The Importance Of List Building
“The money is in the list!” - If you have been around the internet marketing niche for any longer than a couple of weeks, chances are, you heard that term before.
But why is that the case?
Why is email marketing so important?
And what is the role of your blog/website in your online business?
Is blogging dead in 2021?
Let’s find out…
Blogging - For A Different Reason
People think my primary reason to blog and publish content is to make money online and sell stuff.
But that’s wrong.
You see, the comment section of most blogs nowadays is practically dead.
Almost nobody reads the same blogs regularly anymore these days.
The conversation moved on: Away from blogs and onto social networks.
Fact: Although I built several of my websites to the point at which they’re generating thousands of visits per months, the comment sections remain rather quiet.
If there are any, it’s 95% spam, and/or purely to build backlinks and promote other products and services.
But here’s the thing: That is absolutely ok!
Because the purpose of your blog is NOT to become the centered masterpiece of engagement that’s burying facebook and forums.
Far from it.
Instead, the purpose of my blog is to
- educate my followers/readers on certain topics that are important to us within our chosen field,
- position myself as an expert, authority or thought leader within my chosen niche,
- attract organic traffic (SEO) from the search engines (traffic generation),
- be the face/storefront of my online business (including the hosting of all landing pages, memberships, paid products, etc.),
- capture the targeted traffic’s contact information. (lead generation)
That’s the primary goal: To generate interested, highly-targeted leads.
And that’s still working perfectly fine in 2021!
Google Search remains the powerhouse and at the center of search for all websites and other web content ever created.
A Blog’s Main Purpose: Capturing The Visitor’s Contact Information
Let’s put the lead capture page (or simply “opt-in”) into perspective:
(This graphic was taken from: The Online Business Blueprint (PDF) - Free Download Here)
As you can see, the blog (at the bottom left of the graphic above) is clearly NOT at the center of my business.
It’s just one of the traffic sources that I use to attract traffic.
Then, I drive that traffic to my opt-in page (aka “squeeze” or “landing” or “opt-in” page) to capture the visitor’s email address (contact information).
And that’s really critical, because:
The core of my online business is building an audience.
Ideally, a very responsive, highly engaged, super targeted audience that’s expecting and looking forward to hear from me - preferably via email.
And that’s why list building is mandatory.
Not just an option.
It’s the priority and focus of my blog - and it should be yours, too!
Sales And Marketing In 2021 And Beyond
He came, saw, clicked, bought, and lived happily ever after.
Unfortunately, that’s not how most (purchase) stories look like.
Most people don’t buy any product or service the first time they hear about it - no matter how useful it is, no matter how good the offer seems to be, and no matter how strong their pain is.
Because we’ve been disappointed too often in our lives.
We simply don’t trust any stranger on the internet.
And therefore we don’t follow his/her recommendation to buy something - at least not on the first encounter.
The Rule Of 7
A prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action and buy from you.
As we’ve seen above, trust is the most important factor when it comes to making decisions and doing business online.
Trust between people is not an event, it develops over time.
Like in any relationship.
Here’s the main point:
In order to be able to contact any person several times, we first need to have their contact information.
Only then can we proceed and try to build a relationship with our readers.
Only then can we prove our true value to them.
We build trust, and we build credibility by being of great value to them.
So, if you want to run a successful online business in 2021 and beyond, you need to:
Make List Building And Email Marketing Your Top Priority
For all the reasons listed above.
The same is true if you’re focusing on social networks instead of running your own website:
The core of your business is your (email) list.
Coming quickly back to the blog and how it fits into this picture:
Your online business still needs a face, a storefront if you will.
And that is your blog, it represents your online business.
People can stop by and see what you are all about.
If they are interested, they continue reading and browsing your site.
And if they are really interested, they’ll subscribe to your list - to hear or read more from you.
You blog attracts organic traffic from the search engines so you can start a conversation.
That’s really all it is!
In 2021, customer-centric and very helpful blog posts (content) still work.
As long as your content helps your reader, you’re good.
But as we pointed out above, in order to build a sustainable, reliable income from your online business, you need to focus on list building and email marketing.
Closing Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this short but important article about the importance of list building.
Thank you for reading and stay awesome,
Tim for Online Business Dude
PS: Start And Grow Your Own Online Business, From Scratch, Today!
==> This Is How.