Why should you build an email list?

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We just had our 3rd webinar last night which was basically about building an email list.

Building an email ListI don’t know about anyone else but I have read a lot about email lists and the importance of having one but I have always stayed away from it.  I didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of sending out emails trying to get people to buy stuff.

Now I realise I had got it all wrong! The whole point of building an email list had been explained to me incorrectly. I had a real light bulb moment during last nights webinar!

You build an email list to get to know your readers and for them to get to know you!

In fact an email list is important for building trust and respect.

Did anyone else experience that revelation?

If you look at it like that then you realise that it is a good thing to build a list – good for your readers as well as yourself!

My Immediate Action

I have gone through my email subscriptions today and have unsubscribed from all the people that send me rubbish or try to sell me something in every email. How many am I now subscribed to? Just 5 people! These people have earned my respect and trust. They are using their email list in the correct way – the way that I would be comfortable to copy and will now begin in building my own email list.

I recommend you have a look at your own subscriptions (if you have them) and filter out the bad ones. Aim to be like the ones you look forward to hearing from!

Back to the Webinar

Having an autoresponder set up with a good number of emails ready to go when someone subscribes to your list means that you are able to build trust and respect with your readers AUTOMATICALLY. Great isn’t it. I wish someone had explained it to me like this ages ago. I’d have started to build a list!

How do you encourage people to sign up to your list?

Give your readers something for free that they need and/or want. So if your site was about cooking then you could give your readers a free recipe ebook for example. It must be relevant and valuable.

Autoresponders – Paid or Free?

If you want something that will be reliable then you must go with a paid service that has a long standing reputation. The 2 best and well known ones are Aweber and GetResponse. Aweber is more expensive but apparently the video help files and some of the features offered are slightly better and therefore worth the extra cost.

I have looked at both and I can’t see much difference between them – perhaps you need to use both to really understand why Aweber seems to have the upper edge. Anyway I have decided to go with GetResponse – I am pleased with what they offer and I know they are reliable so I’m happy to sign up with them.

There are plenty of free autoresponders you can use but if you do use one be careful. I recently found out that MailChimp don’t allow any affiliate links in the emails you send out – that is not good! Other free ones inflict your readers with the their own affiliate links – very off putting and spammy.

Remember if you start off free and then want to go to paid you will need to ask your subscribers to confirm that they are happy to start receiving email from your new autoresponder. It is well known that a lot of people just won’t bother to do this. You could end up losing valuable subscribers.

So the message this week is:

Encourage your readers to know, like and trust you