Building and Maintaining a Contact List

One of the most important lessons learned in the last couple of years I've been marketing on the net is, you must have a mailing or contact list!

A good list is worth its weight in gold, and your most important task is to collect and maintain a list of folks who are interested in what you have to say. The best way to do that is to offer prospects the opportunity to share your knowledge. After all, you have unique experiences and interests in life which may be valuable to others, and the easiest way for them to learn about those experiences and interests is by listening to you.

Publish a Newsletter or eZine

Publishing an electronic magazine, an "ezine," is a terrific way to share your knowledge and build a contact list at the same time. That's why I started publishing The 30 Second Commute, and why I continue to publish it. If there's truly a "marketing secret", this is it: Publish an informative, useful ezine, and use it to build your contact list.

Internet Marketing for Newbies

"But Charles," I hear you say, "I'm a complete idiot when it comes to marketing - who would want to listen to me?"

Every person on the net who's been a Marketing Idiot 1 day less than you have, that's who! From the very start and until this very day, I have never promised to be anything more than just another guy trying to make a living online. The people that are interested in my newsletter read it because they trust me to tell them the truth about what I've found in my daily trials. Not because I promise the World on a Silver Platter. Last I counted I had over 1500 subscribers and growing fast!

If I can do it, you can do it.

In Search of the Elusive Prospect

Sooner or later, someone's going to ask me where they're supposed to find subscribers for this ezine they're supposed to write. After all, a newsletter isn't worth much if no one reads it, right?

Make a list of all the programs you belong to - the good, the bad, the ugly. Start a contact list for each one of them, and, as you build a downline, add each member to it. Send them a note, thank them for joining your program, and MAINTAIN CONTACT.

Send them a note at least once a month, and make sure you do three things:

• Devote 75% of the note to discussing the program they're in,

• Invite them to subscribe to your weekly/monthly/whatever newsletter, and

• Tell them how to get off your mailing list.

If you do this faithfully, before long you'll be astounded to discover that dozens of people are not only reading your stuff, but writing to you directly, asking for advice. Advice you can honestly provide, as long as you stay "one day smarter," which means that all you need is one day's more experience than they have.

Don't Con Your Prospects - Give 'Em Something Worth Having

Virtually every professional website I visit harvests names and email addresses by offering something in return. It might be a free report, a newsletter, or anything of value, it doesn't matter what it is, so long as it provides real value in return for that name and address. If it doesn't, your prospects are not likely to remain on your list - folks don't like being scammed, and they don't forget the people who do it to them.

Don't Abuse Their Trust

Once you have your contact list program running, you'll need to keep in touch with your prospects, as I do when I send my newsletter out every week. Give your contacts the information they expect, and don't abuse their trust by sending them a lot of spam between newsletters.

I can't tell you how many ezines I've unsubscribed from because their owners thought that having my address on their contact list was an open invitation to send me "solo ads" every bloody day! No matter how tempted you may be to prostitute your contact list and earn extra income, don't do it. All you will accomplish is the loss of your subscribers' trust, and I submit that no marketer can do that and survive.

Aside: Safelist Admins who abuse their ability to deliver mail to their subscribers' contact addresses are paving the way towards their own demise. "Admin Email" that says "IMPORTANT! MUST READ!" is neither important nor worth reading.

If you're running safelists, don't contact your subscribers more than once or twice a week. When you do, they're much more likely to take you seriously than they'll be when you barrage their contact addresses with "Solo Ads" and similar rubbish.

There. I feel much better.

If you don't have the money for a Group Mailer or multiresponder, you can use your email client (most often MicroSoft's Outlook Express) to deliver your material.

If you use your email software, make sure you use its Bcc: function instead of its Cc: function. People don't like having their email addresses splattered all over someone else's email headers, and sending out a bulk mailing using Cc: is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Your subscribers will disappear quicker than yesterday's cheeseburger, and it will be a very long time before they trust you again.

The problem with using standard email software for contact lists is simply that it's too difficult to deal with subsriptions and cancellations, because they all have to be handled manually. That sucks.

The next best option is to use a Newsletter Server, like the Group Mailer. It will handle subscriptions and removals pretty well, although not nearly as well a multiresponder like the Kiosk Supersponder, or a professional email client like PostMaster. My personal choice, as you can plainly see, is Kiosk, which I consider the flat-out best multiresponder bargain on the net. Period.

If you're a Kiosk client, then you should take advantage of the multi-responder, which you can use to build and manage your list. You can also create and maintain an unlimited number of autoresponders, so that as you develop honest and effective advertising copy, you can use the responders to generate traffic and referrals.

Sooner or later, I promise you, you're going to opt for professional gear, whatever type you may choose. As your list grows from a handful of addresses to hundreds or thousands, you'll quickly discover that you can't maintain it using generic email software.

Beyond the 'Zine

OK - you're publishing your own 'zine, and you're keeping in touch, and you've chosen professional tools. What's next?

While your newsletter/ezine subscription list is your most important list, it shouldn't be your only list. In addition to using your website, or email signature, to harvest subscribers to your 'zine, you should also create and maintain multiresponder lists for as many other activities as possible. These "secondary" contact lists should be used for two purposes. First, to thank people for purchasing something that you are selling, or for joining your downline in some program or other, and, second, to encourage them to subscribe to your newsletter/ezine.

For example, when I am notified that someone has joined one of the safelists I promote, I add their name and email address to my Kiosk safelist Supersponder, which triggers a short series of automated messages.

The first one welcomes them to my team, provides my name, email address and telephone number, and, of course, a table containing all of the major lists and safelist-related programs I promote. It also mentions Kiosk, because it's not only useful, but can provide my contacts with an additional income stream. Finally, I use the first message to provide them with a free copy of this ebook.

The second message, delivered a day later, promotes ListMail4U, and again includes a lineup of major safelist-related programs.

The third message is sent 7 days later, and introduces the reader to the iPostAd Safelist Submitter.