Building your list, checking it twice, 4 easy steps - not naughty but nice.

Any season 'tis the season to build your email list of prospects and customers, but there's no time like the present. This issue of Hints & Tips is all about helping you build your list quickly and easily so that you can start reaping the benefits of communicating to your targeted audience.

 

"Come into my parlor," said the spider to the fly.

Those of you with a website are collecting email addresses of site visitors on your home page and your other website pages, right? If not, you should start now. Attracting subscribers to your list with a sign up tag on your home page and other appropriate pages of your site is a given.

Those of you without websites should be collecting email addresses at every possible point of customer contact:

 

• In a guest book
• On customer service or support calls
• On invoices, brochures, customer surveys, feedback forms
• At tradeshows, events, industry functions

You are sitting on a goldmine!

You can send an email to individuals with whom you have a prior business relationship. But, you must include a simple, clear and immediate way for them to unsubscribe from, or opt-out of, your list. Although opinions vary, this opt-out approach is used by some of the most successful and reputable companies and is supported by the Direct Marketing Association.

Ask people in your company for the email addresses of prospects and customers. Your sales and marketing people probably have the largest number of addresses. They have collected them from trade shows and industry functions, where business cards are exchanged and prospects request information.

Do not overlook your customer service people. They handle most of the incoming requests for information whether on the phone or via your "Contact Us" forms or suggestion boxes. More importantly, your accounting department or bookkeeper will have the email addresses of your best prospects - your current and past customers.

 

Reach out and touch someone.

Place a "join our mailing list" link in the email signature of your regular correspondence. The link should go to your home page or the most appropriate page of your site where your signup tag is prominently displayed.

Rent-a-Subscriber.

Rent a targeted opt-in list for a promotion and include your "join our mailing list" tag in the email itself to capture the email addresses of interested recipients. The recipient may or may not take advantage of the promotion, but they may very well want to hear from you in the future. For visitors who click through to your website or landing pages from the promotion, have your "join my mailing list" tag displayed prominently. You will maximize the value of your rental list by taking advantage of the opportunity to mail to those individuals again.

Don't wait - it is never too early to start building your list. You will be surprised at the size of the list you are able to compile and how quickly and consistently it can grow