7 Foundations of List Building

One question that people often ask me is, "Tellman, I want start list building like you suggest, but I don't know where to start." OK. Let me give you the 7 simple steps to follow:

1. Find your niche: Everyone has something that really turns them on. Maybe it's chess or even NASCAR, acting or quilting. It really doesn't matter as long as there are enough people searching for keywords in that niche each month. So, in case the first idea doesn't have enough interest, maybe pick 2 or 3 things that can sustain your interest for a long time to come.

2. Research the market: Is your idea viable? Will it make any money? Simple. Are people looking for information in that niche? To find out, go to http://inventory.overture.com/ and plug in words that surround your niche, in other words... keywords. In the lists of words that come back from the words you plug in, you'll notice other keywords that might apply. If the words generate 3,000 searches per month, then you may have a decent niche, but 20,000 to 30,000 searches per month is better. If you fall somewhere in between, then you're probably looking at a decent niche to work in.

3. Devise a great domain name: Domains should relay the idea of what your site is about. For instance, this domain, listbuildingblog.com is about list building. Makes sense, right? Well, if your niche is coin collecting, you may want to see if coincollectingtips.com is available, for instance. This makes it easier for people to find and also for search engines to understand what your site is about so that it gets indexed quickly. Just be sure not to make it too long or difficult for people to remember.

4. Find a hosting company: You may want to do this before buying your domain because with some hosting companies, registering a domain or two is included. It won't cost you an extra $9 at GoDaddy, if you're going to host your site somewhere else. The best way to find a good web host is by asking people who you trust to recommend a company. You want a hosting company that has all the features you need. If you're starting out, your needs may be basic, but if you plan to open a membership site, for instance, you'll need hosting that supports PHP. If you're tech savvy, then you understand what that means. If you aren't, you'll be hiring someone to do the installation for you, anyway. Ask the person you choose to recommend a good hosting company. Just don't go for "super cheap" because those services often have lots of downtime or they may just disappear overnight and you'll lose all your data on the server.

5. Create a squeeze page for list building: Choose a graphic related to your niche. If you're building a list around sports, for instance, somebody playing baseball might be appropriate, for example. Then, come up with three to five benefits that people will enjoy by joining your list. Add an opt-in box, and you're all set. But, the opt-in box requires that you have...

6. An autoresponder: This service collects and maintains your list for you. They also send out confirmation messages to people who sign up, just to verify that they want to be part of your list. This protects you from spam complaints when somebody on your list forgets that they signed up and accuses you of spamming. There are server-side options for autoresponders, too, but having it housed elsewhere is usually a better option. They take all the aggravation out of list building for you.

7. Put your list building page on your server: The easiest and quickest way to put your list building page up is via FTP because it makes uploading quick and easy. Wise FTP and Cute FTP are two programs that you can use, but there are many others. Using FTP is something you should learn more about if you plan to do business online.

Follow these 7 steps, and then drive some traffic to your new list building page. Actually, list building is pretty simple, once you get the hang of it, but there are things to consider before you start. Find a niche, choose a great domain name, a dependable web hosting service and the type of autoresponder that suits your taste. Then, upload your list building page to the server and there you go! You're list building!