by Daniel Hatcher

Many people just getting started in internet marketing do not realize the critical importance of building a quality opt-in mailing list. They think it is enough to be making sales from their salespage. While it is good to make sales directly from your site, you will lose a large percentage of your future customers if you fail to build an opt-in mailing list.

The purpose of building a list of your website visitors is to help you maintain contact with them and develop a relationship with them. Your mission in doing this is to turn as many as you possibly can into your customers. It has been said, and rightly so, that your list is the most valuable asset in your online business. With your list being that important, here are some tips that will make building a quality list possible.

* Offer incentives when possible for people to leave their name and email address. Having an incentive program is an effective way to get people to opt into your list. Offering a special report or free e-book is a very effective and easy to implement. To get the best results, it is always helpful to give them something for signing into your list. This tip alone can easily double the number of sign ups you have.

Many people try to accomplish their list building without offering any kind of incentive for signing up which can be a huge mistake. Finding quality incentives is so easy it only makes sense to offer one.

* Include a privacy policy. Many people do not opt-in is because they are afraid they will be spammed. Everyone abhors spam. Give your website visitor a guarantee that you will not share or sell their email address with anyone. This will make a huge difference in he number of opt-ins you receive.

* Create multiple, tightly targeted lists. Very few comprehend the power of this tactic. By offering multiple lists on one site you drastically increase the chances of people finding something that interests them enough to sign up for. One of the lists could be for general updates, another could include tips your market would find useful, while another could be a monthly newsletter. No matter which option they choose you get their email address.

Think about what your market might be the most interested in and offer that information or access to it on your site. A visitor may have little interest in your general announcements mailings but be keenly interested in your newsletter. If you do not provided several options that person would have signed up for nothing. Two or three options are plenty. If your visitor has not found something that interests them in your two to three choices they are probably at the wrong page anyway.

* Make all your lists double opt-in. Double opt-in allows people to first sign up on your site, and then activate their subscription via a confirmation email. There are plenty of good reasons to have the double opt-in format. Number one, it will take away any chance of being labeled a spammer and secondly, you can show proof that people actually did request your emails.

An added benefit to you is that the double opt-in method will result in a list that is significantly higher quality than a singe opt-in list. If these people are interested in your offer enough to verify with the confirmation email, they tend to be much more serious and interested in what you have to offer.

By putting the above tips into use you will be able to build a massive, high quality list in the shortest amount of time possible. I have personally tested all of these methods and they work marvelously. They will work for you too.

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