Before you start building an email list you need to know one thing.

What I'm about to tell you is so paramount you will want to stop reading this email and get a post-it note and pen ready so you can write it down.

What is this one thing that is so important?

If you have your post-it note and pen ready I will tell you!

Hmm, I sense someone is still looking for their post-it notes in their desk.

Ok, now we are ready...

The one thing you need to know before you start building an email list is:

****People like to be asked before you put them on a list****

I know it is not much of a novel concept but some people don't seem to understand why this is important. Here are a few reasons:

-People don't like getting emails unannounced (if a person does not ask for something, then gets it, he/she won't expect it. The email will be a surprise. People don't like surprises unless it is a new car.)

-People will stay on an email list longer if they actually decided to go on the list in the first place.

So asking people to join is key. In the industry, it's called Permission Email Marketing or Opt-in Email Marketing.

Sounds pretty simple.

When you start building your email list you have to ask people to join (or rather, you would be wise to ask people to join). It's up to you.

So let's talk about your email list.

-How will you ask people to join?

-Are you operating online? If so, what tools can you use on your website?

-Are you operating offline? If so, what tools can you use at your place of business?

Here are some suggestions that will help point you in the right direction:

1. Ensure you are clear about the frequency of your e-newsletters.

For example: If your e-newsletter will be weekly, say so. If you intend to send five emails a day make sure your signups understand this.

2. Once the above is covered, clearly ask people to join your list.

and

3. Don't ask people to un-join your list if they don't want to join.

Un-join?

If you are wondering if un-join is a word, it isn't.

If you are wondering what the heck my last point means, you'll have to wait until Email Marketing Lesson: How To Build An Email List, Part Two of Two.
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