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.

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.

Another great way to genereate prospects is by publishing a newsletter in your niche that is full of valuable content and you will get people flocking to you to sign up.

People are always looking for valuable information, so a free e-course will persuade people to part with their email address. Create at least a seven part course that is delivered every few days into their inbox. Of course, the e-course will also subtly sell your product!

Writing articles and distributing them to article directories in yet another terrific way to build your list. Include your newsletter sign up in the resource box and if you have provided good quality content, you will get the visitors who will sign up to learn more.

A free e-book is an excellent way to build your list. It doesn't have to be a huge volume, just valuable information that people will exchange their email address for. You can write one yourself or get one ghostwritten for you. Make sure though that it is information that your visitors will want to have, and make sure you have included links to your products and sites in the book. You can also include affiliate links to further increase your earnings.

Creating a free membership site is an excellent way to get people's email addresses. Offer valuable content for free but only to signed up members. You can then upsell them other products or other levels of membership with more products and more resources available to them.

A very popular new method of list building are the big Internet giveaways where lots of people submit products that are available for free in exchange for a newsletter sign up. These are excellent ways to rapidly build your list - though be aware that freebie seekers may not make for the most responsive of lists.

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.

Require minimal effort and minimal personal information when a person signs up for your newsletter. If the opt-in process requires too much effort, your potential subscribers will simply go somewhere else where it isn't as hard. If you require a full address, there's a good chance your potential subscribers will be creeped out and decide to go somewhere else.

Find ways to integrate opt-in forms into your general website layout on each page. Consider putting an opt-in form on the sidebar menu of each page. Additionally, consider putting an opt-in form on bottom of each page. Give each visitor the chance to sign up for your list, regardless of where he or she arrives.

There is no question that building your list is better than buying a list. You get more qualified prospects and you know where they come from.