How to Build an Opt-in Email List

For anyone with the serious intention of building a business online, it is essential to build a list of responsive, interested prospects that are open to hearing about your promotions. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to ensure the long-term viability of any long-term internet venture. While there may be some email list scams on the internet, there are also a number of ways to effectively (and ethically) build your opt-in email list.

The name says it all: opt-in. An opt-in email list is one that a person requests to be on and confirms this preference, as opposed to spamming, which is not authorized. Be very careful in how you manage your list, because even an honest mistake can result in an accusation of spam. The best policy is to use a double opt-in strategy, whereby visitors enter their email address on your website and also confirm their request by clicking on a link sent to their inbox.

There are several different options for ensuring that you stay on top of your list and keep everything under control. It is a wise move to invest in a quality auto-responder such as AWeber, because it will help you steer clear of problems with spam and will let you set your business on auto pilot with a whole series of messages that are sent out to each opt-in subscriber. The small investment in such a service will more than pay for itself through avoiding headaches!

As a word of caution, be on the lookout for internet opt-in list scams. Those wonderful ads that say you can send out a million messages with the click of a button? Yep, you guessed it- too good to be true. As with any business product or service, you get what you pay for when it comes to email list management.

A better idea is to use some simple strategies to build your list quickly. Here are some useful ideas that can be put into practice right away:

- Offer a free report or sample of your product in exchange for an email address. Offering prospects value upfront goes a long way toward building a trusting relationship.

- Put a form in a prominent position on your website that allows people to sign up for your free report or regular newsletter. Visitors will never sign up if you don't ask them to!

- If you ever find yourself visiting online discussion forums, make reference to your website in your signature. Intriguing yet subtle works best.

- Use pay-per-click advertising (with Google, Yahoo, or other search engines) to build your opt-in list. Sending visitors straight to a page where you offer something of value for their email address will help you get a high percentage of visitors to fill out your form.

The advantages of building an opt-in email list go on and on, because once you build up a trusting relationship with your customers, you can contact each and every one of them with the click of a button. Take note of these tips and tricks and start building your list today!