However, many of us put off this task, wondering if firstly it is really necessary and secondly, is it going to be complicated and a whole load of hassle. The aim of this article is to dispel any concerns you may have in these two regards and to emphasize the very real advantages of building your mailing list as early as possible.

A properly set up mailing list with a set of auto-responders and a regular newsletter really does help to build your loyal readers and also forges a much stronger relationship, so that when you do put a product in front of them, you are much more likely to get a high take- up rate. There is also the fact that people are unlikely to buy something from you on a first viewing, but if you regularly provide them with more detail they are more likely to see the advantages of what you have to offer.

However, there is no point in building your list and then putting one sales pitch after another in front of your readers. First you need to offer value, to tell them a little about yourself and what you have achieved. In this way the reader knows more about you and they are therefore likely to be much more trusting when it comes to the time to get their credit card out.

Setting up a mailing list is actually very simple, all you need is a free niche related e-book to give away, in order to entice people to sign up and an auto-responder such as Aweber. There are certain steps to follow however, to make sure you are setting things up in the right way, particularly with the series of mails which will greet your subscribers, and in the frequency of these mails.

The free gift, should be something that will provide your reader with value and can either by something written by you, be something you hold the rights for to giveaway or something you have edited from PLR material. You then need to place an opt-in form on your site and to promote your gift in order to get people to sign up to the newsletter. Once you have this in place you should then go about setting up your auto-responders and adding further value with the information you send out. The timing between these mails needs careful consideration as you want people to build a well-formed picture of what you have to offer, but at the same time you don't want to overwhelm them.

If you set up a mailing list correctly from the beginning you can be sure that it will reap dividends far into the future in terms of profit and the success of your site. The earlier you start with a list the better, as a subscriber in your early days will prove just as valuable as a subscriber when you are receiving a 1000 site hits a day, maybe even more so.