List Building is The Foundation of Your Business
Any good business owner knows that building a client or customer list is the number one priority for a sustainable business. Without a way to stay in touch with your existing or potential customers, you cannot provide ongoing service or generate future sales to the same customers.
Whenever I run into anyone who makes an income online, and they say, “I make X-number of sales per month and I don’t even have a list”, I say, “You are a great salesperson, why would you not want to have your own business?” They always seem puzzled by this.
You see, having a list is the difference between running a business and being a salesperson. It is far easier to do repeat business than it is to generate new customers. Without a list, you have to constantly work to find new customers. This means your cost of acquiring a sale is much higher than it would be if those customers were sitting there waiting for your offers.
If you are serious about building a sustainable income through having your own business, there are no two ways around it. You must build a mailing list. But how?
There are two main tools you will need. These are what I consider to be important tools of the trade. Now don’t get all worried that you do not have the skills for this. These tools I am about to show you are drop dead simple.
- Lead Capture Page – also known as a landing page or squeeze page. This is a web page created for the sole purpose of capturing the name and email of your existing or potential customers. On this page you will have an opt-in form that is provided by your autoresponder service. The easiest tool for creating this is Quick Squeeze Pages. Honestly, this one is a no-brainer. It requires no HTML or coding knowledge. It is a WYSIWYG squeeze page creator that you only need to be able to type to use. I have tried a few of these editors and this one is by far the best. It is very reasonably priced and is a one time fee, no monthly or recurring fees. http://www.superteammarketing.com/quicksqueezepages
- Autoresponder – You need an autoresponder to process your opt-in form, store your mailing list and provide an automated way to communicate with your customers. For me, Aweber is the only autoresponder I trust 100% to get my messages to my customers. They provide me with a nicely designed opt-in form to place on my lead capture page, then allow me to automate every process of staying in touch and providing superior service to my customers. They are the most trusted autoresponder service on the internet today. If you ask almost any IM business, chances are this is the service they use. The cost is very reasonable. Usually about $19/month which is far less than it would cost you to acquire new customers using any other means. http://www.superteammarketing.com/aweber
So there you have it, are you a business owner or just a salesperson? The ability to capture leads is just two clicks away. It is the ONE thing that is holding you back if you are not currently building a list of customers. Do not fool yourself into thinking you have a business without it.
By Cathy Henry
