I once knew a farmer who raised watermelons. When they began to ripen his wife would ask him to pick them. "Not until we have a good number out there," he would respond, "otherwise it's not worth my time." His wife would come in each day and tell him about how some of the melons were now rotting and others were still not yet ripe. His response was always the same. As soon as there were enough ripe ones he would go out to the field and bring them in. You can probably surmise the operation was not profitable. The watermelons wasted away and before long there was a for sale sign in front of the farm.

Don't wait until your email list reaches a certain number before you capitalize start marketing to your prospects. They will forget who you are, mark you as spam and you'll have a field of rotten watermelons. Your marketing should be automated and broadcasts should be going out twice a week right from the beginning. Failing to do this is lost opportunity.

Each person who signs up for your list should get a welcome message that is not selling anything. Your next message should go out within a few days and offer some relevant and valuable information. If you can send everyone a free gift such as an eBook once in awhile. The magic number before you start marketing to your email list is: one. Automating your email campaign is easy, you can do it one time at your computer without ever walking out to the watermelon patch.