How List-Building Builds Your Business

At first glance, entrepreneurs may not recognize the value of list-building as a business tool. After all, aren’t word of mouth, cold calling, and buying leads effective enough to get the ball rolling?

Absolutely not! Regardless of which category or niche you operate in, systematic list-building is vital for business growth and long-term sustainability. Even if your immediate circle of acquaintances helps get you started, you must quickly expand into real market segments. This means attracting strangers who become your prospects, subscribers, one-time buyers, and (ideally!) repeat buyers.

So, who needs list-building and how can it work for them?

1. A traditional “bricks and mortar” company looking to expand into new markets can establish an online presence with a niche-specific newsletter or electronic magazine (e-zine) and invite people to sign up for free.

2. Affiliate marketers of downloadable products in search of a steady stream of prospects to make sales. To them, building a list means:

• Learning what subscribers want without guesswork. Just ask them
  
• Multiple chances to make a positive impression on a prospect – even when early attempts fail
  
• Nurturing an entrepreneur’s best friend: a permission-based list of repeat customers prepared to buy from you again and again.

3. A specialist within the Internet marketing niche itself (e.g. graphics designer, software programmer, copywriter, etc.) can establish his reputation by proving his skills to a list of customers and gaining leverageable testimonials for future use.

Recognize yourself in the above categories? Great, now use list-building to master three core business objectives:

1. Relationship Building: Today’s business world consensus is that commercial activity is mostly about relationship-building, not pure sales. Of course, the bottom line for any endeavor is sales revenue. However, people want to know that you care about their needs and desires. Therefore, empathize with your prospects by creating goods and services that solve their problems and surpass their expectations. Sales – even repeat sales – will follow.

Online list-building is particularly suited for relationship building, since obtaining contact information permits you to engage in e-mail relationship marketing. This form of customer interaction is a departure from the days of hard driving salesmanship - a welcome change for all parties concerned.

2. Lead Generation:

Why pay a company hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for questionable contact information when you can organically nurture them on your own at minimal cost?

Permission-based list building lets you laser target the kind of prospects you want to have, and keep them! After all, does it make sense to let go of a proven customer and repeat the  same lead generation process from scratch over and over again?

3. Sales Revenue:

If you succeed in building relationships with your list subscribers, they will become your greatest fans. Not only will they become a reliable source of leads for your offers, but even the most hesitant will have no choice but to buy from you instead of the competition. The groundwork put down from the moment a subscriber entered your list now results in actual revenue.

In addition to immediate cash flow, you may be fortunate enough to find joint venture (JV) partners or alliances within your subscriber list that propel your business to a whole new level. For some, that may be the best argument for list-building of all.

If you're ready to start building your list, check out our feature article on the tools you need to build your list.