If you have a current mailing list of clients, conduct a survey and offer an incentive for people to respond. Direct them to your site where they fill out a survey and perhaps receive a free report or eBook.

If you do any type of presentations as a part of your job, collect contact information from attendees. Send a follow-up message within 48 hours inviting them to sign up for your Ezine.

Use your email signature file to encourage people to sign up for an incentive on your website. Put web link right in your signature.

Put a sign-up box on every page of your site. Many websites have a sign-up on main page but have not put one up on other pages of their site. Fact is, a web search for a specific product or service can take people anywhere on your site, not just main page. Make it easy for them to sign-up for something from every page.

Write and distribute articles online with a strong byline at end of article. A byline is simply an information piece that is usually a few sentences in length. In byline direct readers back to your website for something of value.

Offer a free report from your site. Make sure it is compelling enough for people to want to sign up.

Offer free eBooks to encourage people to leave their contact information in order to download file.

Opt-in lists are one of most powerful marketing tools you have in your online and offline marketing. Complemented by a good Ezine, website, consistent focus on driving traffic to your site and gaining visibility, potential for growing your business is unlimited.

Kathleen Gage is a keynote speaker, author and business advisor specializing in marketing and promotions. Access Gage’s’s FREE eBook Street Smarts Marketing On the Internet at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook.htm

Specialty-line wholesalers deal in very few products but with high specialization in their chosen product line(s), such as only dealing in pharmaceuticals.

Full-service wholesalers provide widest range of services, such as quantity breakdowns, financial assistance and credit, marketing services and product availability. Full-service wholesalers usually earn a higher profit margin than other wholesalers, but operating expenses are much higher as well.

Limited service wholesalers specialize in fewer functions than Full-service wholesalers, generally allowing producer or customer to provide most functions. These wholesalers include Cash-and-carry companies, Trucking companies, Drop-shippers or Mail-order firms. Limited service wholesalers take title to products but usually do not provide many of services a Full-service wholesaler does, like marketing, retailer site selection or personnel training. Due to limited nature of their services, they have lower operating costs but are also limited to lower profit margins as well.

Wholesalers, in order to keep their operating expenses down, often deal only with companies or with clients able to meet minimum orders, whether monetary or by item count. This can make things difficult on a small business or sole proprietorship looking to reduce cost-of-goods-sold. However, there are many wholesalers or wholesaler-like companies that cater to smaller-volume customers. This is where companies like Costco or Wal-mart's Sam's Club come in--as Costco and Sam's Club are not technically wholesalers, but direct-retailers with lower operating costs, buying in smaller bulk volumes from a company that uses this business plan is often a viable compromise between lower rates but logistical issues of a standard wholesaler, and lower profit margins of buying from a retailer, and may make all difference to a small company operating on a shoestring.

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