I will be totally honest and admit that I started building up an opt-in email list with my first few articles almost by accident.

After the wonderful results I was getting receiving a regular flow of clients from doing what I enjoyed most - writing - I did not see any need for an opt-in email list. Especially in this day and age when most ISP filters will regularly block out most unfamiliar incoming email including email that you want, let alone advertising material from an opt-in list somebody has signed up for in a moment of excitement.

Then for some strange reason, one day, my regular stream of new clients suddenly slowed down to a trickle and then completely dried up. (it happens all the time on the net, especially if you do not have a high enough number of articles posted, but then almost as suddenly picks up again).

Since I had nothing else to do, I went to my auto responder and sent a short email to my small list of opt-in email addresses. I didn't expect much, expecting only bounces and undeliverable mail notifications. Which I inevitably got a few hours later.

But I was amazed because it was not the only thing I got for my efforts. Okay apart from the bounces (they were so many) there were one or two people who asked to be removed from my list as a result of this sudden activity. But there were a number of positive emails, some of which resulted in new business. BINGO, I had discovered something new and valuable.

Actually you should make sure that you use your opt-in list for regular emails and marketing activity, but that is the topic of another article, maybe the next one.

Online businesses have a lot in common with the old bricks and mortar enterprises that we have known for a longer time. In fact a good strategy for understanding how to succeed online is to figure out the online equivalent of an offline tip that guarantees success.

One of these bricks and mortar truths that applies online is the fact that the difference between a new struggling business and an older more prosperous one is simply the database of clients and prospects. In most cases, unless the products have been totally rejected by customers, the larger this data base, the more successful the business is. And also the faster a business can build up this list of prospects and customers, the quicker it will grow and reach success.

This database of clients is of course known as an opt-in email list online and the same offline truths apply.

When doing an articles marketing campaign it is absolutely crucial that your strategy includes a way of building up your very own opt-in email list, using the resource box at the bottom of your articles.

There are various ways of doing this. The most effective is to offer valuable information via email. Something related to what attracts readers the most to your articles that will force some of your readers to write for more information. Store this information in a auto responder (there are quite a number of free ones online) and your list will grow steadily without too much input and work from you. Initially it will grow slowly but as you build up your number of articles posted online, it will start to grow at a faster rate, reflecting the growth of your online business.