How successful are you at your Internet business? Or put another way, do you think you have achieved your goals with your online business? Success on the Internet is definitely possible and yet very few actually succeed to the extent that they can live exclusively off it. Most online entrepreneurs still think that developing a website is all they need to invest in. Having a website is no guarantee that your online business will succeed. How will you achieve financial profit if people do not realize that your business exists online? In fact, the one thing that differentiates a successful Internet marketer from one who is struggling to find a toehold in the field is the size of their Opt-in lists.

Basically, an Opt-in list is a list of email addresses of people who have agreed to obtain any kind of information from online businesses like yours. The term "Opt-in" means that you have their permission to send to them whatever newsletters, brochures, or promotions that you have in your online business. It is extremely important that you have their permission first, before you send them information, because unsolicited emails will be regarded as spam and spamming is an illegal activity in the Net.

The most successful online entrepreneurs concentrate hardest on building as huge an Opt-in list as they can handle in order to get the consumer's attention and sustained interest. By creating an Opt-in list, you will be able to maintain solid contact with your previous buyers and at the same time boost your sales. This is because you have a sure target market that you can build a relationship with and as they learn to trust you, they will always be ready to purchase items from you.

So, for people who are not yet aware of the importance of building a highly targeted Opt-in list and would like to know how to build them, here are some tips that could be very useful.

1. Decide on your target niche market - It is extremely important to know who comprises your target market in order to focus on the product(s) you finally decide to sell. It would be really confusing and time consuming if you build an Opt-in list with no particular market in mind. Moreover, having a niche market would bring more focus to your marketing campaigns and you would derive better results because you can direct your emails to people who would most likely be interested in them.

2. Be sure that your selected target market is available on the Internet - The mere acquisition of a niche market is not a guarantee that you can start building your Opt-in list. Since the Opt-in list is specifically geared to aid in the growth of the online business of a particular entrepreneur, it is important to have a niche market that is available through the Internet. The concept is self evident - it is not possible to find buyers for your product if the particular niche that you are targeting has no presence on the Internet. Hence, it is extremely important to verify that your target market is available online.

3. Confirm that your chosen target market is income generating - The Opt-in list is a guide that tells you that there is a market for your product and that people are definitely interested. But there is a big difference between being interested and being a committed buyer. One way to avoid targeting the wrong customer base is by ascertaining their likely purchasing ability with the help of search engines. If you find a fairly large number of paid ads associated with the keywords you have used, this could be an indication that somebody is ready to spend money to advertise to the target market that you have in mind. If so, the chances are that you will be able to tap into the same lucrative market .

4. Subscription form on your website - Always place a subscription form prominently on your website. Most people use a pop-up blocker to prevent annoying ads from distracting them. However you can use current pop up generator software to build float-in windows that are subscription forms in the guise of unblockable popups. Never forget to ask for the potential subscriber's permission before adding him/her to your mailing list. This ensures that you are never suspected of sending SPAM.

5. Create an Internet Forum on your website - Creating this type of forum can help focus on what your target market views as being problems. Through their posts and threads, you will be able to identify your target market's doubts and misgivings regarding either a specific product or about doing business online with an unknown vendor. This in turn would give you a chance to come up with solutions to allay their fears and develop a rapport with your customers based on trust .

Although it takes time, patience and perseverance, it is possible to see your handful of Opt-ins grow into a massive list as word gets around about the quality of your products and your reputation as a caring and trustworthy entrepreneur.