Expand your marketing capabilities with email lists March 11, 2009
How to build your email list
There are many ways to build your email list. By doing so, you can expand your online marketing capabilities inexpensively. 
1. The signature line. Everyone has a signature line at the bottom of his or her emails. If you do not, you need to create one. Your name, company name, contact information and the URL of your website are necessary and should be included automatically at the bottom of each email. It is a form of passive advertising. That being said, everyone else has a signature line, too. Gather them as carefully as a kid on Halloween and add them to your contact list.
2. Get involved in online discussion forums. Look around for forums where you may find clients. For example, if you sell baby clothes, look for an online mother’s group. Realtors might frequent forums in which people are looking for homes or property. Whatever you specialty, go to the forum that discusses it. Be careful not to sell, though. Discussion forums are, by definition, places where like-minded people can discuss their issues without being barraged with sales people. Just lurk for a while to find out what they are discussing, and then start offering your expert advice. In one sentence, you can tell the group who you are and what you can do to help them. Keep in mind that this is usually done in one introduction post when you first join the group. After that, you signature line will tell them who you are. After offering advice for a while, you will be viewed as an expert in that subject and members of the forum who need your product or services will seek you out.
3. Free webinars are a good way to build your list. When someone signs up to attend your webinar or teleconference, you ask for his or her email address. Then you contact them via email to tell them the password and other necessary information for them to get into your webinar on the appointed day or time. By sending out the informational email, you are also putting together a group list of emails for future marketing.
4. Send out a monthly or weekly newsletter. You can include items of interest to your specific clientele. By sending out a newsletter, you will help the client with your expert information (see expert discussion above), and you will be able to capture emails. This is done by first sending an invitation to receive your newsletter. When the client signs up, they sign up with their email address. Make sure you always send something that will benefit the client or else they will unsubscribe (but you still have their email address for future sales letters).
5. Include a tell-a-friend or referral section in all of your outgoing emails. A referral from a current client goes a long way. When one of your clients refers someone, they are putting their own reputation on the line. Obviously, they will not do this lightly, so the person they refer is likely to check out your business on the advice of the person who made the referral. Sweeten the pot by offering a special discount to the person who refers a client. Even the reluctant client will think seriously about referring someone if they know they are getting something in return.
