Q: I have got a database of 20,000 people that has been built over the last 17 years and it is a very active offline although I have never communicated with them online. I am working at trying to figure out a way to leverage to go into a very different direction online, so basically expand off of this group of people that have been very active. Where should I start?

Well, I would first start with a goal or a concept as to what kind of sub list you are trying to build. You need to start building a sub list and you build a sub list based on particular demographics and/or interest levels or whatever criteria you determine. So you have to think of what are you ultimately trying to sell for these people and get very clear on that first. That it is going to help you start to build sub list based on what you are trying to sell.

If you do not know what you are trying to sell, you could build thousands and thousands of sub lists. They could be sub list of people who have interest in all kinds of different things but it does not really serve you any purpose unless you know the endgame, which is what you are trying to sell them.

So again, first I would advice you to get very clear on what you are trying to sell and then work backwards from there and start crafting different marketing promotions to build sub list targeted to that particular product or service that you are looking to sell.

If you do not have your own product, selling affiliate products is probably the fastest. The easiest thing to start with and you can research different products that are related to that market and then start building those sub lists by providing information related to those topics and then using a follow-up sequence to then sell affiliate products on the back end.

If you want to target those particular areas, look to find products that are available to that market and obviously there is going to be lots and lots and so you decide on what products you want to promote. This is if you do not have your own product. If you have your own products targeted to those niches, then I would definitely start building campaign built around selling those products on the backend.

My preferred method of building a sublist is by providing valuable information that is targeted to that sub list. So what you are doing is you are trying to find packages or pieces of information that that target market would be interested in. You want to give it away for free but in exchange for their name and email. That is how you then start to build that sub list and identify who those people are. Give them information that they are going to have an interest in and that is related to that particular sub niche.

You can find this free information online, you can get information created, you could do surveys. Just send out a survey like, “What is your most favorite you fill in the blank?” and get people to participate in the survey. When they submit their answers, they are submitting their names and emails as well. That is a way they are identifying themselves that they are interested in that particular subject matter.

Sometimes you are going to have to get creative but other times it is going to be relatively easy for you just because there will be free information out there that you can provide people or you could have fun with it in the whole process.

Tags: affiliate, affiliates, autoresponder, autoresponders, creative, creativity, email, emails, joint venture, JV, list, lists, offline, sub