As an expert in teaching families to start online businesses, I am asked a lot of questions about selling on the Internet. By far the most common question is, “What do I sell on the Internet?” or “WHAT TYPES OF BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN E-COMMERCE?”

My answer is always the same – you are asking the wrong question. Products come and go. What is hot one year, is forgotten in the next. Your clients will stay with you forever — if you take a few basic steps to ensure their loyalty. Why not start by collecting their name and e-mail address?

Collect all the e-mails from your visitors. Many autoresponder services include a simple e-mail capture form, making this quick and easy. Those auto responders can also be used to contact your clients, making the job of selling easier. Automatic systems like this one will build your business even as you sleep.

For example, if Bob joins your email list (via your email capture form at the top of your home page) on Monday, he will begin receiving an email every 7 days about who you are, what your credentials are, what you are selling, why they should buy from you as opposed to the other guy, and so on. If Sally joins a month later, she will start receiving your messages in the order she needs to receive them.

Sally will not receive the same message 17 that Bob is receiving because she needs to receive messages 1 through 16 first! The messages that Bob is receiving since he joined a month before will not make sense to her. That is why you need to send sequential emails through an autoresponder.

Think about that! How many of your products require more than one email to answer all the objections your customers have? Or how many of your products require some basic knowledge before your customers realize they can’t live without it? Nothing is better than sequential emails for getting the job done.

Sequential e-mails ensure that all your clients get the same information, no matter when they join your e-mail list. Your clients will never again miss a valuable promotion, and you will increase your clientele.

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Put an e-mail capture form on your most popular page; usually, this will be your home page. Offer something valuable to your customers in exchange for their e-mail addresses (as an example, I offer mini-courses for marketing online). You don’t need anything expensive. Create an article, a report, even a mini-course – anything that will help your client, and convince them to provide you with an e-mail address.

By building your list of subscribers, you are developing an online business that will be profitable for years to come. A word of warning – if you neglect building this list, you may find yourself at the mercy of products whose popularity waxes and wanes. Develop your list for success today.