List Building - Your Bread Butter
“Bread and Butter!” That is what people say who are walking along and an obstacle comes between them. They release one another’s hand and walk on either side of the obstacle, then rejoin hands and say, “Bread and Butter”. It’s symbolic. Bread and butter belong together.
Another way the term ‘Bread and Butter’ is used is to denote the main substance of an enterprise. “That trick is his ‘Bread and Butter’ trick.” This means that it is the backbone of his act and that he depends on it and relies on it regularly to sustain him.
Both interpretations of the term ‘Bread and Butter’ apply to list building and Internet Marketing. You just can’t have one without the other. You can’t separate the two because they belong together and, likewise; they are the sustaining part of an Internet marketers business.
List building is the first, most important, and most constant of all the tasks that Internet marketers engage in. Their lists are their bread and butter and their lists and their businesses belong together. Neither can exist without the other.
You won’t have to wander around the Internet very long before you will find people saying that list building just isn’t important... and that it isn’t even necessary. Don’t you believe one word of that hooey... and that is precisely what it is... hooey!
That is without a doubt the worst Internet marketing advice that is available anywhere on the Internet... and there is a lot of useless information out there. There is useless information but the idea of not building a list is just downright dangerous advice to follow. List building isn’t important... it is absolutely vital... it really is your bread and butter. Without a list, you are simply without a business.
The CAN-SPAM act made it illegal to send bulk marketing emails without the consent of the recipients. That is the law. The penalties for disobeying this law are tough! You can be fined up to $11,000 per unsolicited marketing email that you send!
It wouldn’t take but one to do a lot of damage and if you send hundreds, you’ll never get the fine paid off… at least not in just one lifetime. Do you NEED an opt-in list? YES! Your list is your bread and butter.
Now, let’s discuss ways in which one can go about building that bread and butter opt-in list. There are several ways that have been proven to be very effective list building techniques.
One way to build your bread and butter opt-in list is to write articles and submit them to article banks.
If you weren’t blessed with any writing ability at all or if you simply do not have the time to devote to writing articles, you can have articles written for you by ghostwriters or you can join a PLR site and download articles that will just need some rewriting to prevent them from being identified as duplicate content by search engine spiders. These articles need to be no longer than 300 to 400 words and they need to be keyword rich. Your resource box needs to include your name and a link to your website.
Another proven list building technique is to join and post to blogs and forums that are dedicated to a topic that relates to the products and services that you sell.
You must be careful not to post blatant advertisements on these sites. That’s a big no-no. You will need to post 3 to 5 times each and every week to these sites and your sig tag on your posts needs to be your name and a link to your website.
Exchanging links with websites that sell products and services that are complementary to but not identical to the products and services that you sell is another way to build your bread and butter list.
Now, some marketers do not believe in link exchanges. They object to the idea of two-way traffic and don’t think that a marketer should ever post a link that takes traffic away from his or her website. The keyword, however, is TWO way. A link exchange also brings traffic to your website that you might not otherwise ever see and every person who visits your website is a potential customer or, at the very least, a possible addition to that bread and butter opt-in list.
Then there is paid advertising to consider for the purpose of list building.
A PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign is not free, of course, but if your list is greatly increased because of it then it will be money that has been well spent. PPC campaigns are very effective tools for list building... and more especially so if you can give something away for free. People do love ‘free’. Free reports... free utilities... free E-Books... if it’s free, it adds to your bread and butter opt-in list.
A very effective, maybe even the most effective, way to use paid advertising to build your list is to advertise in E-zines that relate to the topic of your website and to the products and services that you sell.
E-zine advertising is very targeted advertising that has proven to be effective as well as cost-effective. The people who will see your advertisement are the very people who are most likely to buy the products or services that you sell and to join your opt-in list... and, did I mention that it is cheap? You can usually get an advertisement in an E-zine for $30 or less.
The well established and savvy Internet marketers all know just how important list building is. List building is at the top of their ‘to-do’ list every single day. List building is never considered a side effect... it is the object of their attraction to every enterprise that they consider undertaking. They know that their lists really are their bread and butter. They fully understand that without their lists that they are without a business and you should believe that with all your heart because it is true.
