"The money is in the list" - it's one of those phrases we toss around all the time and you have heard it a million times. But that is only because it's the truth.

We have all heard of the success stories of people earning small fortunes with their opt-in lists and everyone and their brother appears to have a ‘secret’ to email marketing and list building. …and they make it sound so easy.

But take it from me building a profitable opt-in list does not come easy and doesn’t happen overnight. - Lists are built on communication and trust. And this takes time. There are no short cuts.

A ‘word to the wise’. Purchasing Opt in lists from list brokers is walking on pretty thin ice with regard to being accused of spamming! The recipient may have opted in to receive information via a third party survey etc, but they didn’t agree to receive email from you!

At best, these lists are not too receptive in any case. By the time you get to email them most would have forgotten what survey they completed, and just delete your request, or you would have found that the email address they gave bounced. In any case, don’t waste you time and money. It’s only mental massage, giving you the feeling that you are doing something. But it’s the end result that counts

Take your time and build your own opt in list There are many preparations and efforts to building your own Opt-in lists and for those who are just starting, my advise is to have patients. Although the reason for building your list is to make money, always keep your subscribers interest in mind at all times, rather than attempting to make a quick buck.

The certain truth is, the money will only come in when the consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. They want a product or service that could be a good exchange for their money. People are not going to buy something out of your recommendation if they don't know you.

Imaging your in a real store and attract people in by your window Advertising. Some may enter with the intention of purchasing the product/s that you promoted; many others will enter out of curiosity, browse around and leave. These are the people that you want to target. You already have the information on people who purchased, and would be open to receive further offers. But now you want to contact all those browsers to give you the opportunity of also turning them into buyers. This is where your mailing lists come in and can become the most powerful selling tool in your arsenal.

Before you ever begin to build your list, you are going to need 3 things:

A Domain Name for your Website

A Hosting Account to host your Website

An Autoresponder to send out your messages

Lets look at building your list. Offer an incentive to prospects to join your list. It may be a free report on a topic of interest, an audio or video on a topic of interest or a Mini Course. I much prefer to offer a prospect some form of free mini-course over a single Product. Because with each mailing of the mini course you have more opportunity to start building credibility & trust.

There are various way to drive traffic to your website promotion, sales page etc This would include sources like Goggle PPC, Paid Advertising, traffic exchanges, safe lists, article submission and classified ad sites. These usually take time in place of money and there are numerous information products on that subject alone

Do your research. Submit articles on a subject that you are experts on. Write about the topic you know and have started and used for your site. Use forums to gain knowledge about your subscribers. Try to discover their wants and needs and target those wants and needs.

If you have a product, the latest craze of JV Give-aways is also a good source to start building you own list. Again it is based on the premise of "giving before you receive" This is one of the most popular ways to start a list nowadays. And, it works! You can go from having no subscribers, to getting 1000 - 3000 subscribers within 10 short days!

By offering to give away your product for free, you simply require their contact information. This gives you the opportunity to start building a relationship for the future

Once you list starts to build, don’t go launching in straight away to try and sell your latest product. Just because they accepted a free gift in exchange for their contact information, this doesn’t qualify them as potential customers. You may have to continue giving for a while, until they decide to buy something and you make money. Now you not only have a subscriber you have a customer. Customers are much more likely to buy from you a second time than a subscriber.

Provide Value. Find a product or service that people want and need. Although it may not be your forte, if you provide a service and product that you have researched and learned about well, you can offer something of value. Do your research well and you will see the profits come in.

Just make sure that your subscribers to your opt-in list are happy and satisfied and they will be willing to buy from you.

Remember patients is a virtue

To Your Success