Every business needs a low cost way to reach targeted customers. Email marketing is by far one of the most effective and inexpensive methods of advertising available to you.

Not only is email marketing very low cost, it is also a super fast way to rake in profits and test new products. Hence, it is this reason why many Internet Marketers keep saying that "the money is in the list".

The "list" refers to your own database of email prospects. The results of your marketing efforts are doubled when you build up these prospects in your own mailing list. The bulk of your long-term business profits come from repeat sales and repeat customers. The only way to acquire a repeat customer is to stay in contact with him/her.

However, not all mailing list are created equal.

There are differences between the different types of list and you will need to take careful notice of those differences. Explore why they exist and determine what strategies you need to attract members into your preferred list.

If you're ever in doubt about the value of list building, ask yourself this question: "What would I rather do? Spend all of my resources seeking out one-time customers over and over again, or build a relationship with a large pool of existing customers who trust me and are responsive to my offers?"

With that said, let's examine the 5 basic types of list an Internet Marketer.

1. Uncompiled list

This is the group of untargeted surfers on the Internet. You have no relationship with them and they have no knowledge of you or your products. You can only reach them through various channels such as safelist mailing, pay-per-click traffic and natural search engine traffic. To convert this group into potential prospect, you need to spend lot of time and money in order to build up trust and credibility. These are your cold leads.

2. Opt-in list

This group of prospects has raised their hand and join your list through either your eZine or lead capture squeeze page. Through constant contact and providing them with valuable information, you get to build trust and credibility with this group. If you do it right, you will be seen as a trusted expert and friend. When you promote a product or service, this list will give you better response when compare to the uncompiled list. These are your warm prospects.

3. Customer list

With this in mind, you should protect this group. They are the hot prospects. They have experienced your products and if done correctly are your supporters. If you have effectively solved their wants with your earlier products, they will be more open to your next promotion. Jay Abraham once shared that if a fire breaks out in his office, the first thing that he will rescue would be his customer list. This is where the gold are.

4. Affiliates list

This is often one of the most overlook list by new Internet Marketers. This is also one of the secret weapon of how successful Internet Marketers (such as Ewen Chia and Mike Filsame) are able to profit greatly with each of their product launch. Imagine each members in this list as your own sales person. You need to train up this group, excite them and guide them on how to sell your products. Once fully trained and equipped, they can multiple your marketing efforts many times over.

To see how important this list is important to you, go to ClickBank Marketplace and look at the top 10 products on sales in each categories. You will see that the 70% to 90% of all sales were made through affiliates. Hence, if you want your product sales to reach greater heights, build up your own army of affiliates. Treat this list as your friends.

5. Partners list

This is the smallest list in your database but are also usually the ones that will bring you the maximum profits. These are your Joint Venture partners and Super-affiliates. This list of members are experienced Internet Marketers themselves and have build up good rapport with their own list and their own army of affiliates. By marketing your products through them, your reach will reach higher heights. This list will take you a longer time to develop. Treat this list well.

So as you can see from above, if you want to build up your customer list and if you want to increase your sales in the long term, start building your own affiliates and partner lists now!

About the Author

You can learn more on how to build your own army of affiliates at http://www.ArmyOfAffiliatesExposed.com. Also download the "Affiliate Money Machine" report at that site. You'll love it!