List building is possibly one of the most important factors when it comes to online success. It’s vital because building a good and healthy list can contribute to the success of almost any online goals, ventures, or activities.

Often list building can be used to get more traffic, leads, and of course sales for the business/products/services you may have or are promoting.

It is extremely easy to do; but, only if you understand two critical and proven principles.

These two well known principles are the main ingredients to any list, and without them you can find that list building is not as “smooth” going as you may want. So understanding these principles is key to making an effective and successful list that could last for years.

Powerful Elements in List Building:

1.) Free Giveaways- Giving away useful information in free products such as e-books, videos, reports, discounts, and prizes is a tested method for building solid relationships with your visitors and customers. This is seen time and again with offline companies and especially franchises that will have special sales, hold major events, or give away prizes. In fact, giving away free items is the quickest way to build a list because people are looking for value…and something free.

Although giving things away for free is the sure-fire way of attracting more visitors and contacts, many marketers have objected to this act simply because they fear it might attract the “wrong kind” of subscriber or customer. Often this refers to “tire-kickers” or people that will never buy anything because they are looking for a “free meal”.

Attracting “tire-kickers” has more to do with the nature of your gift and the kind of contacts you’re building. For example, if giving away guides to buying the best and latest gadgets or the fastest cars, then this will definitely attract the “buying customers” if done right. The solution to attracting the right customer is to tweak methods by adjusting the marketing to incorporate free elements appropriately.

2.) Value- Any list should include the offering of a valuable relationship between the expert and the subscriber.

Subscribers join lists because they are looking for information in a subject they have enthusiasm for, are studying, or have a career in. In short, they are looking for benefits, and so in order to keep subscribers the key is to provide these benefits in the best way possible. An easy way to identify these benefits is to make a list of what someone would want to receive when joining a list, or you could put yourself in the subscribers shoes.

For example, what benefits would be the most enticing?:
- receiving important information
- getting special & valuable content
- getting to participate in forums with like-minded people
- receiving workshops/training videos
- getting updates and timely announcements

Whatever the benefits may be its important to make them the main selling points when building a list.
Besides the two elements of ‘Value’ and ‘Free Giveaways’ there is also a psychological reason to people joining lists.

The fact is that people like to feel included and want to become emotionally involved in their interests with like-minded individuals. This factor is great to keep in mind when building a list since including a comment box or forum in relation to your list can add to its success.

Ultimately, addressing these elements can possibly ensure a loyal list of contacts for years to come.