You can use your eBook to build your list. This may sound counterintuitive if you have written an eBook you want to sell online now, but it actually works quite well. Think about it as an opportunity to sell even more copies of your writing and future products as you connect with more and more prospects over time. Here is the strategy I am suggesting.

While you are still writing your book, set up an optin page to begin collecting the names and emails of prospects. This should be professionally done by a webmaster, with graphics and colors that will appeal to your market. You can usually do this for about a hundred dollars or so, depending on who you use and what type of graphics you need. This will be the first site that prospects associate with you, so don't take any shortcuts here.

On this optin page you are not selling anything, not even your eBook. Instead, you are selling visitors on the idea of what you have to offer them. You want them to be willing to give you their name and email address in exchange for your free giveaway, in this case a chapter or excerpt of your eBook. This will build your list and give your new prospects a taste of who you are and what you do.

Continue to do this even after you have finished writing and want to sell your work online. The value of your list will be far greater than the cost of your eBook. This is because you will be able to market to them over a period of time, offering them all types of appropriate products and services.

I emphasize the word 'appropriate', because the last thing you want to do is to make an offer to your list that has nothing to do with the topic they originally joined your list for. This makes a lot of sense, if you take the time to think about it. Even though many of my prospects may be interested in losing weight or training their dog, that does not mean they want to receive information about that from me. It isn't congruent with what they are used to from me.

Remember that the reason to start an internet business is to give you the time and money to live the life you choose. Download a free teleseminar on building your online business by visiting http://www.OnlineWritingSuccess.com to learn how to write articles, blog, become involved in social networking and learn the technology needed to build a profitable online business.

Connie Ragen Green has been online since 2005 and teaches people how to build their own online business in record time, offering free teleseminars weekly, as well as online courses in a workshop environment with webinars.