Suppose you are a software engineer with experience of 6 years. Programming is what you have been doing for a long time, and you now know everything to become a high-class programmer. You are an expert in programming. Now for how long will you continue to do it? No matter how much you develop your programming skill, there will be a point from where you can't progress. No matter how hard you work, you will be paid only for the time you work. So what can you do? Teach your skill to others. If you can teach programming to people with your ebook or course, you can not only earn more money, but you contribute to other people's lives. You not only help yourself but others too. 'I made millions doing the real estate but made hundreds of millions TEACHING it,' said Robert G. Allen.

Information business works best in the startup as well. If you implement the information business in your startup, it will drastically reduce the customer acquisition costs to zero. I have applied the same phenomenon in my startup to launch my products without spending any money.

If you study any expert business, you will find that they learned their skill, implement it, and have a moment to realize they can't grow above certain points, so they shifted their focus to helping others with what they have learned. You already have skills and are already passionate about your expertise, but just because you are only consuming, not creating, you failed to realize your true potential. With enough determination, you can launch your information business, which can help thousands aspiring others in your expertise.

You might be thinking that you need millions of followers to earn money, but that's not true. You will only need 1000 true fans. In expert secret, Russel Brunson wrote about an article called '1000 True Fans' by Kevin Kelly. In this article, he wrote, 'A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author — needs to acquire only 1000 True Fans to make a living.' He explained, 'A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.'

As an information entrepreneur, I put so much effort into building my list and giving them my absolute elite best content to form a relationship — to make my work's true fans. Think this again, how far can you go with learned skill? Can you be paid more than your working hours?

Whether your goal is to build a fortune 500 company or solopreneur, you must build your list. Your list is your money tree. Your list is your very own money-printing-machine. A list consists of people who have subscribed willingly, gave their information to access your content, and who are constantly engaging with your content on social media. If you nurture your list and form a relationship, it becomes your money tree, from which you can earn money whenever you want, by giving something that helps them live a better life by transforming into the person they always wanted to become. You must have heard this dogma from your parents that money does not grow on trees. Well, it does, if you know how to.

You must build your list relentlessly of your ideal customers, to whom you can sell anything at any time you want. However, it's not going to be easy. Your list consists of real people, who are with you because you have something they need, i.e., knowledge, experience, health, or lifestyle. Thus, you must continue improving their life with your product. Assuredly, you can't exploit this by giving anything mediocre. They are intelligent enough to recognize, and will not think twice to drop from your list.

How to build the list?

You, now, know how to find your ideal customers, and with the power of FREE, you can attract them. Before giving them anything free, you must capture their details, i.e., name and email address. Many people will react to the magnet you set up, but it won't be any use unless they willingly give their email address. Once you have their email address, you can form a relationship by sending more valuable content, and sell your product too. If you overdo selling, then they will unsubscribe. If your content is invaluable, they will unsubscribe. You must send emails with relevant, useful information every day, or once or twice a week. But, don't spam with unnecessary sales pitch or content because they will either unsubscribe or won't open.

To build your list, you will require the following things:

1. FREE thing to give. i.e., ebook, webinar, or free coaching.
2. Squeeze page to capture their details before giving free.
3. Medium from which you can send traffic to your squeeze page.

Freebies:

First, you will need something to give — anything that can be super valuable to your ideal customers. I read a lot, so I have created some book summaries and gave them free, in exchange for their email address. Since then, I have been sending them massive valuable content on self-improvement and business, plus I create lots of content on my Instagram account (@wisescroll).

If you look into your niche, you will always find something to give FREE. For instance, if you are a dentist, give them basic information on oral care or free checkup. If you are a programmer, teach how to code. If your startup on how-to-look-good, then teach them basic grooming routines. If you run a digital marketing company, then give out your content to attract more clients. You can do the same with the software company. If you are a tech startup, give 30 days of the free trial.

Squeeze Page:

A squeeze page is a single-page website with options either give your email address and access the free content or leave. When they provide their email, you can now email the free content that you promised. If you have a company, then create a newsletter in which you can send content related to your niche or update for a new offer.

A squeeze page is an excellent way of capturing detail by alluring them with free stuff. When I'd set up my squeeze page, I got 250 new email addresses in a single day in exchange for FREE book summaries. Imagine how you can leverage your list if you grow it to a 10000 members community. You can sell you all the future's highly valued projects. And, they will happily pay if you remove their itch.

Medium to send traffic:

How can people discover what you offer? Unless you don't send traffic on your squeeze page, you can't build your list. There are many ways you generate traffic. You can create a YouTube channel to drive your subscribers to your squeeze page. Same thing with other social media platforms. But, this approach will take time to build your subscribers and followers. Paid ads on Google and Facebook can generate massive traffic if you have a budget. Or, you can approach a social media influence who already has a following.

With having a list, you can actually launch your product without spending money or with less money. Because then, you don't have to run a marketing campaign, but just have to send emails to your prospects. If you are a business owner or want to be one, start building your list now. Or hire someone who can do this for you. As Jeff Walker said, 'Your List Is EVERYTHING.' And it is.