Listbuilding from the Beginning

There’s an old saying that you have to have gold to create more gold. Much the same thing can be said about effectively building a list. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a head start on a list before you put up your Web page? Here are a few ideas on how to do that.

1.Start with Friends and Family

Some people don’t like this idea. They have a notion that it would strain the relationship by selling them on one of your products. This often occurs when you’re selling someone else’s product. If you think about it, though, it’s a bit different when it’s your own product. Who better to talk to excitedly about your latest venture than your friends and family? You may already be selling them on it without knowing it.

2.Existing Clientèle

This is ideal if you have a brick and mortar location. It’s very passive—just set out a guest book for people to sign. Be sure that you mention that it’s about updates and special promotions. For very little work, you might be surprised just how quickly you can build a list from this.

3.Contests and Promotions

Building on the previous two techniques, you can launch a contest or a promotion. When a new hot product comes out, everyone wants it. If you can provide a way they can get it without paying anything for it (like in a raffle drawing, for instance) people will sign up for it. Again, just make sure that an acknowledgement that they’re opting in to a mailing list is in front of their face.

4.Attending Special Events

If you don’t have your own brick and mortar establishment, attending special events is a good way of starting your list. You should do this locally at first, and if you really like it, you can expand to other venues. Events like state and county fairs, local parades, festivals and such can garner a decent opt in list—especially if they’ve had a few overpriced beers, as tends to happen at these things.

5.Partnering With Other Sites

Perhaps you don’t have a physical venue and don’t have any interest in standing out in the sun and rain at a local biker rally. This one you can do from the comfort of your own home. There are many list sharing partnerships out there that can get you a ready made list. There is often a price for this, though. The client may have no interest in your product at all and mark you as spam. The trick is to try and find a group that’s consistently relevant and hope that their list is large enough that you have a good chance of getting in touch with people who might be interested in your product.

These are just a few ways you can get a decent mailing list together before you even slap up your Web page. The beauty of this is that in most of these examples you can put a personal face behind your emails. The client can think, “Oh, yeah; that’s that nice guy at that one booth at Spring Fest.”