There’s an oft-quoted saying among successful e-entrepreneurs: ‘The money is in the list. And so it is. More sales are generated from quality lists than from any other online marketing activity. Build a list of targeted contacts for your business – and sales will come. I can’t think of anyone better to convince you of the power of building an opt-in list than my online friend Shelley Lowery. Shelley is a hands-on expert and her own list at web-source.net is well into six figures. She recently produced a cutting edge article on the subject and has kindly given me permission to reproduce it here.

About the Author: Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course Web Design Mastery www.webdesignmastery.com and ebook Starter – Give Your Ebooks the Look and Feel of a Real Book www.ebookstarter.com. Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.

base this article will reveal some of the most effective methods used to build an opt-in list. If you’re not using these methods you’re losing hundreds of new subscribers each week.

If you really want to build a massive list you must provide your potential subscribers with an incentive. Competition on the internet is fierce. You can no longer simply tell visitors what your publication will provide and expect a large percentage to subscribe. It simply won’t work.

There are thousands of publications online and most of your visitors are probably already subscribed to many. Why would they want to subscribe to another one? Sure, you’ll get some new subscribers, but how many? Enough to build a massive opt-in list? The truth is, if you continue to build your list simply by displaying a sign-up box on your site and listing your publication at the listing sites it will take years to develop a substantial list. You must give your visitors a reason to subscribe.

Incentives

Using incentives is a highly effective method of obtaining new subscribers. However, they must be of value and of interest to your target audience.

Some popular incentives include:

• Exclusive ebooks that provide valuable information that will be of interest to your target market.
• Special reports that provide exclusive, detailed information in regard to a specific subject.
• Special software programs that will assist your visitors.

If you’re not comfortable developing your own incentives there are hundreds of great ebooks available online that you may freely distribute. You can find some here: www.web-source.net/free_ebooks.htm.

I have personally learned more from Shelley Lowery on the subject of opt-in list building than from any other leading online marketer.