do they produce quality subscribers?

My personal answer is, “It depends.”

If you do it the way that 90% of people entering those free
giveaways do it, then I think that you’re hurting yourself
more than you’re helping.

I DO offer free items in select free giveaways. Just one of my
several autoresponder accounts with ProfitAutomation.com is
rapidly approaching a verifiable 200,000 subscribers. Many of
these subscribers did join my list(s) as a result of free giveaways.

So, why did I answer with “it depends” then?

First of all, you need to realize that contributing a gift
during one of these free giveaways is just the first step in a
long relationship-building process. Far too many people blow
it right from the start. They offer a free “gift” in these
events that they’d be insulted if someone offered to them.
They violated “Rule #1″.

Whatever you offer in one of these free giveaways, or any gift
that you offer to your customers for that matter, should be
something nice enough that you COULD sell it if you chose to.

Starting a relationship off by offering someone JUNK, as a bribe
to get them onto your list, leaves them with a bad first
impression of doing business with you. Offering an ANCIENT
product that you have resale rights to (along with 10,000
others), or that you purchased on Ebay for 99 cents, is plain
short-sighted.

To give you an idea of the quality of gift that I think that you
should offer, the most recent one that I contributed was a free
ebook entitled, ” How To Keep Digital Product Thieves From
Robbing You Blind.” I wrote this ebook from scratch, consulting
with several computer security and website experts in the
process, and then GAVE it away as an subscriber bonus. That
was an ebook that I researched, wrote, collaborated on, and
had some nice graphics designed for… all so that I could give
it away.

The second thing to consider is the quality of the giveaway
itself.

You need to get involved in events where the organizers cares
enough to really monitor the quality of the gifts contributed.

You do not want to be associated with a free list-building
giveaway that “feels desperate or amateurish.”

You also need to make sure that the organizer of the giveaway
REQUIRES joint venture partners (gift contributors) to all
promote the event. Ideally, those who are discovered not
promoting the event, usually by the fact that they have made
NO referrals, should be purged from the database of those
eligible to receive subscribers fairly early in the giveaway’s
timeline.

I’ve witnessed countless free giveaways where the majority of
contributors merely contributed an outdated product and then did
absolutely NO promotion. They planned on getting a free ride. A
promotion with lot of people doing that can, at best, have only
mediocre results.

Participating in free list-building giveaways CAN jump-start
your list-building. I know numerous online marketers who’ve
built lists into the thousands… and even tens of thousands
with most of their early list members being from free giveaways.

It does work. It can build you a targeted, responsive list if
you offer the right gifts, and if you select the right
giveaways. If you join the wrong ones, contribute JUNK, and
then wait for others to do all of the work, you’re in for a big
disappointment. In these type of events you do get exactly
what you give.

SO, If you would like to learn more about JV Giveaway’,
become a JV consultant and also be personally trained by me
and my team -  Gina Gaudio Graves (The JV Queen),
David Preston (The Legendary Consultant)
and Sohail Khan (The Million Dollar JV Dealmaker)
then I suggest you join our 12 week JV Certified Consultant’s
Program – next class starts in December!

For more information and a discount on our 12 week
certified hands-on program please click the link below:

http://www.thejvuniversity.com/willie

To Your Abundant Joint Venture Success!

Willie Crawford (the “Black Belt JV Broker”)

Co-Founder, TheJVUniversity.com