Don't bite the hand that feeds you !

I think the main point of building a list is not to rely on search traffic later on, but yes of course to build it we need some traffic, be it paid or organic/social, we need some and if the search engines are nice enough to send some our ways, we can only oblige and accept it gladly :-)

You mean, don't bite the iron fist that feeds you! :-p

Unfortunately a ton of people were relying on that hand that fed them (Google) and out of nowhere Google came and bit that hand. List building is just a great way to keep from putting all your eggs in one basket (depending on Google for all your traffic)

Google traffic sucks. too much work. too little payoff. there are far better alternatives. Not saying you should ignore google but I wouldn't want to rely on them for more than 10% of my traffic.

The point of list building is not so you can ignore organic search...it is so you can develop a relationship with your leads, prospects and customers, and not have to rely on third party companies to remain profitable.

It is about retention. You are retaining your leads so if your search rankings tank or you stop running whatever traffic you are running, you still have a safe customer base.

The whole...eggs in one basket as was mentioned above.

Google is a nice way to get people to come and opt in to your list. But once you have built a list - it is so much more profitable to be able to send promotional emails's once in a while to already targeted buyers .

The reason I always say to build a list. There are many many people that don't.

Just go back on the last 3 pages in the WF. See how many people still don't understand list building.

A list is the first thing you should understand before anything else.

List first everything else is after. I just read that someone had a list over 600, all of it was crap. That's what you get when you do traffic first and building a list latter. You end up with a poppy list.

Suppose you had an offline business, like a diner. And you only relied on walk-in customers. You completely ignored the people who have already indicated they like your food, and spend all your time trying to get more walk-ins.

That's how I see people that fixate on getting traffic from Google, making them easy prey for the latest "#1 on Google" boondoggle.

Once you get those people in your virtual door, you want to keep them coming back. You want them buying again and again. In short, you want them on a list.

List building and search traffic are not mutually exclusive - it should be 'and' rather than 'or'.

I see the single-minded pursuit of Google rankings like buying a basket of eggs from a bad-tempered merchant. You get your basket, and the merchant follows you. One day, he decides he doesn't like your neighborhood, and doesn't want his eggs there. So he mugs you and takes back his basket.

If you have no other place to get eggs, you ain't gettin' no eggs...

If the hand that feeds me stops me from feeding myself, then maybe it is alright to metaphorically bite it.

It is always easier to sell to someone you already have a relationship with. Either by their being on your list through whatever system you use, or your existing customers. Google is really just another way to build a list (gain customers, get subscribers, etc.) And, Google is Very Expensive. Using Search Engines is an important part of any marketing system, but I always try everyone else first before giving out the big bucks for Google. I have always had good success with Bing, and they are a lot cheaper per sale/lead than Google.

well you should never rely on just one of anything, you should have a good mix of traffic sources coming in.