With all of the social bookmarking and social networking sites available where we can follow and add thousands of friends and subscribers is it really necessary to have our own list?

Think about it like this. For example, on Twitter you could easily have a few thousand people following you. In theory that sounds great and it is a good thing but how many of those people are actively paying attention to Twitter every single time you tweet a message to your followers.

Do you have a way of consistently tracking how many people read your tweet? Can you consistently track how many followers were called to action because of your tweet?

Not really.

With your own list depending on where you build it, you can consistently track who is opening your messages and even provide a way for them to respond to you if you like.

Will Twitter is an awesome tool there is really only so much you can do with 140 characters. With your list you can send out an inspirational message, advance notice of a sale coming up, freebies, marketing advice and more.

What about Facebook, another great place for marketers. Do you really need a list if you have 5000 Facebook friends? I’m going to tell you why you do. On Facebook you do not have the right to message other members about commercial opportunities in their inboxes even though many do.

I’m not talking about telling a close friend something in their inbox, I’m referring to those sending messages to every one of their friends into their inboxes without asking them if it was okay or those adding others to their marketing groups without so much as an invite.

Facebook does offer pages for businesses which is a great tool in itself but it still isn’t a replacement for your own personal double opted in list. What if for some reason, maybe even due to no fault of your own, your account was suspended? How many of those thousands could you contact then? It is something to really think about.

You can build a real genuine  relationship with those on your list as they get to know you through your consistent messages. After a while you may get to know them as they feel confident enough to respond to you.

They might express appreciation for the quality content you provide to them. If you treat your list like you would treat someone in real life you will fare much better without many clicking the link that allows them to leave your list.

Those are real people behind the emails and if all they see is buy buy buy all the time and you never offer them anything that they can actually use and I’m talking about something that is free. Advice and how to because that is what people want to know. How to do what you are doing?  How to be successful at what they want to do? How they can be successful online?

When people see that you consistently provide quality content they will want to stick around. I know I do. There are certain marketers that I read each and every one of the emails they send and many times I click the links to go to their blogs, websites and whatever else they are trying to show me.

Sometimes I am even called to action, meaning I make a purchase. Why? Simply because I trust them. I have gotten to know their character through the types of messages they provide. I believe in what they are saying.

On the other hand I have unsubscribed lists as well because it was a never ending barrage of buy this and that. I had no reason to trust them. They didn’t take the time to let me get to know their character. They sent deceptive messages which I see is all the rage now with wannabe marketers.

I can’t count how many regarding this and that messages I got where supposedly I asked them about a product so they were letting me know more about it or I get the “You have made a sale” which is utterly ridiculous because I can’t make a sale if I am not a member of their affiliate program to begin with.

I’ve noticed that my email address gets passed around to people I have never signed up with to be on their list and like magic I am receiving their autoresponder messages. To me that isn’t ethical. The ethical way to do it is as I have seen many big names in marketing do,  become affiliates for another marketers products and offer it to their own list instead of selling or giving away their list.

I don’t know about you but I really love (not really) when a marketer emails me about how he has a refund or has money he earned coming to him but out of the kindness of his heart he decided to spend it on me. Am I really that special? Ok, let me get out my tiny violin and play a song in thanks for this super nice deed that has been bestowed upon me.

So many people are doing this that is ridiculous. If they are spending all of their so called earned money on buying things for others what do they have left and what crummy products are they always buying that causes them to ask for a refund in the first place. It’s like they take a course on how to become annoying marketers because they all say the same thing.

If they are spending their hard earned money or refunds on whatever it is they are “buying me” I’d rather have the cash then. I could make a fortune that way. Right?

Either way it doesn’t make sense. Why not just be truthful and tell your list you are giving them something free or made an arrangement with another marketer to give them something for free. It doesn’t sit to well when you insult the intelligence of the people on your list.

When you have a list and treat it right you will achieve more retention of list members and more sales because you took the time to be responsible with your list. You gave them something instead of just taking. An unethical marketers list doesn’t last long because people on the list are very short term. No one wants to be scammed.

Also you have many options when building a list. While I recommend a paid list because you have more control there are free options available. So if you haven’t built your list, get started today. With mailing lists you aren’t limited to just one topic. You can create and run multiple lists. This is great if you are into several niches and you want to keep everything separate to appeal to those who are interested in that niche topic.

If you’d like to become a member of my emailing list pertaining to PLR you can sign up here.

If you have a mailing list, have you benefited from it. Why or why not?