List building

Andrew Reynolds built his business from scratch. He created an extensive database of his customers and kept on marketing a targeted audience. Today he is worth 50 million pounds.


If you are lucky enough to have thought about list building when you started your business, you can pat yourself on the back.

If you have not made this move, you should start immediately.
Building a list and keeping it, is an ongoing process. People do not have much time these days,so you need to get straight to the point without beating around the bush.

List building does not have to be a hard task.


If you run a restaurant, you can quickly build a list by offering a free recipe of your favourite dish. Do it on a weekly basis and your list will grow in a short period of time.


If you run a shoe shop, you can send your subscribers a monthly newsletter informing them about fashion trends.
Craft business can offer monthly hints on creative activities for special occasions. And so on.

Once your list builds up, you can follow the customers with special offers targeted at your specific market. Any targeted advertising is much more cost effective, than sending emails or letters to everyone. Targeted market converts better in sales.

Another way of getting new subscribers is offering certain information for members only, thus creating an exclusive club, while standard information is made available to everybody.Subscribers are made to feel privileged by being informed about discounted offers not available to a wider group.

One thing needs to be remembered: everyone receives tons of useless information, so you cannot be yet another person adding to the rubbish.

If you bombard your prospects with an unworthy newsletter, you do not show much appreciation for them, nor do you gain credibility and they are likely to remove themselves from your list at high speed.

Another thing you need to remember is to give subscribers a chance to unsubscribe. The way to do it should be made plain and clear and well visible. There is nothing more annoying than trying to remove your own
email address from a database of a particular company when it is made almost impossible or the whole process takes far too long.

By law, you are obliged to register with Information Commissioner, if you intend to collect and store personal information like email address, name and postal address. The registration requires you to pay a small fee and gives your customers peace of mind. You must not ever store credit card details.


And another thing: treat your customers like you would like to be treated. Loyalty cannot be taken for granted. Treat your customers with respect and your sales will improve. Always answer questions your clients send to you and do not dismiss them even if they are awkward. Try to answer to the best of your ability and look for the answers if you do not know them.


In one of our own businesses we managed to build a list of targeted subscribers within a few weeks. This list is still growing and became another asset of our business.

And to be honest, it is one of the biggest assets of any business.

By Joanna Foss