If you’re going to be successful in internet marketing, you need to build a list. It’s the one thing above all else that matters most. After it’s built, it’s yours to use any time you want. It’s a resource you can tap at any time and generate income.

So, how do you build a list?

Here are the three components of list building:

• Your Landing Page
• The Incentive
• The Thank You Page

Your Landing Page – The squeeze page is the first thing your visitor is going to see. This page is the one that asks them for their email. So, obviously it has to be well designed. And have an easy to understand opt-in form. And have a clear call to action.

The biggest mistake you can make is not having a clear call to action. This “close” tells your visitors what you want them to do. You opt-in rates will take a dramatic nose dive without it. Oddly, if you don’t make it clear, people will be confused and end up doing nothing.

If you want to add some extra juice to your opt-in page add a video to it. This will grab your visitors attention and keep it. Plus it give you a chance to tell them to opt in multiple times. Then at the end of the video you can print “sign up now” on the video.

Now, don’t worry if you have no idea how to make videos. You can hire freelancers to do this for you for a few hundred dollars. There are also list building systems that have everything pre-built for you.

The Bribe – The next thing you need is an incentive to subscribe to your list. People need a good reason to part with their email address. Nobody likes spam, so most people guard their email closely. So you have to give them a good reason to do it.

The key to a good bribe is that is has value. That means you make it something people would actually want to receive. And something from which they can derive a benefit. It could be:

• An eBook
• Software
• Training videos
• An email series

You’ve got to create some great content. It’s got to be something helpful for your new subscribers. And nothing sells like “free”. If you make it good enough, they will give you their email in exchange.

Now, if you don’t know how to create the bribe don’t worry. It’s super easy to hire someone to create it for you. You just pick the topic and they create the training. A 5-part email series is a good freebie. And you can get emails ghost written for about $20 – $25 each. So, you’ll get the whole series written for under $150.

You can also get email list building tools that include the premium. There are two important things about the email series. The first thing is that it delivers value to your subscribers. It also has to generate revenue for you! The easiest way to do this is to market affiliate products in the emails. This is such a simple solution because you don’t have to create the product. And it enables you to generate cash right away from your new list.

Your Confirmation Page – The “thank you” page is the final piece of the puzzle. This is where your visitor goes after opting into your list. It’s nice to give them some great content right away. This helps them feel they’ve made the right decision giving you their email. It also sets the foundation for your relationship with them. So when they get your email, they’re happy to hear from you.

You can use a “done for you” email marketing system. You can also put the whole thing together on your own. You can either write the content pages on your own. Or hire ghost writers to write them for you.

Summing it up

It doesn’t matter if you do all of this yourself. Or hire someone else to do it for you. Or if you get a ready-done package. It’s just important that you start today building your opt-in list. Because once its built… You’re free to make money at the push of a button.