Often it is the simple things which can cause us a problem. We have all heard that the money is in the list building, but if we don't know how to build and maintain a list, then it is money that is lost.
The first thing you need to do is have a way to capture peoples' email address. New marketers often think they can't do this, or they wonder, are there that many people willing to give up their email address? The answer is yes, there are lots and lots of people who are more than willing to give you their email address, and that will become even greater as more and more people get their own email address.
You'll need to have a way of capturing email addresses, and an opt-in form is the best way to do that. Have enough information that people know what they are signing up for, but not too much which means you are expected to give for example, an email every day.
What you need to remember is that you must give your subscribers great value to keep them interested and reading everything you send them. It is important to remember, that some people never unsubscribe from your list but they delete the emails without reading them. You need to move them from being someone who deletes your emails, to someone who not only reads, but knows the value of the information that they have to tell it to other people.
If people are not reading your emails, then they will not be buying from you either. But, let's look for a short moment at the opposite side of the coin. You have a plan for your list, and you start to tell them all the relevant information, and far more than they expected.
You could hope they will tell their friends about you and these friends also sign up for you list. But, that is leaving a lot to chance. What happens if they don't spread the message and your list is looking at a fixed number of less than 100 people? Will it ever grow; will the list every break the 100 mark?
There are a lot of probabilities here, but let's look at doing something different. What do you think would happen if you asked your list to recommend you to their friends? Now, you will be treading in a place that not many marketers want to go, because you have no idea what these people think of you.
Can you imagine what would happen if they all told their friends to avoid your site, that would be a disaster. This is the main reason you have to give your list quality information, time and time again.
You know that you are giving them quality information, and because of that you are going to offer them a great deal for recommending their friends to your list. Yes, you need to look at how you can reward your subscribers with some great gifts for being loyal members. Can you see how fast your list will grow when you do this?