If you own or are thinking of owning an online or offline business, I suggest you read on. This is something that interests you. If you’re not using “List Building” principles, you’re making your business a lot harder than it needs to be.
Whether or not you have heard of this term, I will tell you exactly in the following paragraphs.
The first thing I did was jump on Google and do a search on “List Building Definition”. However, I was not surprised that nothing relevant came up.
I seriously couldn’t believe it! One key process, probably the one process that matters most when it comes to online marketing, does not have a clear definition. It is named practically everywhere among internet marketers! No wonder why everyone is so confused.
So, since I didn’t find what I was looking for, I changed my search to “What is list building?”. Somehow, I got a definition from Wikipedia. Although not a reliable source, Wikipedia is a good starting point. This is what I found:
“(List Builder) A list builder, also known as a dual list, dual list box, disjoint list box, list shuttle, shuttle, swap list, and two-sided multiple select is a graphical user interface element in which a user can select a set of text values by moving values between two list boxes…” (You can read the rest if you want on Wikipedia? HINT: this is not list creation)
Well, I wasn’t any closer to getting the definition I needed, but in this same search I found an article by Derek Halpern that definitely helps to understand why everyone should do it. Basically, the article tells you that if you’re not creating lists, you’re an idiot. At the end of this article, you can draw your own conclusion about this statement.
It also told me a bit what to do, but it didn’t tell me what List Building actually is, so I decided to explain it myself. To make it very clear, let’s break the concept down into two parts: list and build.
ready
In internet marketing jargon, it refers to a list of prospects that you can contact multiple times until they unsubscribe from that particular list. The components of this list are email addresses that people entered into a form.
building
As its definition, construction refers to the act of doing something. In this case, we refer to the list. Building is the process of getting email addresses on the list.
Converting visitors/users/searchers into subscribers and followers is the essence of list building. The user/visitor has 100% control over their decision to participate or not in that list. Typically, users/visitors will enter their email address in exchange for a gift or gift.
After reading several paragraphs, you may already have an idea of what list building is, but give me a chance to give you a better definition.
“List building is the process of having people enter their email address into a strategically placed form on your website, usually in exchange for a gift.”
Now you know what list building is. We’re getting there, but you still need to know an acceptable reason why you need to know this.
Your list is an asset and probably the most important asset to your business.
Why do you need to do List Building?
Let me give you an example. Imagine that you go to a restaurant, have dinner, pay and leave. How many times do they ask you if you want to leave your personal data or your email address?
Not many, right? This is a clear example of people getting list building wrong. It’s the exact same process for getting people on your website and leaving.
Read carefully and with understanding. When you leave the restaurant, they will most likely return if there is good service, good food, and a good atmosphere. You can even recommend the restaurant to your friends.
Now, everything is fine so far, and so the restaurant owner should be happy because there would be a chance for them to come back (if they did all of the above right).
Think about it. After you leave, the restaurant owner has no way to contact you later, follow up with a survey, send you an offer, or a simple thank you card. Can you see the problem here?
If you can’t see anything wrong, that’s fine. In fact, I’m here to tell you what’s terribly wrong here and how you can fix it. After this, you can start enjoying having more repeat customers and visitors to your online or offline business.
Now, looking at the statistics, it’s six times harder to please new customers than loyal customers (BizGrader.com). How can you create loyal customers? Have them sign up in a form with their email address. Yes, exactly.
Using the principles of list building, you’ll not only please more customers with less effort, but you’ll also spend less money on your overall marketing efforts. This is proven and in the case of restaurants where only email subscribers bought 17% more than those who were not on their email list (Forrester Research).
Just imagine, if this is the case for a restaurant that has a minimal online presence, what would this do to your online business?
Can you see now what was wrong with our example? When a visitor comes to your website/business and has no way for them to leave their details, she will leave and have no way to contact you EVER again.
That’s why I was saying that The List is an asset. List building is the only way to follow up and create a connection with your audience and customers.
Now you know why List Building is critical to your business. Before I tell you how to implement its principles, let me add something to our previous definition of list building:
“List Building is the process of getting people to enter their email address into a form strategically placed on your website, usually in exchange for a free gift, with the goal of building a loyal customer base, adding value, and selling products. with less effort.”
Your email subscriber list is an asset to your offline or online business. Why? contains the list of past clients and potential clients that you can contact within minutes (if not seconds) directly to your email inbox.
If you’re already doing an online business, but haven’t started your list, I hope by now you’re convinced to start the process. If you have an offline business, I suggest you think about this as well.
If you have something to think about before you start, you definitely didn’t get the concept. I encourage you to read this post again before proceeding to the next few paragraphs.
If you’re ready, keep reading because the next few paragraphs will tell you how to create a list. You can start enjoying more free time to focus on other parts of your business instead of selling and chasing customers.
How to get started in list building
It starts from day one. However, if you’ve been online or have an online business and haven’t started it yet, you don’t need to worry. You can get started in a matter of minutes. All you need is to understand the system required to do this.
To build your list, you simply need an email autoresponder service.
As I mentioned before, emails are captured in a list using a form. Once captured, they are stored in a database from which you can send emails with a few clicks.
An email autoresponder service will provide you with all the necessary tools to build and maintain your list, create forms, store email lists, and send emails anytime to all your contacts.
There are multiple service providers that provide a similar service. The difference typically comes down to cost and possible integrations you’d like to use.
I personally use Aweber. This autoresponder provides satisfactory service and tools. It is very easy to integrate with your website and other systems.
Aweber is easily scalable. It grows with your business and you can create unlimited lists. However, I suggest you start with one list and then start creating sublists. Then use them to segment your market as your business requires. You can also separate loyal customers from prospects or by products.
Of course, you want to know what happens to the emails you send. You want feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Keep an eye on two main stats: open rates and click-through rates.
I know it sounds complicated, but in simple words, list building means looking at how many people open your emails, read your message, and how many people click the links you send in those messages.
There are a few more stats you’ll want to look at, but these two give you an overview.
Looking at the statistics will allow you to understand your customer and make changes. This increases your engagement and builds a list of enthusiastic fans from your list.
If the concept of email autoresponders still seems a bit abstract, you can watch this video which will make it much simpler.
Now that you understand this concept, there is one last thing you need to understand. This is what makes the whole concept of list building so powerful.
As the name suggests with email autoresponder services, you can create emails that are automatically sent to your subscribers. In other words, you will be able to maintain a close relationship with your customer/prospect on Autopilot.
You can send offers on autopilot! (How do you think all those internet millionaires make money?)
Best of all, you can do all of this while working hard for your business or even relaxing on the beach.
If this doesn’t get you excited to begin with, you’re missing out on a lot!
Your business will suffer if you don’t do list building. Let me summarize. The REAL definition of list building is:
“List Building is the process of getting people to enter their email address into a form strategically placed on your website, usually in exchange for a gift. We do this with the goal of building a loyal customer base, adding value and sell products with less effort. List building is made possible by using tools like an email autoresponder system that allows the process to happen on autopilot (while you’re on the beach).”