subject: Can You Survive Online Without A List? [print this page] It is so easy to find more information on list-building on the Internet than you could possibly absorb in your lifetime! A common warning issued to newbies to Internet marketing by experienced internet marketers is to: "Get busy and start building your own list!"
Get busy and do what? Why? Vague advice, but stated in a manner that is sometimes scary and confusing. It is often backed up with charts, bank balances and screenshots that are meant to lead you to an opt-in box and the ubiquitous OTO (One Time Offer).
Let's deal with the "WHY" first. It's not rocket science.
You will be less likely to make many sales if you do not promote and advertise your websites, blogs or products. That will be the bleak future for local businesses anywhere if they don't promote their businesses or services. Check any magazine or newspaper and you will see the promotions (Ads) printed to promote their products and drive traffic to their shops. Customers can also drive by, visit the malls or respond to printed ads or flashy banners on the storefront with the latest sale.
The answer to your "WHY" is a little different because of the many technical differences in online marketing that do not apply to street-level shops. For instance, you only make sales when visitors find your site, read your sales copy, get attracted to your bonus offers for subscribing to your list and agree to receive your marketing emails (Opt-In) and, more importantly, want the information you are selling.
In order to get that traffic you have to do a lot of promotion and that same promotion has serious competition from thousands of other marketers just like you. So, how do you set about getting traffic? Build a list!
You can't even start building a list until you have a domain name, website or blog, a product to sell and one or more bonuses to give to your subscribers. Use an auto responder list so that your subscribers will use the double opt-in feature before they can enter your list, and your emails can be sent to them on auto pilot on a regular basis (this is a double optin).
Once all that's in place, you can begin to directly market your products or services to the world. Before you do anything create a signature with a link to your site. Use that signature on every single email you send, blog posts you add to related sites and forum responses to questions. Don't market aggressively to forum members or in blog posts. That will get you banned and considered a spammer. Always provide helpful solutions to problems and useful answers to requests for information when posting in forums. Let your link in your signature market quietly for you.
Write quality articles in your chosen niche and submit them to directories. People will want your information if it is full of useful, quality content. Use your resource box wisely at the end of your articles, your message should be simple and contain a link to your products. Newsletter editors and blog owners will pick up your article and post it on their site, with your link intact. Quiet marketing.
No List Of Subscribers = No Sales
by: Sue Schlaiffer
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