| List building is vital in building a sustainable internet marketing business, one which will carry on to reap rewards for many years. However, it's an area of online marketing which many fail to implement and those that do, get it horribly wrong. The trick is to learn correct list building techniques from the get go and many will fumble around in the dark for months, even years trying to get it right. There are many good learning environments on the web such as Portal Feeder 2.0, which include list building as a vital component of their training program and students are taught the correct techniques from the very beginning. How many budding online entrepreneurs have given up after lots of trial and error and many thousands of dollars later simply because they were left to figure it all out by themselves? Eventually, many declare enough is enough and throw up the white flag. Who can blame them. Whenever you hear "the money is in the list" there is no doubt that it is. But there is no money in a list if it's an unresponsive and untargeted one. Let's take a look at some of the mistakes you need to avoid before commencing your list building activities. Untargeted Lists This is one of the biggest mistakes many will make. Creating a general list is fine if you like to send them interesting tidbits every now and again with nothing to sell but for money making purposes, this is not ideal. A targeted audience in a definite niche will be more likely to buy from you again and again than just a general list with no interest in what you have to offer. Even more important, your specific niche needs to contain products which are of a repeat nature, not one off items. These are products of a consumable nature such as health items. Vitamins and supplements are ideal; everyday use products such as coffee and products which people use as a solution to a problem. If you're targeting the internet marketing crowd then eBooks fit the bill nicely. In fact, eBooks are excellent list quality products in just about any market provided they will provide some type of solution to the consumer. Quality Content Once your list starts to take shape, don't pepper them with offers on a consistent basis. If you do this, you'll find many hitting the unsubscribe button in a hurry. Instead, build a relationship with them. Offer quality content via your emails. Start a newsletter which offers helpful tips and solutions. Over deliver in terms of service and when it's time for you to make an offer, you'll find they'll be more responsive to it simply because of the credibility you've built with them. As a rule, 3-4 offers a year is an ideal number. Any more and you will be stretching friendships. Some may ask how you can make an decent income with just 3-4 offers a year. Easy. Rinse and repeat. Once you have one list developed, building a second one becomes so much easier. Think of the income potential from a dozen such lists. |
