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Don't laugh, it is not what you're thinking. Although the jolly old guy could probably teach all of us a thing or two about lists and list building. Just the mention of his list can still send shivers down my spine, residue from all those childhood wonderings if I was naughty or nice?

However, this article has nothing to do with Santa directly, but in a way it has everything to do with him!

You see indirectly, old Saint Nick played a prominent part in my list building education; a very important role. Please let me explain and it may help you in your own list building efforts.

Like every webmaster or online marketer I kept hearing from Day One how vitally important it was to build your own opt-in or permission based contact list. It would be the key to building traffic and revenue from your site or online marketing. The one key element you must have.

But building a list is easier said than done, anyone who has tried to build a list will know this fact. I soon realized I needed help with my list building...

I have an art background, that's not important, but it did show me how to learn or dissect a subject. All artists develop a hands-on "let's dig in and dissect this creature" attitude; they learn by exploring and studying the masters/techniques that have worked in the past.

This inquisitive learning becomes a second skin.

It was extremely helpful when I started to build my lists. I first examined how other well known marketers were building their lists. One common theme that keep repeating itself was: free gifts.

Almost all these marketers gave away a free gift: report, ebook, ecourse, article, software program, marketing tips or knowledge - all in exchange for the name and email of their visitors.

This simple tactic worked like a charm. Maybe it has something to do with our unbreakable belief in a Santa! Or maybe it has to do with all that gift giving, we all like to receive gifts. Who doesn't?

Soon I had my own free gifts (ebooks, ecourses, and free software programs) on all my sites, attached to follow-up autoresponders to keep in contact with all my visitors and prospects on my lists. My lists grew...

But I didn't stop there, as free gifts was a key to building lists, I needed a creature to dissect!

Then a few years ago, such a creature stumbled out of my email inbox. This was "The 12 Days of Christmas" give-away package by Mark Hendricks.

Countless marketers all donated valuable gifts to an online package/promotion in exchange for building their contact lists. Great idea and the gifts just kept on coming for well, 12 days.

Everyone builds their lists compliments of dear old Saint Nick.

However, I used the Gift package in another way. I signed up for whatever marketers or gifts interested my fancy but I then did an in depth study of how each of these marketers handled their follow-ups.

What they did to build or lose my loyalty. Which ones held my interest, which ones I unsubscribed from and why. Analyzing a whole group of marketers and webmasters through this online package was a valuable lesson or training in list building.

A direct, hands-on experience that pointed out the techniques and methods of building a responsive contact list. What you really need to know about building an effective list.

This list building education was much more important that all the free ebooks and software in "The 12 Days of Christmas". Much more important than all of these free gifts put together.

A valuable list building education that could only come from Santa!