I am often surprised when I get the question: ‘what is a list’?! It’s interesting how much we assume as entrepreneurs when we are talking to each other.

Back ‘in the day’, we used the term database – and that’s all it is. It’s your rolodex – it’s your contact – it’s your network. In this day of technology, we call it ‘the list’. And yes, you need to have one in order to grow a profitable business.

Why is that?  You need a list of people to talk to – to connect with – to sell to. It’s that simple. And you know I like simple. So, here are some simple list-building activities that you can implement starting today.

1)      Teleclasses.  Schedule a tele-class, featuring you as the guest expert, and start promoting on social media (which is F.R.E.E. advertising). Get the word out – keep it ‘no cost’ – and attract people with hooky-catchy titles.

2)      Telesummits. This is really effective for those of you starting out in business because you can grow your list quickly this way. You want to start out with 4 strong guest experts who have a list bigger than yours – schedule it about 10 weeks out because there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to pull it all together. And ensure that your guest experts commit to mailing out to THEIR list to promote the event – that gives you exposure to their list and attracts people to your community.

3)      Public Speaking.  This is one of my favorite ways to grow my list – speaking in front of large crowds – and this can be in person and/or through media (T.V., newspaper articles, etc.). Be sure to have a ‘call to action’ that will get people to your website to access your irresistible free offer (a CD, an audio link, a PDF report, etc.) so you can capture their names and email addresses.

4)      BE a guest on a teleclass. And drive traffic to your own website with a special offer – have a special page set up for that particular teleclass so you can capture their names and email addresses again.

5)      Sponsor at Events. I use that specifically for list-building. Have a ‘draw’ of one of your products, for example, and gather names and email addresses at your exhibitor table.

There are some rules of etiquette around each and all of these steps – recognize that you can’t just be out there gathering business cards and names and entering them into your list yourself. You must have permission to do so – or you will end up getting a lot of people unsubscribing, for example, and that’s not what you want. So, ensure that you have a note, or make mention, when you are out and about that by way of participating in a draw, for instance, will also provide them with a subscription to your weekly ezine for additional tips on growing your business (that’s the line I use).

And another tip is as you build your list and you see that people, along the way, are unsubscribing – that’s ok – they aren’t your people. They are moving on and that’s fine. You don’t necessarily want a HUGE list – you want a quality list.

And know that it takes a list of about 1,000 people before you start to see/experience people purchasing from you.

So, this is enough to get you going and get your growing. It’s critical in business to attract the ideal prospects to your community – give them great content – and make money. Sweet!

What one thing will you do this week to grow your list?

Please share your thoughts!