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?"

The answer is...you are asking the wrong question. Why? Because
products come and go, but the people you are marketing to remain
forever. Meaning, the product you are selling this year may not be
the same product you are selling next year, but you will be selling
to the same people. That is, if you are collecting their name and
email on your web site.

That is why your top priority as an online business owner (after you
determine what your niche is) is to collect the emails of your
visitors. This can be done with a simple email capture form
available with any autoresponder service. Then you can use that
autoresponder service to send sequential messages to the people on
your email list.

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.

Another benefit of sequential emails is that people will see them
eventually even if they join your email list at month later. This
catches the missed sales that are so prevalent when online business
owners have a single promotion that misses everyone who came to the
web site after the promotion is over.

So, get an email capture form and place it front and center on your
home page or most popular page. Offer something really valuable in
exchange for their first name and email. It doesn't have to be
expensive, a downloadable report, mini-course via email or a link to
a video will do, but it should be something that your customer
really wants to entice him to give you his most prized
possession...his email address!

Concentrate on building that list of email subscribers and you will
have an online business for years to come. Neglect building an email
list and you are at the mercy of products that may not last past
year's end!