List Building Explained For Beginners

Everyone involved with internet business will tell you how important list building is and why you cannot succeed without a good list. However, when they are asked to explain lists and list building, they often stumble and are at a loss for words. If list building is to be explained, the best way to do it will be to describe a list as a database of people who would be interested in the goods or services you are selling and list building as the process of expanding your base of potential customers. In other words, your list is the market you target and list building is growing that market.


The reason why people come to your site (how they come there is another subject) is because they find something there that interests them and they want to learn more. But having an interested visitor is not the same thing as making a sale - very few of the first expressions of interest ever turn into actual sales. Sales will only come with building up your website (or building up your brand) and the only way to get this done is by keeping yourself in the front of people's minds so that they are constantly reminded of what your business is and what products you are selling. To do this you will need to be in regular contact with them and keep sending them information that will excite their interest along with reasons why they can satisfy their need by buying form you.


A website is a faceless entity in the cyber world and to get someone to pay money to it they will need to have trust and this can only be created by constantly offering information of value and reason why they should buy from you. The email addresses of the people you are in communication with is your list and is the most vital marketing tool you have.


Many newcomers make the mistake of thinking that the bigger the list they have the better. Size is not everything and having a list of 10,000 people living in India is not going to help you to sell a book about "Dating In America." A good list is one where there can be a good conversion rate, not one that is simply full of email addresses - a conversion rate of 20% with a focused list of 1,000 addresses will be far more profitable than a list of 10,000 that results in a conversion rate of just 1%.