List Building – the wholistic approach

Hi,

I was speaking with Akinniyi yesterday about his site/blog/ezine and he asked a good question. He wanted my advice on what strategy to use for list building.

That’s a good question because I think we all see the components of internet marketing as being just a little too separate and unique. Here’s what I mean:

Akin was asking specifically about whether he needs a web site in addition to his blog to do list buidling. My answer was yes, definitely, with some explanation.

Your web site is the tool you use for online inquiry fulfillment. It’s where people can go to find out more about you, your products and what you do.

Your web site can also have list building tools – a signup box for your newsletter, a link to your blog, a widget that requires a name and e-mail before visitors can use it.

Then comes your blog. This should also have a signup box for your ezine (newsletter). Something I forgot to mention to Akin, is that referencing other blogs in your posts also helps you build your list. Why?

Because when you use a “trackback” (the blog term for referencing another person’s blog and including a URL), it does a few things for you. Your readers develop greater trust for you because they see you are helping them find information they want and need.

The person whose blog you referred to – you gave them a trackback – they will probably do the same for you. That’s just part of the camaraderie and openness of the blog-o-sphere. When they do give you a trackback, that means their readers (their list) gets introduced to you. This helps build your readership, and leads to building your list.

Akin has also started writing articles.  Part of writing an article is the Resource Box. That’s literally a text box at the end of an article submission where you get to put details about yourself. One essential detail to include is your web site or blog URL. Not both, mind you. You could, I suppose, but since they should already have links to each other – just put the one you most want people to visit.

Do you see how there really is just one strategy for list building? Bloggin, article writing, social networking, your web site – everything you do on the internet is linked together. It’s a net.

Sure, you start with a web site or a blog – then build the other. Then you start writing articles, visiting other blogs, and so on. Yes, everything gets built one step at a time. The thing is, instead of seeing each element of internet marketing as a separate project – try viewing all those elements as the components of a house.

You can have a blog foundation or a web site foundation. Both work. Whichever one you start with, the other makes a fine first floor.

Then all the other stuff makes the second floor, the rooms inside – even the furnishings, appliances, wall finishes and carpeting. You can see how looking at like this makes you look at each element as being part of a whole.

Then, when you’ve built your internet marketing business, you’ll find you have a clear brand. Everything you do will be based on presenting a clear, harmonious image.

Like me, you might stumble around a bit and maybe throw out a sofa or repaint a room. That’s okay – it’s all just part of getting your house to feel like a home. You’re finding your business image.

Okay. That’s it for this week. I’m taking tomorrow, Christmas and Boxing Day off. I’ll be back next week. Have a merry Christmas, everyone.

Conrad