An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also add some extra income for your pocket. Rarely would you see an e-commerce site, big or small, that is without an opt-in list.

An opt-in list allows for a company to market their wares and site via an e-mail. With an opt-in list, a site and a subscriber consents to sending and receiving a newsletter from your company. Through this, you can keep your subscribers abreast of what is currently available in your site as well as whatever is coming out.

And even better it can't be called SPAM because your subscribers asked to receive your email. With your subscribers requesting your email you have more chance of being successful with your email campaigns. They want you to be in contact with them.

Building a list is crucial, only a small percentage actually subscribes for an opt-in list. Many people find promotional mails annoying but of you provide a good newsletter or promotional material, you will see your list build up and grow. You can also achieve this by having good content on your site. If people like what they see and read on your site, then they surely would want more. Newsletters would be a way to attract them back to your site. A little teaser or appetizer if you will.

A list of subscribers can also be used to earn extra money from other means than just marketing your wares and your services. You should first start with building a nice big list. Making sure you always are adding value to your subscribers and then you can start looking for ways to make money from your list. The more subscribers you have, the easier it will be to make money. Here are some tipes for how you can make money with your list:

1) Selling ad space. If you have a good list there will always be companies contacting you to advertise their products. But this is where it can get tricky. If you are just using plain text you will not be able to put in banners as they are images, but if you have a html email you can. Also, I would never ever recommend renting your list to a company. Your subscribers have allowed you to contact them, not someone else. It is ok for you to promote someone elses stuff but never ever give away their email address.

2) Pay For Performance - Set up little Joint Ventures with other companies that have are related to your niche. If you are selling Dog Bowls you might like to work with a Dog Clothing company. Here the other company will provide links and brief descriptions of all their products and services. With every click made on the link that directs or leads a subscriber from your list to their site, the company will pay you. This P4P or pay for performance.

3) Affiliate Partners - A lot of businesses on the net want to employ you to promote their products. They wont pay you a weekly wage but they will pay you whenever you sell one of their products. This is just like being a salesperson working in their company and getting paid on commission. And each time you direct someone to them that buys something you make a commission, a percentage of the sale. All you need to do is promote their products through your email.

4) Drop Shipping - With drop-shipping you can sell another businesse products and then all you have to do is send them an email and they will ship it for you. Then at the end of the month you just send them the bill.

5) Information products - People are always interested to shell out money to gain knowledge. So why not sell e-books or a compilation of your articles on your list. Manuals and how-to articles are in great demand. Your subscribers will obvioulsy trust your expertise so you could easily offer an ebook to them.

6) Hold a Competition - Talk to other businesses in your niche and then run a competition and give away a prize for people who invite someone to join your list. You can always find competition scripts on the net as there a loads php scripts which you can use. Tell your list that for every person they invite they get one ticket in the draw. If they invite 15 people they get 15 tickets. And don't just give 1 prize away. Give away 15 or 20 so people who only have a few friends will always compete. And then after the competition has finished send out an email to let everyone know who the winners are and then give them a 25% discount. That way everyone is a winner.

7) Make your subscribers your partners. If you have an affiliate program you should promote this to your list. If they like your products they are more likely to tell their friends or even the visitors to their website. So tell them about your affiliate program.