Why Build An Email List? By Abbie Drew Dec 14, 2005

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Why build an email list? The answer to that question might just hold the key to the success or failure of your business.

Let me start to answer that question by way of a story . . .

At the end of last week I received an excited call from Carrie, a new SendFree member.

She said to me – “I can’t believe I put a SendFree form on my site and I’ve already gotten two out of two! This is an incredible tool!”

At first I wasn’t quite sure what two out of two meant but upon further discussion I came to learn that the two people who had filled out the SendFree form on her web site to get additional information by email had both then purchased!

Carrie was amazed that simply sending her prospects valuable information by email and then following up would work. She had no idea email is so effective. After seeing her results, though, she’s now an email believer.

I wanted to share Carrie story, as it was a reminder to me that many marketers are not using email marketing. In some instances the marketers are just unaware, as Carrie was, and in other cases the marketers are convinced email is dead.

Well email is alive and well. In fact, I have been reliant upon email to make my living for so long, I take it forgranted that everyone knows they should be collecting the email addresses of prospects and building a list.

The reason many small businesses are not building email lists is due to experts emphasizing the need for web traffic. These experts talk about driving traffic to make sales with little mention of email. I, however, contend that traffic alone is not good enough.

Your business must build an email list! And, you have to market by email to that list.

Why?

Here are 5 essential reasons you need to use email marketing:

1) Email marketing saves you money!

If you have access to the Internet you can send off an email without spending a dime. You can even follow-up with prospects by email for nothing. Our SendFree autoresponder service offers free follow-up autoresponders. How many business tools allow you to communicate and follow-up with multiple prospect for free or very little cost? Making phone calls has an expense. Sending letters by postal mail has an expense. Driving to meet prospects face to face has an expense.

Email is an incredibly cost effective tool for your business.

2) Email marketing saves you time!

Sending out email to prospects and customers is quick and easy. How long does it take to compose an email message and hit send? A minute, two maybe? And if you have pre-set email messages being sent out by autoresponder, responding by email is done automatically.

When you want to send out a newsletter or update all your prospects and customers at once, email makes it simple. You just write the message, put it into your emailer and hit send. That’s it. Your done.

Just think about the amount of time it takes to make a phone call, send a letter or attend a meeting. Email is so much faster!

3) Email marketing saves you hassle!

Email takes the headache out of following up with prospects and customers. With an email autoresponder, you set-it and forget it. You put the follow-up system in place once and then you’re done. Your business follow-ups on auto-pilot!

And follow-up is critical to sales. According to statistics from the National Sales Executive Association only 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact. While 80% of all sales are made on the 5th - 12th contact.

With email autoresponders you avoid the nightmare of constantly trying to remember to follow-up using the other communication tools like the phone, letters or meetings. Not to mention imagine the time you’d take is you used these methods to follow-up.

Before email it’s no wonder so many of us avoided follow-up. Email just makes doing business easier!

4) Email marketing is appreciated.

Not only is email easier for you, it also is easier for your prospects and customers. Email saves your prospects and customers time and money as well. There is a reason why email is the most used tool online with 92.5% of the US Internet-using population using email on a regular basis.

We all like it.

When you reach out to your prospects and customers using a communication tool with which they’re comfortable you get better results.

5) Email marketing makes you sales.

Sending helpful and/or informative email regularly to your to your prospects and customers builds credibility. Your email list subscribers become accustomed to hearing from you. They come to know, like and trust you. Your email communication establishes a relationship with subscribers upon which sales are made.

* Subscribers get used to dealing with you.

Your email messages show up in their email box regularly and they have to deal with the message in some way. Be it read it or trash it – they still see it. A subscriber who is used to dealing with you will be more likely to buy from you than from someone they never had any dealings with.

* Subscribers develop an obligation to purchase from you.

You are keeping in touch and continually providing useful information that is appreciated. Most subscribers will want to reciprocate. They’ll feel they should buy from you because of all you’ve given to them.

* Subscriber's barriers to doing business are torn down.

We all hate to be sold something. As a result we erect walls of objections to the hard sell. Constant email communication knocks down those walls. Subscriber comes to think of you as a friend rather than a salesman.

* Subscribers are given multiple chances to buy.

With every email you provide a reminder of the great products / service you offer. And, as noted by the National Sales Executive Association, most of us don’t buy the first time we learn of a product. Your email follow-up keeps making the items available increasing the chances of a sale.


So are you on the email marketing bandwagon with me?

Good!

Now let’s get back to why build an email list?

Emailing to a list of subscribers makes you sales. So what can you offer?

1) Promote goods or services to your list!

Yes, this is the obvious answer. And of course a highly profitable use of an email list. Sell your services or the hard goods you have.

But what if you do not have hard goods or do not have an expertise to sell?

2) Create information products to sell!

Become an infopreneur. Publish information products from your knowledge. Draw from your hobby, job, past-time, previous experience, etc. and write books or produce videos on the topic.

Focus on a subject you enjoy and develop a list of subscribers interested in that subject as well. Your list will be a source to whom you can sell as many information products as you can create.

3) Make advertising available to your list!

DEMC E-Magazine started with no products / services to sell. The only revenue generated for years was strictly from advertising sales.

If you have a list of subscribers who read your emails, you have a profit source. You can either sell to 3rd parties the right to email ads to your list. Or you can joint venture with individuals who have a product / service and make at least half the revenue from sales to your subscribers.

Advertising sales and joint venture deals make you money! I know – as this is a great revenue source for our business.

4) Become an affiliate marketer!

There are more affiliate/associate programs available on the Internet than you can imagine. Many businesses make all of their revenue from simply promoting the products and services of other.

When you develop a subscriber list targeted to a specific niche, you will be able to sell to those readers. Simply select products and services that would be beneficial to them. Write reviews about those products and service and inform your list of those you recommend. You will make sales.


These 4 ideas just touch on the revenue generating capabilities of having your own email list. The simple fact is if you’re in business on the Internet, you need to be building your email list.

Stop making excuses and get started today! You too can experience Carrie’s excitement!

If you have no idea how to begin we can help. Our SendFree autoresponder service will help you collect, maintain and communicate with your list subscribers.

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Abbie Drew
DEMC

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