Building the biggest opt-in list around isn’t always the best thing for your business. There are a number of factors to consider such as quality of the list versus the quantity. Of course, if you combine the two, the results will be very positive to your business. If you consider a list of 500 that brings in 30 sales, while a list of 3000 brings the same.

Which is more valuable?

The quality of your list is much more important than quantity. Sometimes as an Internet marketers, we can lose sight of the object of building an opt-in list.

Here are three list building strategies to help you build your business.

Rule #1: Ask. To find out what your list members want, ask. Ask them what kind of information will better serve their online business needs. This fits right into our nature as humans,…asking our opinion makes us feel validated. When it comes to your online business, nothing is more valuable than your list members opinion.

Rule #2: Don’t go over-board! Although staying in touch with your opt-in list is important, you don’t want to irritate them either with too many announcements and promotions. For example, don’t send out three emails in a day, as this made distract, interrupt or even bother some of your members.

One email per day should be enough, unless special circumstances arise requiring more. Have a good balance between quality information and promotions.

Rule #3: Know who your members are. Are your list members single mothers, or senior citizens? Are they newbie Internet marketer or are they golf enthusiast? By knowing who your members are, you can better provide them with right information and products. More than likely you want to build a list of like-minded individuals. Also, don’t hesitate to ask your list to recommend you to their friends and co-workers, or to others who share their passion for your niche.

Conclusion

As you can see, asking your list what they want is essential to your business. You can accomplish this by using such services as SurveyMonkey, or a script by Mark Hendricks. When contacting your list, the frequency of your emails will depend on the relationship you’ve built with them or are establishing. If you are unsure, have them take a survey. Using these list building strategies will better serve their online business needs, which in turn will build your business.

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Building an opt-in list is essential to any online business, but keeping them engaged week after week while building your relationship with them is also important to your bottom line. Never take your subscriber for granted and make certain that you respect what you are establishing with them.

Here’s are some proven tips to help you make the most of your list:

1. Provide high-quality content.

Make certain that your articles are highly informative and user friendly. This will keep them engaged and will want to be contacted by you.

2. Keep your emails simple and user friendly.

Write in a conversational manner, and stick to small paragraphs, and make certain your contact email is accessible. Remember that we live in a society that is constantly giving us information around the clock. Don’t use big paragraphs and use bullet points when necessary. Keep each point in a different paragraph and then spare a line between each paragraph.

3. Keep your customers updated and informed.

After all, they’ve subscribe to your list for a reason. Right? Updated them about new products, or blog posts. A weekly newsletter would help even more.

4. Don’t babble, just get to the point and quick.

Of course, this will highly depend on the relationship you have with your subscribers. Keep it real and don’t make false promises. Always be honest and truthful.

5. Experiment, with different means of communication

Use audio, video and anything that can help you to reach out to your customers. This will help them get to know you better, as it provides personalization.

6. Don’t promote everything under the sun.

To put it bluntly, don’t be an affiliate harlot, just because there’s money to be made with the latest launch of “John Q. Guru”…

Please note, there’s nothing wrong with promoting high quality affiliate products, just keep a nice balance between providing high-quality content and affiliate promotions.

7. Update your autoresponder list regularly.

Keep your list clean by removing any and all fake names and email addresses.

8. Use a spell checker.

You don’t want to turn off one of your subscriber just because you were to lazy to check your spelling. Taking this extra step will keep your emails free of spelling errors, and will help you avoid getting flagged as spam email.

9. Test your emails more than once.

Subscribe to your own email list as this will provide you with the opportunity to see what your subscribers see. Check your headline and see if it fits the AIDA model of attention, interest, desire and action.

Conclusion

Never forget why your building your opt-in list, and understand what your motivations are.

Is your primary goal to make money?

If so, it will show in the content you provide as well as the emails you send out. However, if your goal is provide excellent content to your subscribers along with great customer service, then you’ll reap the rewards of your hard work.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with selling, after all, you are running a business and not a charity. You’re building this opt-in list for a reason. The key is to establish, build and nurture your subscribers and find the right balance that is right for you - between promotions and content.