The most important tool for any business (online or offline) is an effective marketing strategy; without this, and therefore without sustained income, no business can survive. The internet is particularly suited to marketing due to the enormous reach available; nevertheless, a solid online marketing strategy is required if true success is to be achieved.
An effective online marketing strategy need not be overly complicated and one of the best ways to achieve such a strategy is to build an opt-in mailing list. A common phrase in online marketing is ‘the money is in the list’ and this is certainly true for all but the most specialized online marketers. Why is this? Well, an opt-in list allows you to communicate with potential customers (your opt-ins) to promote your business.
An opt-in list is essentially a list of email addresses of people who have subscribed to receive further information from you, usually by inserting their contact details in a website opt-in form and subsequently confirming their desire to subscribe. Since, opting-in is an option and completely up to the website visitor, their confirmation of subscription enables you to avoid being accused of sending spam email.
Creating an opt-in list can be very beneficial to your business, since you are able to continuously send newsletters and emails promoting the products and services that your business offers. The following list summarizes the advantages of having an opt-in list associated with your business:
1. A mailing list will be your most important business assett
Most, if not all, successful online marketers will identify their mailing list as their most important business assett. The list allows the marketer to promote products and services in a controlled manner to a targeted audience.
2. A mailing list is always current
Your mailing list will never become redundant – as long as your subscribers need a solution to a problem then you are able to promote such solutions (products and services) through your mailing list.
3. The larger you list, the larger your profits
Clearly, the larger the list of subscribers you have on your list, the larger the number of potential customers you have as your mailing audience. As long as you are providing products and services that your subscribers need, then it follows that the larger your list, the larger your income and profit.
It can be seen from the above that an opt-in mailing list can easily become the heart of and most important element of an online business and can be the key to the survival of that business.
Keith Blackburn