I’m sure you’ve all heard it before, "The money is in the list!" Well this is very true. When you build an opt-in list, you are building a list of clients that you can consistently market to.

Instead of just selling to one person, one time, on one offer, you can capture their name and email and continue to market new opportunities and products... as long as you build and maintain a healthy relationship with them.

Just think if you have the opportunity to sell a book on making money to one person, grab their info and continue to market more good products. What do you think you could make? Hundreds? Thousands? Yes. Anything and everything is achievable with a good list. You don’t need to have 100,000 people on your list to achieve this either.

It is however important that you have a decent size list. Somewhere between 500 and 10,000 will be plenty to keep your stream of income rolling through; and of course, the more, the better.

Now everyone has heard about making money with a list, but some people are still a bit lost on how to do this. Even if you’ve already started gathering info for your list but want to boost your conversion rates, you’re going to need a few tips and tricks to really amp it up.

Here are 5 powerful strategies you can implement immediately to build your list faster and explode your earnings by marketing to them correctly:

List Marketing Strategy # 1: Ensure Privacy

This may be the most important part of building your list. I don’t know how many times I have signed up for something, and then ended up with tons of e-mails from people and companies I don’t know. This is incredibly frustrating!

Let your potential sign-ups know that you will NOT be selling their info or giving it away in any way. People are scared that some unethical marketers might sell their opt in information to spammers, so you need to address that fear right before they subscribe.

If possible, let them also know how many emails they will be getting from you on a periodic basis (twice a week, ten times a month, etc.), and make sure to stick to it.

If you have one or two extra pieces of mail with good info, that’s ok; but don’t overload them with extras as this is a sure way to get them to unsubscribe. Following this rule will build trust and reliability that are going to boost your reputation.

List Marketing Strategy # 2: Build A Relationship With Your List.

This is another extremely important part of building and keeping your list. The people who opt in are trusting you, although this trust can be easily broken.

Again if you overload your customers with email after email (especially promotional messages), they are very likely to unsubscribe and you’ll be losing a number of potential customers.

The same is to be said about sending too little information. If someone subscribes to your list expecting tips or tricks (or whatever it is that you are offering), and you don’t send them any e-mail that conforms to their expectations, their trust will be broken and they are more likely to unsubscribe…there goes another potential customer.

Typically you want to send your subscribers no more than one piece of e-mail a day and no less than one a month. If you have an extra little surprise for them, go ahead and throw it in there so they can feel like you are giving them the first shot at this great deal, but do not overload their inbox.

List Marketing Strategy # 3: Offer A Giveaway.

I’m positive you’ve seen this technique used somewhere; and that’s because it is very effective. Now there will be some people who sign up just to get your free offer and then unsubscribe right after. There’s really nothing you can do about that as you will find these kind of people everywhere.

Something you can do to try and deter the subscriber from canceling is to make sure your free offer is valuable. Write up a small e-book with some tips and tricks, or maybe a short video revealing a good secret. It doesn’t have to be a huge book or 30 minute long video; but again, it should have good value to the subscriber.

Another way to prevent them from unsubscribing is to keep them hanging for more information. You could leave a short note at the end of your message that says you will share a secret or give them something valuable in your next email to them.

List Marketing Strategy # 4: Stay Informative And Appealing.

Would you continue to read a book or magazine that was poorly written and offered no visual stimulation? Probably not.

Making sure that everything you are sending to your list is incredibly well written and thought out will keep them hooked and wanting more. Any good writer would tell you they will re-read and re-read their work to make sure it’s captivating.

As for visual stimulation, this can be accomplished with pictures or colorful font. This isn't actually necessary, but this could greatly help to keep the reader captivated and ready to see what’s next.

List Marketing Strategy # 5: Use Other Words Than "Subscribe."

Some people automatically think of a paid subscription, like to the newspaper or a magazine, when they hear or see the word "subscribe." This can put off potential sign-ups because they are under the impression they are getting free information.

While some would not give it much attention, you could use your creativity in coming up with more attractive phrases such as "Sign Up for Free" or "Give Me Free Access."

Try to re-word your opt-in page to let the reader know you will be notifying them of updates on your page or blog, further information in the niche you are in, or whatever it is you are sending them for free.

This will keep the readers' attention and let them know they do not have to pay a dime for opting in to your list, and that buying anything is completely optional.

Building a good list can ensure your lifetime income. Building trust and respect with the people who have signed up can make or break your list. It is an absolute must to offer good value and not screw around with these people’s personal information. People are becoming more skeptical with all the scams out there, so don’t give them a reason to distrust you.

List marketing, at first, can seem a bit overwhelming but it is a very important part of your online business. It is not something that should be overlooked or taken lightly at all. Once you start putting these list marketing strategies together it all seems so much easier, and you’re on your way to having a great list that you can market to for a long time.