There are hundreds, or even thousands of websites, videos, ebooks and ezine articles about list building. Even though most are usually junk or relate to specific products, you may still find some value in them.

Here are some basic list building secrets that you can use to get started. The first thing to keep in mind is forget everything you have been told about the importance of big lists – what is the point of a list with 10,000 names if only 1% of them are potential customers? Oftentimes a smaller list of say 500 names, the majority of whom are potential customers is something of much greater value. The key here is to build a list of targeted customers, not just a bunch of unresponsive names.

To build up your list you first need to create a squeeze page that offers a free download related to your business so that those who are interested will leave their email addresses – people who do this are people who have an interest in your products. Once you have email addresses, make sure that you regularly send them content of quality that addresses their interests. Don’t just send advertisements for your products but useful information. You want to be constantly reminding them that you exist and that they can buy from you because you are reliable and your products are high quality. Over time you want to build a relationship with your list where they come to “know – like – and trust” you. You could conduct surveys and opinion polls to learn more about your list and in turn provide the kinds of information they like.

Check out what your competitors are doing by joining their mailing lists under a different email address. This is a great way to learn their list building secrets. The most important of list building secrets is that it is not the size of your list that is important, it is how you use it to build up your business that matters.

One nice metric for showing whether you’re building your list properly is that when you make personal contact with those on your list – weeks, months, or even years later – they remark to you that they feel as though they already know you personally. When that happens, pat yourself on the back for a job well done.