The Three Biggest Mistakes In List Building

Hi everyone, Thom Lancaster here with a special guest post here on 'Automatic Self Funding Internet Business'.

Today, I want to discuss with you the three biggest mistakes I've observed with marketers who are trying to build a list. This might be on their niche list, or an Internet marketing list.

The list in the real life-blood of any Internet Marketer. Your list is a set of people who have agreed that you can contact them at any time, contact them for any reason and that are (usually) happy to hear from you. If you have a list, you always have the opportunity to market something. This might be your own product, or an affiliate product.

So, if you are wanting to build up your list, what are these three big mistakes that you should avoid?

Mistake #1
Not providing opt-in opportunities.

Think for a minute about all the Internet real estate you own. Your blog. Your product sites. Your niche sites. Do all of these have an opt-in form showing? If not, you've a whole lot of traffic going to waste who could potentially join your list. Think about the numbers. If you have 100 first time visitors arriving at one of your sales pages every day, only a small proportion of people will buy. But others may be tempted to opt into your list for a free report. You can then continue to market the product they were considering to them, as well as all your future products. So, make sure you offer an opportunity for people to join your list wherever you can.

Mistake #2
Getting caught in the spam trap.

It's vitally important that your messages get out to the people who have opted into your list. That's why you need to use a quality autoresponder, such as AWeber or GetResponse. Those services have teams of people making sure that all e-mails sent are seen as legitimate and will actually get in front of your prospects. A side issue is to watch the quality of what you write. Don't send out anything that might be seen as spammy, either by the eyes of those reading the message (they only need to click the 'spam' button), or the automated filters that the e-mail service providers operate.

Mistake #3
Losing contact with your list

Put very simply, a list is only good if it is responsive and people recognise that they are on it. You need people to read your e-mails, maybe even look forward to your e-mails, and to go ahead and open them up. One of the key ways to do this is to send e-mails regularly to them. Even if all your e-mail does it to remind people that you exist and to ask them if they are following you on Twitter, that's another message going out to them, with a bit of personal branding. Never let more than a few days go by without sending a short message. Ideally, you should be able to e-mail them every day.

So, do go ahead and build up your mailing list if you're not already doing so. Even if you add 5 people to your list every day, over a year that 1825 people ready to be responsive to your mailings.

For more posts about list building and internet marketing in general, visit my blog, Thom Lancaster Internet Marketing blog. My totally free Get Started Online report will help you towards making your first $1000 in the next 30 days or less.