In today’s post, we are going to go over some of the important do’s and don’t of list building, so that you can get started building your own profitable list right away.

One of the most powerful tools in online marketing is an email list. An optin list is simply a database of people’s names and email addresses. Usually this information is collected from them via a web form, which gives the list owner permission to send subscribers periodic emails on specific topics that interest them.

The best part of this powerful tool is that it gives the list owner the ability to communicate and build a relationship with people who are interested in their business, products, or services. When it comes to effective list building there are a few do’s and don’ts that you should know before you start your own optin mailing list.

First lets go over some of the things you should do:

– Always inform people that they can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. Be sure to let them know that their information is safe and that you will never rent, sell or share their email address with anyone.

– Make sure that let your subscribers know what you will be sending them. It is important that you ask people permission to send them promotional email when they subscribe to your mailing list so that you can reduce your risk of being accused of sending SPAM.

– Be clear about how people can benefit from subscribing and how often will you contact them. Let them know exactly what they will be receiving.

– If you can, contact any new subscriber as soon as you can. Welcome them with notes and tell them what to expect. A good autoresponder service will help you do this automatically.

– Make it easy to subscribe by having a highly visible optin form or link on the main pages of your website. Signing up should take as little time as possible and don’t ask for too much information right away. A name and email address is all you need to get started.

– After someone subscribes then you should collect more data. For instance, you may want to know their company name, industry, or location. You can do this by including a survey in your emails to gauge interests. It’s important to understand where people are coming from so you can make adjustments in your communications or promotions.

– When you write an email, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and ask, “Why shouldn’t I hit the delete key right now?” Your readers didn’t subscribe because they want to hear a sales pitch. They have a reason for wanting information from you. It could be to save time, money, or effort, or improve productivity and success. Your emails must be compelling enough to convince people to sign up, valuable enough to keep them wanting more, and useful enough to pass along.

Next, are the things you shouldn’t do:

– Add everyone who has ever emailed you to your list. Always ask permission first.

– Purchase bulk email lists that you are not 100% sure that are optin. Always have evidence to prove the legitimacy of the email addresses.

– Never abuse the trust of your subscribers. This is a sure way to ruin your reputation, business and your chance of success. When you abuse your subscribers and bombard them with unwanted email, they will ignore your messages, unsubscribe or even worse report you as a spammer.

– Don’t offer fantastic incentives for subscribing. Although this may seem like a great idea, you will end up getting subscribers that only want the reward, not to learn valuable information about what your business, products and services can do for them. Instead, use incentives that are useful such as a free report, seminar, or more information about your products & services.

– Don’t bombard your subscribers with too many emails. How many are too many? This will depend on your message. During the subscription process, let people know what they are getting before they join.

– Don’t be reluctant to address the needs of your subscribers. Keep your information focused. It is important to give them what they want. This will keep them on your list and wanting more. If you’re information drifts off topic or is too generic you will lose subscribers as fast as you get them.

– Don’t spend too much money acquiring email addresses. An optin list is a valuable asset and that means there is an investment on your part to build and maintain it. But, budget reasonably and in advance, find the most cost effective ways for reaching your target audience and know exactly how much it will cost to acquire each new subscriber. Keep in mind potential revenue, and lifetime value of each customer, and chose accordingly.

That’s it for today’s post. In the next post, we will be talking more about building and managing your new list.

Email marketing is a constantly developing process reflecting the change in wants, needs, and actions of the population. Many marketers have been guilty of abusing the email inboxes of potential customers and clients as email marketing evolved: they constantly sent emails to all potential customers, thus invading the privacy of their consumer base.

More and more emails end up going straight to the spam folder due increasingly aggressive filters from the internet service providers and email platform such as Gmail so it has become more difficult to get your emails seen, let alone read! Luckily the evolution of email and society has led to a recent resurgence in email marketing. Companies can now communicate with their consumers through a variety of different email platforms.

Any business or entrepreneur can benefit from a good email marketing strategy and the 4 tips below will help you to tweak your approach to email marketing thus giving you the boost you need to make your email campaigns more successful.

Be concise

Try to keep your emails short and to the point as many consumers do not want to read long emails. Each email should address one topic only and be laser focused on that topic alone; don’t waffle – just stick to the point and get your message across as quickly as possible. Those who manage to get their point across quickly will keep the attention of their consumers and will increase engagement and thus open rates for any future emails.

Don’t email too often

Do you suffer from inbox overload? I certainly do as there are many marketers who insist on emailing every single day and sometimes even multiple times per day. And do you know what happens to them? If you’re like me I quickly hit the unsubscribe link! Communicate sparingly and if somebody hears from you less often, they are more likely to open your emails and pay attention to what you have to say when you do communicate with them.

Give Your Audience a Reason to Read

Your audience needs to have a compelling reason to read what you have to say. To that end, ALL your emails should be beneficial to the reader, whether that is in the form of information, a sale, or an offer that you think will benefit THEM, not you! Don’t become one of these spammy marketers who just send out emails like “My friend just released this great course/product on X,Y,Z so go check it out…. There is no benefit here for the reader and has me quickly clicking the unsubscribe link!

Know your Target Market

You need to work to know who you are talking to so that you can talk to them at their level, using their verbiage. The more you know about the person you are speaking to the easier it will be for you to connect with them. Connections are critical, especially when trying to introduce a call to action or increase their interest through an email strategy.

When coming up with an email marketing strategy, think about the whole process and not just 1 or 2 parts in isolation. How will you address your readers and what benefits will they get from reading your emails? If you can speak directly to your audience and give them a compelling reason to read and listen to you, your email campaign will be successful. So really take the time to get to know your audience to make your email marketing strategy as powerful and successful as possible.