Copyright 2005 Richard Meredith

So... you're a new marketer, and you want to make extra money or even perhaps a great living! One of the first things you do is join an affiliate program or downline club of some sort. Or maybe even you are trying your hand at Ebay or another auction service by marketing some nicely profitable product. Now, once you have some sort of online business vehicle, your mind must gravitate to exactly what kind of advertising to generate sales or memberships.

Online business is an awful lot like regular advertising. What draws you to a business in your home town? Coupons? Specials? Give-aways? A personal recommendation from a friend or trusted associate?

Oh yes- and here is a little secret that is often not known or ignored:

When it comes to building any kind of business online you do the same thing! Give away a free report, an informative ebook, a trial software, an online course, or maybe a subscription to a free newsletter or ezine. This is just simply the way it is done with online business, period. But here is the most critical part... you MUST capture the name and email address FIRST before you give access to it!

It is widely known by all of the top marketers online that your PRIMARY task to be successful is to compile a list of people (prospective customers) that are interested in the type of thing you are giving away! This is so easy to do with an autoresponder. They just fill a form, and they are automatically added to your list, and then are redirected to your download page or membership site.

Then the next task is to automatically send a series of messages with that autoresponder that tell more about the reasons why your product or products (or membership program) are BENEFICIAL to them! WHY? Because it is infinitely better to contact a prospect several times rather than only once. It is a proven fact that most people will NOT buy from you or join your program until they have been approached at least 5 to 7 times. This is done as I said, automatically, on a timed basis slowly tapering off until it is a slow drip of messages until they buy or join- or unsubscribe from your list. And when you run special promotions of any kind, a feature of the best autoresponders allows you to broadcast to your entire list any time you want. This is how many marketers can make huge amounts of money and sales ON DEMAND- whenever and as often as they like!

Details about which autoresponders are best, and the techniques of developing a list and how often to mail to that list are subjects that deserve more time and attention than can be given here... but suffice it to say that if YOU are not FIRST developing a list, and then marketing to your list AFTERWARDS- you're just missing the boat!

Pure and simple!

So if you are advertising an affiliate link, or your products' sale page... or anything other than your free subscription, report, ebook, or course- it can indeed be the most tragic mistake you can make in your online business strategy!

If this is you, pull back and regroup, and completely re-think your marketing strategy now before you lose too much time, money, energy, or motivation.

And remember... BUILD your LIST!