LIST BUILDING

List Building: 101

The process of List Building may best be defined as a worldwide Rolodex. 

You have information to share, but its hard to let people know about it, if your Rolodex is empty.

List building is the process of gathering e-mail addresses for the purpose of sending information, offers and other marketing information to clients and potential customers.


It might be tempting to gather all the e-mail addresses you have in your e-mail account, and place them on a list to receive your information. 

You might also think that purchasing an e-mail list from an online source might help you build your list. Be cautious, there is a much greater likelihood that you will be reported as a spammer,if the recipients don't know you, and isn't thrilled to receive an e-mail from you.

Building an organic list can take time, but you stand a better chance of actually connecting with a receptive audience.

You may find that list building is best achieved by providing Site visitors with information gathering forms. 
An Auto-responder can often manage the automated distribution of the information they seek. The customer information is gathered

and this can be used to invite them to participate in redeeming money saving offers from you.
Some forms include an already highlighted box that indicates the individual wishes to receive future e-offers. 
The outcome behind this is, many customers do not look at every field in the form and so may not uncheck the box when submitting their information.
   

  No matter what method you use to gather names in your list building process please make sure to honor requests to "unsubscribe". 

If you manage the list manually make sure to remove the name quickly or risk a report of spam.

 One way to grow your list is to make sure the information you deliver is targeted, above average and something the client will look forward to receiving. 

The content could be information or it could be a simple sales flyer, but by staying on target you will be more likely to connect with your

client.

 Don't abuse your list by sending them a significant volume of e-mail. Carefully plan each mailing and make sure it is strongly related to your core objectives. 

If you send too much – too often you may be perceived as only slightly better than those incredibly annoying forwards that we all delete from our e-mail files.

List Building is a proven method of devising solid contacts for Online Marketing. 

But do make sure to avoid the spamming techniques. The reputation of your online firm may be at stake!