The most popular and most successful method for building a list is to give something away to your target group. The thing you give away will usually be a “free report”, a chapter of an ebook you’ve just written, a little software program, or any other downloadable item that you have distribution rights for.

The idea is that you give something of value to your subscribers, and they give something of value back to you – their contact information so you can keep in touch with them.

The Give Away Item

First, make sure the give away item is worth downloading. In other words, make sure it provides useful information and has some substance. If it does not offer value of any kind your subscriber will feel cheated.

Second, your give away does not have to be long and involved. In fact, it is better if it is short and sweet. I recently signed up for a free report that was 94 pages long. After the first 20 pages or so (much of which was the introduction) I put it aside and will probably never look at it again.

Be aware that when signing up for a “free report” many people are acting on impulse and they want a quick read. So give them something that is 10 or 15 pages long with just a few very specific points. Then make it clear where they can get more detailed information on the subject matter.

Third, your give away item does not have to be created by you. For example you may find a report prepared by someone else where once you download it you are given explicit permission to give it away to others. The reason an author or marketer would give you this permission is because you are (usually) not allowed to change the content. The content will often contain promotions of the author’s products and links back to the author’s website(s).

Having said that, a report, video or software program which you create yourself is better because it reinforces your expertise in the field and does not dilute the impact of the give away by sending people off to a website you don’t own or control. Something which you prepare yourself is better because the content points only to your own products and resources.

Getting Traffic To Your Offer

Having a great offer is only the beginning. The next step is getting traffic to your offer. Without traffic you won’t get signups and you will pretty quickly conclude your list building efforts are a dismal failure. So don’t create a free offer campaign without thinking the traffic thing through. Here are some traffic generating suggestions…

First, promote your free offer wherever your target group can be found on the web – in particular on forums and social networks that cater to your target group.

Second, promote your free offer regularly in your blog. (You have a blog, right?)

Third, use your offer to build your Twitter followers. In other words, mention the free offer to your followers on a regular basis. This will drive traffic to your offer page and generate signups.

Fourth, consider creating a simple Youtube video promoting your free offer. You can link to this video from your blog, your tweets, your Facebook posts, and from other social network pages you’ve created.

Firth, get networking partners to help you promote your offers. For example, if you know four or five bloggers in your loop offer them a trade:”You give me a mention for my product or offer, and I’ll give you a mention for yours.”

Don’t rely on SEO – Go after direct traffic

As a general rule I do not recommend using SEO (search engine optimization) techniques to drive traffic to free offers. Many self-proclaimed marketing gurus talk about the power of the search engines to drive traffic to your offers, but they themselves usually rely almost exclusively on email campaigns and networking with other marketers. You should do the same thing.