One of the first priorities of any online business is to build a list of people who have visited your site in the past. The targeted list you are accumulating will allow you to promote directly and repeatedly to them via broadcast email. Having the ability to conduct an email based marketing campaign such as this greatly accelerates the growth of both your sales and the business itself. The downside to building a list is that it can often times take quite a bit of time before you have a considerable number of subscribers.

Here is a 4 step plan for building a list that captures the momentum of your 'launch' making it possible to accumulate a sizable list in a short period of time.

Create a Product

The very first step is to create a product or locate one that can be used as a free giveaway to entice people to opt in to your list. It is wise and suggested to be sure the product/gift you are offering is relevant to the niche and/or product line you are representing.

Create a Squeeze Page

The next step is to create a squeeze page that highlights the benefits your giveaway has to offer to anyone who opts in. You want to deliberately minimize the amount of content this page contains. Keep the copy found on this page focused on ONLY the giveaway benefits and a call to action which encourages visitors to opt in.

Create a Series of Follow-Up Emails

This step has you creating a series of emails that will be sent out to the people who opt in on your squeeze page. The very first email will go out immediately containing a link for their free gift and a thanking them for subscribing.

The following emails will go on a predetermined schedule you have chosen and will focus on developing a relationship with these people. Of course there will be messages that promote your products or services but be sure to also supply members with useful content as well.

'Launch' Your Campaign

This step is the key to announcing the 'launching' of your free gift giveaway. You should have already developed contacts with others through social networks, blogs, and even forums.

Once you are prepared to 'launch' your list building campaign your immediately announce this at each one of your social network contact pages, blogs, and forums as well. Blast your announcement simultaneously to each of your online sites and contact pages to build yourself some momentum.

What you are doing is maximizing your exposure by promoting your giveaway to contacts you have already made in advance.

When working online it is important to build a list of people to whom you can send broadcast email that promotes your products. Having a targeted list like this allows you to increase sales at a faster rate however building a list can take a lot of time. The 4 step process we reviewed here is designed for you to better coordinate and time your efforts when launching a list building campaign. By doing so you can dramatically reduce the time it takes to accumulate a sizable number of subscribers. This in turn will allow you to have a profit churning email based marketing campaign up and running in no time.