The biggest mistake I ever made in my online marketing career cost me 1 million dollars.

How did this happen?

I squandered an asset that produces $ 60,000 in annual income. If you take that 1 million dollars and invest it safely to yield 6% per year, you will have a guaranteed annual income of $ 60,000.

What was the asset I squandered?

It was time. It was the time and opportunity to build a list of email subscribers from the first day I got involved in online marketing.

You can easily build a list of 12,600 subscribers in 5 years. And these many subscribers can certainly produce $ 60,000 in annual income.

I had been told again and again how important it was that I build an email list from day one. Yet I failed to build my email list from the first day I got involved in online marketing.

What's worse, thousands of thousands of online marketers continue to make this same mistake.

You do not mean to put it off. You understand how important it is, but you tell yourself you'll finish this one project first, and then you'll get started on your list.

What's missing is focusing on this task as one of your key objectives. When you finally wake up years later, you have literally squandered a fortune.

You can replace anything you lose except time. You already know this, yet you still let it happen.

I am embarrassed to admit that I wasted 5 precious years before I woke up to this pressing reality. I was content with using other methods which were introduced to me as "not requiring a list." Well, they did not last, and they did not work as well as a list either.

An email list is undeniably the most valuable asset you will own in your online business. It's one hundred hundred percent yours and yours alone.

If you have a popular Facebook page, it belongs to Facebook. If you have a strong G + presence, it belongs to Google. If you have a thriving YouTube-based business, it belongs to YouTube. And since they belong to someone else, you can lose these assets in an instant!

But, an email list is yours, 100%.

It takes time and effort to build a list, and it's not very productive for the first few months. However, if you set up a system to build your list, you will achieve your objective before you know it.

Even a short list can produce a sizeable income. And you do not have to wait for years to see results.

But the key is to get started as soon as you become serious about earning money online. No other activity is as important. No other online activity will have a more impact impact on your financial future.

One thing is for sure, if you neglect building your email list from the very beginning of your online money-making career, you will live to regret it.