List building your local business

Picture: Kennedy Adventure fitness center in Paso Robles, CA 93446

Last night I attended a weight loss seminar at my local health club. I don't need to lose weight, of course. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

But in the interest of total honesty I could stand to lose some pounds, so I had a selfish interest in the seminar.

The seminar is run by a nutritionist who believes that we should eat "only what God made and nothing man-made." So, if I signed on to her holistic non-pill program (the only kind I would consider) I would have to exclude my morning breakfast of Grape Nuts and most of the pizza I treasure. Not sure I can do that.

At the beginning of the seminar the nutruitionist asked us to put our name, phone and email address on a sheet of paper she passed around to the prospective clients. I joked, "That's called list building!"

She said, "Yes, list building."

I was struck by her comment because I did not expect her to be familiar with the concept of building an email list to keep in touch with prospects and customers. She is not an internet marketer. I don't think she has a website yet. But she did know what list building can do for her.

If I had to guess about the number of people she has on her email list I would say abou 200. This led me to think that her list may be much more responsive than one of 2,000 solicited by the normal squeeze page process. After all, the people who are on her list already know what she looks and sounds like and they definitely are interested in losing weight.

Which type and size email list would you prefer?

Greg Cryns
All About Atascadero California