Perhaps you know the old internet marketer’s saying: “The money is in the list.”
Well I would would go a little bit further and say “The key to recurring traffic is in the list”…
Of course, if you built a great site with fantastic content, chances are very good that someone actually bookmarked your site (if you are lucky then by using a social bookmark service, see my posts on Social Bookmarking). Or you are already making use of what I wrote on how to get commenters come back to your site.
Today I want to talk a little bit on the most powerful way to have people come back to your site (besides having valuable content, of course 
) and that is building your own email list.
Technically all you need is an autoresponder (like AWeber, or GetResponse)
But this only covers the technical part of it. How do you adress your list? What do you have to do to get a highly responsive list? The key to this is trust. And a key part in building trust is honesty. One example: I could go around and boast and tell everyone that my list of do-follow blogs from the Blog Search is one of the biggest available. Then after a while people would come to me very angry and tell me that on my list there are blogs that actually are no-follow and I told them I had the biggest do-follow list. So what I am saying instead is that finding do-follow blogs is not so easy after al and that there are issues with the accuracy of the blog list…
You get the picture…
Someone who you can a learn a lot from regarding list buidling is Josh Spaulding. He wrote an excellent report about buidling your email list. I bought his report (at that time for only 7$, I am not sure whether he had to raise the price…) and started to digest everything he wrote. Although I have not yet implemented everything on my own list, you bet I will. I think his report is worth at least 10 times what he charges for it, go and see for yourself, the price is only 7$. And don’t let yourself be deceived by the title, although ist is called “New Age”, there is nothing esoteric in it – only useful information!
Get Josh Spauldings “New Age Email Marketing”
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I agree with your comment that the, “ “The key to recurring traffic is in the list”
Thanks also for bringing Josh Spauldings “New Age Email Marketing” to my attention.
I heard about him a while back from Tim Gorman of Article Marketing fame. I will definitely check out “New Age Email Marketing”.
Thanks again for the tip.
Lovin Life in Ajijic, Mexico,
Joel Smith
Casa Preciosa, Ajijic, Mexico
http://www.CasaPreciosaAjijic.com
Guten Tag! I will piggyback that, that the key is in the list! I use my email lists very carefully, in that I do not want readers to feel regretful for signing up, but it is amazing how keeping a proper email list boosts your traffic, and keeps a solid following to your site. It keeps recurring visitors, and means that I don’t have to fight so hard for new ones.
I think what you touched on, that is important to emphasize, is to earn trust from your email subscribers. It is a good idea to provide actual useful information, and quality content when emailing, otherwise you lose that trust.
Cheers!
List Building is one of those crucial bulding blocks of Internet Marketing, that I am very hesitant about approaching. Do not know why? I have read so many free reports, and indeed have purchased some, like Josh Spauldings.
However I have to stop dithering and actual do.
I’m in the same boat as Dymphna but I do know why. I sign up to email lists and most just send me spammy emails telling me to go here and buy that .. I delete them and deregister from the email list. I don’t want to be a spammer but I do see how reminding people of your website is a good thing. I must study the emails I get harder to see why I delete some as spam and keep others as informative.
Sally | Rural Datings last blog post..The A to Z of Love | A
loved this post because it was so true everything is in the list whether it be selling, offering, or building relationships its always in the list
Is there any free autoresponder out there?
Hi Mark
You could use infinite responder (http://infinite.ibasics.biz/) or phpList (http://www.phplist.com/) if you want to run something on your own server.
I formerly did that but I have to admit that the features I have with my new autoresponder now (I use automateyourlist, which is a private labeled aweber autoresponder), What I don not use personally but have heard a lot of positive feedback, too, is GetResponse.
Hope that helps
Mike
I know this sound silly but i’m a little confused. At the begining you seem to be saying that the key is in the list (i.e. you do follow blog list) then you seem to talk about email auto responses. Are you talking about providing upto date lists or having a trusted email list?
Hi Ed
Sorry, I was not aware that this could be confused with my dofollow list. I am talking about having an email list of subscribers…
Mike
Great tips. Building a list is the next step in my marketing plan and Im looking for all the info I can get. Im a bit worried about coming up with regular content to keep subscribers interested though. Hope I can work it out soon!
Hey
I thought it was hilarious when you said “Today I want to talk a little bit on the most powerful way to have people come back to your site (besides having valuable content, of course
)
Why didn’t you re-write josh’s paper and sell it for $8 a pop? lol
Hi Nathan
Why should I? Josh Spaulding has written a very good report and there is no reason for me to try to make a lousy dollar more than he charges by using his work…
Obviously you know his report, but I still don’t get it why my sentence is so funny…
Please enlighten us…
Mike
The list is important. But it is how you manage your list that makes a real difference. That is where my problem lies. I am not managing my list properly and money is being left on the table.
Oops! Can you tell I was using your blog as the test subject from your email Michael? I guess some of us need EXTRA clear instructions. Great tool though.
I’d say a person who does not make mistakes does not learn anything in life, so it is import to have a fair share of mistakes
Mike
I have a real problem with spam in my lists as well, this was an interesting article though. thanks