Why You Need to Build a List Starting Today

by Lee McIntyre on February 21, 2008

One of the key turning points in my online business was when I discovered the true power of successful list building.

It’s not all about building a list of course, and as I talk about in Project New Web keeping your subscribers happy is just as important too.

But not devoting enough time and energy to list building is one of the biggest reasons why so many people don’t succeed online today.

Below I’ve made a video explaining why list building is crucial and why you need to start today (if you’ve yet to start to build a list then you really need to see this video).


Hit the play button below now.


I hope you enjoyed the video…and please leave your questions or thoughts in the comments below too. :)


About the author


Lee McIntyre is the founder of Aim Higher Marketing where he shows others how to use honest marketing to build profitable Internet businesses in record time.


Subscribe to his newsletter now and receive $239.80 in valuable freebies just for giving it a try!…Visit LeeMcIntyreNewsletter.com now!


Last 5 posts by Lee McIntyre

 

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{ 4 trackbacks }

LesleyHuntley.com » Blog Archive » The Importance of Building a List
February 23, 2008 at 2:20 am
The Importance of Retaining Visitors
March 17, 2008 at 8:39 pm
The Importance of Retaining Visitors at make money online from home
June 2, 2008 at 2:06 pm
3 Golden Rules For Email Marketing Success | The Honest Internet Marketing Blog
December 4, 2008 at 2:06 pm

{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Francois du Toit February 21, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Hi Lee,

Good reminder about the importance of using leverage in online marketing. :smile:

BTW, looking forward to seeing you in Bali!

All the best,
Francois du Toit

2 Terry Dean February 21, 2008 at 10:35 pm

Great video as usual Lee!

You did an outstanding job of really showing why building a list and growing your relationship with that list is the key element in your business.

3 Jason February 21, 2008 at 10:54 pm

Thanks for the vid Lee.

That’s something I wish I had realized a really long time ago.

Your profits can increase by 1000s of %.

It’s funny how you can make more money off 100 visitors than another site can with 1,000 visitors or even 10,000 if you build a list.

4 Derek February 21, 2008 at 11:03 pm

Super video Lee!

That was cool to watch and you explained it very simply. I like your new headset as well. Do you konw the model number?

The best

Derek

5 Lee Jones February 21, 2008 at 11:37 pm

Hi Lee

Excellent video Lee, you’ve obviously come a long way in such a short time, and for such a young guy (big 50 for me this year) you’ve got it nailed……. and i wish i was as wise as you when i was that age.

To me this is one of the best vidoe’s you have made, and will go along way in helping a lot of people…….

So on the odd chance someone is reading this, do listen to what Lee is saying here, he is a very knowlegable and wise man, and his advice is solid as a rock.

6 Lee McIntyre February 22, 2008 at 12:01 am

Hi Francois – thanks for the comment and I’m also looking forward to seeing you in Bali too.

It should be quite some event!

I just hope the crowd are better behaved than the last time I taught from the stage…which was to a group of 350 16 year old school boys! :)

Hi Terry – Many thanks for the nice comment. Coming from someone I consider a legend in the world of Internet Marketing I am very flattered indeed.

Hi Jason – It’s funny…everyone tells us to build a list but often I feel that when we first start out we don’t fully realise the importance of it.

I’m certainly glad I learned this lesson though!

Hi Derek – Glad you like the video!

I do not know the model number of the mic (I can find out) but it was only £30 ($60) and it does a much better job than the previous one I owned.

Hi Lee – Thanks so much for the nice compliments. :)

I have to say though that I’ve never been called ‘wise’ before. I’ve been called ‘unwise’ many times before…in fact when I quit my teaching job to become a full time marketer almost everyone I knew described my actions in much stronger language!

I’m glad you liked it. This was a bit different to my other videos, so it’s nice that it has received such positive feedback.

Please keep the comments coming :)

Thanks

Lee McIntyre

7 Shane February 22, 2008 at 12:23 am

Thanks for the Video Lee.
It’s great to see a straightforward, easy-to-understand explanation of such an important part of starting and growing an online business.

Shane.

8 Malcolm Kirke February 22, 2008 at 12:38 am

Yes you state the case clearly, if perhaps rather repetitively. But it’s said that repetition is necessary for learning.

Next thing we would like to see from you, Lee, is “building a squeeze page”!I find it so difficult because, frankly, I dislike the squeeze pages and landing pages I come across all the time, with the lack of integrity that permeates them. How do we write a straightforward squeeze page without threats, false promises, stuff like “I was talking to xx” when we know he’s never met or been in contact with xx – stuff like that really puts me off and I don’t want any of it on my sites. Show us a good squeeze page and comment on it, please.

Malcolm

9 HoBo February 22, 2008 at 1:05 am

Lee have just started to listen to you – first listbuilding – great stuff and the source of most effective marketing.

I’m so new to this, the L plate is still packaged! I’ve decided to make the very most of this information and the downloaded videos I need to learn the trade asap and it’s terminology – squeeze page ???

Thanks a million

10 David S. February 22, 2008 at 1:45 am

Hi Lee,

I had been running from list building up until about a week ago when I purchased Project New Web and it changed my whole mindset completely.

This video describes me perfectly when it came to how I used to try to market. That is definitely going to change very shortly.

Can’t thank you enough for all your help in “seeing the light” when it comes to the absolute brilliance of building a list and treating your subscribers with the highest regards.

Thanks again Lee,

David in SC

11 prekybininkas February 22, 2008 at 3:38 am

Hi Lee,

i’d like to ask you a few questions.

#1 What software do you use to create your videos ?

#2 What software do you use to draw those drawings that you show on this your video ?

Thank you for your time. :)

12 Welly Mulia February 22, 2008 at 5:05 am

Hi Lee,

As always, you’ve given your subscribers another valuable freebie :smile:

Continue to overdeliver and I really like your way of doing business. You’re one of 2 IM experts that I look up to and listen. All the others, as you have probably said it a lot of times, are just interested in selling me something…hehehe

Thanks,
Welly

13 Kim February 22, 2008 at 7:04 am

Hi Lee

I have JUST started my online career and was just about to junp into the “many tasks = one sale” school of thought when I watched your video. :oops:

Now, I have changed my priorities! :grin:

I’m guessing that part of building a list is to have some kind of auto-responder and I would like to know which one you would recommend. Seeing as I’m not really skilled at building web pages, I would need one that has template for the sign-in form. Incidentally, how is all the data stored and would I be able to export the my list if choose?

Many thanks :smile:

14 Lee McIntyre February 22, 2008 at 9:44 am

Hi Shane – Glad you liked the video and thanks for the comment. :)

Hi Malcolm – The repetition is my training as a teacher coming through!

I agree that many squeeze pages do lack integrity, but they don’t have to be like this. I’m currently working on a new squeeze page, and I’ll blog about this when it’s complete.

Hi Hobo – Sorry for not explaining all of the terms properly.

A squeeze page is just a one page website that has the goal of making the visitor enter their email address in exchange for something of value.

If you look at this blog you’ll see I have an optin box, but there is also lots of other links and content here too.

This means that less people subscribe to my newsletter as they get distrated.

Everything on a squeeze page will be geared towards getting the visitor to subscribe, and distractions will be kept to a minimum.

Hi David – I’m really happy the video helped. One of the things I love about this business is that I still ’see the light’ all the time.

I love how everything is a learning curve, and how I discover new things almost daily. It makes me chuckle when some experts say that they have everything all figured out, as I love the continual learning and discovery so much.

Hi prekybininkas – (Q1)I use Camtasis 5 for my videos and it does a great job.

(Q2) The drawings were actually just done in Powerpoint. I then recorded the screen with Camtasia, and then just flicked through the various slides.

Hi Welly – Many thanks for the nice comments. This means an awful lot to me so thany you :)

Hi Kim – I recommend Aweber and there is a link below.

http://www.lee-mcintyre.com/recommends/aweber

They have some really good tutorials that really help, and I think they still have a free 30 day test drive trial available too.

Thanks for the comments everyone and keep them coming!

Thanks

Lee McIntyre

15 Paul Perry February 22, 2008 at 10:55 am

Hi Lee just a qick note I can see the money is
in the LIST.How do I do a squeeze page,it might
sound a silly question but I don’t know.
Thanks for the good vids can you do one on squeeze pages thanks again Paul

16 Anne February 22, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Hi Lee, as always you have produced yet another cracking freebie, and one which is extremely valuable, thanks for posting it, your a star

Anne

17 Mike February 22, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Hi Lee,

Great stuff, keep it up. I am a complete newbie, {whilst I can unterstand the logic behind what you explain} you talk about a squeeze page to build a list, do you have any more info on a precise method {step by step} on how to carry out this process.

Thanks again Mike

18 Dave Hamer February 22, 2008 at 2:00 pm

Hi Lee

Great Video – defintely highlights the 80/20 pareto rule in life! i.e. 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results – BUT also 80% of your efforts can produce only 20% of your results. So it pays to think very carefully about how beneficial each activity is going to be. I think it’s called working SMART rather than Hard. Better get on with my listbuilding!

19 Ken. February 22, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Surely your list in your “weight loss” niche will hopefully get smaller not bigger, Lee :wink:

Great video mate, as we come to expect from you.

Ken. :smile:

20 Trevor February 23, 2008 at 1:14 am

Lee,

You repeated yourself 3 times. I understood the concept the first time you explained it. This video should only be around 4 minutes not 11. :neutral:

-Trevor

21 Lee McIntyre February 23, 2008 at 10:57 am

Hi Tevor – sadly though I’m unable to create video to be sent to 4,200 people and pitch it at a level that everyone finds perfectly comfortable.

While you might have understood the concept after 4 mins, others might not have done so, as shown by the comments above.

I’m happy to tailor some learning materials just to your level of understanding, but they will then subsequently cost a lot more than FREE!

Hi Ken – thanks for the nice feedback :)

Hi Dave – Great point about the pareto principle and this is something that everyone should consider when marketing online.

Hi Mike – I talk about how to build squeeze pages in my popular Mailing Lists Unleashed

http://www.mailinglistsunleashed.com

I’m also redesigning my squeeze page and will create a video showing how and why.

Hi Anne – thanks for the nice comments and I’m glad you liked the video :)

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Lee McIntyre

22 Martin February 23, 2008 at 11:00 am

MMMnnn…now I need to start building a list don’t I!

Good video Lee and I wanted to say thank you. I’ve just found this blog via your 500 Dollars Only book and I’m very glad I did.

Keep the good work up!

Martin

23 Tom Parker February 23, 2008 at 12:32 pm

Hi Lee,

Fantastic video and you make some very good points. Without building a list you lose lots of potential value and repeat business from the initial traffic that you generate. One of my best investments ever online is definitely a subscription to Aweber.

Keep up the good work.

Tom

24 William Potts February 23, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Hi Lee,
Another great video! You have the ability to break down imortant tasks for anyone to understand and follow. Keep up the great work,
i always look forward to your expert advice on your blog posts and how to videos. You are definitly helping many aspiring marketers, with what really works and how to not waste their time trying to figure out what doesn’t work.

Regards,
William

25 Matthew Beaghen February 24, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Very concise and easy to understand as ever, Lee although you might want to watch the input gain on that headset. Some peak level distortion here and there. What I don’t get is how you make money from clickbank, as a Brit or indeed any nationality other than US when they pay in dollar checks?
Regards, Matthew

26 mike February 24, 2008 at 8:47 pm

Hi Lee
Great video, as ever. You get your message over real well, must be that teacher training in you.
You always seem to have real passion and excitement in your voice when ever you a new video, really refreshing when hear so called Gurus. Anyway after reading a couple of replys to this video,a few people harp on about you repeating yourself but to me it doesnt matter how many times you repeat yourself, building a list is mega important. I have only recently realised the importance of this despite being online for over 3 years. So keep shouting it out and repeat yourself as many times as you want Lee ‘BUILD THAT LIST NOW’ it the most important thing you can do.
All the best
Mike

27 Lee McIntyre February 26, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Hi Matthew – you’re right about the mic and I really struggle with this.

In person I have which goes up and down a lot, and the more I get excited aboutthe subject at hand, the more this happens.

I need to play with the video settings, as at the moment it doesn’t cope well with the highs and lows in my voice.

Re the cheques – Clickbank pay in USD but you just pay this into your UK bank as normal. An extra fee has to be paid, but the bank takes care of the exchange rate nitty gritty.

Thanks to everyone else for the feedback. Building a squeeze page seems to be something that lots of people want help with so I’m going to put something together in the coming days :)

Thanks again!

Lee McIntyre

28 Rex March 1, 2008 at 12:14 am

:lol:
Lee:

Just finished watching your “Why You Need to Build a List Starting Today” and I 100% completely agree with you — there is only one problem that I have, I am new to the internet game, and I have no idea how to start “making a list”, can you help me, and I mean walking me thru everything ?

29 simone hardy March 5, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Lee, great piece of info. Thank you. I was saying the same thing. I need a list but I don’t know how to build a list since I’m a newbie. Please help. Thank you.

30 Ken Hulse (khinternat) June 3, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Hello Lee

Yes I did know that building a list was the most important thing, as you describe so well. What I did not know and what has been holding me back for a long time now is, in simple 1,2,3 terms, how to go about it. Even you don ‘t talk about it in your video. Maybe I ‘m missing the point, or maybe I ‘m stupid or something, but between knowing what is important and actually doing it, there is a huge difference.
When I have taken the next step, I will really be on the road. Please help!

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