Email List Building Is Wrong
… if you build the wrong list!
Almost every Internet marketer who knows what they’re doing is engaging in email list building activities.
As the famous saying goes “The money is in the list”…
(…by the way if you want to learn 2 proven ways to build your list fast, click here)
A Requirement
And no doubt about it, having a list to really make BIG money online is a requirement. You can argue that you make money via Adsense and as such you don’t need to build a list.
Well let me tell you that if you focus your time and effort instead on building your own list, building TRUSTING and MUTUALLY BENEFICAL relationships with this list, and presenting them offers that they’re interested in, you’ll earn SO MUCH MORE than just Adsense alone.
But making big money online, or should I say building a real Internet business, is not just about building ANY kind of list.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see beginner and intermediate marketers alike make when they build their lists. I’m guilty of this mistake too (yes even to this present date I sometimes get sidetracked as well).
The BIG Mistake
The mistake I’m talking about is focusing on building a FREEBIE list.
What do I mean by that?
A Freebie list is a group of people who do NOT buy your products and services. And by FOCUSING your time and efforts on building this kind of list, you profits will be very INSIGNIFICANT.
You should instead FOCUS on building a BUYER list.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t build a freebie list. You should and must, because in order to build a buyer list, you first need to build a freebie list.
You build a FREEBIE list – you build relationships with this list so that your subscribers know, like, and trust you – you present them with low cost offers to get them to your BUYER list – you offer more value with your higher-priced products and services (backend).
This is where the real money is made – via the buyer list and NOT the freebie list.
Convert Freebie Seekers Into Buyers
Again, my point here is once you have a DECENT lead-generation system in place to pour in leads into your sales funnel on a consistent daily basis, you should think about converting as much of these freebie leads into your buyer list.
Do NOT wait until you have the perfect lead generation system before you convert them. Notice I use the word “DECENT lead-generation system” and not “SUPER lead-generation system” above? By decent, I mean it doesn’t have to be super powerful like generating 50 fresh leads per day. Even 20 or 30 leads per day are good enough (at least for the time being).
If you wait until you have a super powerful lead generation system before you start converting your freebie list into your buyer list, then you’ll be missing out on a lot of profits.
Want me to give you another strong reason why you should convert them as soon as possible?
People’s Interests Change All The Time
Well, people’s interest or “hotness towards a particular topic” change around a lot very quickly. For example, today I might be interested in learning how to play golf. Next week, I’m no longer interested in golf but instead interested in fishing.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Since people’s interest change around a lot quickly, you want to make sure that you convert as much people in your freebie list into your buyer list as soon as you can. Because if you wait around too long, your subscribers may no longer be interested in your subject.
To build your own BUYER list, you need to have your own product. But don’t cringe at the thought of this yet, because creating your own information product can be done in 1 day or less.
How To Create Your Own Product In 1 Day Or Less
You simply interview an expert in your marketplace over Skype and record the interview and you have an audio product ready. If you want to learn more about how to create your own high quality information product in 1 day or less, go take a look at my Instant Product System guide.
Another tip for you: you can make money from your freebie list even before you have your own product and before you build your buyer list. The way to do this is to promote an affiliate product that is closely related to what your topic is about. For example, if you’re building an audience who are golf beginners who want to learn how to play golf well, then offer an affiliate product about learning how to play golf for beginners.
Never, ever wait until you have the perfect, super-duper lead generation system before you convert your freebie list into your buyer list. Because it will never be perfect. No system in the world is perfect.
Now that you understand the importance of a buyer list, go build one today. Leave your comments and thoughts below about email list building, as I’d LOVE to hear them…
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14 Responses to “Email List Building Is Wrong”
Jimmy S. Griffin on October 4, 2011
“A Freebie list is a group of people who do NOT buy your products and services. And by FOCUSING your time and efforts on building this kind of list, you profits will be very INSIGNIFICANT. You should instead FOCUS on building a BUYER list.”
I like the way you presented the subject matter. I agree with you regarding the importance of building a Buyer list instead of the Freebie list. And since the Freebie list is also necessary, the challenge lies in turning this list into a buyer list.
Jimmy S. Griffin
Peni Gardner on July 19, 2011
“Well let me tell you that if you focus your time and effort instead on building your own list, building TRUSTING and MUTUALLY BENEFICAL relationships with this list, and presenting them offers that they’re interested in, you’ll earn SO MUCH MORE than just Adsense alone.”
I agree there’s a lot of affiliate programs available to help increase your income.
Ellie Hughes on July 26, 2010
sometimes i get some difficulty in list building, it takes a lot of effort:*~
Ad Swaps on June 23, 2010
[...] I’d rather build a customer list than a freebie list. [...]
Joseph Wright on May 25, 2010
Any tutorials out there how to become expert in List Building ?;,`
Welly on May 26, 2010
Part of my GOLD Coaching teaches you how to build your list and communicate with them effectively.
If you’re looking for list building courses only, I don’t have a specific one to recommend. You can do a Google search for that.
Pheromone on January 24, 2010
You got me Welly!
LOL
I saw the title and said, “Oh, I just HAVE to see what Welly’s going to say. List Building is WRONG???
But yep, I’m just starting out, but I already “get” that you must offer the freebie(s) and then keep providing more free value, like your blog does, before you turn some of your leads into buyers, and some of your buyers to repeat buyers and some of your repeat buyers into chronic buyers for years to come.
John G on January 17, 2010
Hey nice Information. It is much effective Later you Think about it. Increasingly valuable. Aloha.
Exclusive Offer to Hear the Master of Opt-In Email | Quickly Make Money Online Blog on January 7, 2010
[...] Email List Building [...]
Welly on December 16, 2009
@Ida: Yup you certainly can reap in good profits with a small list, if you look after your subscribers well. I used to participate in giveaway events as well, but not anymore now, since most of the subscribers from the giveaway events are low quality (meaning they’re accustomed to free gifts all the time – which in turn means that they most likely don’t want to shell out money to pay for info products).
@Jay: Marketers use that offer to entice people to get into their continuity programs.
Do people really fall for this?
Depends. And this type of enticement/offer is NOT cheating people if the continuity program attached with the free offer is disclosed clearly.
Jay Kelley on December 16, 2009
Why do you offer something for free then charge a shipping fee that covers the cost of what you are giving away or try to sign you up for a program. What a joke. Do people really fall for this?
Irene Wallace on December 16, 2009
Hi Welly,
Thanks for the tip. I never really thought about types of lists before, but I will now. Having a list of targeted buyers is certainly the way to go.
Twitter Trackbacks for Email List Building [welly-mulia.com] on Topsy.com on December 16, 2009
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Ida on December 16, 2009
Hi Welly,
Nice post. I totally agree with you. Sometimes I got really tired when those freebies report talk about how many list they built in the shortest amount time possible and people are just drown with the fact how did they got it done. But the ultimate reason behind the list is, I think, the value of your list, ie. how much you can make on average per subscriber. In general, it is possible to make a fortune with a small list compared to like what you said, large number of Freebies list. As a result, I nowadays don’t hang out too much on the Giveaway events as I think it somehow can lose its effectiveness in list building. Well,That’s just my thoughts