Many online marketers, especially those starting out, tend to build a list for the sole reason of selling to it. While this is understandable, it is not necessarily the right approach. Let me explain why. The real reason you should be building a list is to build a relationship with your site's visitors.

When it comes to selling online there are many marketers out there who are selling their product or service hard and cold. This can be effective in some cases but it is never as effective as when you build a relationship with your visitors. People like to buy form people they know and like.

So the first point I would like to emphasize when building a list is that you should use this process to develop a relationship with your visitors. You can do this by providing them with valuable information that will better help them in their endeavor.

Once they see that you have their interests in mind and not just yours then you will have far more success. Basically, just put yourself in their shoes

The key to building a relationship is to understand what their needs are and then help them to connect the dots. For example, your visitor comes to you looking for a way to develop a keyword list that will prove to be more effective when it comes to converting traffic to sales.

Your goal then is to show them how in a simple way that they can follow. You can provide them with information that is helpful but not necessarily complete. In other words, you could show them how you go about doing keyword research and then show them proof of how you get your results.

All this builds credibility and then once they can benefit from the information you have provided, they will feel confident in obtaining their goal. This then builds value in what you may recommend later.

Once you have done this you can then recommend or sell something to them that will help make their life easier when implementing this process and since you have built credibility it is inevitable that they will want to do business with you.

These days, with the advent of video, this process is very easy to implement. You can provide online tutorials and show them how it works as if they were looking over your shoulder. This can be very helpful and it makes them feel like they are getting one on one time with you.

To conclude, always be adding value and repeating the benefits. Understand their needs and communicate at their level with a genuine concern that you really want to help them achieve their goals. If you engage this process correctly, you will set yourself apart from all the other marketers who are just out for themselves and as a consequence, your business will thrive.