List building is, as Kathy Baker pointed out, a rather geeky word. Behind this strange technical Geeky phrase however lies the central concern of all business whether online or offline.
After all business is about providing goods and services to customers at a price that the customer can afford and making a good profit while doing so.
And it is well known that it is easier to sell to a customer again than to find another customer to sell to. That’s why Amazon tells you that customers who bought that book also bought… OK? and that’e the why and wherefore of, “Would you like fried with that?”
That means that it makes a lot of sense to have a list of your customers and to target your marketing to them rather than scattering your efforts right through an entire population.
Supposing that a Hair Salon sees a dip in it’s bookings. The prospect of empty chairs is chilling for the owner but what can they do about it? If the owner had collected contact details from their customers then a quick email to them offering cut price hairdressing as a Special “Thank you” for “our loyal 
customers” will get the phones ringing and the salon fully booked with a minimum of effort and at no cost. The prospect of a half empty salon avoided simply because they had built a list of customers and used it appropriately.
Without a list that is not possible.
You might now wonder if having a list is so good then is having a big list even better?
Having a bigger list MAY NOT be better because it is the response of the customers on the list that matters and the way the list was built.
If you have built a good relationship with your customers then encouraging them to join a list and offering special deals only to members of the list will build a large loyal group -almost a club. The bigger such a list is the better.
But buying a list of names, even a very big list and contact details from a list broker will not get you anything like the response shown in the hair salon. And may get you a whole storm of complaints and accusations even if you followed the exact letter of the law!
So list building may well be “Geeky” word and a technical word but at the heart of list building you have relationship building which is not “Geeky” at all.
In the long run a smallish list of people with whom you have a good relationship will earn you a bigger monthly income than a big list that gets email fatigue from so much promotional activity that they hardly open their emails.
Building the business for the long term and building it properly is what we teach here at Expert List Building
Because list building is for Geeks and Hairdressers and all the rest of us too!
You can get more info about this great Home Study Course on list building at this link for the sales page
list building lessons
Resources: http://expertlistbuilding.com
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Filed under list building by on Jul 2nd, 2009. Comment. 
List Building has a great new companion in the shape of Community Building. And this means that you will be able to build your list naturally and organically by participating in and around a “Community” of likeminded people who share your interests.
Spurred on by the massive wave of Social Media Sites we’ve seen in the past few years, and the greater democratic access and participation people have to “have a say”, and bypass the control of traditional media, Community Media, or “Authority” Community Sites, is the next stage of development.
The concept is that “People” provide the content on those sites, and the overall sum of the content is driven by the Wisdom of the Crowd - meaning that the collective opinion and contribution of a likeminded group of people coming together to share information and ideas creates the “Authority” and that has huge mass leveraging power.
Social Media Sites are where people come to hang out, make Friends, promote themselves and their business, but there is no actual marketplace.
Community sites pool content on particular subjects contributed by members and they become Community Marketplaces, unlike Social Media Sites.
So the process equation goes something like this -
Power of Community >> Community Networking >>
Community Building + Community Marketplace +
Community Marketing = Community Commerce Business Model.
Check out such a site here – http://www.yoursuccessmasterynow.com/Cagora1.html
We’ll be telling you more about this very soon, tomorrow in fact, but in the meantime, have a look at this great visual example of the Power of Community and the Wisdom of the Crowd, and it’s potential…
It’s the Climate Change – Our Future is in Your Hands “Human Sign” Rally at St.Kilda Beach, Melbourne, Australia on Sunday 17 May 2009.
This is just a little bit up the road from me in Port Melbourne, in my very much loved neck of the woods.
A Human Sign is where people assemble to form letters of a phrase designed to send a message to government.
The message – CLIMATE CHANGE – OUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS – was submitted by 11 year old schoolgirl Sophie Dickinson.
How powerful and cool is that, eh!?
.jpg "Climate Change Human Sign St Kilda Beach")
Climate Change - Our Future is In Your Hands 'Human Sign' Rally, St Kilda Beach, Melbourne, Australia, 17 May 2009 (Photos courtesy of Live.org.au)
People assembled on the beach and organized into formation to make up the letters of the words.
.jpg "Climate Change Rally Human Sign St Kilda Beach")
When we band together, we have the power to change the world.
Just Imagine what is possible when the vision of 11 yo Sophie can rally people to support her idea in this way.
Wishing you much Success!
Kathy 
P.S. For an incredible Community Networking + Community Marketing + Community Building + Community Commerce Business Model that will enable you to connect with likeminded individuals and earn an income as well, go to this website http://www.yoursuccessmasterynow.com/Cagora1.html and be sure you absolutely check out the video on that webpage.
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Filed under Community Building by on May 24th, 2009. Comment.
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