If you’ve been learning about marketing and sales techniques, you may have heard the expression "the fortune is in the follow up" and that is very true…but who ARE you supposed to be following up with?

Well, you are supposed to be following up the people on your list.

Now, you may already have "a list" or you maybe wondering how on earth you’re supposed to get one of these lists in the first place.

You don’t want any old Joe Blow joining your list: what you want are warm leads: people who have held up their hand to say "You know…I’m interested in what you have to offer…please tell me more." These are what are known as "qualified leads". So, your list should comprise of people who are already interested in your type of products and services.

The key words here are "already interested". If people are already interested in your type of product or service, it will be far easier for you to get their attention. A dog food company will promote their products to dog owners, not cat owners. The people who are already interested in what you have to offer are your target audience. OK, so you’ll need to do some work to find out who they are in the first place, but once you do find out you can start to collect their names and addresses (email or home).

Once you’ve identified who you want on your list, here’s how to get them on your list…

….And that’s with a little bribery (in the nicest possible way!) and offer them something for free.

No, not your product, but a ‘free report’, or ‘free ten top tips sheet’, ‘free consultation’, ‘free audio programme’, ‘free video’ or ‘free anything you like’.

People are very savvy these days and won’t give their name and email address out for nothing. So your job in marketing your business is to make sure you create something of great value and content in return for their email address, and you will then be able to start building a list.

Once you have this list (and it’s got past the only members being your mum, brother, great Aunt Mildred and the cat), THEN you have a list of people that you can start building a relationship with…that is - the "following up".