Quick thought on why you need to build your OWN List

I am going through some website revamping this weekend. Working on organization and presentation. One thing I noticed was that my link to Ultimate Traffic System wasn't working - I looked around and found out the domain name had expired - So Poof, just like that, another 50+ downline members gone - And for what? $10/year?

The thing that sucks for me is that is now 50 less people on my email list(s). I used to be able to email my downline there once/week.

Now those 50 emails/downline members aren't that many (Sucks that I paid for a lifetime Pro membership though! I had about $30 in commissions never paid either), but it was people who signed up THROUGH affiliate curve. It's not a lot of people, but it's at least a BIT more personal than any safelist email -

The fact that it disappeared doesn't affect me hardly at all - I have to now remove a free advertising resource from my site, but it was just another little "lesson" about online marketing.

The one lesson is that companies/programs/affiliations, etc. can disappear at ANY time. You should never by 100% loyal to ANY 1 company or product.

The next is that it's a good example of why you need to build your OWN email list.

Yes, the money is in your list - But it's more than this. Having a close email list is the best way to remind people that you are there. They say people often need to see something 7 times before they "trust it" - I actually don't really sell very much to my list at all. I use my list mostly to give advertising tips and program recommendations (although obviously program recommendations are selling).

Having your own list is also a great way to let people know you are serious about your success. If the only emails you can send out are on safelists, nobody is going to recognize you and you won't build any name recognition. Once people start to see you, your program, your products etc. they start to think You Must Be Doing Something Right - That makes them want to see what YOU are doing that is different from them.

For me, having my own list is actually very good motivation for me to keep on working hard. I remember several months back I had a very big name sign up for my newsletter - Someone I had seen all over traffic exchanges and what not. It actually made me nervous - I didn't send out ANYTHING for a couple weeks. I thought "shoot, now I have to come up with something good!" - I guess that was kinda silly - I have always been up front and honest about my experiences and never claimed to be any kind of expert, but it did intimidate me at first. I ended up using that as motivation to improve myself - Kind of like when people are counting on you, it's time to Step it Up a notch. Maybe that is just me, but I use my list as motivation to make myself a better marketer - The entire goal of my site was to give beginners a good start in online marketing - To get past the initial "get rich quick stage" and become more -

Anyway, that was another tangent and I gotta get some work done this weekend:

In Summation - Having your own list builds credibility. It gives you a reason to keep going and not quit when your frustrated. It also is a big help when you find a new program that you think is awesome and you can send it out to 700 people who are already familiar with you and trust your recommendations.

So get serious, get an Aweber account and start building your own list. Traffic Exchanges are EXCELLENT for building a list. Learn how to use them properly and in a few months you will have your own personal list of people that come to YOU for help and advice.