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Can effective list building be anything other than email?

by David Braybrooke
5 replies
Some people claim that highly targeted Twitter and Facebook followers can be considered as legitimate marketing lists with sales potential like an email list. I can genuinely claim to have sold affiliate products off Twitter even though many of the 'experts' seem to discourage this method.

I don't want to focus on opt-ins and squeeze pages etc. Only because I tend to change niches fairly regularly. I want more flexibility with my marketing and hope to concentrate less on the traditional marketing models.

Many on this forum will shout 'Build a list!' all day long and I'm not here to challenge their methods. Just wondering if emailing is petering out to some extent. What are your thoughts?

Would I be wise to use solo ads instead of trying to build a massive list of my own contacts?
#building #effective #email #list
  • Profile picture of the author cuie
    List can even be in a offline form: a contact list whom you contact with postcards and sales letters.

    I see value of the list as..

    1. People know you and the value you bring to them
    2. People expect to get messages from you
    3. People trust you and therefore buy from you

    List is a form of equity that you can use to generate profit (by selling to them). You only pay (time or money) to get people to your list, you don't pay to advertise to them. In other form of media you'll have to pay every time you want to reach your target audience.

    So, list really can be emails, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, post addressess...
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  • Profile picture of the author cuie
    Addition: the only problem with social media based lists is that it is harder to get people attention. Real physical letter or postcard is the best attention grabber (in my opinion), email the second. Social media updates get lost in the feeds, unless you send direct messages.

    When was the last time you threw a letter to the bin without opening it (if it didn't look like an advertisment)?

    vs.

    Do you remember, what was the last Facebook update of your best friend?
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  • Profile picture of the author AffordableMarketingLists
    I'm a little confused about the tone of your post.

    Yes, you can make money off of harnessing lists the way you have. Why you'd would constantly change niche's is something you might want to give more thought too. Building a list of people that are expecting you to send them messages can be extremely powerful, even with less than 100 subscribers on that list.

    My father-in-law owns a company that has a b2c product with an average ticket of under $20. He has over 10,000 people on his list that he emails very three weeks and it constantly gets him a good return. These are all people that have engaged with him in the past and have voluntarily subscribed to the email list. My business list isn't that large yet, but even guys I know with lists under 100 (mortgage industry) they can drop a small blast and earn some coin.
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    Unlimited Mailing and Telemarketing Lists for $50/month!
    www.ListShack.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Scritty
    Originally Posted by David Braybrooke View Post

    I don't want to focus on opt-ins and squeeze pages etc. Only because I tend to change niches fairly regularly. I want more flexibility with my marketing and hope to concentrate less on the traditional marketing models.
    My list is based on my forum. Still a double opt in but so much easier to convert to a forum, easier to post to members - and of course you can email your membership with no real issues
    There are some downsides to forums in terms of requiring moderation and admin, but for me, as a list building exercise - it is far better than email opt ins.

    Paul Rone-Clarke
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    Effective Safe SEO Method And Massive AA Link List. Updated Regularly - Always 100% Free
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  • Profile picture of the author mcwahl
    I don't like email marketing that much. I establish many contacts on skype and twitter. I feel the most comfortable in a live cast. I wouldn't ignore email list building, but there are different dimensions like you say.
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