How do you build a list quickly and cheaply?

Very nice post. For me personally, I will find the ways to get the money that is required to grow the business. If that means I need to get a job, I will be willing to go and work to get the money. If the desire is really strong, you will be able to overcome all the obstacles

These are nice tips... try to drive the traffic to your website where you can subscribe people there among the other things...

That's what I am worried about DeanJames, spending so much time on a project for it to be taken away like Squidoo and Ezine, that is why I finally decided that I need to build a list, there is just so much info out there and I don't know where to start, it all seems really easy until I actually start to take the steps and get really stuck at some point like the traffic generation as the best way to get traffic, as far I can tel from reading up on the subject, is from paid but I have tried and came across hurdles mainly not knowing where the best paid traffic is and being able to afford it, free traffic has hurdles too like many sites/forums not allowing to use affiliate links in the signature.
Don't get me wrong I hold my hands up and agree that I do give up too easily at times but when I have spent time and money on projects and not made anything it just completely disheartens me, I'm a sensitive soul!!

Excellent post and one that I definitely agree with. The only way to really test and tweak how effective your list building is, is if you are already getting a good amount of visitors to your site. Without getting enough traffic, you won't be able to build a big or stable list.

Thank you everyone so much for all of the input, I have decided to buy the the WSO by InvestASAP on list building, I have bought his previous version of this WSO but it cost a lot for the traffic but this is meant to be easier and cheaper to set up, I have a lot on in the next few weeks with my 3 and 4 years old children starting school and nursery and I work the weekends but will be using as much free time as possible to set the system up.
Regards Polly.

1. Forums - post useful information everyday ,3-5 post a day

2. Youtube - create 2-3 video every week

4. Google alerts - let Google alerts your niche(maybe blog new post) write some useful comment

5. Solo Ads - quality traffic

6. Your Blog - SEO & Branding yourself as an authority in your industry

Polly, bare this in mind. Don't worry too much about how much each individual lead is costing you, because if you are making your ad spend back on the front end of your funnel you are in effect getting your leads for next to nothing. Try and get the elements right one bye one. First off try small batches of traffic using solo ads and see how your funnel is working. only then will you want to ramp things up traffic and expense wise.

Polly,

I'm sorry you're struggling so much and I really DO sympathize. We've all been there.

A couple of points for you:

1. As someone else mentioned, relying on third-party sites like Squidoo is a very unreliable way to run a business, as you've discovered. The goal is to take as much control of your business as possible.

This includes having your own website (instead of relying on third-party sites like Squidoo) and NOT relying on or spending most of your time trying to do SEO and get traffic from Google. These should be happy byproducts, nothing more. (There are much quicker, more reliable ways to get traffic.)

2. Do you even know what niche you want to be in and product you want to sell? You sound like you have no idea. A big question you need to answer is "Do I want to be in the make money online niche?"

If you really love online marketing, then go for it. But realize it can be a very tough market. Don't do it just because it seems like the thing to do and the thing that will sell.

Otherwise, you need to think about what you love. What are your passions and interests? What will you sell? WHO will you sell it to?

(Someone in this thread mentioned marketing your own WSO or otherwise building your business here. This suggestion is made without any consideration for your niche and audience. If you're not in the MMO niche, then marketing here is a complete waste of time.

It's one of my pet peeves with suggestions I see here. So many of them are completely inappropriate and irrelevant. )

Remember, the WHO (your target audience) is more important than the WHAT (whatever you sell). Pick your target audience wisely and be as specific as possible.

Just as an example, let's say you choose "women" as your target audience for whatever you're selling.

But don't just pick "women". Pick moms -- or working moms -- or working women -- moms of toddlers -- or... How old is she? Does she work or not? Does she have kids? How many? Is she married? Etc.

See how I've drilled it down from "women"?

The more you niche it down, the more specific you are, the more likely you are to be successful. This is critical. I can't possibly overstate it.

3. The process for making money online is:

Traffic > Opt-In > E-zine > Sales page.

Traffic + Opt-In = List
E-zine (and other regular communication like videos) = relationship with your list
Sales page = sales

It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

If you have a site (Optimize Press, right?) and AWeber, you already have most of what you need. Now commit to sending a regular, weekly e-mail newsletter (e-zine) at a minimum, along with special offers.

Once all of that is in place, you need to focus on sending qualified traffic. This is an ongoing, never-ending task. You'll be doing it for all of the days you're in business. Everyone wants the magic pill: that ONE traffic method that will send a flood of qualified traffic to their site.

But the reality isn't the ONE traffic method that will send a flood of traffic to your site. It's knowing a couple dozen ways to get a trickle of traffic to your site. Then scale all of the multiple traffic sources. It will compound to bring you that flood of traffic you're looking for.

As Dan Kennedy says "I don't know of ONE way to get all the clients you need. But I DO know dozens of ways to get ONE client." It's a critical mindset shift.

But don't waste your time until your foundation (website, freebie, squeeze page, offer, etc.) is in place. Until it is, you'll be wasting your time and money trying to get traffic.

WSOs can have some great info (assuming it's a legit WSO). But the glaring problem with ALL of them is that they only give you a tiny slice of the whole picture. I'd say relying solely on WSOs is a huge mistake. I've never seen one that even gives you the basic structure I've laid out for you here.

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Michelle