Copyright (c) 2010 Suzan Schmitt

It is obvious that if you have a large list of people that are interested in what you have to offer then you are going to generate more income than if you have a tiny list. It is a bit of a numbers game and there are standard conversion rates that apply to every type of business that markets online.

Build a Responsive List of Clients.

I am certain that you would like to get more clients, have more people attend your workshop or events, sell more products and services, and have more people subscribe to you membership site. The best way to do this is to work diligently at building your list.

Here is how the numbers work for online marketing. You can expect anywhere between a .5 and 1.5% conversion rate. That means that if you make an email offer to 1000 people you can expect to have 5-15 take you up on that offer. Now, if you have 3000 people on your list you can expect to have 15-45. This is the power of a larger list.

How to Build a List I will assume you have decided on a target niche so you know who you want on your list. Now you need to have a service that will capture your opt-ins and allow you to send emails, newsletter and auto responder messages to them.

The way you get a customer to opt-in to your list is by offering them something of interest to them for free. We call this an ethical bribe. You must develop the "product " that you are going to offer. It could be an eBook, teleclass, eCourse, or video. The idea is that the offer needs to be something of great value or interest to the customer.

The way you name your free offer will make a huge difference in your response rate so give it an enticing name like "How to Increase Your Self-Esteem Almost Instantly". Believe it or not you still have to market smart in order to get people to take advantage of a free offer.

Next, you must choose an auto responder service or a shopping cart system. These products will allow you to capture the email addresses and organize them according to the customer's interest. You choice of autoresponder or shopping cart will depend on you level of knowledge and your needs. I suggest a shopping cart system that includes an auto responder system if you are not planning on becoming a heavy Internet marketer.