I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors going around… linking networks have been closed, people’s sites are losing rank, people are getting “love letters” from Google about funky linking, people’s youtube accounts are being closed, lenses are getting locked, THE SKY IS FALLING!
These “rumors” are enough to strike fear into the hearts of your average affiliate marketer… losing the ability to build links that work? Losing ranking ~ that means losing traffic ~ hate mail from Google?! YIKES.
It’s enough to make you want to throw your hands in the air and give up.
But let’s not.
Because, there’s one asset you could be creating that can give you security ~ knowing no matter what Google, or Youtube or any other web 2.0 site decides to do with you… you could bounce back.
What’s that asset?
A list of course.
Here’s the thing…
When you create a list, and build your relationship with that list, create a serious group of people who not only signed up but look forward to hearing from you ~ nothing can stop you.
Your site gets deindexed?
Send an email to your list and they’ll stop by and read what you wrote.
Your youtube channel gets closed?
Send an email to your list and let them know you’ve set up shop on another network.
Facebook closes your account?
Send an email to your list and let them know your new address.
Got a new product you created?
Send an email to your list and let them know about it.
You see… once you have a list you’re almost bulletproof. No matter what outside forces DO to you… you can still connect with your audience. You still have a point of contact.
Being able to connect and contact your audience is THE biggest thing when it comes to internet marketing. If you can’t contact and connect with your audience ~ you’re sunk. You are at the mercy of anyone and everyone’s whims.
But once you have a list… you can rebuild no matter what happens. You can makes sales no matter what. You can launch new things, no matter what.
The very first thing you should do ~ well after writing some great content ~ is start building your list.
Now… let’s talk about this whole “building your list” thing for a second. Because I know we’re here to make money, and most of us have been reading way too much about “monetization” and affiliate marketing, and how to scrape the last dime out of your visitors.
This is NOT what your list is about.
This is SOOOO important… because if you do this right your list will love you and buy from you forever. If you do this wrong… you might as well not have a list at all.
When you’re thinking about your list you need to think of them as friends. Yep. Friends.
Do not do anything to your list or with your list you wouldn’t do to a real life friend.
This includes everything… the emails you send. The products you recommend. How often you recommend products. How often you send emails. What kind of thank you gift you offer to them.
List building doesn’t need to be complicated… in fact, it’s a really simple thing.
You are offering a way to get to know YOU better… as well as a way to get to know THEM better as well.
If you think of your list as a way to connect, you’ll be ok 100% of the time.
Your list is an asset for sure. But it’s more than just a business asset ~ it’s a lifeline between you and your audience. It’s the way they get to know you. It’s how they get to trust you. It’s the way they learn if what you’ve got, and who you are is a good match for them.
So if you haven’t started building your list yet… get started now. There’s really no better time. This month we’re going to talk about creating a relationship with your list ~ how you can really connect with your list so it will be a HUGE asset to your business.
If you haven’t started yet, here’s some articles you can use to get the basics down, and get yourself up and running so you can follow along for the rest of the month.
Build Your List from the Beginning ~ the basics of list building.
Tips to writing your free report ~ We’ll be talking more about this next week as well.
How to upload your report so you can share it
How to set up your autoresponder
How to add your opt in box to the sidebar
That should get you started. The rest of the month we’re going to be talking about how you can be YOURSELF, and connect with your list ~ because it’s the connection that makes your list worth its weight in gold.
I want this series to benefit you… so please make sure you let me know what elements of list building YOU want to cover this month. I’ve got my own ideas… but I want to make sure what you want is what I think you want lol. 
No related posts.
List building can be quite tough because most Internet marketers don’t really know how to generate traffic to their sales page. Once you understand the fundamentals of generating traffic you can then focus on managing your list for profitability.
Building an e-mail list of subscribers cannot make you rich overnight for sure. However,this is very important to your online business success. Not only will you gain be able to obtain valuable data that will help your business in the long run but you will also be better prepared and have enough preparation to fully promote your entire internet marketing business strategies to a wider audience.
List building is so important! I found that out when I was inadvertently locked out of FB for several days due to their computer glitch and realized that all my contact information was there and only there. Scary!
Speaking of “love letters,” I just got a “Dear John” email myself from the Google people: They “dumped” me from their Adsense program.
that sucks Sonny. Sorry to hear that. It’s getting harder and harder to please the all mighty G these days.
Great way to bring out the advantage of list building and how it can help us in such crisis. Indeed list building is important for every blogger and not just for the marketing professionals. I use Mail Chimp for my list building but am planning to switch to a Weber for building lists as it has received some of the best reviews.
Well focus on social media has risen since the beginning of these rumors i think people will find more different sources of traffic because google is making it harder than ever
I think if you keep things white hat then you’ll be fine in the long run. My site – http://www.bikiniwaxvideo.org – has continued to go up algo after algo because I just do things on the up and up. I know it doesn’t get you INSTANT results but you also don’t have to worry about getting banned either!
Jackie,
A few of my site have lost ranking because the networking site I was using got deindexed. You make a valid point about Mail Lists which I do not have at this time. No matter what Google does if you have a mailing list you still can develop relationships.
Thanks for making me think about creating a mailing list to develop relationships with.
Larry
Hi Jackie
List building is something I have to do and keep putting it off. The points you make in your post about accounts being closed and still being able to email YOUR LIST really does hit it home as to how important this is becoming, especially with Google updates and the way things a going.
Great information
Thanks
Jon
Hey Jackie,
I wish I have thought about this few years ago, I have always got my traffic from Google for 4 sites, I got hit with Panda once and I lost alot of visitors and income, at that point I started looking for alternatives and everybody was telling me to try solo ads or ppc but I was used to the free targeted traffic and ppc costs more.
I have started building my list but I am kind of confused, should I use a pop up or its annoying? I usually lose trusts in sites that try to push the subscription in my face and its very annoying..How often should I send information ( free ) for my list?
As everybody says the money is in the list but I guess they forgot to mention to treat the list as a friend as you said
Regards,
Carmin
It really depends on your market how the pop up is going to work… people outside of the IM niche don’t seem to mind a pop up as much as people IN the IM niche… maybe they aren’t as cynical lol
Hi Jackie, it is only recently that I have started to build a list. It is certainly tough times with all of the changes and Google slaps being delivered to us. As a marketer, this is why list building is now more important than ever.
Thank you for the tips within your post as I will have to start implementing them.
Awesome article! I like the rule: treat your list like you do your REAL LIFE FRIENDS. I will definitely be visiting this site again, and again, and again,…
Nice points Jackie,
If any of your social networking account get banned or get hacked, you can easily inform your readers about your new address or account. That’s certainly a safe way to stay in touch with your audience and build strong relationship.
I haven’t heard any of the rumor, but thanks for reminding me that i need to work on my mailing lists more
That news put us through a lot of shock knowing that we can get banned using some methods that we thought might be the quickest way to earn our position. Yet, this is a very brilliant idea, and it really matters that you engage with people smartly in these times of scary shutdowns made by the king of search engines.
Thank you for a useful post on list building. We have a large list for one of our older sites, but haven’t thought of list building for our smaller niche type sites. I can see how list building for homesteading or Internet marketing or a certain genre would be beneficial, but how would you go about it when you have many different sites on many different topics?
Hey Lanie,
If you set up follow up emails at the beginning, and have your new posts go out to your list you don’t have much to do after the up front work.
Services like GetResponse and Aweber allow you to have as many lists as you want in your account. You just set up a different list for each of your topics.
We do have an account with Aweber, so will check that out. Thanks again for the informative post.
A well-updated list must be the basic of all internet marketing strategies. It’s the main part of a good business plan. It must be kept fresh and updated, and than, it could be the most effective tool of online marketing.
Thank you for writing this post Jackie, I was just thinking yesterday how I need to have mailing lists but for some reason I find the process intimidating. I am going to check out the links you shared to help me get started.
I haven’t heard any of the rumors but I do really need to work on my list building though. Great reminder!
“I want to make sure what you want is what I think you want”
Wow. Don’t we wish ALL relationships started this way! lol
Great time for this month’s topic. I’m so ready to learn how to do List Building the Right way.