For the last week I've been listening to a 27 hour-long marketing seminar that was recorded back in 2000 and it is very interesting how the little things just pop out at you when you spend so much time immersed in a topic.

Now I don't expect all of you to spend your time immersed in marketing the way Travis and I do on a daily basis, day-after-day.

BUT I do expect you to take the advice we give you because we're boiling it down for you and hopefully making you think about things you wouldn't have thought about otherwise, challenging you to do things you wouldn't normally do and making your brain work in ways it doesn't naturally.

But while listening I was reminded of something so simple and so critical to your marketing and business success that I don't know if we've mentioned here before. I at least know I haven't made a BIG enough deal about here.

At this seminar they were only scratching the surface of this concept...but today it is essential and if you aren't doing it you need to start immediately and if you are doing it congratulations.

If you are or aren't doing it you need to start utilizing it to it's fullest potential.

So I'm sure you're asking yourself..."Jimmy, what are you talking about??"

I'm talking about effectively and systematically collecting your prospects and customers contact information - Including email address.

Many people who market online understand this concept. But many small businesses we encounter do not get the power of this.

It's just as important if you are a bricks-and-mortar business to do this as it is if you only operate an e-business. You need to be actively creating a database.

You're database is GOLD JERRY!

Many businesses collect their customer's contact info when they buy something and so do a good job at keeping it current and in a usable state and most don't even do that. But just as important as keeping your customer's data you also need to keep you prospect's information.

If a lead calls up on the phone you have to have a system that collects their information. Ever notice how when ever you buy anything at RadioShack they always ask for your full address? They collect the information vigorously.

In the very least you want a prospect's email address and their permission to send them stuff in the future. It is imperative and can quadruple the effectiveness of your marketing and significantly impact your bottom-line.

So here's the big question...

How do you get it the info? You need to have a system that allows you to get at least the email of every prospect that calls, comes into your location or you run into in public. You need something to exchange for their permission to market to them in the future. No one is really going to give you their most valuable possession (their attention and time) for nothing.

So if you are going to have a snowballs chance in hell on getting them to give you their contact info and in turn their attention and permission to create an open dialogue and relationship you better have something they want.

In steps information and the concept of giving value first.

We've all heard of added value after the sale right?

Travis and I think that is BULL... You are rewarded for the value you deliver to the market place in conjunction with what you do potentially better than anyone else. And you have to deliver that value FIRST - Before a sale is ever made.

That's how you get people attention and permission and create relationships and customers for life. That's how you create raving fans that recommend you and talk about you to others. That's how you get more referrals then you can handle and that's how you can harness the power of that all elusive, best-marketing-on-the-planet-because-it's-free Word Of Mouth Advertising.

But it all starts with rabidly pursuing and making it TOP priority to collect the contact info (especially email) of all the prospects you ever come in contact with. With email you can market to them for free in the future.

But the second part is that you list has to be kept up-to-date and organized (that's another post in and of itself).

We discuss this concept in more detail in our "Small Business Owners Guide To The Galaxy: Jim and Travis' Super Stellar, Out of this World, Step by Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers, and Making Sales."