Build Your List

Why should you build a list? Because nothing gets done in
your business without a list of interested prospects, and
nothing gets done with your list of prospects without
regular contact.

Your mailing list needs to consist of people in your niche
who want to hear from you, who are interested in what you
have to say and what you have to offer. Because of this,
the most important list to grow is your own. You can buy
lists, share lists, promote to other people's lists, all of
which are extremely valuable, but your list is made of
people who have raised their hands to hear from you
personally, and will be your most responsive list to what
you have to offer, especially if you communicate with them
regularly with information that interests them.

Newsletters and regular email and/or postal mail contact
are major and necessary building blocks to grow your
business. Because of this, you'll need to set up systems to
maintain regular contact with your potential clients. The
best tool for systematizing email contact is a sequential
autoresponder.

What is an autoresponder service?

An autoresponder service is a service that sends out your
newsletter and announcement emails for you. Once you write
an email and tell the autoresponder when to send it, that's
it. It sends out an email to each person on your list,
according to whatever schedule you decide.

Why use an autoresponder?

1. An autoresponder will keep track of who got which email
when, with no need for any assistance from you. This can be
an incredible time-saver.

2. Sending out a bulk email from your own computer or
server looks suspicious to many internet service providers,
and could get blocked from reaching the intended recipient.
A good autoresponder service will have a great reputation
with internet service providers, and large numbers of
emails will get through to intended recipients.

3. If someone hits the "this is spam" button on their email
account, your emails to other recipients at the same
internet service provider will often get blocked too. You
then have to contact the internet service provider and
clear your name. If you have an autoresponder with a great
reputation, they will do this for you-- another incredible
time-saver.

4. Sending out an email with everyone's email address
viewable is not only unprofessional-looking, but it sets up
a situation for those addresses to get copied and pasted
onto a spammer's email list somewhere. By using an
autoresponder service, each recipient receives an email
addressed only to them.

How to choose an autoresponder service-

The best autoresponder services have great reputations
with internet service providers, and will keep track of
everything for you. All you have to do is write the emails
and paste the sign-up boxes for your newsletter on your
website.

Your autoresponder should offer an unlimited number of
lists, as well allowing fairly big numbers of people on
each list for one flat monthly fee, or at least a
reasonable scaling of price according to the size of list.

Your reward for staying in touch...

By building your list and staying in contact with them
through a service such as an autoresponder, you will create
familiarity, friendship, and trust. Since people buy from
people that they know, like and trust, you'll reap the
benefits of greater income, as well as doing business with
people who like and trust you- a winning formula all around.

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If you're uncomfortable with marketing, or just not sure
how to start, I invite you to sign up for my free mini
course: "How to Market your Coaching or Consulting
Business" and avoid the top 9 marketing mistakes, at:
http://www.CoachMarketingSuccess.com . -- Sandra Sinclair,
marketing and start-up coaching for coaches, consultants
and service professionals.