Let me ask you a question, What is the most valuable asset to any Internet Business?

If the product is what youre having in mind now, then youre wrong. No, its not the domain name either and certainly not the number of employees you have.

Its your mailing list.

Your mailing list IS your business. Who you know is more important than what you know. This is true regardless of what kind of business youre running. If you are selling chemicals, then you will need to know people who are in the chemicals industry as they are your prospects.

In the case of running an Internet Business, you dont have a business if you dont have a mailing list. Fortunately, you can build your own list from scratch using ingenious concepts or buy subscribers from third parties.

But why build a mailing list? you asked.

The main reason for building your own mailing list is because through it, you can share what have to offer to your subscribers and to also sell your products or services to them.

This is important as people on the Internet act on impulse. Thats you and me alright. We jump from page to page; website to website that we dont really remember where we were ten web pages ago! So, what are the chances that people who visit your website will remember you or your product for that matter? Approximately zero. I know its a fact you will despise to hear but lets face it it always happen.

One great way of making people remember your product or service is to provide an opt-in form for them to fill in their name and e-mail address so that you can follow up with them via auto responder.

But is that all? Not by a long shot! Theres more to the mailing list.

Having a list of subscriber is one. Earning money from it is another.

Once youve started building your mailing list, you need to market to them aggressively. You can e-mail them everyday but the minimum frequency should be once a week.

Have a free tip for your prospects? E-mail them. Have news? E-mail them. Have a product to promote? E-mail them!

I think you get the picture. Now, can you imagine running a shopping complex in space? Heck, thats probably an Entrepreneurs nightmare! Who on space will come to your shopping complex? Theres not even a who on space in the first place! (At this time of writing, mankind has yet to discover any other civilization in space)

So be thankful that youre on Earth and so are your prospects. The Internet brings your prospects from around the world to your computer screen.

If you dont know anyone on the Internet just yet then you must start knowing them now. You can always start with participating in forums or sending your potential prospects a personal e-mail (I personally prefer this method).

In a nutshell, building your mailing list should be one of your primary goals. Its worth repeating this: You dont have a business if you dont have a mailing list. For if there are no people, there is no business in the first place.

Copyright (c) Edmund Loh