You keep hearing, “The money is in the list, the money is in the list,” but are you really taking full advantage? Are you working on building your list?

There are some basic strategies you can use to build your list. You should always use a variety of tactics, so that your list grows as fast as possible, yet retains its quality. A nonresponsive list is no better than no list at all, yet requires more work.

The first thing you need to build is trust. If people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you, even if they sign up for your list for a time.

So how do you build trust? Start by acting professionally. You don’t want to pitch product after product, with no regard for whether or not it is worthwhile. People do notice, and if they get disgusted with the junk you’re promoting, your name won’t help you sell.

You can also build your reputation by being an expert on your topic in forums. Take some time each day to participate in relevant forums. Ask questions, answer questions, and keep it honest. Don’t throw in a mention of your site when it isn’t relevant to the topic at hand.

You can also write articles. These are good both for posting on your own site, so that people get a feel for what you know and for distributing to article directories to be used in other sites and newsletters.

Whatever you do, remember that trust is hard to build and easy to lose online. People expect scams online, so if you mislead them, they will probably never trust you again.

You can also offer a product for free in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter. Once again, make sure that it is of excellent quality. You might take a look at Niche Browser, which I mentioned in a previous blog, as an example. This is a product that is useful and gets lots of people blogging about it. To get the product you have to give your name and email address, which then sends you to a sales page.

Yes, some people will sign up for the free product, but others will enjoy being on your list as you send quality information relevant to their needs.

Another tactic some have had success with is viral marketing. This can be tricky, as you want people to forward a link to your site because they enjoyed something on it. This could be a movie, some jokes, etc. Humor is, of course, very popular, and the trick is to ask for the subscription at the end of the movie or very clearly on the page.

Viral marketing is pretty tricky to get just right. Lots of people fail at it. However, when done right you can build a huge list in a very short time.

Of course, you can’t forget the obvious - have a subscription form on each and every page of your site! It’s amazing how many people don’t do this. You want every visitor to your site, no matter how they found you, to have the chance to consider subscribing.

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