Building a email list.

This is probably the single most important marketing method in this new age of the internet.

Why build a email list

It has always been very important to know your customers. Way back in the olden days we would keep a name and address and send out letters. Pay the paper, ink, envelope, postage and someones time to do it all.

I can vividly remember having a pile of letters ready to lick the envelope and run to the post office with bulk mail.

It was a real time-consuming chore that cost money and you only hoped for a return when the mail hit the addressee.

To send out a thousand letters these days would cost a couple of grand to do it. You must sell a lot to cover the cost.

First of all, it was as important then as it is today to keep in contact with your customers. What’s more, you need to do it with as many touches as you can to keep their business.

How things have changed?

What’s needed on your email list?

Life is so much easier these days to keep in contact. You have the email of course but also SMS, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and on and on.

So, with this in mind, your customer list needs to be broader in structure.

Hence we need a product that will allow instant messaging using the medium of the day.

You may wish to email or SMS or post on Instagram so you need to be ready.

Name, address, email, mobile number, Facebook link etc

How do you do a email list?

The bottom of the pile cheapjack way ( I do this) is a simple excel spreadsheet. The trick is to always save it in a CSV file as most sources like this.

Then there are the free CRM programs right through to the top of the pile at Infusionsoft costing around $200 a month

Since the subject is long and involved you should choose carefully because they take time to construct, but as a result it will be time well spent.

You can build these as you go and only pay for the number of clients that you have on your list

How to collect the information for a Email list

Number 1 way is to ask for the information from everyone that walks in the door, write it down and add to your list.

If you do invoices or sales slips make sure the info you want goes on them to be transferred off later.

Run a completion, a secret prize, a discount club, newsletter list, specials. The ideas will come when you look at your business.

In my area are four Fish and Chip shops. The newest entry is now the busiest and probably the dearest.

When they arrived they had competitions and ways to get an email address. Now every month they email a special. It could be a discount, a special dish generally something new. It works, I have joined the queue to get the deal.

Conclusion

Most of all a list is an Asset. It can be sold with your business and have a real monetary value. Furthermore, it can be used on a daily basis in your business as a low-cost medium to capture new business.

Customers must be kept in touch. You can send a 1000 customer email broadcast for zero dollars. Compare that to life in the olden times. Like a half dozen years back.

Peter Hanley

I get my resources from Wealthy Affiliate a free training and web hosting site