The very first Internet marketing course I bought told me to “Get their first name, last name and email address”. Of course, if I’d done that from day one, I’d be in the pound seats today!

From the very beginning, you should be getting prospects to subscribe to your mailing list – and then following up with them effectively.

In fact, list building is almost more important than your website … and you don’t actually have to own a website to start the process.

A well-established method of building your list is Joint Venture Giveaways. You’ll find many of these in the Internet Marketing niche, but they also flourish in other popular niches like Health and MLM/Network Marketing.

The basic process is this:

• A host sets up and advertises a JV Giveway event
• Contributors sign up and add their ‘gifts’ to the website … these are usually e-books, software packages, audios or videos
• These gifts are usually offered free of charge, but members have to subscribe to the contributor’s email list in order to receive their gift.
• After a pre-determined period of contributors adding gifts to the site, the doors open, and members can sign up and see what’s on offer
• Usually it’s a downloading frenzy, a trolley dash where you can download e-products for free… and many of them can be resold for profit
• Members are encouraged to promote the JV Giveaway, and incentives are usually given to encourage this
• Credits or commissions are usually awarded for referring people and possibly downgrade penalties if nobody is referred.

Many people sign up to giveaway events just to help themselves to freebies, and there is nothing wrong with this.

If people didn’t do this, the contributors would not generate any new leads … so a giveaway thrives on its ‘freebie seekers’.

However, there is no better place to be – if you’re serious about your online business and your list building – than at the front of the queue … and that means being a contributor and taking an active part in a giveaway.

For first-timers, it’s best to take a free listing … most, if not all giveaway events, offer a free listing option.

Once you’ve signed up as a contributor, you’ll need to promote the giveaway. Signing up contributors or members is especially necessary if you’re a free member. With some giveaways, you won’t be able to list your product until you’ve referred one or two people. And with most giveaways, the position or ranking of your listing depends on the number of people you’ve referred.

All giveaway events provide promotional ideas and materials, such as pre-written emails, blog posts and Twitter updates. Send an email to your existing mailing list – no matter how small it is. Mention the giveaway on your blog, tweet about it on Twitter and make sure it appears in your Facebook updates.

Some giveaway events even provide free training. I particularly recommend Paul Teague’s New JV Talent Giveaway.

In Paul’s ‘Newbies Bootcamp’ he shows you exactly how to create your first listing at no cost to you whatsoever. This includes finding a product to give away, setting up a lead capture page (or squeeze page) and even setting up a free autoresponder account.

Paul challeges you to sign up your first 10 referrals to convince yourself that this process really works.

Once you’re convinced about the process, having ventured nothing but your time, you can start to get really involved and get the additional benefits of taking an upgrade.

So, what are you waiting for?

Here are some of the giveaways I’m currently involved in:

New JV Talent New Years Giveaway (31 December 2009 – 10 January 2010)
The New Year Giveaway (Jan 1st 2010 – Jan 12th 2010)
The Peoples JV Giveaway 2 (Jan 1st 2010 – Jan 31st 2010)
Self Improvement Gifts 4 (Jan 5th 2010 – Jan 19th 2010)

JV Giveaways – One Of The Best Ways To Build Your List is a post from: DerrickMarkotter.com