If you want to have lots of potential customers there is one important and useful technique you can use: build subscriber lists. This way you will also be in touch with your customers. Encourage them to sign up without giving out a lot of personal information.
A way to let them feel like they arent giving up significant information is a simple sign up box. Ask them for their e-mail only, first name is an optional. Other personal data is something you can get later: once they have experienced your sales newsletters, they will be more responsive to provide additional data.
Another way for building subscriber lists are coupons or discounts for your products, free reports or other incentives that your potential customers would be interested in. You have probably seen these on the free trial offers where you only have to pay shipping and handling, for example.
The top left hand corner (which is the first place visitors will see) is a good place to put various opportunities to subscribe. It keeps it in their mind while they are reading the other information and might trigger a response to become a subscriber. You can also swap with another newsletter site, where your offer will pop up when they subscribe to that site, and vice versa. Its a good way for both websites to build subscriber lists for customers when the products compliment each other.
You can always use the refer a friend option that allows you to build subscriber lists from existing customers. You can always add a discount or coupon for each friend the refer that might be interested. Add a registration box at the end of all of your emails or a link to your website that encourages registration for your sales newsletter. Use any opportunity to build subscriber lists while giving them some information they will be interested in.
Remember, you are not necessarily trying to sell them something the very first time they visit, because the chances of that are slim. But by getting them to sign up for future correspondence, it gives you a chance to keep presenting your products different ways. You are mainly trying to build familiarity, trust and credibility since people tend to buy from people they trust and feel like they know.
As you continue building subscriber lists, you are getting additional opportunities to get in touch with your prospects. You want to build subscriber lists that are based on quality leads such as recommendations, people who have visited your site or looked at some of your promotional material. You dont want to spend a lot of time working on prospects that dont have an interest or intend to purchase.
Its a great way to keep in touch with promotions, special discounts, product updates, and new product announcements or articles. When you build lists, the goal is to build your business, one customer at a time.