Your List, will always be your most Responsive list

The most responsive list by far has been my own list
of subscribers that I have been building using an
autoresponder.

No purchased list could be as effective. And here are
some of the main reasons why it is so important to
have your own list:

1 - people on your list opt-in to request information
from you. This makes your list the most targeted
and interested audience.

2 - people usually use their contact e-mail address
to subscribe to your newsletter/e-zine. This means
they are more likely to read it.

3 - people on your list will start recognizing your
name after they have received a couple of messages
from you. If they find your letters useful, they are
more likely to continue listening to you.

4 - you can build a relationship with people on your
list. If you provide your name and your contact
information, it increases your credibility and gives
your subscribers a chance to contact you if they
have questions.

5 - you can send mulitiple letters promoting the
same product to the same people. You've heard
that it takes people about 7 times on average to
see the offer before they decide to join or purchase.
So, how do you go about creating such a list?

Here are the important steps:

1 - you create an autoresponder campaign.

What is an autoresponder campaign? It is a series
of letters, which are loaded into your autoresponder.
You assign specific intervals at which you want your
letters to go out to your subscribers. You can always
edit your letters and the intervals.

2 - you create a title for your campaign

This title is what attracts new subscribers. The
title has to be interesting but it also has to be
relevant to what you are going to write in your
letters.

3 - you link a lead-capture page to this campaign

All this might sound complicated but the
autoresponder system will walk you through
all these steps.

TrafficWave (TW), which I use as one of my
autoresponders, provides you with ready-to-use
lead-capture pages. You don't need to design
them or host them. Simply enter your title (or
subject line), any other text you want to appear
on the page, and it is ready! You don't even need
to worry about adding the HTML for the
subscription form. The page is going to be
automatically assigned to your campaign of choice.

For an example of a lead-capture page, created
with TW Click-Here


If you don't like this particular template, there
are many others to choose from.

4 - promote your lead-capture page

It is much more effective to promote your
lead-capture page instead of trying to market
your business directly. If you use traffic
exchanges or safelists, you have a much better
chance of getting subscribers than selling anything
right away.

People who are interested in your subject line are
going to enter their name, e-mail address, and any
other details you have specified in the subscription
form. This makes them single opt-in.

5 - your potential subscribers verify their request

People who submitted their information using
your subscription form are going to receive an e-mail
message asking them to confirm their request to
subscribe by clicking on a confirmation (or verification)
link. Once they do this, they become your double
opt-in subscribers.

You can already see the difference between purchased
leads and your own double opt-in list, don't you!

6 - your new subcribers receive your first letter

Your autoresponder is set up to send your new
subscribers the first welcome letter. This is done
automatically on your behalf.

It's a 'set-and-forget' system!

You should only worry about having quality letters
promoting your main business. You can ask your
program, your sponsor, or write them yourself.
Load these letters into the autoresponder and have
them automatically sent to your subscribers.

This is the best way to promote your business.

If you decide to promote anything else later, you
have the list! You can always add more letters, edit
your old letters, or send broadcast messages.