Email lists can be a powerful marketing tool, provided you know how to use them right. The power of an email list depends on whether we know what to do with it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s just a pile of addresses. With the right technique, however, your list has a few advantages.

First, on a good list, every prospect will have volunteered to be there and will be appropriate for your niche. That means no harvesting the names and emails of the unsuspecting, and no tricking people into signing up. After all, the best prospect is one who trusts you. If you start out by sending blind emails to someone who’s never heard of you, you’re not building trust.

A list with these three factors – targeting, trust, and a voluntary base of potential customers – will make your efforts much more effective. The conversion rate from prospective customer to actual customer is much higher if you have a truly targeted list. Bulk lists might be easier to get, but they just don’t get you the same kinds of results. The real power of an email list depends on how you build it and how you market to the people on it.

There are lots of ways to build your list. You’re probably inundated with offers that claim they have the most effective list building strategy out there. They’re all promising the same thing, though: the ability to build a list fast and easily. Unfortunately, just anything else that appears to come easy, these list building strategies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. The resulting list is one you don’t “own” – it’s not well fitted to you and what you have to offer. This list is much less responsive.

Putting together a truly effective list is going to require a little bit of planning and work, and it won’t happen overnight. However, there are a few relatively simple strategies that will help. They all rely on the same thing: offering something to your prospects in exchange for signing up. After all, no one wants to just get inundated with ads for something they don’t want. People on a voluntary list are there because they think you’ve got what they need. It helps if you can prove it to them with some extras.

Try offering a free product or a trial of your service for signing up to receive more information. Use the list to distribute a free ezine or newsletter (make sure you have the ability to provide real, original content on a regular basis). You can also add customers you already have to a list of useful announcements. They’ve bought from you before and are likely to be interested in doing so again (assuming you provided a good quality product and good service).

Free reports on information in the same industry, techniques your customer base might need, or other related areas might also be a good enticement. Don’t make these all about your product. After all, the list is coming to you in the hopes of some truly objective information. Add a small link to your current products or a little information about them at the end. This not only keeps your list happy, but it will encourage them to recommend others to you. They’ll sign up to get what you have to offer, too.

When you put together your list, don’t just mix all the addresses together. Make sure you keep track of who’s already been a customer and who hasn’t. Separate the names, and keep track of who responds to your offers. This helps you understand what’s working and what’s not. This gives you a few sublists. Send the occasional free or discount offer to your existing customers – the power of saving money can help convert the prospects to customers once they know what they’ll get when they buy.

The money is in the list, but you have to know how to get it out. Treating your list with care and making sure it’s made up of people who really want to be there is the best way to get an efficient conversion rate. It might take longer to build a list like this, but the end results are definitely worth it. Take a second look at your lists – are they offering you all they could be? If they aren’t, it might be time to rework them the right way.