You’ve probably heard “the money is in the list”. Well, that’s as true today as it ever was.

Here’s why: An email list of people who voluntarily subscribed is a long term asset of your business. By “long term” I mean it will yield profit to you a long time into the future.

If your website disappeared or your product suddenly stopped selling, you’d still be in business if you had taken the time to build an email list.

You have total control of your list. You’re not subject to Facebook rules or Google algorithms. You don’t have to concern yourself with ranking with SEO techniques that may, or may not, even work.

Your email list is yours 100%. You can use various strategies (covered later) to attract visitors and encourage them to sign up.

You can then send them any email messages you desire, without fear of being banned or having a low quality score. Email as frequently as you want-you’re the boss.

Here are a few basic steps which you can take to build your list the right way.

Create a free offer of value.

People are not willing to just hand over their email addresses without a good reason.

In order to get folks to give up their email address you must create a compelling offer that contains value. Your offer can be a guide, an ebook, a webinar or a piece of software.

It must be easily consumable and must be perceived as offering good value.

Create an opt in form and place it strategically on your site

To create an opt in form and place it on your site is as simple as copying and pasting the code provided by your email service provider.

Most site owners usually place the opt in box at the top right sidebar. This is fine, but there are other high converting spots on the site where it should also be placed.

According to Derek Halpern of Social Triggers here are some other potential opt in box placements.

In a pop up box on your site.

At the end of each blog post.

In the site’s footer.

On your about page

In a little bar across the top of your page.

On a landing page within your site that you can link to from your blog posts.

Getting New subscribers

You will now need to get traffic to your site and on your landing page so that visitors can see your free offer and easily opt in.

Here are a few ways to find new subscribers:

Use social media. Use your Facebook fan pages and Twitter account to show your offer and entice visitors to opt in.

You can “boost” your Facebook posts and show your offer to a huge audience of targeted prospects.

Solo ads.

Solo ads are a quick way to build an email list. You can find solo ad sellers whose list is congruent with your offer and start out with a small number of clicks to test your message and the list.

After testing and optimizing your message and lander, you can quickly scale up your efforts with a purchase of more clicks.

Make sure the seller you use has a good history of satisfied customers. Don’t ever deal with a new seller who has no track record.

Hold a contest and offer a giveaway

You must give away something with a high perceived value in your niche. Otherwise, no one will be interested. You can give away a physical product, like an ipad, or digital products like a course or software.

The more valuable your product, the more opt ins you’ll attract. This can be an inexpensive method to attract very targeted visitors quickly.

Guest Blogging

Offer to write a guest blog post for a high traffic website in your niche. Include links to your site or landing page in the article or your author’s signature.

It’s important that your post and content be of very high quality. People who regularly visit well known blogs expect high quality content. Don’t skimp on quality here.

Your email list will turn out to be your business’ biggest asset. Exercise great care in building and nurturing it and it will be productive for you for many years to come.