Let’s talk about my two favorite parts of online marketing – content creation and list building. I’m sure you’ve heard before that the number one thing you should do for your business is build a list. And it doesn’t matter what market you serve – you want to be able to contact your clients and prospects by email. Because when you have an email list, you have access to your audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. And the big bonus is that YOU own your list.

Why Having a List is So Important

When you build a strong list, and build a relationship with the readers on that list, you are building the foundation for a successful business. When you take the time to understand your audience, what their problems are and how to solve them, you can pretty much build your income to whatever level you want.

But, you have to do it right. You don’t want to spam your audience with crappy offer after crappy offer. You want to make sure you take the time to check out products and services you are promoting, so that you only deliver the best value both in the offers you promote and the information you provide.

Making List-Building A Priority

Making list-building a priority for your business just makes good sense. In addition to sharing offers and information, you also get the chance to invite your audience members back to your site again and again. It’s easier to retain a customer or a subscriber than it is to continually be chasing new ones. (Although I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be looking to add to your list.)

But being able to publish content that your people have told you they’re interested in, and then emailing them about it helps you keep the circle going and build your relationship with your readers even deeper. When you get this right, your audience members will be your best allies in gaining new members because they’ll happily tell their friends about you.

This is Where Content Creation Comes Into Play

Content creation is essential in your list-building efforts because it’s content that

• Drives traffic to your posts (through social media and advertising)
• Persuades people to sign up for your list (blog posts and articles)
• Is included in the opt-in offers you deliver (reports, and other media)
• Keeps people on your list with the emails you send. (emails with info and offers)

One of the ways to create great content that entices people to opt-in to your email list is through cornerstone content. When you create cornerstone content (also called epic content or pillar content) for your blog, you are able to add opt-in offers directly into the content.  Cornerstone content also gives you space to create in-depth content that covers a lot of material but in a broad enough fashion that you can narrow it down and go into more detail within the extra content you offer as an “upgrade.”

In an upcoming series, we’ll spend time looking at how to create cornerstone content, how to create your opt-in offers and add them to your posts, and how to track the results so you can rinse and repeat.

Final Thoughts

List building is so essential to your business that you should make it your main goal when working on your marketing and brand awareness. Your website will always be the hub of your business, but it’s the email list that is the foundation for your success. It’s this that makes content creation and list-building a perfect marketing match.

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.