I know the headline above is a bit insulting to some of you who may not be building a list yet. But don’t hold your breath for any sort of apology because I really don’t see one coming your way any time soon. Truth is, if list building isn’t your number one priority from the offset then you really are a weirdo, so you might as well embrace it. But there is hope, you could change your focus. In this article my goal is to give you 3 reasons you might want to do precisely that.
List building Helps You Build Traction.
Keyword research, SEO, Social media optimization, comment posting…what’s it all for if you can hold on to the big data email list eyeballs. Believe it or not most visitors only stay on your site for a couple of minute on their first visit. Even on my website where I boast an average time per visitor of 13 minutes the same is typically true for first time visitor. It isn’t until my readers actually come back for their next visit that they will actually take the time to dig into my content more, to comment on my posts and to share them with their friends.
And without building a list, 90% of those people would never even come back to my site…
It’s a big web out there. And you’re no doubt working your butt off to get visitors to your site, so why not hold on to more of your traffic so you can bring them back whenever you want. Not only that, but by building a list you have the opportunity to build your brand and a deeper connection with your audience.
For instance, when I add a user to my list my follow-up ALS connects them to my Facebook Fan page, my blog, My YouTube Channel and my twitter account, which leads me to my second point. List Building Helps You Build Connections That Help Make You Profitable. The connections merely start at giving people a chance to get in touch with you on the various social media channels, but that’s only a small piece of the puzzle.
By providing value to your readers by way of free gifts, community memes, and other interesting content that you find online… you have the opportunity to build a real community of people with similar interests who not only talk to you, but also who talk positively about you. Not to mention, that if you can manage to have a healthy mix of content along with promotion, you can create a community of readers who not only want to hear from you, but who also spend their money with you -A truly powerful benefit.
List Building Gives You Superpowers…Literally.
Properly managed your list can give you an enormous amount of insight into the minds of your customers like ‘professor X.’
From click-tracking, to user polls, to prelaunches, to beta releases, having an email list and a group of customers and fans who actually engage with your message is like having a psychic ability that tells you exactly what you market wants. By paying attention to the data you collect and acting on the results, you can further cater your message to your audience making your more relevant in the minds of your customers.
List Building Increases Productivity.
If you’ve already gotten your hands on my crash course (I know a shameless plug;-p) then you know that I am a huge fan of streamlining my workload. I would rather focus on my message then spend all day trying to convince someone to do business with me. Well, here’s another area where email lists tend to shine.
