Email List Building in 5 Easy Steps

In the world of online business, email list building is the process of developing a database of people’s email addresses who have an interest in your business and are willing to consider buying from you. So how do you build a customer list? Here are 5 easy steps to follow.

1. Start With An Email Autoresponder.

You need reliable autoresponder software when you’re building a customer list. An autoresponder can automatically send potential customers a sequence of pre-written emails when they subscribe to your list. It will keep a record of who you send it to, the subject line, the text within the email, open rates, click-through rates and how many messages you have sent.

2. Put An Opt-in Form On Your Website.

Your email list building strategy starts with an opt-in form. This is a form that can easily be created by your autoresponder software. You position the opt-in on your website so that your website visitors can see it and insert their email address. You only need to ask for their email address as at this stage, as the more details you ask for, the less likely people will be to provide you their information.

3. Offer Something Of Value For Free.

To encourage somebody to provide you with their email address, you will need to offer something of value in return. This is how to build your list. Keep in mind that what you give away for free will reflect back on the quality of the products and services that you sell. You could give away something like a free report, video or newsletter related to your business and it should be emailed to the person as soon as they opt-in to your list via your autoresponder.

4. Set Up A Sales Funnel.

Now that the prospect is on your list, you need to guide them through a process of understanding the benefits of your products and services. This is your sales funnel, which is a series of messages emailed to your prospect with various product up-sells and down-sells. As you build a customer list, a prospect will, on average, need to see or hear your marketing messages at least seven times before they take action and buy from you.

5. Always Provide Value.

One of the most important elements of email list building is to constantly deliver value to the people on your list. Of course, your content is directed toward specific reasons to buy your product but you don’t want to make it sound like a persistent sales pitch. As you deliver valuable information, your subscribers will start to trust you and regard you as an expert in your market. They will then be more likely to buy from you.