With so much information out there it’s easy to think that everyone (except you) is busy building their list and making money. You struggle to sell things online, when you don’t need to.

The good news is that you really can begin building your own mailing list, today, by taking some specific actions.

So, why would you want a mailing list of your own?

1. In the history of the Internet it has been observed that a full 99% of people who succeed online long-term have a list of their own. Now that’s not scientific but it’s true.
2. When you have a list of your own you completely eliminate advertising costs. I mean completely. With your own list you can promote anything you want any time you want and as often as you want… for zero cost.

To gain a little understanding, let’s look at the who, what, when, where, why and how of list building.

WHO SHOULD BUILD A LIST?

There is an easy answer to this question. The answer is… anyone who is serious about building an online business or making money online.

If you are marketing online as a short-term thing and you aren’t really committed to succeeding online, then list building is probably not right for you.

The reason is simple – once you have a list you need to stay in touch with them and let them get to know you a bit so they can like you, trust you and buy from you.

Please notice that order because it’s important. They need to like you before they can trust you. And they need to trust you before they will buy from you!

WHAT IS NEEDED TO BUILD A LIST?

1. A squeeze page. You can use a blog (or other page), but squeeze pages work best.
2. An auto-responder to capture leads and send follow-up messages.
3. Something of value to get people to join your list. People care about WIIFM (what’s in it for me) and providing a high-value “subscriber magnet” works well. Video series and downloadable PDF reports work especially well.
4. Email messages you can send automatically to the people who sign up for your list.
5. Great products to promote to your list. The goal is to make sales, so provide helpful articles about a specific problem and then offer to solve that problem for your reader by suggesting a product. Don’t push the product, the sales letter of the product will do that. You just sell the click by creating curiosity.
6. Targeted traffic. Simple, yet important. Once you have your system in place you want to market to people who you KNOW need what you are offering. It’s called target marketing and it is the most important skill online.

If you have, or can learn to get, these six things you will have all you need to build a real and lasting online business.

WHEN IS IT SMART TO BUILD A LIST?

If you are not building list now, it’s time to get started.

If you see the logic of needing a list, commit to doing something every day toward building your own list.

I have spoken with literally thousands of people and can tell you that they ALL wish they had begun building their list when they started working online.

Most lost huge amounts of time trying this system and falling for this other hyped-up deal. We’ve all been there.

All we have is today. And today is the PERFECT time to get started building your list.

WHERE CAN I START BUILDING A LIST?

The best place to get started in my view is Aweber. Aweber is not only the best auto-responder, but they have an incredible free series of videos to teach you the steps you need.

WHY WOULD I WANT TO BUILD A LIST?

Easy: to make money by selling things. That might mean affiliate marketing or selling your own product or something else.

But if you are online to make money then list building matters… a lot.

Here’s another reason – when you have a list, you become a sought-after joint venture partner. You might not believe me right now but trust me when I say that if you build a powerful list the top marketers online will come a knockin’ on your door. They will want to reach YOUR audience. How cool would that be?

HOW CAN I START BUILDING A MAILING LIST?

The first step is to see the big picture. I hope this article helped you do that.

Take a moment to review the six points in the “What is needed” section above. Use it as your list-building blueprint if you like.

I will tell you that having a mailing list of my own, and knowing what to do with it and how to develop trust and relationship, has been the most profitable thing I’ve ever done online.

About twice a year I’m asked “what would you do if you lost everything – how would you start over?”

My answer probably won’t surprise you — I would focus 100% of my efforts on building a list and giving the people on that list incredible value.

Once you do that selling takes care of itself and becomes automatic.

And having an automated selling system (or 12 of them) is a beautiful thing indeed!