Your Single Most Important Tool...

If you've read a few of my articles already then you know the number one thing I will tell you is to build a list. Build A List - BUILD A LIST - BUILD A LIST!

Your question is "HOW DO I BUILD A LIST?" 

You need three things to do this...

1. You need the software to make a list with.
2. You need a website where people can opt-in to your list.
3. You need a "strategy" for getting people onto your list.

Let's start with the software.  There is nothing better on the market than AWeber.  Take a FREE TEST DRIVE from them! Just fill in the form below and see how their system works...

AWeber Demo

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Don't bother messing around with looking for a cheaper service, or a better service or a faster service.  I have used several other services and I'll tell you what you will find if you research the alternatives...

PRICE: Most services charge you a LOT of money. Here's a price list from one of them that is pretty typical.

I'll call them "Competitor C"...

• The first 500 people on your list cost you $15/month.
• Up to 2,500 people costs you $30/month.
• Up to 10,000 people is $75/month. 
• Up to 25,000 people is $150/month. 
• Over 25,000 people -- call us!

You've heard the saying "Life begins at 40" right? 

Well "LIST begins at 10,000" in my book. With a list of 10,000 names you begin to make a living on the web.  That means it would cost you $75/month to host your list with this competitor.  And when your list gets to 30,000 and you're really doing well - I don't even KNOW what they'll charge you - but it's at least $300/month!

AWeber charges $19.95 for the first  10,000 on your list.  Then $9.95 more for every  10,000 above the original 10,000 people.  So a list of 35,000 people will cost you $39/month with them. 

SERVICE: Yesterday I was looking at my list and wondering what all those "unsubscribed" names on the list were all about. I called their toll-free number at 800-531-5065 and got a real person in tech support on the phone in less than 3 minutes. 

She explained that "unsubscribed" people had subscribed to my list then opted out at some point.  They may have clicked the UNSUBSCRIBE link embeded automatically into every email or they might have clicked the AOL "report as spam" button and been automatically unsubscribed. 

That brought up another question I had... after three years of hosting my list I recently received my 500th SPAM complaint. All 500 were from AOL users!  How did their company view that?  Her answer was that they and AOL both know that AOL users click that link instead of finding the UNSUBSCRIBE button in their emails and that it wasn't a problem for me as long as we weren't really spamming anyone. And I had another question, and another, and just one more. And she answered them all for me and even deleted the unsubscribed list for me when I asked her to.

I still remember the frustration I had when trying to get a tech-support question answered by "Competitor T" a few years ago.  There is no phone number. Only an email form. And I waited 4 days for a response.  And I was paying over $100/month for their service with just over 10,000 emails on my list.  For the monthly service fee I pay AWeber, I didn't expect to get a real, live technician to talk to on the phone. But I did and that's impressive! 

Look for parts 2 to follow showing you several options for building a website and keep reading here in the "Let's Talk Strategy" section for more on how to get people onto your list!

Comments

[Tom Schneider]

Good article and a great reference, Larry.
I especially liked this sentence: "LIST begins at 10,000" in my book. With a list of 10,000 names you begin to make a living on the web."
I'm looking forward to Part 3 about developing a strategy for getting people on our list.