I’m sure you’ve heard many times that if you’re going to grow your business, that the most important thing you need to have is a list.

“The money is in the list,” they say.

Without a list, you cannot sell anything or recruit anyone.

However, if you’re just getting started with an online business, you’re probably wondering how to build your list. There are many ways to do that, and today I want to explore one of my favorite ways… and it’s not making a list of your family or friends.

The trick is to use e-mail marketing mailings to mail to someone else’s list, get a decent response rate, and continue to add subscribers to your own list and to keep growing it at a steady pace. The method I’m suggesting here is using what is known as List Builders.

List Builders are online services that have thousands of members and give you the ability to send out bulk e-mail ads to other members of the service. Most of the list builder programs I recommend are free to join (upgraded memberships offer additional benefits). As a free member, you must personally look at other members’ e-mail or visit their web sites to accumulate credits. It is not difficult however to accumulate enough credits to send out 2000 or so e-mails a week.

Further, the number of e-mails you’re allowed to send or the frequency you’re able to send e-mails is determined by how many credits you have accumulated or the level of your membership. List builders often run specials or one-time offers when you first sign up that give you great value for your advertising dollars. A big advantage to a paid membership option is that you don’t have to do anything to receive e-mail credits, and you can e-mail members more frequently. You can also buy credits for a very low cost so you’re not spending allot of time reading other e-mails and clicking through to visit lots of sites.

With credit based List Builders you’re able to send thousands of e-mails out weekly to their members. The catch is that every e-mail you send out goes to someone who is likely doing the same thing as you… building their list.

This is a key point, however, and you don’t want to miss this.

Nearly all the members of these List Builders *already* have a business they are promoting and are doing the same thing you are… they are wanting to build their list and promote their business.

Why not give them what they want and provide them the resources and tools to do just that? Don’t think you’ll convince them that your business is better than theirs. You won’t.

Instead, give them what they are looking for.

As you provide others who may be frustrated with the growth of their business and lack of list building tools, some of them will opt in to your list or join your business, if you offer them the right opportunity.

Good examples of what they are looking for include:

• Traffic Leads 2 Income – lead capture pages and training.
• Traffic Codex – Free Safelist and Traffic Exchange Credits

You do not want to be advertising your primary MLM business. Instead, you’re building your list by giving away something free or low cost that other list builder users would want. This is the idea behind a feeder program.

Once you start getting subscribers to YOUR list, you then want to nurture your relationship with them and give them something of value to keep them on your list. Help them build their *existing* business. Over time, they will come to know, like, and trust you and become more likely to become a business partner with you.

I’ve found these services usually work very well, depending on the quality of your ads and simplicity of your lead capture page. If you use them on a regular basis, you will notice that you will get a steady response rate which can be useful in planning your ad campaigns.

List Builders get my two thumbs up recommendation because they deliver and are totally reliable.

Following are some of the List Builders I use and recommend:
Marketing Checkpoint
List Surfing
List Jumper
The List Auction
Viral Ads Unleashed
Viral Ad Store
BuildMyDownlines