You’ve heard it before – if you want to succeed online you must have a list of your own.
Every guru says it. Ever wonder why?
Because it’s true! 
There is no doubt that the single most valuable asset I own online – more valuable even than owning the Directory of Ezines – are my mailing lists.
With them I can build, or rebuild, a business. Without them I’m back at square one.
How about you? Do you have a list yet?
If not, here are four simple ideas you can use today to start building a list of your own even if you don’t have any money to spend, a website of your own or any traffic!
These are all methods I have used, and I still use each of them today.
These tactics work for me and have for years. I hope they will work for you too.
Idea 1 – Your Email Signature Line
Go to your “sent email” folder right now and look at the email you sent today. I’m willing to guess that your email does not include an offer for someone to join your mailing list.
But it should!
Think about this – If you send only 20 emails a day (including replies) then you are sending over seven thousand emails a year!
What if only 1 in 7 people saw your link and joined your list?
That’s over 1000 subscribers to your list … free!
Idea 2 – Forums
Ever visit a forum and ask a question? Many have but they don’t leverage the experience in their favor. Just about every forum out there offers a signature line feature, yet we see thousands of posts with no signature.
Don’t make this mistake! If you post on the Warrior Forum or Michael Green’s How To Forum or any other, make sure to include a link where people can join your list.
Again, free and very effective. Put time on your side with this one!
Idea 3 – Twitter
Ah, Twitter – friend or foe? Great marketing tool or time waster?
Great marketing tool!
Here’s how you can use Twitter today to begin building your list with no money. Start following people you know of and replying to their Tweets. Make sure your reply makes sense and won’t waste people’s time.
Fan Tweets – replying to a Tweet with something like “loved your book about ___” are 100% okay and often much appreciated.
Once you have been following for a while you will get followers too, and become a recognizable name in your circles. When that happens, send a short Tweet about your new mailing list and where people can join it.
Sure, it takes some time and there is software to “automate” this process. But no software in the world can automate the personal touch, and that’s what is needed to build lists.
Idea 4 – Your Blog
If you don’t have a website you might be thinking “sounds good Charlie but where do I send them to sign up?” Fair question.
The answer is your blog. If you don’t have a blog there is simply no reason to wait any longer. Go to Blogger.com and get one now. It’s free, they have templates you can use that look professional.
If you can type, you can blog. And you should. Once you get a blog just put a form on it for your list and you are good to go!
So there you have it, four ways to begin building a real list of your own with no money and no traffic!
- Your email signature line
- Forums
- Your own blog
Begin using these methods today and you will put time on your side. Sooner than you think, you will have a mailing list of your own. And having a powerful mailing list is a beautiful thing indeed!
About Charlie Page
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Hi Charlie,
Thank you so much for great tip. It is useful for me who have just started online marketing.
I have learned a lot from those tip.
Seng Sotharith
Charlie,
I am a DOE member and wanted to echo the sentiments of Cheryl and let everyone know what a fantastically excellent site the Directory Of Ezines is. What amazes me is that it is constantly growing and every time I go back their is something new. All that and personal coaching that I plan on taking more advantage of.
I also wanted to let you know that I have finally got an autoresponder and a product and it is mostly, maybe not all, but mostly due to your training AND inspiration.
Thanks for Everything,
Ken Damon
Hi Charlie, I just wanted to make a quick comment here for those who are interested in joining the DOE! I joined a few months back and I can tell you all this is an ABSOLUTE DEAL!! A Life time memebrship! Charlie even takes personal calls, where he will help you out with any problems that you want to discuss. The DOE is a must have tool. Thanks Charlie for all you do.
Chery
Charlie
I really appreciate your straight forward and friendly style. I always walk away from your articles with a lot to think about. Thank you.
Kimberlee
I have a couple of You-tube videos of songs (copyright belongs to me) that have generated over 24000 and 35000 views over the last 2 years. I am quite new to online marketing. However, I sense an opportunity here with affiliate marketing for vocal teaching products. I am not sure how to take this forward though in a simple and effective manner. I have just added a video annotation in those 2 files, asing them to explore my affiliate link; looking for suggestions to build an effective plan. Any thoughts will be welcome.
Thanks you so much,What a powerful tips you have reveal here.
Hi Charlie ,
I am happy for you , why? because you are epitome of success . I have read lots of your articles , reports , tutorials alike , you are special . The credibility you worth is priceless please keep it up; unlike the so call gurus who put up everything for $$$$ accummulation . I’ll tell you this Charlie, a hundred-years after you are gone , lots will still be singing your praise for the legacy you are nurturing now. May it please God to continue to strenghten you more & more . Although, ‘am not yet DOE’s member , but for all what i’ve read, seen and heard about you , I will surely register this month, Deo Vollente.
Hello Charlie, a list is of utmost importance, your ways to build it are essential for us to use. You always give us good content. Thanks, Andrew Gallop
Well Mr. Charlie, It looks like I have a new best friend. YOU! Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. The information that I read thus far is very valuable. I know that by reading your stuff, I will be earning money online real soon.
Thanks again
Floyd
Charlie, that was a great refresher. And I agree with Richard on collaboration. List JV is great idea any can use to grow their list. Thanks .
thanks for the input Charlie it’s what I needed to hear. I have become exceedingly frustrated because I believe I am where you were when you first started Internet marketing. I am rapidly getting to the point where I will need to work from home and I would like to be able to replace the income that I get from my so-called grown-up job :-{ I have the feeling that it won’t be long before I become one of your members. Once again, thanks for all the great content and information.
Hey Charlie,
I am glad to finally reach here because I have been procrastinating . There is so much value to learn and profit from. BoioBess Daro
Hi Charlie,
Thanks so much for he simple, but, powerful no cost strategies.
Take care,
JC
I am very seriously thinking of signing up to become a lifetime member. I understand I need to do it now.
I have some questions I would like to ask you before I do it. They are concerns of past experiences
and I think you are what I am looking for and I just want to be sure. As soon as I am satisfied with your answers I would be interested in what you have to offer.
What would be a good time for us talk on the phone or would you rather I email you my questions?
Thank you
Judy Hutchins Gilbertson
916-605-9222
Judy,
I can’t take calls from non-members at the moment due to a heavy workload. My phone time is reserved for DOE members.
But you can ask any question you like using the “Ask Charlie” link at the top of this page.
Charlie
As publisher of the BizOpZine ezine, I couldn’t agree more with Charlie. These are wonderful ways to increase your list and those are the people who are truly interested in what you have to say. Never underestimate the value of that personal touch!
I’m absolutely agreed with Niranjan. What a nice quote.
Hey Charlie,
Again with the value my man! Good work!
Simple but effective when applied, everyone can do these strategy’s.
Thanks the info Charlie!
Billee Brady
I like DOE and enjoy reading Charlie’s posts because they do not contain hype. Just pure content that’s valuable and usable. I wish getting traffic was easier. Because almost all folks who fail to earn a living online blame lack of traffic as the root of all evil. On the positive side, all those who succeed accept that “ability to get quality traffic consistently” allowed them to succeed online. All newbies need to remember that “If it’s to be, then it’s upto me”. Procrastination is friend of Poverty. Path to success is very simple – Give away something free to build huge email lists and then send valuable offers to the list. Build good relationship with them and grow income online. Having our own product/service does help as it provides the power of leverage
Charlie,
I appreciate you sharing your knowledge freely.
I am ashamed to admit that I knew about the email signature idea over a year ago but haven’t done anything about it until today after I read your post.
Thanks again,
Scott…
Gosh, Charlie, I can’t imagine why someone would do something horrible to you – you give great value and are totally non-contraversial or confrontational. Another informative post reminding us all how much we can do for free!
Mary
PS. I’m sad that so many people don’t add a picture to their comment – it’s another way to brand yourself!
Charlie, You give so much great information – and it’s free! You are the consumate example of first making a friend, building trust, and then offering your valuable wares. Thank you for all your help. Sincerely, Chuck Johns
PS Although your style is advocated by many marketers, so few adhere to it – especially with sincerity.
Wow – I’m blushing. Thank you. I had a customer do something horrible to me yesterday. I needed to hear something positive. You made my day!
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
This is an awesome post. I call it a wake up call.
It is soo easy to overlook those methods.
It is best to use twitter in conjuction with the blog.
when you make a post on your blog, you can then
tweet the blog link and get them to sign up to your
mailing list. This works better if they like your post
and want to get more of you.
David
David,
Great tip! Did you know you can tie your Aweber account to your blog too? It’s called Blog Broadcast and it will broadcast to your mailing list when you post. I’m teaching about this right now inside Follow Up Selling Systems. It’s a super powerful technique.
Thanks for writing.
Charlie
I’m still trying to master the Twitter thing. There must be a right way and a wrong way to try to build a list through your tweets.
The best way I know is to drive them to a squeeze page where you offer something of value free. I do that at the Directory of Ezines and it works well. i tweet about the ways people can use ezines to easily (and cheaply) promote whatever they want to promote and then offer them my book Ezine Traffic Formula free. Works pretty well.
I’m going to be testing this with other sites too (affiliate products) very soon using the 25 squeeze pages I provide members of Follow Up Selling Systems. I really like using the same tools I provide members. That way I can experience what they experience.
Thanks for writing.
Charlie
Those are exactly the ways I was taught to start Charlie 2 years ago once I started doing this the right way.
I will throw in the fact that YOU MUST BE CONSISTENT IN ADDING VALUE ALWAYS.
An example of what I have done (I am free at home by the way from all this) is I made sure I stayed disciplined.
One of the things I still do is after signing up for several forums for your own niche ie Warrior forum is one I use…then I go and comment on 2-3 forums daily to teach some of the new information I have learned from my marketing which I do daily.
So I belong to 5 forums and comment on 2-3 daily.
Find folks with newer questions and answer then professionally.
Don’t whine and complain about how broke you are or how hard this is or how no one will help you or…..blah,blah blah.
I am stunned at how often I see this.
Does that attract the people you want to work with or sell to?
Not.
I also did the same with high pr blogs promoting both my blogs.
Here’s the secret to it though. Don’t waste time in this but be sincere and helpfull.
I make sure I do 20 minutes to 30 minutes daily and get out.
\Lastly I have had folks sign up with me in some of my programs from this.
Just not on the 1st day.
I’ve moved on from this mostly with a new technology but still comment because many need help from us who have figured it out.
Thanks Charlie.
TOTALLY agree with that approach. I love what you said here …
“Here’s the secret to it though. Don’t waste time in this but be sincere and helpful.”
I could not agree more.
Thanks,
Charlie
Charlie
Excellent suggestions…amazingly enough I have two email accounts one has the signature and the other does not, (fixing that right now)
Your point on forums is excellent, and the signature should provide the reader with a “hey this can help me” and want to click right away on your link.
As for Twitter, I just read about a dozen direct messages to me that had nothing to do with helping me or how I am. They were all check out this website to make a gazzillion dollars joining me. When will be learn?
The Twitter direct messages situation is out of control. I suspect it won’t be long before they will really crack down on the abuse of their system. Many active Twitter users are putting in their profile that they don’t even look at DMs so to email them. That’s my next move.
Charlie
As always great advice Charlie,
Offering something for free to join the list helps too but sometimes I wonder what is best thing to offer.
Viola
That depends on what type of information you will be sharing with your list. If you keep what you give away congruent with what you will teach or share you will see better results.
Hope this helps.
Charlie
I have recently come to see the value of collaboration and partnering as yet another way to build a list. Perhaps it is more like a cluster of ways! It has excited me so much I have started to create some videos and I’m currently writing an e-book on how collaboration helps home business owners. I believe every successful home business leader —including Charlie !!— has used collaborations to build their list and their business generally.
Anyway, I am looking to collaborate while I write about collaboration… I would love to interview anyone who is willing to share their story about a collaboration they have done. My interest is in the type of project and the process used. If it works out and we are both agreeable, I will highlight you and your joint project. There ya go! Another list building possibility! So if you have worked with one or more people to create an e-book together, teleseminar together, joint ventured together, or simply ad swapped or anything else where you have leveraged the benefit of working with another entrepreneur on a single project, please let me know. My contact information is at rgoutal.com
Thanks Charlie for all your great work. You exemplify the giver business mentality. I have been so very glad to have become a member of both DOE and Follow Up Systems…. and I don’t even use half of the benefits available.
Charlie, as always straight to the point, thanks!
Hi Charlie
I always look forward to your emails because every single one of them has something of interest and value, thank you.
Your succinct summary of adding subscribers to one’s list is as clear as a bell. However, I’m not sure I understand what you mean when you give suggestions re “Your Email Signature Line.”
If I’m emailing someone, then I already have them on my list so why would I want to them to sign up again?
Would be grateful for some clarification.
Thanks, again
What I mean by adding a link to your email signature line is two things.
1. Adding a link to join your mailing list to your personal email signature. Most people overlook this.
2. Adding a link to join a different mailing list to email you send to your primary list. So if you have list A and list B, when you send to list A make an offer for them to join list B.
Hope this helps.
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Thank you for the simple but effective list building tactics that we ignore to implement. Recently I started participating in forum asking and answering questions. I have noticed few sign up to my mailing list.
These simple daily activities are can boost and help build one’s mailing list. Repetition is the mother of architect!
I always appreciate your articles charlie.
I have a blog at WordPress but they said “No Advertising” and I have a website or two that NEED to b advertised in order for me to make a profit.
Otherwise what is a blog for?
A blog is for providing information. You can send people to sites you promote by offering readers links to follow without displaying advertising. The best way to market online is to provide great free information and then encourage readers who want to learn more to click a link to do that. My site does not display ads but I sell quite a bit from it by using that very strategy.
Jacqueline,
Although blogger and wordpress.com are great free options, nothing beats having your own blog with your own domain. You’ll have total control over the the layout, ads, and content, plus you’ll appear significantly more professional to your visitors.
Register a domain name, sign up for a free web hosting account, install WordPress on it, and start driving traffic to your site. It’s a lot easier than you think and you’ll love the freedom and flexibility that come with owning your own site!
Dan
Hey Jacqueline,
The sole purpose for a blog is to create relationships and add value to your readers then and only then you will start to separate yourself from the crowd and start to become a leader.
A blog is to brand you, to share your story, create relationships and again above all add VALUE to other people.
To Your Success,
Billee Brady
Charlie,
You always provide great value which leads back to your products. I try to model my stuff after a few of your tactics. Thanks for this refresher.