When someone signs up for my e-course or newsletter, one of the web pages that comes up during the registration process asks the subscriber “What is your biggest problem?” and one of the “biggest problems” that I read most often is “how do I get more people to subscribe to my list?”

I can tell you that list-building is not something that one can do overnight and attracting subscribers is a deliberate process as well as a work in progress. You can have milestones of course, but I’ve never heard “Well, I’ve reached 500 subscribers, I’m done.”

List-building is the action of building a subscriber list for the purpose of marketing and providing information, expertise, or advice. The main reason for building your “list” is that this group of people will become your clients or customers (you hope). Capturing these email addresses will allow you to market to these people over and over again. This is important because they may not buy what you have today or want to hire you tomorrow, but they may in the future or know someone else who may be interested in what you have to offer.

So what can you do to build your list?

    * Write articles
    * Hold teleseminars or webinars
    * Public speaking
    * Interview others or be interviewed
    * Post on others’ blogs or forums
    * Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
    * Live networking
    * Participate in joint ventures
    * Add opt-in forms throughout your website and/or blog other than just the home page

I can hear some of you saying, “Yeah right, I Twitter all day long but no one signs up for my list.” Are you asking people to sign up? One of the first things I noticed when I started “following” people in Twitter is that I received a quick response ranging from “Thanks for the follow” to full-on marketing pitches. I thought to myself that these people were really on the ball and how nice of them to personally send me an e-mail. Seriously, I thought that.

But then I attended a Twitter Basics class and learned that it was actually a cool tool called “Tweet Later” which sends automated notes to new followers. All you need to do is register for the free program, set up your automated response, and finally add a “rule” to your e-mail program which sends the automatic e-mail. Don’t be afraid – the site provides you with directions and walks you through the process.

My automated response contains a “thanks” along with an invitation to sign up to receive my free e-book. This small change increased my list by 10 subscribers that first week! I also found a way to leverage a tool that I already use.

Others may be saying “I write tons of articles but I don’t get any traffic to my website.” Well, let’s take a look at your resource box (that short paragraph that follows the article). Does the resource box make you want to click on the link to find out more about YOU or what you have to offer? Does the page that the person link to display a prominent opt-in box? Do you offer something compelling for free, such as an e-course, e-book, or audio? Or do you offer a ho-hum “free newsletter”?

Something else to try is a joint venture, which is a great way to grow your list quickly in a short time.

Whatever list-building tactic you use, make sure you have a consistent marketing strategy. For example, don’t just write a short article once in a while. Instead, write articles and feature them in your newsletter, post them to your blog, and submit them to free and/or paid article directories on a regular basis.

Start building!

Copyright 2008 Lisa Wells, Coast2CoastBusiness.com

Lisa Wells is a Certified eMarketing Associate who partners with coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, managing their many online marketing needs. Move your business to the next level and up your e-marketing game – sign up for her FREE e-course “e-Marketing Toolbox Essentials” at http://www.emarketingtoolboxessentials.com.