Effective List-Building Activities

Any marketing you do for your online business should have one main focus - building your list. By getting interested individuals on your mailing list, people will get to know you and ultimately buy from you.

One of the key elements of any online business is its list - the saying 'the money is in the list' is very true and something you need to take seriously.

However, there is no point having a list of 10,000 names if none of them ever buys anything. So, the key is to build up a responsive list of clients who buy from you as well as rave about you.

There are lots of ways you can build your list, and we recommend you try them all to see what really works well for your target market. You can then focus on what works for you!

Demonstrate that you know your readers/customers, that you understand their 'pain', and give away good content that really does help them - if this is what you provide free, imagine what you deliver when your customers pay!

Before we look at ways to build your list, we should look at how you are going to reward people for giving you their email addresses.

Opt-in
On your website, you need to include an opt-in box, so that people can give you their names and email addresses. This entitles them to subscription to your weekly, fortnightly or monthly newsletter, which maintains regular contact and helps build your relationship - making it a responsive list.

Blog
Regularly post content onto your blog. This is a great way to generate traffic and demonstrate your expertise.

Viral Movie
This is a two- to three-minute video, which aims to inspire your target market to deal with you.

Video Clips
Another great way to connect with your target market is by having a variety of video messages with you speaking directly to the camera. This is a great way to build a relationship with your audience, as they will feel that they know you.

Affiliate Programme
Offering an affiliate programme is a great way to build a sales team, which will promote your products and services to their lists - meaning more money in your pocket and theirs!

Teleseminar Series Launch Event
The idea is simple. You team up with other experts to provide content via a series of teleseminars. This is a great way to build your list, because the other speakers can promote the event to the people on their lists, giving you even more exposure.

Social Media
Social media are a great way to build relationships with your target market and also show your personality. Make sure, at the very least, you use Twitter and Facebook for your business.

Preview Teleseminars
A preview teleseminar is a perfect tool when you are launching a new product. It is a great way to talk about why you have developed the product, explain who would benefit from it, share some of the content, and demonstrate the value of the information available.