When building a list, always give before you attempt to receive. While this applies to Internet marketing in general, it is especially true in list building. If you do not freely give powerful advice, software, and information to your list members when you first begin building your list, you really cannot expect them in turn to be willing to shell out money when you launch a product.



Offer a specific benefit for joining your list. For instance, 'join my list in the next week and receive this special report'. This gives visitors a compelling reason to actually join your list, especially if you do not charge them anything to join. Some examples of what you can give are discounts, audios, videos, reports, and ebooks.

Compile a list of forums related to your niche. Open up accounts on all of those forums and begin posting regularly. Once you have established a reputation as an authority or at least a knowledgeable person in your niche, create an attractive signature with compelling copy that links to your free opt-in page.

Setup joint ventures with site owners in non-competing, but related niches. For instance, if you sell surfing info products, you may want to look for joint venture partners who sell surf boards and wet suits. Clearly communicate the benefits of working with you whenever you contact a joint venture partner in an attempt to grow your opt-in list.

Search for experts in your niche on Clickbank. Compile a list of everyone who has a viable product and has included contact information. Make an attempt to contact each of them if you can interview them. Communicate clearly that they will benefit from the exposure. Put this expert interview in PDF format, add a link to your opt-in form in it, include an affiliate link to the person's product at the end, and circulate it for free.

Answer every single email you receive from your list. Many list owners neglect to do this and end up paying dearly for it on message boards. Generating a reputation through word-of-mouth or virally is one of the fastest ways to gain credibility or lose credibility. Pay attention to your customers and they will remember you when posting on forums.

Test a squeeze page format for your landing page. This can be similar to a short copy format, but in general, it usually only contains one paragraph of language that could be described as sales copy. In many cases, a squeeze page is simply an opt-in form that contains two or three sentences of copy inside of the actual form. Remember to test this format with pay per click traffic.