Unlocking The Vault /Reflections/Day 034 - On Building A List

Day 034 - On Building A List

Saturday, February 03, 2024

It’s official!

I’ve come to a conclusion that 99.9% of entrepreneurs have likely come to at some point in their journey, but a conclusion none the less that I’ve yet to see anyone do.

The conclusion is that everyone, and I mean everyone, should be first taught how to build a list and second they should then be required to continue building that list in perpetuity.

There are a number of reasons I’ve come to this conclusion, but here are just a few:

For the entrepreneur:

Because each person he or she brings into the company would be able to provide immediate impact for the business by connecting with that list and leveraging the power of both word-of-mouth and referrals for an immediate spike for the business.

Because in order for the individual’s list to be a good fit for the business/entrepreneur it’s highly likely that the individual would have needed to cultivate a list made up of people with certain traits, traits that are likely attracted to the traits of the individual and traits that would also likely align with the business itself.

If list building was mandated and the person had a very small list it would immediately bring certain things into question that would act as flags or warning signs for that business. Conversely, if the list was small, but highly specific due to the individual's unique interests it could increase the value as opposed to decreasing it.

For the individual: Similar to the way that growing up on a farm instills certain traits in and individual and similar to how weightlifting has a number of side benefits such as discipline, mastery, creativity, improved cardiovascular health, longevity, etc - so to, building a list has a number of additional benefits:

In order to build a list you have to understand human psychology and what drives human beings to action.

You have to understand what motivates people not only to take an initial action like joining a list, but what causes people to stay engaged and what causes them to stick around.

Conversely you would learn what causes people to leave, feel dissatisfied, or uncared for.

Having a list would also level the playing field so to speak between the employer and the employee. If you’re employed right now just ask yourself how beholdened you’d feel to your employer if you had a list of your own.

If you, like me, are an entrepreneur, how much more secure would you feel knowing that everyone on your team had lists that were able to support the mission of the business.

And yet, I know many entrepreneurs who not only do not have a list, but have yet to make list creation one of their top priorities.

Another conclusion I’ve come to is that list creation can never stop.

If you’re an employee, start building a list now. You’ll become more valuable to your employer and will gain all of the above mentioned benefits along the way.

If you’re an entrepreneur, get after it! There is no excuse and the time is now!

Death - Before - Dishonor

To your success,

Nate

P.S. If you’d like to share your reflections with me, feel free to email me at reflections@mindvaultllc.com as I’ll be happy to hear your thoughts. This email goes directly to me and is reserved only for those who read these Reflections.