A targeted, responsive, op-in (fully CANSPAM compliant) email list can springboard your new internet business to success faster than you can imagine. Here’s how I used WordPress to put together a 1 page site to collect emails and provide a little content until I have time to get to them.

There are two domains that have been sitting in my registrar account for quite a while now, but I haven’t done anything with them.  The finished sites are BassOutfitter.com and FanChair.com – they are build using the same process, so don’t expect much difference (it’s just a splash page, rememter).

So why should you take the time to set something like this up?  Several reasons:

• Domain age – the age of a domain is considered to be a small factor for SEO.  All things equal, take two domains targeted for the same keyword, and the older domain will rank higher.  Of course all things are never equal, but every little bit you can do helps when your are trying to rank well in the SERPS.
• Content – I can provide a small amount of targeted content on the site.  It’s just the domain name in an H1 tag, META info, and a couple of paragraphs, but that’s all I need right now to put three good, targeted keywords on the page several times.
• I am collecting email addresses.  Opt-in email lists are a great way to increase revenue for your site.  By building a targeted email list, you can greatly increase your profit per visitor by gathering long-term, repeat customers.
• I’m too busy right now.  Yep, but one site is an extension of work I’m already doing… the next evolution, if you will.  The other is a business idea that I’ve been thinking about for years, and am very excited about once I can get to it.

The Rundown:

Here’s a quick step-by-step to tell you exactly what I did.  Hopefully you can put this to good use on some of your dormant domains.

1. Install Wordpress & do the standard config stuff (permalinks, blog name, analytics & other basic stuff)
2. Install a Theme I like – I chose one that would have a good, strong content page with a wigitized sidebar and footer.
3. Build my “Action Page” – Create a new page and put a little content telling users that visit the site what is is about, when it’s coming, and a call to action.  Mine was sign up for an email when the site launches.
4. Set Static Page – Go to Settings > Reading and set the front page to your Action page.
5. Remove Navigation – You don’t want any other pages on the site – only the one with the call to action.
6. Install Opt-In Plugin – Set up one widget that can collect email addresses.  MailChimp has a good Wordpress plugin.  Then set this as the only widget in the sidebar.

That’s it. Now you have a great looking placement page that will work for you collecting email addresses while you build your site.  Check mine out here:

BassOutfitter.com - Bass Outfitter will carry the stuff that we use personally and recommend. Great fishing gear, killer lures, awesome accessories, and all the stuff you need to catch a lunker.

FanChair.com – Fan Chair will bring you the best stadium seat available.

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That’s right, it’s been way too long since my last post.  What have I been doing? Well, my last actual post was near the end of September, and since then I have

1. Changed jobs
2. Built & launched 3 WordPress blogs and 2 Magento stores.
3. Working on a rebuild of 2 ecommerce sites I own & building a brand new ecommerce store for a great domain I picked up.
4. Incorporated my business and built a corporate site for that.
5. Managed a ton of advertising spend for my clients
6. And a spent a ton of time with my family – both happy and sad situations.

But MattMauldin.com has been neglected.  The first nine months of 2009 went pretty well, and I like writing because it keeps me on the lookout for interesting topics when I would otherwise be playing Brickbreaker on the Blackberry.  Even my twitter account was quiet.

Here are a few New Year’s Resolutions I have for MattMauldin.com:

• On good post per month – “good” is subjective and the only point of view that counts is mine.
• 5 tweets per week minimum – because a list of tweets are posted here weekly, as you can tell for the previous several pages.
• Finish the Wheel of Time posts by Spring – This post topic was leading up to A Memory of Light (see here), but I didn’t complete all the posts. I did, however, read all the books (yay for me).
• Updates on MattMauldin.com – Find a replacement plugin for Simple Tags unless it is updated in the next week or so because it doesn’t work with WP 2.9; and find a replacement plugin for Twitter Tools because it skips weeks or double posts for a single week.  Any suggestions?
• Begin sharing a little more about items 1 through 5 above.  Sorry, #6 is all mine.

OK, now the goals are specific, written, and measurable.  We’ll see how they go.

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