It's been a bit of a week!

Anyway, back to business, I'll try to keep this 'on theme', I haven't got long before the kids finish school and my work drops way down the list of priorities then!

Thank you for taking the time to complete my survey, it may only have taken three or four minutes of your time but it provides me with incredibly useful information. I won't share the full results just yet as responses are still coming in but I want to promise you that I will act on all of the feedback I receive and I will use this newsletter to tackle the themes and issues that you have told me you want information and advice about.

Here is the link if you missed it last time (it really does only take a few minutes of your time)

Click Here to take survey

One of the survey stats that stands out is 73.4% of respondents are not building a mailing list.

As online marketers we are forever being told that we 'must build a list' and 'the money is in the list' but nobody is prepared to actually explain what this means in simple terms and how we actually go about doing it (without charging several thousand dollars for one to one coaching or mentoring)

Firstly let me start by explaining what 'a list' is. A list is purely and simply the contact details of your customers. Whether you operate a small eBay store or you own a chain of 'brick and mortar' shops if you aren't recording the contact details of your customers then you are leaving money on the table.

It really is as simple as that. There is no mystery and nothing complicated about it, if you can communicate with the people who have bought (or expressed an interest in) your products then you will make more money.

Think about how you come to be reading this newsletter today; at some time (maybe yesterday, maybe a year ago) you gave me your name and email address in exchange for some information.

This is one of my regular messages containing useful and engaging content (I hope!). Occasionally I will also recommend a relevant product that I have used or reviewed and if you buy the product I get paid.

My list grows over time and so does my income. As I said; no mystery, nothing complicated, it just works.

To put the importance of list building into perspective approximately half of my online income comes directly from my list.

OK, so you know what 'a list' is and the benefits of having one but how do you start?

The first step is to collect email addresses and the most common way of doing this is to put an 'opt-in' form in front of your customers. This is simply a box on a webpage or a paper form in a brick and mortar shop that collects an email address (and usually a name) in exchange for some benefit.

The incentive could be a free report (eBook) or free entry into a competition to win a valuable prize, it doesn't really matter what the incentive is so long as it is relevant to your customer and has a worthwhile perceived value.

(Check out the top right of this newsletter page for an example of an opt-in form)

The next step is to build your relationship with your customer by sending regular emails that engage, inform and entertain.

Having successfully established rapport and won your customer's trust you can move to the next stage which involves product recommendation.

Now, there is one tool that makes all of this possible, the autoresponder.

Before I go on, let me be quite clear, you cannot build and communicate effectively with your list without an autoresponder, it is an essential piece of kit. There is no need to be scared of using an autoresponder, it is like any other tool, once you are familiar with it it becomes second nature.

There are several autoresponders on the market (just Google 'autoresponder')

so how do you choose which one to buy?

I can only speak from personal experience but having used Aweber successfully for the last couple of years I can vouch for its simplicity and the quality of its service and support.

Aweber isn't the cheapest option but I (and the marketers whose opinions I trust) believe it is the best option.

Think very carefully before you choose your autoresponder, your list will become your most valuable business asset, bar none, and I have spoken to trusted colleagues who started with a budget autoresponder but decided to switch to Aweber when their lists became substantial and they realised that many of their emails just weren't getting through (Aweber's relationship with the major email services means they have the highest delivery rates in the business).

Because Aweber requires a 'double opt-in' (you put your email address in the opt-in box then you receive an email requiring you to click a link to confirm your request for information thus drastically reducing spam complaints) my colleagues lost thousands of subscribers when transferring their lists.

Do check out Aweber (yes, this is my affiliate link, if you buy I receive a commission)

You can watch tutorial videos that explain how everything works and take part in live online webinars to learn everything you need without actually signing up for the service or parting with any money.

I'm afraid the clock has beaten me today and it is time to put my 'Dad' hat on!

next time I will explain how to build a list even if you have no websites and what to say in your emails.