Ways to Get New Ideas for Listbuilding

It’s highly doubtful to me that any marketer of any kind, Internet or otherwise, can possibly be so creative as to be able to generate limitless amounts of ideas for listbuilding. Sometimes we need inspiration, new insight, and even a bit of help.

I, myself, don’t claim to be the very fountainhead of new ideas. It may well be that I come to a particular idea, but I will certainly borrow this same idea if someone else comes up with it first. That’s just part of the whole game.

So how can you expose yourself to more ideas? There are many avenues out there to explore. Once again, I may not have thought of everything, but at least I can get you started on generating your own ideas.

Sales Seminars are Rich with Ideas

One way is to attend sales seminars. While these, technically, are a bunch of sales people on stage making their pitches, they can be a wealth of information. If you go to these things with the mindset that you’re not there to buy anything but to, instead, observe and learn, you will more often than not find all kinds of techniques you can use. Whether you actually buy something or not is on you.

Blog Communities are a Great Source of Ideas

Of course, forums and blog communities are also useful that way. Aside from being a marketing tool in and of themselves, you can often find ideas that will further your own strategy, whether you just watch, ask questions, or go full on with interviewing some members.

Mastermind Meetings are Huge for Listbuilding Ideas

Mastermind meetings are one of my favorites. This is where you actually get a bunch of marketers in the same room, or in a teleconference of some sort, and have them share their ideas and strategies. These can often be put together locally through a venue such as meetup.com to save on more expensive and time consuming means.

Then, of course, there are the various courses on marketing. The coursework in these programs are highly variable. Some of the less interactive programs are pretty much for beginners. However, when you get into apprenticeships, you will often have to already have a certain level of skill before you even begin. Many teachers want some sort of evidence that the apprentice has the aptitude and ambition to finish the course.

Finally, there are specific seminars out there on different marketing techniques. These can be presented by an individual but may also be a collaborative effort between several acclaimed marketers. These are great because if you have specific questions that are in a given speaker’s milieu, you can pick their brains somewhat during the Q and A section, if it’s not being presented to a huge audience.

Often enough in these situations, you can get a lot of new ideas about marketing, not so much from what is said, but what isn’t said. A comment made in passing could open up a virtual Pandora’s box in your brain about something new you could try. That alone will often be worth 1000 times the price of admission.