As the old Internet marketing adage states: “The money is in the list”, and in my opinion this statement is truer today than ever before. When you create your home based business online one of your first considerations, after deciding which products you’re going to promote, should be how to build a responsive email list of your potential customers as well as your current clients.
After you’ve created a targeted, responsive list you virtually have an automated money making system at your fingertips which you can turn on whenever you feel the need with one click of your mouse.
Your first question may now be: What do I need to build such a cash generating system for my business? There are 4 components which go into making up your list building strategy which are absolute necessities if you’re going to succeed with your endeavor. These 4 mechanisms are:
1. Of course, the first thing you must have in place is a functioning website. This apparatus is the traffic generating tool which attracts visitors to your web page so they can leave their name and email address which is vital information for building your directory of potential customers.
In order to entice them to leave their contact details you must have something of value to offer them in return. For example, if your theme is Internet marketing and information products you could make available, in exchange for their contact information, a free e-book related to some aspect of advertising online such as how to drive traffic to your home age.
Your website must be pleasing to the eye while providing the function and ease of use everyone is looking for online today. No one wants to waste their time looking for what they need so everything should be at your visitor’s fingertips. Your home page content should also be targeted toward your market because if it isn’t people won’t take the time to browse your site and they certainly won’t give up their email address which, after all, is the whole point of this exercise.
2. The second essential element of your list building machine is your autoresponder. Without this part it would be virtually impossible to collect the information you need in an expeditious and efficient manner. For the uninitiated an autoresponder is, as the name suggests, an automatic response mechanism which replies to email inquiries and requests for information almost immediately. You can also set up the delivery of messages to your list at various intervals to be determined by you as the webmaster through this device.
Your automated email system collects the information supplied by your visitors and responds to it in a timely fashion by supplying whatever content you desire. Not only is this apparatus crucial in the process of collecting the data to build your directory of names but it can also help close sales by following up with your subscribers with sales letters and other critical material to help seal the deal.
Choosing the best autoresponse provider online is vital to the success of your enterprise because you want a company who has very limited downtime and who always answer your members in a timely fashion as dictated by you as the business owner.
3. The next ingredient for a successful list building effort is an effective traffic generation strategy. Without visitors to your website you will have no list no matter how attractive your offer is or how striking your home page is, if no one comes to see it you can’t collect their contact information. There are many very effective tactics for driving traffic to your website, both free and paid for methods, which will help get you the email addresses you need from people interested in your offer.
The important thing to remember when driving visitors to your site is they must be targeted guests or, in other words, they must be keenly interested in your website and your products. If your business is based on providing information products for Internet marketers and you attract people looking for information on dog training then I’m willing to bet you won’t make any sales and you certainly won’t build an email list.
4. Last but certainly not least in importance is providing relevant content for your targeted traffic. If you do manage to attract people who are interested in Internet marketing products but your products and the information on your site has no relevance to the subject then, once again, you won’t make sales and you won’t build a list.
Make sure the information you provide on your home page is directed toward your intended audience. Your content must also have a perceived value for your visitors. The information you provide on your site goes a long way toward closing sales because if people perceive the content you’re giving away as being valuable to them then they will want to find out how good the merchandise you’re selling will be.
If you can build a large, targeted responsive list of eager buyers then your success and that of your home based business online will be guaranteed for many years to come.