As an online business owner, one of the most common marketing phrases you will hear is "list building".

'The money is in the list.'

'Your list is gold.'

'Your list is your biggest asset.'

You might wonder why this idea of building a list is so important in your ability to be successful and make money as an online business. Many wonder why they cannot just build websites, write some copy, send some traffic and collect their profits. Why is it so vital that you consider building a list? List building has become so dominate because it is by far the most cost effective way to generate repeat traffic and repeat sales.

First, let's talk about what building an email marketing list or 'mailing list' means. A mailing list is where you encourage visitors to your website fill out a form with their name and email address to subscribe and receive content and updates from you about your products and promotions.

Using this information, you contact your mailing list via email updates. You can send everything from free reports to articles to videos to affiliate product promotions to your mailing list as long as you are providing high quality information that they can not find anywhere else.

In the online world, it is very hard to become successful unless you segment and determine a niche. No matter what your niche, you can build a mailing list. All you need is a little bit of creativity.

I have seen everyone from beauty salons to chiropractors use email marketing as a successful part of their marketing campaign. Some online businesses choose to publish articles each week, some choose to share podcasts and some choose simply to promote special offers. You are truly only limited by your imagination.

For example, if you have a website related business coaching for women and how to be successful, you might be wondering what all you could offer your target market. If they want to be successful, show them how to build a mailing list, how to gain a loyal Twitter following, how to use pay per click advertising, you could easily offer them all kinds of business and success related items to help them grow their business.

Here is another example that is a little less straightforward. Let's say that you have a website that sells a product that will help reduce your child's acne. You could also offer them products to improve self-esteem and self-image, you could promote make up and skin care products. You could even promote clothing companies (through affiliate links) that are popular among the teenage audience.

It is important to think about other issues your target market is dealing with at his or her stage in life.

Many online business owners are hesitant to build a niche business because they want to appeal to as many individuals as possible. However, as you build your mailing list, you will begin to see the huge potential you have in defining a niche.

As a further example, let's look at the business coach for women idea again. You have been selling an audio program titled "How to Create Audio Information Product", you might decide to write one called "Podcasting and Recording for Women in Business".

This way, you can still sell the original book, but now you can also offer your list this accompanying book as an up-sell product.

To see the potential, let's assume your list has only 500 people right now. Your ebook is priced at $27, and you send an email out to your list in a matter of minutes.

If 150 people on your list purchase your ebook, you just made a quick $4,050 from one email!

Do you see the power behind list building?

What if your email had really great sales copy and you had a higher conversion rate?

Not only will building an email marketing list increase your success rate, but it will also create an extremely cost-effective way to market and grow your business.