You’ve just started your home based business online and you’ve heard many influential Internet marketers emphasize “the money is in the list”. Based on this statement and after having visited several websites of the so called “Gurus” online you realize that this assumption is correct, so you decide to start building your own email list. For the uninitiated an email list is as the name suggests a directory of names and email addresses of people who have expressed an interest in your products and or your home business website.
These are 5 vital blunders you must avoid in order to create a quality, targeted email list upon which you can build your home business success.
1. Another Internet marketing axiom you must adhere to is “content drives traffic.” This adage should read “quality content drives traffic” because in order to build a quality list you must attract targeted visitors. Targeted traffic is made up of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer and are potential paying customers. Having a list of individuals who are only tire kickers or who are only interested in collecting your freebies and are not concerned with your merchandise or website makes no sense and will yield no financial return.
2. Another mistake which hampers Internet marketers list building attempts is not having an effective squeeze page. A squeeze page or landing page solicits your home business visitor’s contact information in exchange for access to your website or access to a free gift, which is often called a freebie. This page must be able to entice your guests to want to provide their information therefore it should describe what benefits they will derive from giving up their name and email address or what problem it may solve for them.
However this squeeze site must be simple in appearance and not contain too much information so as to confuse your guest. Its main objective is to capture the necessary data and then direct the person to the information they want. Also be sure to limit the graphics on your landing page to ensure that it loads quickly and doesn’t distract from the main goal of capturing your visitor’s name and email address.
3. A third faux paux often committed by webmasters is failing to hire the services of a professional and dependable autoresponder service. Your autoresponder is a vital component in any list building strategy because it must capture the information you need and then follow up with your list members at regular intervals as determined by you as the home business owner.
This service is critical for another important feature it provides which is the safe guarding of your list through backups of your database on a regular basis. This is crucial in the event of a virus or website crash. These autoresponder providers also usually send you a daily email message advising of any new subscribers to your list.
4. Business owners often make the mistake of not researching the products their promoting on their website. You must make sure that your merchandise does what it claims to do and that the provider or company producing it has a good reputation on the web. Also this merchandise must be relevant to your home business’s overall theme and you should know enough about it to be able to answer any questions or concerns your list subscribers may have.
The last thing you want is to associate your enterprise with an unscrupulous company or product provider. This could result in a drastic loss of list members and destroy your reputation as a reputable business owner online.
5. Finally an often critical blunder is not paying attention to your current list members. If you don’t stroke your list and stay in constant contact with your subscribers they will soon lose interest in your home business and leave your list. Always provide excellent service. You can have a customer appreciation day and send your list members a digital greeting card and a gift.
Provide frequent discounts to your subscribers through sales and coupons. Send a greeting card on special occasions and holidays and at regular intervals send them a gift in appreciation of being a subscriber to your directory. You not only have to work hard to build your list you also have to toil to maintain it.
If you can avoid these five list building errors you should be able to construct a targeted and responsive directory of customers and potential clients who will insure your home business success online for years to come.