What is a "list" or your list? This is a marketing term used for the list of emails or leads that you accumulate over a period of time. Is it really important? It's very important, as a matter of fact, to the uninitiated it is the foundation of an online business. Some website owners sell products or services on their site with the expectation that a visitor has their credit card in hand just dying to stumble on their site and buy something. They feel that if enough traffic comes to the site then they'll make some sales. This does happen but the real fortune is in the follow up. How then do you build your list?

First a word about the actual mechanics of list building. In order to capture a lead you need to have an opt-in box or lead capture page often called a squeeze page. There are many ways to do this through countless software programs or through sites that cater to marketers. Most marketers prefer the latter. These are paid services that you sign up and pay for and they supply the code that creates the capture box. The most popular by far are Weber and Get response. These web companies are primarily auto responder services which are another part of marketing to your list.

The best way to attract a list is to offer value in the form of content and information, and offer it for free. All businesses do this. Think about coupons and discount offers that restaurants offer. This gets you in the joint in the first place. Well with online marketing, people are hungry for new information and fresh content and will gladly trade their email to find out something they want to know. This is where you come in. You set up your lead capture page on your existing website or blog and offer something of interest like a downloadable ebook or newsletter that is related to your subject area of marketing. You keep offering fresh content periodically then when you offer something for them to buy, they are much more likely to purchase later.

This method builds a trusting relationship and if you treat your list right you create a bond with your list for the future of your marketing. This is the opposite of spam because your list has actually opted in to what you have and they always have the option to opt out. You can build a list quickly or take your time but how fast and how big should not be the main concern. If you continue to offer useful information the members of your list will remain loyal and over time your list will get larger and larger. Of course, there will be some drop offs but that is normal. This is the exact method big time gurus build their million dollar empires on.

What if you don't have a website? Well, there are even services that provide an all-in-one service; capture box, landing page, and auto responder all together. This is great if you are just starting out or if you just want to test the waters. Marketing Burst is a great all--in-one service that has this and the learning curve is minimal.