You’ve probably heard time and time again the old marketing adage “the fortune is in your list.” Whether or not you are familiar with this motto, the truth of the matter is that there truly is no better way to build your business.

No matter what small business you operate, you absolutely must take the time to build a targeted list of interested prospects and satisfied customers.  The most effective way to accomplish this is to have a simple opt-in form on the first page of your website that offers your prospect a free and valuable gift in exchange for their name and email address. This gift can be a special report, ezine subscription or downloadable ebook.

Once a prospect has supplied you with their information, you are able to continue to market to them over and over again.  Here are five ways to market to interested prospects who have agreed to receive additional information from you.

1) Keep Your Brand In Front Of Your Prospect

In today’s noisy and chaotic world, your prospect needs to see your offer between seven and twelve times before they even take notice of you. That means that you must keep your brand, company and product or service in front of them as much as possible. Obviously, you don’t want to spam them or aggressively shove your offer down their throat. You simply want to let them know that you are available as a solution to their problem.

This can be accomplished through automated email marketing and/or ezine marketing.  If they receive interestting and informative information from you several times each week, they will undoubtedly begin to take notice of you.

2) Continue The Conversation To Build Your Expertise

It’s vitally important that you continue to market to your list in a variety of ways. If your prospect receives articles, blog posts, podcasts, ezines and press releases from you, it won’t take long before they conclude that you are an expert in your particular field.

Once you are perceived as an expert, your prospect will see you as the “go-to” person once they are ready to make a purchase.  Your goal is to position yourself as the only person that your prospect will approach once they are ready to make a purchase in your particular niche.

3) Invite Your Prospects To Special Events

Once you begin building your list, you should invite your prospects to important events and promotions that highlight your product or service. As an example, once each month, I offer a free webinar to all prospects who are part of my list.
 
Those who decide to attend my webinar receive a valuable training session on a free marketing strategy. This, of course, continues to build my reputation as an expert in my field. At the end of the event, my attendees are given the option to sign up for one of my shoestring products or services.
 
4) Send Out Coupons, Promotions and Special Offers

When you have a list of prospects who are interested in your products or services, you can periodically entice them to do business with you by offering coupons, promotions and other specials. You can extend one-day only discounts, free trials or complimentary consultations.

Oftentimes, it simply takes an enticing offer for those “fence-sitters” to cross over to the other side. Experiment with special promotions and track which ones bring in the most sales.

5) Sell Additional Products And Services

Not only do you want to build a list of prospects, you want to have an additional list of your current customers and/or clients. Research suggests that 20% of your satisfied customers will purchase from you again if they have the opportunity. Since your current customers have already decided to do business with you, they already trust you and they are much more apt to purchase from you again. So, make sure to present them with plenty of opportunities.

Ultimately, it is essential that you take the time to build a list of targeted prospects and current customers. Your list will allow you to increase brand awareness, continue your conversations, position yourself as an expert and offer special incentives to both your prospects and current customers.

It won’t take long before you realize that your fortune does indeed reside in your list.