By BloggerKhan

My profession is Management and Marketing and it revolves around outsourcing, ecommerce and marketing on the internet. Wise men say identify what you are passionate about and then see if ...

Want to run a successful business? Then you need a strong marketing strategy to drive sales. What should this strategy include? In a day and age where a lot of sales either happen online or originate online, email marketing has become one of the key components of good marketing strategies. It is fast, easy and relatively simple to develop a solid email list.

To get started, you need to choose the right email service provider (ESP) for your auto responder needs. We recommend AWeber or GetResponse. Choose the right one for you depending on your needs and budget. These services include all the tools you need to start building your email list including: opt-in pages, templates, sending emails to subscribers in both HTML or plain text format, upgrading your subscriber list, measuring the success rate of your email campaigns etc.

Next, think of all the ways you can gather emails. Here are our top 20 suggestions:

1. Create a popup window for your website;
2. Include your signup form at the end of every blog post;
3. Send a signup form to all your business contacts;
4. In person at relevant business events;
5. Host a business event or meetup;
6. Referral program and rewards;
7. Through social media;
8. Offering freebies;
9. Exclusive announcements on discounts and new products/services;
10. Email newsletter;
11. Exit popup window when your visitors are ready to leave the site;
12. Email your receipts;
13. Ask for emails at checkout;
14. Through phone calls;
15. Through surveys;
16. Post on forums;
17. Join relevant online communities;
18. Guest posts on the sites of your business partners;
19. Host giveaways;
20. Or buy an email list for the market segment you are interested in.

Most businesses use a combination of these to create their email list. Choose the ones you think will work best for you.

Once you have created your list, think of ways to stand out from the crowd. These days, inboxes are overflowing with emails and you do not want yours to be the ones sent to the trash folder. Use a unique template, offer discounts and always include calls to action so your list can keep growing and improving through time. By measuring the success rate of your campaign, you will know how big of a driving sales force it is and make the next one even better.

Remember, your email list is your most prized possession. Do not forget that all the time and effort spent in creating it are a big part of your future revenue.