How to build a quality Email list

Your email marketing list is the engine that powers your ability to connect with your customers, build lasting relationships, and ultimately build trust. In short, it is a critical business asset.

Finding the sources of your most valuable future customers requires a little investigative work on your part. You need to know what makes valuable connections where to find them. Some are obvious, others are elusive, all are critical to your success.

What differentiates a “connection” from a “valuable connection” is simply whether you have the ability to continue the dialog beyond the initial connection in a way that is likely to result in sales. Here are some questions you should ask yourself to determine whether you should spend time collecting information. If you can answer “‘yes” to all of the following questions, it’s a valuable connection.

• Is the contact information valid and direct to the decision maker? Don’t collect email addresses such as sales@abccompany.com or webmaster@abccompany.com. Those email addresses are too generic and aren’t likely to result in a personal connection.
• Is the person you’re collecting the information frominterested in what your business offers? Some businesses insist that everyone is a prospect, but this simply isn’t true. If your target doesn’t have financial means, is already loyal to someone else, or just made a similar purchase and seems reluctant, don’t waste your time. There are plenty of opportunities to collect frominterested prospects.
• Is the place where you’re collecting the information conducive to establishing a relationship? For example, being confronted with the decision to sign up for a financial planner’s email list during a trip to the bank is more likely to be perceived positively than being confronted with the same decision during dinner at a restaurant with the family. Therefore, placing an email sign-up list or guest book on the counter at all the banks in town will result in a more valuable connection for the financial planner than placing a sign-up card at all the restaurants in town.