Ever wonder how a "guru" earns $3,546 or more just by pressing a button?

The first thing a newbie learns when landing on the Internet is that it is full of hype. Hype this. Hype that. But when you cut through the hype, there is one simple truth. If you want to make real money on the Internet, you have to build an opt-in list.

This is the simple truth the gurus understand. They are, after all, gurus. They are not wizards, nor magicians. They know that making money on the Internet is a very simple mathematical equation. A small opt-in list equals candlelight dinners in the basement rec room, savouring macaroni and cheese in front of the TV. A big, bulging opt-in list equals candlelight dinners at Chez Ritz, enjoying baked brie and filet mignon while overlooking the lake.

That's why the gurus earn so much money.

But just what is an opt-in list? Simply put, it is a list of email addresses belonging to people who have given you permission to send them messages. Anything else is spam. Make sure your list is opt-in.

What kind of lists do people opt-in to? All kinds and all topics - from grasshopper recipes to hotwiring space shuttles. But if you really want to make it work, you need to create a newsletter (probably on a topic with wider appeal than hotwiring space shuttles!).

Why? Consider Madam B. (not her real name, by the way) She sells beauty and cosmetics, and she was frustrated because so few people were signing up to receive "updates on new products". Would you sign up? Only if you have already purchased from her a few times, making you one of her few extremely loyal customers.

On the other hand, suppose you were offered the chance to sign up for a "free weekly beauty tip", which is what we advised her to do. Now she has the chance to pick up prospects who have never bought from her, who will read her weekly beauty tip, and - this is the juicy part - they will buy many of the "featured products of the week" highlighted with the weekly beauty tip.

There is a second reason you want your opt-in list to be a newsletter, not just a product announcement. The newsletter builds trust and is read. If all your subscribers see are sales pitches, their level of trust sink lower than the lost city of Atlantis. And we all buy from people we trust, not from underwater snake oil vendors.

In fact, if your emails are just sales pitches, why would anybody bother opening them? You have to build a strong relationship with your subscribers, so put as much of your own personality into it and write your text so that you speak directly to them.

If you have good quality content in your newsletter, your subscribers will open your emails, they will read them, they will buy and you will make money. Notice I said "quality", not "quantity". In the example above, it need only be a one-paragraph beauty tip. You don't have to spend all weekend composing an article as long as this. Same applies for investing tips, auto care tips, nutrition tips, evil magician tips, or whatever. Quality keeps them reading and ready to buy.

Of course, you must have a related product to promote to the list. Don't try selling motor oil to your beauty tips subscribers. They won't buy. And if they do, imagine the mess they'll expect you to clean up! Remember, the goal is to make money, not mess. The opt-in list gives you the prospects, your trust turns them into clients, and your relevant and related products turn them into paying customers.

Who can have such a list? Everybody. Your brother can. Your tenth grade teacher can. The cashier at the grocery store can. Your pet goldfish probably cannot, but YOU can.

Is it easy to build a list? You bet! Is it effortless? No. It does take time, effort, or money - or some combination of the three. For most people, it takes a lot of time and a medium amount of effort. But it can be done without breaking into a sweat.

You can cut down on both the time and money if you use paid methods to build your list. "Paid methods" generally means buying lists of names. Be VERY careful not to buy a spammy list. Do not buy lists from people who spam you with an offer of cheap email addresses, no matter how hard they swear the list is quadruple opt-in and fully targeted. That's like buying a Rolex in a dark ally from an unshaven man in a trench coat.

Oh yes. It also helps to have some knowledge and some creativity. The knowledge is something you can find at websites like http://www.affila.com . The creativity you just have to develop yourself. But it is amazing how creative most people become when armed with a little good knowledge, a big dream and a fresh cup of caffeine.

Remember that if you offer good content and promote related saleable products, you will earn money from your list. So paying for targeted subscribers can be a worthwhile deal, especially if you can sell a product with recurring commissions (a magazine subscription; a product requiring refills, such as skin cream or motor oil; a membership website; a monthly service such as webhosting; etc.) or multiple products that complement one another (making repeat customers out of your subscribers).

You will find there are many more benefits to having an opt-in list, but you have to start building it now. It does take time to build, and the longer you delay your list-building, the longer you delay your dream.

So what is that magic button a guru just presses to earn $3,546 or more? Is it his shirt button? Is it his belly button? No, it's the "send" button.