How To Build Your Money-Making Email List

I'm often asked, "What's the best way to build a business when
you don't have much money to spend." I never hesitate when I
answer. Build your own email list!

A good email list that YOU COLLECTED YOURSELF is worth its weight
in gold. My list, that I started with an AOL account and pasting
subscriber addresses into Text Pad, now generates six figures in
sales every year. I know a consultant who pulls down even more
with her home-grown email list. And there's the guy who keeps
his business humming by sending his thoughts to his list whenever
he feels like it, once a month, once every three months, once a
week.

None of these people have any special tricks to use a list to
generate $17,000 in a weekend (you've probably seen sales pitches
that promise that). They simply attract people who are
interested in getting their information, put them on their list,
and send them good info on a regular basis.

If subscribers don't buy from you now, they will eventually.
It's standard to hear from new customers "I've been getting your
newsletter for years and figured it was time to buy."

Your email list becomes a continuous source of non-stop sales for
you. Want to know how most of the successful online businesses
stay profitable year after year? They have a good list. Want to
know why so many small businesses fold within months of starting?
They don't have a list. It's often as simple as that.

How do you get your list? Here are several commonly used ways.

1. The original and most common method to get people to
subscribe to your list is to offer information. Offer up a
newsletter filled with information of real value to a specific
kind of audience. Offer free reports, white papers, or email
alerts.

2. When people buy from you, get their email address. Have your
order form ask if it's OK to send them valuable information from
time to time. Usually half to 80 percent say yes.

3. Create a contest and have people subscribe to your newsletter
as a requirement for entry. Of course, you will give them a
chance to unsubscribe after the contest is over, but most will
opt to keep receiving your messages.

Now let me get all gloomy and say a few words about purchasing
lists of names. Lists of addresses you buy, even from the best
of sources, usually don't work very well. For some reason the
immense power of an email list doesn't kick in until people learn
about you, THEN sign up to get your information. It doesn't work
very well to send information to people who have never heard of
you. You can send and send until you're blue in the face and
very few will ever buy anything.

OK, all sounds good. But where do you get the information to
send to your list? "Kevin, you're a WRITER. This stuff is
easy for you. But I HATE to write!" I can hear you cry. And
that's exactly why you should use my articles, or the articles of
any other writer who will let you (and most will if you also
include their contact information at the end of the article).

Subscribe to lists that cover the same kind of information you
do. When you see a great article, email the author and ask for
permission to reprint it. You can also paraphrase information
you find. Just put the information in your own words.

List building is highly effective, but it's not a get-rich-quick
method. It often takes a full year to get your list up to the
point where it starts getting results for you. It could take
several years before it becomes a source of income that seriously
changes your lifestyle. But in the scope of things, that's a
pretty quick way to achieve the success you deserve.