The Power Of List Building

List Building – An Asset For Life

The power of list building is undeniable in the world of online business. We’ve all heard the phrase “The money is in the list” or similar and I’ve found that to be true over the last few years. I’d also agree that a well-built, well managed and well served list of subscribers can become the best asset an internet marketer can have. So how do you do it and why is it so powerful?

Watch the video below where I explain the power of list building in detail.

To frame this for you: I’ve been running affiliate marketing businesses online for the best part of 6 years now. In the beginning I didn’t think about or even know anything about list building. I relied on old style networking albeit online via Skype and Facebook groups. But when I acquired an email list from an e-commerce franchise business that had gone bust, things began to change. I realised that not getting the quick sale is not the end of the story.

List Building Dos And Dont’s

I had just invested in a high-ticket affiliate partnership offering training, mentorship and business systems to those looking to start an online business. Armed with my new links I began emailing that list a couple of hundred at a time whilst continuing with the networking stuff. I was also getting started on real Internet marketing via advertising and social media. As an Internet marketing newbie, the latter was slow going but the list started to generate regular leads and sales.

In hindsight this isn’t surprising. The people on that list had after all been looking into starting an online business. They had subscribed through advertising and telesales campaigns so were pretty “warm” prospects. I diligently fine tuned the list – removing defunct email addresses and of course any who asked to be unsubscribed. I gradually brought those still keen onto my own list. Long story short that list –now at least 10 years old – still generates leads and the occasional sale.

The power of list building

How good a list is depends on several factors. Obviously the “quality” of the subscribers is crucial. By quality I mean relevance really. Take the example above. That list worked well for me because I knew that the people on it had – at the time – been looking into starting an online business. In fact I was on that list myself and had actually invested with its owners. That business failed largely because of the dated training and poor support on offer. Since I was now promoting high-level education products in that niche, the relevance score was pretty high.

Quality List Building Strategy

You can (and I have – before I wised up) paid for email campaigns on other peoples lists. On most occasions these do get me subscribers but seldom actual sales. Why? Because generally these “solo ads” attract the get rich quick mentality. The copy that is sent to them is geared towards the wrong people for me. They quickly learn that making money online actually does take hard work, investment and time. That doesn’t appeal to the magic button, passive income brigade.

So whatever you are promoting online and however you do it make sure you know your audience. Whilst a list of thousands can be a goldmine for the rest of your life, it can also be a dead duck if you get that wrong.

If you carefully build a list of quality subscribers and build a relationship with them you will see the real power of list building. A master of this is SFM and DEA co-founder Stuart Ross. Grab a free copy of his ebook – The Power Of List Building on the link at the end of my video above.