The more we think about it, the more we are drawn back to
the business fundamentals put forth by mail order gurus of
past decades . . . self-made millionaires like Joe Karbo
and Melvin Powers. While each one had his own marketing
techniques and closely guarded secrets, the one concept
that you could be sure to hear from each and every one of
them was, 'The money is in the list.'

That is no less true today, for those of us who do our
business on the bandwidths. Since our business is conducted
by way of an impersonal, if not anonymous medium, it is up
to us to personalize our business relations and dealings in
a manner that best suits our customers and ourselves.

Enter the Opt-In mailing list of the 21st century.

The only difference between our lists and the lists of
Karbo and Powers is that we collect names and email
addresses, rather than street addresses and postal codes.
For the most part, the underlying marketing techniques
haven't changed.

Gratefully, the cost of launching a large email campaign is
only the merest fraction of the cost incurred with a
similar sized campaign by traditional ground mail.

But we still need to conserve our time and energy by
sending our information and offers to people whom we know
are interested. In other words, they have 'opted-in' to our
list by expressing a predetermined interest in our products
and promotions.

We still must contact our prospects on a regular basis, to
let them become acquainted with us, develop credibility,
and set the stage for relationships that are conducive to
doing business. It often takes several contacts to convert
an interested prospect into a paying customer, a near
impossible task with one-shot advertising.

Our opt-in list allows us to do specific research, and test
the market for perceived needs. We can survey our customers
and prospects to determine what their problems are, what
it is that they want/need, and how much they feel a
solution is worth.

By doing this sort of research, we can develop highly
specialized 'lists-within-the-list' that are comprised of
highly targeted prospects for a particular offer. You can
bet that this type of list targeting was used whenever you
hear one of the Internet gurus crow about making $20K from
a single email campaign.

Unlike any one-shot advertising venue can ever do, our own
well cultivated opt-in list can guarantee us a monthly
income into the future. This is what is meant by 'The money
is in the list.' If we care for our list members, give
excellent service, and cater to their needs, the list
itself becomes a means to financial freedom.