Your list is precious, and arguably the most valuable asset in your business. Your list contains people who said, "YES, I want to hear from you. Yes, let’s stay in touch. And, Yes, I want your help and one day I might buy. " It's gold.

Without a list and a good invitation, most of your visitors will leave your site and never to be presented with the opportunity to buy from you again.

So, here are five tips to get them to sign up right away with no hesitation.

1 - Give away value for signing up. This could be an ebook, workbook, report, tip sheet, recording, video, or anything creative THAT ties into value for the visitors (e.g. helps them overcome a challenge).

2 - Let them know their email address won't be abused. Say something like, "I won't give/rent/or sell your email address to others, and you can easily unsubscribe at any time." This helps remove resistance to signing up.

3 - Make your invitation prominent. Put it at the top of your site. Yes, it's that important.

4 - Ask for the minimum. Unless your giveaway is mailed, or super juicy, or you've got some client qualification process in place, stick to just name and email address. The more you information you ask for, the less people will sign up. Why ask for phone number unless you're going to call them?

5 - Create an opt-in page. Make a page specifically designed for inviting people onto your list. Include the sign-up form, a list of benefits for signing up, the giveaway, and some testimonials. And then, in your outreach efforts, like submitting an article online, link to your opt-in page to lead people to your list.

Remember, your list is gold. Without it, people will just fall to the wayside. With it, you can sell more products, sign up more clients, get more referrals, and help more people.