The money is in the list - we've all heard that time and again from all sorts of ebooks, seminars and coaching programs. It's the gurus favorite mantra, but what does it really mean and how do you build a list in the first place?

A list is a "database" of subscribers that you own, who have voluntarily gave you their name and email address and expect to hear from you about a certain subject. If you bought an email database from someone for a couple of bucks and sent out an email to them, that's spamming. A list that you build must know who you are, why you are contacting them, and most importantly they should be able to choose if they want to hear from you again or not.

Perhaps the biggest question on your mind right now is how to start getting subscribers? Well, here are three proven methods that help you build your list fast and profit for your subscribers over and over again.

1) Offer Something for Free

If you have a blog and you're already writing great content, that's a great start. If you're just putting up an optin form in your blog's sidebar, it will not be enough. laid back strategy used to work a few years ago, but it doesn't pay to be passive right now with so many blogs around competing for attention.

So what do you offer for free? That's the good question.

The most common method is to create some sort of free report and offer that in exchange for someone's opt-in. However, there are many other easier ways. If you have a product, offer a trial version or basic version of it for free, in exchange for an optin. With our LinkTrackr.com website for example, we offer a trial version of out link cloaking software and gets us the subscriber, even if he does not upgrade to the full version.

You can also offer a demo of your software, or a free review of your subscriber's websites. Other great ideas are to offer a free membership account to a paid membership. Just think about what your subscribers want, and create an opportunity for them to optin by creating something that they would be willing to optin to.

2) Create Landing Pages

Whether you're advertising with Google AdWords or not, you need to create landing pages. A regular blog layout has way too many distractions and links to click on. It's simply not very good at increasing your optin rate.

By creating a landing page and trying to drive more traffic directly to that page, you can see your optin conversions increase by 30% at least. Make sure you state clearly in the optin page exactly what your subscribers will get. You should keep the text simple and include a lot of bullet point. Of course, you need to place an option form on the page and make sure the download only reaches them after they have confirmed their email address.

3) Use a Good Autoresponder Software

Building a list without investing in a good autoresponder or email marketing software is a big mistake. Once someone has optin in, you need to follow up with them at least five to seven times at moderate intervals before they become accustomed to getting email from you.

Of course, some people will unsubscribe during the follow-ups, but you can ignore that. It's better to have some people opt out than to cease communicating with your list. They are as good as good as strangers if you fails to keep in touch with them longer than six months.

You should not however follow-up only to try and sell them more products and services. It should continue the interaction from the moment they opted in to your list. The key is to build lifetime subscribers, so sell only when you need to. You need to understand that the lifetime value of a single person in your list is much more important than the size of the list itself.