One of the most important things you can do online is build your own, personal list of contacts. If you build that correctly, and build a strong relationship with them, one that contains a lot of trust, that list can really be gold mine to you on down the road.

We read so much online about how to sell more, and how to make our sales pages convert, etc, but the one thing I think is missing is good, effective information on how to build a solid list. Once you have a solid list, conversion rates arent really as important. You subscribers can purchase when they need your product, in their own time; you arent feeling pressure to get every dollar out of every visitor, because you know you can reach them again in the future.

So how do you build a quality list?

1) First you must determine your niche market. What are you promoting? Golf clubs, dog training manuals, deep-sea fishing equipment? Once you have determined your target market, you can begin to think about the best ways to send that type of targeted traffic to your site. Yahoo Overture and Google Adsense are both effective methods of sending targeted traffic to your site. Writing targeted articles and send the readers to your site is also an effective method of sending targeted traffic to your site.

2) Second, you must have a place for that traffic to go to sign up for your list when they get to your site. I prefer a squeeze page. A squeeze page is basically a web page that is optimized for collecting a visitors name and email address. I will usually offer some highly-valued free gift for subscribing.

3) Third, you must begin to develop a relationship with your new subscribers. Think of them as real people, not just anonymous internet names. They are real people. Write real, personal emails to your subscribers. Write as though you were writing a friend. The key here is that you want to develop a long-term relationship with your leads so they will be open to receiving communication from you for a long time to come.

4) Fourth, you must offer your list strong, useful information. They must feel like, that by opening your emails week after week, they are receiving real value. No one likes to read junk, and if you are sending them filler copy, you are sending them junk mail. Eventually, they will stop reading your emails, and certainly stop visiting your web site.

5) Fifth, once you have developed a relationship with your subscribers, then begin to recommend some of your favorite products to them. Be choosy about what you decide to promote. The products should be valuable, usable, and worth more than the sales price for them. If you create your own product, the same thing holds. Build value into everything you create, and be sure you give them everything you promise in the sales script.

6) Sixth, continue to send useful information to your list, even after you begin to send recommendations for products. Continue to nourish the relationship you developed in the first place. They must continue to see you as the expert, the one who has the answers.

Now you have it. Follow each of these steps, and you will find your list will grow on a daily basis, and you will have a productive, profitable list.