The 1st thing you must set up is your internet site, so that your prospects have a place to come and find you. They also need a place where they can securely leave their name and email address. It's essential that they do not have any difficulty in the process, get somebody you know who isn't internet savvy to test the process. Not only that, you want to give the visitor a reason to sign up give them something of value to remember you. Your website is practically your first impression with your prospects. So make sure you build a site that's fitting with the market you're targeting.
A point to bear in mind here is, even after you've drawn the visitor to your site, there's no fixed rule that says they must purchase from you the first time they visit your website. Which means we must make sure there's some way they can leave their contact information before they go? You do need to remind them of your business and follow up. You can do this by asking them to sign up in exchange for something valuable to them - like a free download or newsletter. In this manner, your list continues to build. You must find a way to follow up with these contacts to convert them into customers.
Relevant Quality Content
You must think about what to write in your emails. It's OK to try and sell products to your subscribers but you must also provide useful and relevant information the aim is to try and find a happy medium. If you don't send them messages that are helpful, they will cease to read them or unsubscribe. So make sure you provide value, because it will be a worthwhile investment. Try and set a schedule so your subscribers know what day they will usually receive an email from you. Add a little teaser at the bottom of the email talking about the next email so they will actually look forward to it.
Autoresponder Software
The next thing we need is some form of autoresponder service or script. What route you take here really depends on how serious you are about the business/ website. Paying for an autoresponder service costs as little as $20 a month, to me you would be crazy not too. A good service will securely collect and store your email addresses in a database, send the emails to your subscribers either scheduled or immediately, provide stats like open and click thru rates.
You must remember that it's not just the size of the list that is important you want to build a responsive list that you can convert into sales. You can start with a strong small list and build it as you go along.
