subject: Why list building is like electricity ! [print this page] Why list building is like electricity ! Why list building is like electricity !
Most people think that list building is beyond them. That it is some kind of scientific formula that is too difficult to grasp. Its not. The way you look at list building in the main, determines how successful you will be. See the heading up above: list building is like electricty? Want to know why I said that ? Because to generate electricity you must make a connection. To build a list properly you must connect with your clients.
I am assuming that you have a domain and an autoresponder so thats taken as read. Now this is where my system came into play and helped build my list. I looked at it like an electrical job. So what I did in advance was decide what tools I needed. Right you have 2 tools already, a domain and an autoresponder . What else do you need: you need materials. Correct. You need materials for an electrical job but you also need them for listbuilding. Say for example you want to build a list for a specific niche. If you have off line knowledge or expertise in that niche, better again. This is where you get your materials from.
Most people that look for information from within a niche want to fix a problem or need information to help themselves to fix it. This is where you come in as you can draw on your materials to help them. If for example, you are in a health related niche and you have been a nurse or medic you can connect with them with authority as you have knowledge of the subject. When you have knowledge of the subject you can connect with your readers. Connection is what is the desired outcome with list building.
When you have a connection, you speak with authority and create rapport with your readers.
When you have rapport you gain credability. Credability is essential to effective list building. Credability is based on trust and honesty, without it you can not build a good responsive list. You gain credability by giving good practical advice to your readers and follow through on it.
What do I mean by follow through ! Suppose you give them advice on say a health related matter, or anything in your niche that they need help with, what I did was e-mail my list and ask them how they got on. Did they follow the advice I gave ? Were they happy with the outcome ? The responses you get here can be used as a base for further advice. For example, you may find that one of your readers tweaked your advice a little, with a better outcome. Good. Share it with everyone else on your list. On this latter point, have your readers permission to do so first ! Very important.
An example as written above places you in the center as a "giver" You are helping people out there to overcome something that maybe having a devastting effect on their daily lives, depending what their problem is. If you do this and help them, they in turn will help you by telling others about your site. This helps with your marketing, at no cost to you.
Honesty is essential to building a list. Whatever you do be honest.
If you have limited information or knowledge on a subject do some research first. People will trust you more and will gain respect from your readers for it. Remember, you are a human being and cannot provide panacea for everything. Tell them that. It will help you in the long run, as your readers wil connect with you more if they see you as a human being with specialist knowledge of a particular area and who is happy to share the knowledge.
Do not sell. Simple do not sell. It will ruin your relationship with your list.
Of course, you will want to down the line, create income and make sales, but if you push too far too quickly, you will frighten people off. It take time to build a list and it takes time to make a connection. I found the best way to make sales was to suggest a product or service that would benefit them further. But that was after I had over a period of time built up a rapport with them.
Listen, in establishing a link between list building and electricity I was as you know, talking about establishing a connection with people. Without a connection you will not build a list. Use the materials you have got with the tools to create that connection. It worked for me and it will work for yout too.
Finally, don't get hung up on looking at list building as a science . It not. Use the analogy I have given you to build your own list. It does not have to be electricity, it can be anything. If its cakemaking, you still need tools and materials for that too. The main thing to do is look on it as something you must prepare for and have the right tools for. The materials come from you, to find them, just look inside yourself.
