Do I have to have a list?

Building a list is not the only way to create an income online however it is the most stable way to create an income because when you have a list, you have traffic on demand and a very powerful asset at your disposal

Creating your own list is very profitable but it`s not quite as easy as throwing up a squeeze page with a free gift and making tonnes of money

It does take time to learn the same as anything :-)

Paul

Uh yeah dude, you just answered your question in your last sentence.

...You've been online 10 years, haven't built a list, and haven't made any money either.

Yhea build a list dude, it's so easy to do and will bring you more money. The money is in the list. I'm sure you've heard of that saying, being online 10 years, yeah?

Well why do you think that is a saying? Um because it's true, that's why.

Listen, most people who land on your site are not going to buy anything the first time, unless they already know you. So on average, it takes 7 touches or emails from you to a prospect before they actually feel comfortable buying from you. And the only way to email them 7 more times, from when they initially landed on your site, is to capture them via auto responder (building a list).

Building a list gives you more control. If you are relying on other sources you are playing by their rules and the rules can change at any time. I'm sure you've heard about people being banned by Google etc. If you have a list you can generate traffic at any time, providing you have worked on building a relationship with them. So I would always focus on building a list.

Hi there,

It seems that you are taking a negative point of view on most of the points you mention:
Having a list has huge benefits, for instance should outside influences affect your business's profitability, you can simply mail your list and immediately start making money.

Since you can also back up your list regularly even if your AR (Auto Responder) should shut you off or go out of business you can still get back in business by simply importing your list to a new AR service.

Many marketers have had there livelihoods saved by having a list!

And why not, I say start out a fresh and get a list

I've just started to build a list myself after 3 years online and all I can say is I wish I had started sooner. I could potentially have hundreds or even thousand of subscribers by now. Although I've made a nice income without a list, I can only imagine what my earnings may have been with one. Also, its not just about the list but also about building a relationship and trust with the list. The last thing you want to do is promote scammy products to people who trust you with a recommendation. Nevertheless, a list is IM's greatest asset, period so jump on board now or you will regret it later.

While I wouldn't get into a niche that was not list suitable, the straight up honest answer is list building is not for every niche nor is it for every marketer.

You know your skill set better than anyone. If all you can do is send a link to a sales page and not entice your list .. you might be better off not worrying with it.

When I started out, I was always hesitant to build a list as well. So, I understand where you're coming from. I figured, I never really liked getting marketing emails, so why would I expect other people to enjoy it when I sent them the same type of thing.

What changed my mind about this was when I actually started list building. As long as you do it correctly, you really just have to ignore that 'I wouldn't buy into marketing emails, so people won't buy into mine' type of attitude.

You just have to do it - and you will likely be really amazed by the results. People really respond to email marketing! So, list building is a huge factor in a lot of successful marketers' income.

Seriously, you just have to do it. Just make sure that you pay attention to how to set up the backend of the list - I mean, you need to have a good number of auto-responder messages set up to build a good relationship with your subscribers.

Just take the plunge and build that list! You will be rewarded!

-Noah

I think it's very crucial you have a list. You are not always going to get your customer to buy the first time around. But, if they are on your list they may buy later or buy something else.

If nothing else it's the best way to keep your customers up to date.

I don't know if you have to, but I certainly have to.

There are a few hundred threads in this forum with titles like "What's The One Thing You'd Do Differently If You Were Starting Again Tomorrow?". Take a look through a small sample of them. Seriously - it's one of the most helpful things you can do. You'll find that one of the things they all have in common is that they're full of replies from long-established, successful Warriors all of whom give the same answer: the thing they'd do differently, with what they know now but didn't know when they started, is "start to build a list on day 1". There are reasons for that.

I wish you well, and if/when you decide do try a different perspective, this thread may be a good starting point for you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982

This little thread of Edwin's from yesterday might be helpful, too, perhaps - albeit in a slightly different way? http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...commended.html

You're not your target market.

Just because that's what you do doesn't mean everybody does that.

Also, there's lots more to it. When you do start sending emails you have to get it opened, entice them to keep reading and convince your prospect they need your product.


Bill


.

I suggest you do it immediately. I have become more confident and more focused since I began to build my lists.

About reading e-mails, I am expecting e-mails from several publishers, and Paul Myers is one of them, and I will read the e-mail from top to bottom, and will check his recommendations too.

You do not HAVE TO, but there are many benefits to having one, it seems.

Money is in the list, and I couldn't stress that some more as you know for a fact that without a list your business will not thrive. It is the lifeblood of your business. If you are heavily into info-product creation and want to do & earn more, then list-building is a must for you.

It's not neccessary but it helps, a lot. Just because you don't read
the e-mails doesn't mean that others don't.

Not building a list is like opening a brick and mortar store and expect people to know you're there, know you're open and just flock to you.

That's insane...

Building a list is necessary if you want control over your businesses profits. Surely don't leave it up to Google to get you traffic.

What to send to your list? Well, what do your customers want to know? It's not a matter of "What to come up with to write about or what to send them" it's about knowing who your ideal customer is and then sending them more of what it is they are looking for.

It's about educating your prospect to the point they want to buy from you.

As for your other points about what you don't like about what you currently get in your email inbox from other marketers... Don't be like them!

Also, if you think you're going to be effective with sending a short note and a link to a sales page then is that value in your opinion? Are you delivering your subscribers value or will you be just like all those people who are currently in your inbox right now?

STOP thinking about promoting anything and start thinking about how you can add value to each subscriber. Why are they subscribing to your list? Answer these questions and get to work.

There's so much more but think about these things I mentioned first and make a plan of what you will provide them, etc... then do it.

I didn't concentrate on building a list 8 years back. I did still build it then though. But it was only after I really focused on building a list 4 years back that the income and sales skyrocketed! Having a list is like having traffic on demand.

Regards,
Alvin Huang

If you're not building a list then you're not building a business. Way too many people think that IM is just something that they can do in their spare time. If you look at it like that then you most likely won't have much success.

Get serious. Build a list. Build a website. If you need any advice contact me :-)

Building a list is like you building a community of people. You have a market share that you control! Become a leader and you will have followers! So start building today!

Depends on what kind of business you're running.

If you're in info-marketing. Then I would absolutely
recommend you get a list...

... or focus strictly on the "transactional" niches.

You won't be able to compete with the people with
lists in the other markets.

They'll have an unfair advantage. That is to build
a relationship with their audience.

I would recommend you to start using the list ... with the appropriate tools like get them opt-in , making the messages more personal, using good servers with a good email marketing service company, can give you the required results .... if you want, you can pm me to suggest you a company that it's good and i've been working with them for some time

I don't have a list so I wouldn't know. But it seems like building a list is the way to go. I will try to build my list soon just doing some research on niches and keywords, etc.

Ofcourse you have to build a list if you want to make money however, it is not that easy, you need to build trust and good relationship with your list subscribers by sending lots of high value content (book, PFDs, videos, tutorials...) once you built trust they will buy anything from you.

Lists are most common around here among people in the bizopp niche, which revolves around forums, lists and very minimal web development. It's a tight knit market where participants often take the role of both the seller and the buyer. So they are able to corner each other and build lists for direct communication.

List building in other niches may be far more difficult. It's easier to say "Give me your email and I'll send you a plan to make a million bucks online" than it is "Let me notify you when the new Air Jordan shoes come out."

It depends on the niche, what you're selling and exactly what your mailings cover. For some their list is their business. Others don't have a vital use for lists.

If you haven't made much money and you haven't built a list, then put two and two together

You might find this article of interest: Why You MUST Build Your Email List

Hi cjshu!

Costs for setting up a list building sales funnel are a lot lower than any traditional offline business model.

I think it depends on whether you are still in the "I want to make money fast now" mindset or the "I am willing to learn a few basic new skills and learn how to market to people before asking them to trust your recommendations" mindset.

List building isn't hard once you have learned the processes and understand how to build trust and relationships with your list.

I strongly recommend you do it as long as you think it is necessary to do so in your chosen niche.

Hope this helps and hope you take action my friend!!!

When I first started out I didn't have a list and I sold over 100 websites on Flippa looking back I wish I had have had a list then so I could have gained more repeat buyers and kept thier interest.

I now have over 5000 people on my list with over 1000 of them being buyers. Every time I launch a new product I notfiy my list and I always get repeat buyers.

I recommend building one. You don't have to be activly emailing them all the time. Just update them from time to time. Give them some free reports, or videos, and ask them from time to time what they would be interested in purchasing.

Surveying your list is a great way to find out what to build for your next product.

If you really aren't sure about having a list do this, let people register on a form, but just have their data saved. Don't pay for email service, don't email them at all. Just collect the emails. Then one day, you will wish you had some traffic and you will already be ahead of the game. If you never use it, you only wasted about an hour setting up a web form to collect emails.

Yes building a list is important for a lot of great reasons already mentioned just be sure to offerr value a lot more than you promote products. Get on someones list and really study what they do and how they promote, etc. You will learn so much more by paying attention to what they do a heck of a lot more than what they say.

One thing to keep in mind with that though is to find out what the big earners did when they were at the point you are in the business because if you try to copy what they do straight out the gate you will fail because they are so much farther along in the biz then you, bigger lists, steady new subscribers coming in, making more income they can afford to promote to their list more often before being concerned with burnout.

Yes, I would suggest you do start building a list. I made that mistake for many years before I started building lists. You do want to pick a niche and narrow down what you are focused on a bit. As you point out, there are some that won't read the emails you send, but some will.

Also, only send emails that provide value and are something that you would want to read if you were on your list. Then, occasionally, add in an email that is designed to sell.

But Before EVEN taking First Step - KNOW Your market WELL, it'll make everything easier down the road...

Knowing the hot buttons will help to -

Better communicate with your List...
Develop Headlines that get opened
Build content that entice them
Write Squeeze and sales pages that get results...
Write Articles that Bring back visitors

That's why KNOW your audience First - Know your Ideal Customer First...Before getting into any market for Building List...

...

My opinion is that a mailing list is not a content tool but a TRAFFIC tool.

Meaning, when you talk to it, all you are doing is convincing them WHY they would want to click.

For example, click to a sales letter... list some bullet points and drop a link.

If you want to share content with them then your link is to a video or a blog post.

I just now looked back at how long my emails are, out of curiosity...

Short emails... just something to think about.

And if you expect to earn more than $19 from your list in the next 30 days, then it's worth the $19 per month to pay Aweber or whoever you decide to use to host your list.

i tried to build one, but didn'twork good.
many ppl sell emaillist , will it work?