When you build an email list, you can have a ready source of clients and customers. That's why it's so important to build an email list.
Not building an email list is one of the biggest mistakes many bloggers, product creators and freelancers make.
Bloggers, affiliate marketers, product creators and authors get excited about their next product release but nothing happens because they don't have a captive audience to sell to.
Imagine that your readers are just waiting to buy each time you released a new product or book!
When freelancers lose clients, they'll have to scramble to fill that space.
Do you realize you have to work a lot harder when you DON’T have a list? Wouldn't it be much easier if you already had a mailing list of potential clients?
Check out these proven strategies on how you can build a list and make it easier to grow your list.
1 – Offer a useful free gift to build an email list.
Offering a freebie is one of the most popular tactics for building a list. Consumers won't sign up if you don't give them incentives. Give your visitors something for free if they sign up. It could be a report, checklist, worksheet, video or anything that is useful to your audience.
Also, they won't stay on your list unless they get some benefits from it. Subscribers may benefit from being updated with the latest business or niche information. They may enjoy exciting offers such as special promotions, discounts and great savings when they take action quickly.
2 – Give discounts to list members.
If you sell products or arrange for special offers, give the best deal to your subscribers. Use this as leverage to get new people on your list.
3 – Include a graphical representation of your freebie.
Visual elements such as a mockup of your freebie, checklist or workbook image, ebook cover, or DVD cover can draw the eye to your offer, give your freebie a higher perceived value, and increase your opt-in rates.
Below is an example of the mockup image of my new product providing ready-to-use email samples you can use as your own.
4 – Create a focused opt-in or lead magnet page.
The only purpose of your opt-in page is to entice your visitors to sign up for your list. Drive most of your traffic to your opt-in page to grow your list quickly.
Leadpages is one of the best-known tools to easily create attention-getting landing pages that boost your conversion rates. LeadPages provides dozens of drag-and-drop templates, making it easy and fast to create opt-in and sales pages. You can use their simple drag and drop system to add add text, images and widgets to customize your design.
But some of the leading email service providers such as ConvertKit and GetResponse are now including opt-in page templates too. You'll save money when using one of these powerful email services because you don't need LeadPages to create landing pages. Read my Review of 4 Popular Autoresponders: ConvertKit, Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp.
5 – Add an email sign-up box on every page.
Make sure your email sign-up box or opt-in box is visible throughout your website. You can add your sign-up form on your sidebar, in the middle of your pages, at the bottom or in several places.
6 – Use a lightbox popup
Install a timed lightbox popup on your posts and pages to convert visitors who have been reading your content. A lightbox is a popover that greys out the rest of the screen when it pops over. It's one of the most attention-catching ways to build an email list. Below is an example of a lightbox I liked at Five Design Co.
You can also use pop-ups, floating bars, page footers and other tools to display your opt-in offer to your visitors.
Popups work well to get subscribers. Keep them simple and easy to fill in by just asking for an email address. And make it easy to close the popup for poeple who don't want to subscribe.
OptinMonster is the best lead-generation software on the market. It allows you to create lightbox popups, floating bars, slide-in scroll trigger boxes, sidebar forms, after-post forms and in-line forms. You can set time triggers, scroll triggers, or page targeting to display at the right time and place. It also gives you the ability to A/B test, add page-level targeting, and much more. There are other tools to create opt-in forms but OptinMonster is one of the best. Check out OptinMonster here.
7 – Install an exit popup.
When your visitors are leaving, they may never come back. An exit popup is your last chance to stay in touch with them. Install an exit popup on every post and page to convert abandoning visitors. An exit popup can have a huge effect on your income. OptinMonster's exit intent modules can be used for both cart abandonment and lead generation.
Check out OptinMonster's popup options here.
8 – Share testimonials.
If you've received feedback about your freebie or other feedback from happy subscribers to your list, publish it. This kind of feedback is an important element of social proof that makes people want to sign up.
9 – To build your email list, clearly mention the benefits of being on your list and make your promise clear.
Tell them in no uncertain terms what the benefits are of being on your list. This goes beyond the free document you're offering them. You must also tell them the benefits of continuing to get email from you.
10 – Tell them how often they'll receive mail.
People hate spam. If you tell them how often you’ll be emailing them, it will help alleviate those fears and they'll be much more willing to sign up.
Example: “We'll email you twice a week with easy-to-apply blogging tips.”
11 – Link to a sample newsletter issue.
Link to an issue of your newsletter that people can look through.
12 – Promote your email list on social media.
Post relevant responses to popular hashtags in your industry. Get your friends to share your content too.
There are several ways to promote your list on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. For example, invite Facebook and Twitter followers to join your newsletter and add a link to a targeted landing page.
If you're not using Tailwind to boost your Pinterest traffic, you're missing out. Try Tailwind with the free Tailwind trial. Read some of my Tailwind traffic-boosting strategies here.
13 – Add a signup form to your Facebook page.
Facebook makes it easy to create a “sign up” button on your page and most email marketing providers, including ConvertKit, Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp provide tools to integrate their system with Facebook.
14 – Use Pinterest, Facebook, Google Adwords and YouTube Ads to build your email list.
Free content and offers are perfect for creating successful ad campaigns.
15 – Create a viral video.
Have a link to your signup page on the video (you can do this easily with YouTube's editing tools) and also include it in the video's description.
16 – Write a guest post around your freebie.
For example, if you have a free report about how to succeed with Pinterest, write a guest post about “10 Mistakes Pinterest marketers make.”
17 – Launch a podcast.
Promote your list in your podcast or have them opt-in to receive instant notifications of new episodes.
18 – Host a free webinar.
Host a free webinar to collect names and email addresses at registration. Or you can charge for the webinar and grow your list of customers instead.
19 – Offer a secret blog post.
Tell your blog audience that you're going to release a blog post to your email list only. Give them hints on what it will be about. What problem will you solve? What secret will they learn?
20 – Do a solo ad mailing.
Buy solo ads from other people with mailing lists to promote your list.
21 – Do an ad swap.
Mail a promotion to your list, then have someone else do the same with their list.
22 – Answer questions on your list.
Answer questions on your list rather than privately. Answering questions privately takes up too much of your time and benefits only one person, but when you can turn that answer into email content, everyone wins.
23 – Build your customer list.
A customer list is even more valuable than a subscriber list because satisfied customers are more likely to buy again. Make sure you're including your customers in your mailing list.
24 – Segment your list.
Segmenting your lists will help you write more targeted messages and increase your open rates.
Rather than sending the same marketing messages to all your contacts in your email list, your messages will be more targeted and effective if you are sending very targeted messages. You’ll get better open and click-through rates, you’ll gain more trust, and your offers will convert better.
To get the best results from your email marketing, you can segment and tag your email list by unique interests, preferences and behaviors. This makes it possible to send even more targeted messages and even offer custom-tailored offers for each list.
Segmentation is especially useful for businesses and affiliate that have a variety of offers that appeal to different audiences.
Some of the more powerful autoresponders such as ConvertKit and GetResponse offer sophisticated features for automated segmentation. Here are some examples of what the automated segmentation features can do.
- A subscriber can be tagged by an action or event. An action can be a purchase of a specific product. Buyers can then be added to complementary product funnels and new product launch funnels.
- Another action can be subscribing from a form on a specific blog post. This action can be tagged with the post category. You can then add it to a complementary posts funnel and add to a sales funnel for related products.
In addition to being able to send more targeted and more effective messages, these automation features can save you a lot of time.
Not sure which email marketing system to choose? Read my review of 4 Popular Autoresponders: ConvertKit, Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp.
25 – Wall off long content.
For example, on a 5 page article, make people sign in to your mailing list address after 2 pages before they can continue reading.
OptinMonster provides a “content-locking” feature. See what they say about it below.
26 – Encourage subscribers to share your information.
Encourage subscribers to forward your emails to their friends by including a “Forward to a Friend” button at the bottom of your newsletters. Add a note to the end of your emails to encourage sharing. Encourage your website visitors to refer a friend and share articles.
Install a “refer a friend” or “email this article” plugin.
Include social sharing buttons and an “Email to a Friend” button in your marketing emails.
27 – Pay your affiliates for leads.
Pay your affiliates for every email signup they generate rather than for sales. If you know what your short-term or lifetime customer value is, you can come up with a cost-effective amount to pay your affiliates.
28 – Make it mandatory to sign up to get your free online tools.
Give away free web tools but make sure they sign up before using them.
29 – Use press releases.
Distribute press releases to online and offline media. Encourage press release readers to get your free offer.
30 – Have sweepstakes or giveaways on your site.
Encourage entrants to claim their free gift and subscribe to your mailing list. TIP: Don't automatically add sweepstakes entrants to your main list as it's not likely they'll remember you or be particularly responsive. Have them opt-in directly to hear more from you.
31 – Be a sponsor.
Sponsor sweepstakes or giveaways on other sites by offering a prize. Have the website link back to your free opt-in offer on their sponsor page.
32 – Get interviewed.
You don't have to be on a big TV show to get exposure. Get interviews on targeted podcasts and webinars, and have them share your free offer.
Growing your list is all about sharing great content and you should include email list building tasks in your schedule to grow your business. Do this consistently and your email list will continue to grow, giving you a steady steam of new potential clients and customers.
LIST BUILDING RESOURCES
- Review of 4 Popular Autoresponders: ConvertKit, Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp.
- OptinMonster is the best lead-generation software on the market. It allows you to create lightbox popups, floating bars, slide-in scroll trigger boxes, sidebar forms, after-post forms and in-line forms.
- How To Build a Profitable eMail List on Autopilot and Turn Visitors Into Buyers.
- Leadpages is one of the best-known tools to easily create attention-getting landing pages that boost your conversion rates.
- Check out this planner bundle to help you plan your newsletters, social media and your marketing.
BLOGGING RESOURCES
- Domain name registration: godaddy.com and namecheap.com
- Hosting: Bluehost
- WordPress themes: ElegantThemes and GeneratePress.
- 15 Ways You Can Make Money With Private Label Rights.
- Turn Your Writing Skills into a Living. WriterHelpWanted.com co-founders, Ron Douglas and Alice Seba, recently got together to discuss the 5 obstacles that keep most writers from earning a good living from their writing. Click here to access this eye-opening recording.
RECOMMENDED READING
- How to choose a blogging platform.
- 10+ Ways to Make Money with Your blog.
- How to Monetize Your Blog with Affiliate Marketing
- How to Boost Your Blog Traffic With Pinterest.
- Try Tailwind with the free Tailwind trial.
Disclaimer: If you purchase a product through a referral link, I will get a commission at NO extra cost to you and it helps me to keep providing you with quality information.