You've probably heard the phrase "the money is in the list"...

It's as true today as it's always been...

But HOW do you build your mailing list...?

Understand WHY People Will WANT To Join Your Mailing List...

The number one reason why people will join your email list is because you are offering something in return.

In these days of rampant spam, people are very wary of giving out their email addresses to people they do not know.

So you have to make it very easy for them to do so...

And make it worth their while to take the risk that you will not sell their details to some junk mail merchant.

The things people are usually looking for are content, quality and something USEFUL.

Content FIRST...

Pack your newsletters with loads of great information, links to useful web sites and blogs as well as news that they may be interested in.

Try and make your newsletters recent, contemporary and appropriate to people that have visited your web site, blog or company.

Quality goes without saying, but unless you provide a newsletter that looks good and is without obvious grammar and spelling mistakes people will not stay on your list for very long.

When you build your list you want people to stay with you for many months so that you can build a relationship with them so that they trust you enough to buy from you.

Human nature is such that most people now expect a signing on gift in order to join your mailing list.

So if you want to build your list full of responsive readers, you are going to have to provide them with something such as a quality ebook or CD full of useful and interesting information.

The better it is the more chance you have of keeping your list with you.

It goes without saying that people will not join your mailing list if you make it too difficult for them to join.

So have a clear box on your web site or blog where people can enter their details.

Pop up and pop over boxes are not always a good option as browsers now stop them from working.

Tell people that you will not sell their details.

You might like to provide a link to a sample newsletter so they can get an idea of the quality you offer them.

Tell them about your signing on gift.

Make everything clear, easy and concise.

You do not need telephone numbers and addresses - just names and email addresses.

Tell them that you will receive an initial email for them to confirm their sign-on and how often your next newsletters will arrive.

No one wants to be bombarded with emails from you so keep the intervals reasonable.

If you follow all of the above suggestions you will soon get a responsive and profitable list of subscribers...

And you'll wonder why you didn't decide to build your mailing list sooner !

Comments (3)

autonmike said:

	I hope you enjoy the article and put it into action... Remember to share on Facebook and Twitter to help others too :) Cheers Mike Auton
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July 30, 2011
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James said:

Great overview. I am currently building my list and it's working great. The only problem I have is that I just don't know when to offer a sale. On the one hand, I don't want to offer anything too early and come across like I "tricked" them into opting in only so I can make offers. On the other hand, I don't want to wait too long and spend a lot of energy on building a list that hardly ever purchases something. I know that nobody can help me out here, I just have to try, test and see ^^ Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say, cool article :D

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December 12, 2011
Votes: +0

autonmike said:

	@james - as you said... test, test, test :) you can mail me with a link to your site if you like. just use the contact me link at the bottom of the page. mike auton
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December 12, 2011
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