List building can be a very difficult task when you don’t know how to go about it properly. Many people continue to make the same mistakes that simply don’t produce results. In fact, many strategies can actually directly work against you and your efforts. So it’s time to learn some proven list building strategies, the tried and true methods that will guarantee you increased success.

 

First, it’s important to understand why list building is so important. When you have a large, interested list filled with prospects and customers, you have an audience that you can continue to sell to over a long time. You’ll be able to drive up your sales to much higher rates, pushing out new products, offering discounts, providing reviews and more. A strong email list is one of the best weapons you can have in your fight to increase your business.

 

However, it has to be noted that purchasing an email list or gathering up random names from around the Internet are not smart strategies. You’ll end up with a lot of names, but none of them will know who you are, care about what you have to say or be interested in your products or services. You will get marked as spam, and your delivery rates will start to plummet. You could even be entirely blocked or blacklisted if that continues.

 

Therefore list building the old fashioned way is of the utmost importance. If you want to increase the size of your list, I know from experience that you can see dramatic improvements in a short time just by making a few adjustments to what you’re already doing.

 

One of the best ways to get started is placing your signup on your website. This will allow all people that visit your site to signup for your list if they want. However, you shouldn’t just throw that signup button anywhere. You need to learn how to place it in the right spots to maximize your results.

 

The signup button needs to be above the fold of your website, which means it’s on the portion of your layout that loads first, so people don’t have to scroll down in their browser in order to see it. This is the ideal location because you will ensure that everyone sees it right away. Additionally, your signup button should be present on every single page of your site, rather than on just your homepage or other individual locations. This way, no matter how people get to your site or what pages they view, they will always have the option of signing up for your list.

 

Another list building tactic is to make people an offer in order to get them to sign up for your list. It’s great that you have an email signup, but why should anybody care if they aren’t getting anything out of the deal? People don’t sign up for things just out of the goodness of their hearts. No, they sign up for things to get something out of the deal, and you need to make your visitors an offer that entices them.

 

This offer can be just about anything that you can think of, as long as it has real value for your audience. A weekly newsletter filled with tips and ideas can be an offer. A special discount or coupon code can be an offer you can make. Free eBooks, guides and mini-reports are great offers that people will jump on. Special access to a members only section of your website is another common idea. Whatever you choose, make sure people know about it and make sure it will have real value to your prospects.

 

When it comes to list building, you also don’t want to forget that you can build your list offline in addition to through your website. If you have a physical store location, you can have people sign up at the cash register with a simple form. When you attend tradeshows, conferences, meetings and other events you should always be ready to take down people’s names and email addresses to help find more prospects. Wherever you go and whoever you interact with, always be ready to pounce and add more people to your list.

 

There are many different ways to go about list building. Both quantity and quality matter, which means that purchased or gathered lists don’t fare as well as permission based lists that you have slowly built up over time. Make sure you have a signup button on your site in a prominent location, make people an offer and think about offline strategies in addition to online methods for list building success.