This is the market that my firm wants to attract and provide marketing advice for. I actively participate on the list and answer many of the questions. In this way, I build credibility and trust among those who are on the list. When a homebased entrepreneur needs more individual attention, they will usually seek my firm out to help them. And, because those on our list belong to an average of ten other listservs, we get referrals from those we help.
Word of mouth is a powerful concept on the Internet.
You start your own list. If you're an accountant, who specializes in small business taxes, you can set up a listserv to discuss small business tax problems. If you're a mortgage broker, you can set up a list for Real Estate people to get together and discuss problems with financing property. Your listserv doesn't have to be that big. Fifty or sixty subscribers to a list can do wonders for your business.