Why Should I Build an Email List?

[KHALID HASSAN]

Well I can give you 6 great reasons why you should build an email list but before I do let me ask you a question. Have you ever entered an online contest, offered your email address to an online or local store, or given the okay for a sales consultant to send you information? If so you have joined an email list. Email lists are simply the email addresses and names of people who signed up, to receive emails such as electronic magazines ("e-zines") or an email newsletter, electronic courses (e-courses), or product information in their inbox. Did you know that some businesses consider their email lists to be their most valuable possessions? Email advertising is one of the most profitable forms of advertising. Collecting customer and prospect contact information and keeping in touch with them on a regular basis is the key to any online businesses success. Here are some of the main reasons to start building your list now: Top-of-Mind Awareness - An email list that you use regularly gives you an easy way to keep your name in front of your customers and prospects on a continual basis. By making your name top-of-mind, you are increasing the likelihood that your customers will purchase from YOU when they are in a position to buy. Customer & Prospect Connection - Say you are a florist. Your average customer may only purchase from you a few times a year. But you continue to stay in touch with her, providing her with quality information that relates to a topic she is interested in - holiday decorations and entertaining tips, for example. When she DOES need a flower arrangement, you will be the one she buys it from. Why would she spend her money with some website she has never heard of when she knows you, her online friend who sends her useful information every week? Education Marketing - Some products and industries require more education before prospects are ready to purchase. Email lists offer an easy, inexpensive way to provide the information your prospects need, moving them through the learning curve, until they are ready to buy. Feedback & Customer Service - Do your customers want your next product to be bigger or smaller than what you have now? Do they hate the background music on your website? Do they wish your software was compatible with a platform you do not currently offer? Do not guess -- just ask them! Email lists give you a simple way to solicit feedback from the real experts - your customers themselves. Easy to Share -Word-of-mouth can be your best source of new business. By providing easy-to-share electronic newsletters or product information, you make it more likely that your current customers will pass the word to their friends, without incurring a minute of your time or a penny of your money. Revenue -Some enterprising electronic newsletter publishers make money by selling ads in their publications to complementary businesses. The larger and more targeted your audience, the higher rates you can command. You can also use your purchase email list to promote others products as an affiliate. Of course, you can promote your own products. Starting, growing, and maintaining an email list of targeted subscribers is one of the most profitable things you can do to build a successful business online. Not every prospect will become a subscriber, and not every subscriber will turn into a loyal customer, but you will find you are much more successful selling to your list than you are to a group of relative strangers. Provide subscribers with quality information on a topic that interests them, and they will gladly allow you to tell them about your products and services, knowing you are an expert at what you do. After all, you are providing all this great information... you must know what you are talking about! There really is no reason to delay starting your email list. So which one is the most important you ask. Well I think it is "Top-of-Mind Awareness" which Wikipedia defines as "When people think of you first to fulfill their product or service needs." One of the most effective forms of advertising is the use of an email marketing campaign. What are you waiting for? It is time to start designing your email marketing strategy. Would you like to reprint this article for use in your ezine? You may as long as you include this blurb in its entirety: "Michele Scism is a Business Strategist and Author who teaches women entrepreneurs how to generate more money by using better marketing strategies and business success strategies. Michele is frequently quoted in the areas of business, and social networking. Michele Scism is a Business Strategist who specializes in teaching service professionals and business owners how to grow and expand their businesses using better marketing strategies and business success strategies designed to increase sales and profit.