Even thought most internet marketers now know the importance of building email lists, you might not realize how a highly targeted opt in list is critical for the success of your business. I think we should go ahead and change that.
The first thing that you need to do is select your niche or target market. Nailing down what this is will not only give you something on which to focus, but will also help you find the people who will be interested in the information you have to provide.
Part of your initial research is finding a target market or niche that will be profitable. While choosing a topic such as “Giraffes wearing purple tights” might be of interest and passion to you, it’s probably not the best choice for an online business venture. It may be difficult for people to gain trust in your products if you don’t carefully research first. Let’s look for something a little more promising financially.
How about more popular topics, such as pets, or parenting, or even starting an online business? These topics are good, but could end up being quite global in nature. Take pets for example. Think of the many specific kinds of pets there are. Then, if you go into the different breeds among those types of pets, the numbers are starting to become completely overwhelming. You would be best to start narrowing down your options to something a little more controllable and specific.
So, instead of pets, you choose to narrow it down to dogs. This is a good start. With a little more research, maybe you have determined that dogs can be a profitable target niche. If you already have a relevant list, maybe you purchased one or you have partnered with someone and are using thier list, this is a great time to send out a mailing to your list, letting them know about the upcoming information on both your site and your mailings or ezines.
Don’t be alarmed if you see people opt-ing out, especially from a purchased or rented list. You’re fine tuning the list for optimal profits. It’s much better to have a targeted list of 1,000 people than to have a global list of 20,000 who don’t really care at all about what you’re doing.
You may want to break down your niche into even smaller chunks, and stay specifically on topics such as “Caring for your new puppy” or “Training your dog”. If this is your chosen method, your list may get smaller still. However, you could choose to stay within the more global area of dogs, while providing what is known as “mini-courses” or “mini-reports” on the small, individual items such as those mentioned above.
Whether you’ve purchased a list or are building one from scratch, a targeted and specific niche topic is the key to online profits. Specializing in a narrow subject makes it easier to become the expert and a source of quality information. Once your subscribers gain that feeling of trust with you, they will recommend your site or mailing list to their friends. This is one of the great ways your list will keep growing; only now it’s with people you know are interested in what you have to offer. There is always room for new subscribers interested in your niche.
