List Building - Where do you begin? Defining your target market. That is the first and most important aspect of getting people onto your list. You have heard the saying "You can't sell snow to an Eskimo," so why would you even try and develop a list building strategy without first identifying your audience?

Once you have established who you are targeting, determine a "niche market" within that group. For example, you have decided that Network Marketers are your target audience. Great, but that is a pretty big group of people. In order to effectively communicate with your prospect, narrow the field down by defining a certain segment market within that Industry.

In the example above your main target market could be Network Marketers and your sub-market could be people who have tried the industry before and failed. Create a headline that grabs their attention and immediately addresses their concerns with something like "Network Market Failures". Now your group is much more defined and targeted.

Next, you will need to determine the needs and wants of this specific group of people and create content that will address these needs. Lead your prospect through your content and be sure to continue to hold them there from the very first sentence down to the last piece of information on the page. You need to be sure you are using the right language to draw them in and keep them there. Make it easy for your prospect to understand you are addressing their needs and concerns while continuing to lead them to your Lead Capture Page where you can capture their information. There should be a natural flow throughout your material; being careful not to divert from your original message.

Use good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) within your content so your target market can find you. Good keywords and keyword tools are essential to be sure you pull in the people you are addressing with your material.

Do you have to write your own content? No, absolutely not. There are lots of other ways to, including pay-per-click. They all work and they can be very effective but they are a little more costly than building your own web of content. Building your own web of content is undoubtedly one of the most cost effective ways to generate leads and it works. Once you have a solid foundation, you build more credibility with your audience and you now you have their undivided attention.

Lead your target audience to other content you have created that addresses their needs by linking them to different sites but remember; your ultimate goal is to get them to your Lead Capture Page where they can enter their information and get on your list.

Build this relationship with them throughout all of your content, giving them Value first, so they will want to join your list.

Once you have finished, review your content and ask yourself:

"Am I moving them through content while continuing to stay on target?"

"Am I guiding them and making it easy to sign up by leading them directly to my lead capture page?"

"Am I keeping their attention and providing Value?"

If your content is great and somebody lands on your page and finds your article extremely useful but they can't find your lead capture page, then you have wasted your time. If they leave your page because you failed to address their needs throughout the content, then you've lost them for good.

When you have these concepts down, then it all comes down to applying them correctly.