Building Your List and The Law of Value

Next to your personal brand, your most valuable asset is what I and many call "your list." I say this because your list is a good representative of your ability to influence those around you as well as a reflection of who are most likely your "personal walking ambassadors" if you have built it the right way. When it comes to "building your list" the right way, I of course have to draw from the inspiring wisdom I've gained through a golden nugget from the National Best Selling and Award Winning book "The Go-Giver", co-authored by Bob Burg and John David Mann. For today's post I'm going to focus on "The Law of Value" which states that, "Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment."

I've had the distinct pleasure and honor of interviewing Bob Burg in a previous training call that I used to do with my dear friend Eddie Saenz. The topic of the call was on the "5 Laws of Stratospheric Success of the Go Giver."

When I asked Bob to shed some light on "The Law of Value- Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.", this is what he had to say:

"Now that sounds counterproductive. How do you give more in value than you accept in payment and still prosper? We need to understand the difference between price and value. Price is a dollar figure; value is the relative worth to the end user. For example – You hired an accountant to do your returns, and they charged you a fee of $500, but through their diligence, hard work, and knowledge, they were able to save you $2,000. They provided you $2,000 in value while charging you a $500 price. They made a profit, but you felt great about the transaction. That’s the kind of transaction that we want to have with our customers."

So how does this law apply when building your List? In order to build your list, you first have to add value to your listeners.

Here are some suggestions on how to build your list properly by adding value:

1. Blogging:

This is a great way to "add value" as you consistently offer interesting and valuable content for your readers that will inspire them to want to keep returning to see your posts. If you choose to start a blog, the most important pieces of advice I can give you are the following: be consistent, be authentic and have interesting content for your chosen niche!

If you don't have a self hosted Wordpress Blog yet, I strongly encourage you to start one by clicking here. You will also need a place to capture the names of your readers. My recommendation is to use Aweber as it has one of the highest deliverability ratings in the industry so your messages will get through. I will be doing a follow up post with specific instructions on how to set one up if you have any questions.

You can also feel free to email me at aes3372@gmail.com with any questions you may have and I'd be glad to help you.

2. Contribute to Your Community

Everyone of us most likely has a niche that we cater to or another way to look at it is a "community." People love to have a sense of community and interact with one another. Find a way to add great value to that community. One way that I have chosen to do this is through hosting a group on facebook called "Masterminding With Amy". In this group I offer ways for its members to also add value to the community through sharing valuable and inspiring content on the wall through quotes, strategies for success. They can post inspiring pictures, upload videos etc. I've also created an associated Teleseminar called "Masterminding With Amy" of which I held my first one which is available by webcast replay by clicking here this past Thursday May 7th, 2009 with special guest John McLelland, CEO of ilearningglobal!

3. Offer an Ethical Bribe

An "Ethical Bribe" is basically something that you create or offer for free or a ridiculously low price for the value that is being offered that your readers will gladly put in their contact information on your Aweber capture form. One example that I've used is my offer for an incredible free ebook called "The Way Out! Steer Clear of the Recession and Drive Towards Success and Prosperity. Your GPS "Guided Path to Success" which you'll see my capture form to the right which offers amazing tips and strategies for success from some of the most successful people in the world through iLearningglobal.

Take this opportunity to offer an ethical bribe as your chance to demonstrate your "Personal Brand" by the unique and creative "ethical bribes" that you choose to offer!

There are many more strategies that can be used to build your list. The one trait that they all have in common if done right is that they work together to support "The Law of Value!"

If you've enjoyed reading my posts, I trust that you'll agree that they have consistently offered great value. If you agree and haven't already done so, I encourage you to subscribe to my list to the right "Amy's Updates" so that I can keep you informed of my blog updates in addition to some EXCITING UPDATES that I'm aware of that I KNOW will add great value to your Personal Branding and Marketing efforts. I will be releasing these updates to my subscribers first! ;)

To Our Success!