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30+ Killer Ways to Build Your Email List

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ways to build your email list Who doesn’t want a biggest email list? It doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, podcaster, web series/video producer, or business owner – having a bigger email list allows you to reach out to your target market on a one-on-one level.

This post is a compilation of every technique and tip I’ve come across or used to grow my own list. Of course, you don’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) use all of these tips. Pick and choose the ones that make sense for your needs. (And feel free to add more by leaving a comment below!)

1. Put a sign-up form on your sidebar. This seems like a no-brainer, but every day, I see lots of blogs and websites that have no way for someone to subscribe for content. DIY Themes lists the top of your sidebar as the first place you should have your sign-up form.

2. Put a sign-up form at the bottom of every blog post. Someone who readers a blog post all the way to the end is very engaged, so you need a call to action (CTA). Put a sign-up form there as your CTA and you’ll capture email addresses at a higher rate. Read more about compelling CTAs from Flyte New Media.

3. Put a sign-up form on popular pages. At the very least, put a form on your about and contact pages. (And learn about creating a better About Page here.)

4. Ask your current subscribers to tell their friends about your list. Give them easy options within your emails to forward and share your content.

5. Use QR codes for easy sign-ups at live events. They’re free to create and give people a very quick way to sign up with any smartphone.  Come QR code creation options include Kaywa and Microsoft Tag. You can put them on signage and promotional material like brochures. Make sure your booth is attractive!

6. Put a QR code on your business card. That way, you’re leading everyone you meet to your list.

7. Tell your social followers about your mailing list. Ask them to sign up if interested in receiving more content from you. You can even add a custom sign-up tab on your Facebook page.

8. Tease your content on social media. Tell people how great your latest email is – and give them a link to sign up if they want it.

9. Tell people how many subscribers you have. People like to be part of a large group. So, if you can show a number or say “Join 592 other people…” you’ll play into that heard mentality and get more sign-ups.

10. Try a pop up ad asking for an email address. Some people like them, some people hate them, but for most people, they do convert. The good news is that you don’t have to use a pop up ad that smacks someone in the face the moment someone gets to your site. Play with the settings to find a good solution if you’re going to use pop up ads. Not sure about pop-ups? You’re not alone. Check out The Great Pop-Up Debate.

11. Ask for subscriptions when people comment. Blog commenters are engaged and already giving you their name and email address. Here are some tips from SEOmoz about getting more comments.

12. Get customers to sign up. If you have a physical store, have a sign-up sheet by the cash register where people can give you their email address. If you have an online store, ask during the checkout process.

13. Print a link to your subscription form on your receipt. If your product is digital, you can include the subscription form directly instead of asking them to click a link.

14. Use testimonials. What are people saying about your emails? Show social proof to entice people to sign up. Check out Copyblogger’s tips for getting better testimonials.

15. Offer a free ebook. Make sure the ebook has an enticing title and a well-designed cover, and choose a topic that really grabs readers. Here’s how to write an ebook that people really want.

16. Offer an in-depth case study, report, or white paper. Give your readers something special that they can’t get anywhere else.

17. Run a contest. To enter, people have to be signed up for your email list. TopRank has some great tips on running an online contest.

18. Give people exclusive content. It can encourage people to sign up if they get something via email that they can’t get elsewhere.

19. Host a webinar. Either require people to be on your email list to attend or ask them to sign up afterward. Check out Hubspot’s post on how to host your first webinar.

20. Link to your sign-up form in your email signature. It goes out to everyone, so you should capitalize on the opportunity.

21. Speak at events. Put a link to your sign-up form on the last slide or, even better, create a resource page with all the notes to your presentation (including a sign-up form) and give it to your audience so they can just listen to you instead of trying to take notes. Want to speak at the next NMX? Start working on your proposal now!

22. Create a useful tool, app, theme, etc. for people to download. People love free gifts beyond the text documents that most people offer. If you typically sell this kind of downloadable, create a free version as well to help you collect email addresses. As a bonus, this helps you give people a sample of your product!

23. Offer a discount for email subscribers. This works best when you give a substantial discount or bonus freebie on orders that people really want.

24. Promote your email list at the end of guest posts. It’s typically more effective to have a specific CTA at the end of a guest post instead of just linking to the homepage of your blog. Check out Kristi Hines’ recent guest post on guest posting.

25. Ask people to sign up to your list at the end of videos. Videos are extremely engaging, and not only will you pull in new subscribers via YouTube, but you can also post the video on your blog (and hopefully other people will too). Our video category has some great posts to help you get started creating this kind of content.

26. Host an offline event (like a TweetUp). Afterward, email attendees to thank them for coming and invite everyone to sign up for your list. Here’s a post from Mashable about hosting a successful TweetUp (with many tips that can apply to other meet and greet type of events as well.

27. Play around with the language on your sign up form. Test what works best. What happens if you say “Please sign up…” versus “Please join us…”? What about if you call it an email list versus an email club?

28. Play around with sign-up form colors and dimensions. Sometimes a form that blends into your site works best. Other times, you need a bright, jarring color that stands out. KISSmetrics has some great examples of sign-up forms that work you can check out.

29. Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up. The more information you ask people to submit, the fewer people are going to fill out the form. People don’t like the work of a long sign-up form, and they may not understand why you need the information.

30. Partner with another blogger. Offer a giveaway, free product, or other special jointly to anyone who signs up for both of your email lists. Or, you can do a deal where you promote one another (i.e. you send an email to your list encouraging them to sign up for their list and vice versa). Want to work with a “big name”? Here are some tips for getting past the gatekeeper.

31. Partner with a group of bloggers. This works even better than partnering with just one blogger!

32. Promise future content. A great example is to write a blog post series or regular feature. At the end of every post in the series, ask people to sign up for reminders of more content.

I’ll continue to add to this list as I hear of more techniques for growing your email list. Got a suggestion? Leave it as a comment below!

Three Ways to Build Your Email List (Without a Free Ebook)

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It seems like every blogger out there has a free ebook they’re giving away in exchange for your email address. This is a popular strategy for a reason: it works.

But free ebooks are not without their problems, least of which is that they take time or money (or both) to create. Even a short 10-20 page ebook needs to be written, edited, designed, and promoted, and those tasks take time, and you may have to hire people to help you.

Although I do still encourage you to give away an ebook to entice people to sign up for your mailing list, this isn’t your only option. Here are three other techniques I’ve successfully used to collect email addresses:

1. Offer content you can’t find on your blog.

Lots of people use their email lists to promote content from their blog, as well as to drive sales. There’s nothing wrong with either of these options, but you can also drive sign-ups by promising (and delivering) special content only available to subscribers.

You still have to create content this way. However, instead of the daunting task of writing an entire ebook, you can split that content creation into smaller, more manageable chunks.

What kind of content can you create? Here are just a few of your options:

  • E-courses, distributed over multiple weeks
  • Blog posts that aren’t found on your blog (or that are behind a membership wall)
  • Outtakes or bloopers from videos you’ve created
  • Additional questions and answers from interviews you’ve done
  • Podcasts to go along with your blog content

Let your imagination run wild!

2. Give subscribers special access to you via email.

If you create great content online, you’ll start to get requests and questions from readers. Instead of giving away a free ebook, instead offer special access to you for anyone who signs up for your email list. Maybe you set up a forum for subscribers to ask you questions. Maybe you hold weekly or monthly conference calls with subscribers. Maybe you do a drawing every month and pick one lucky subscriber to receive a free consulting session with you. Again, get creative and think about what you have that is high value and that you can give away for free.

3. Offer a workbook that outlines your personal process.

We all have step-by-step processes for completing tasks. You can write a how-to for your blog, but also consider creating a workbook (or individual pages) for your readers. As opposed to an ebook, workbooks have a lot of blank space to give your readers space to record their ideas or complete tasks, so they aren’t as much work on your end while still being as long as an ebook.

If you don’t currently have an email list, I hope this post has inspired you to start building one even if you don’t have time to produce an ebook. You can get started with an email list right now and develop the ebook later.

15 Brilliant Bloggers Talk About List-Building

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Brilliant Bloggers is a weekly series here at BlogWorld where we look at the best posts from around the web all surrounding a specific topic. Every week, we’ll feature three of the most brilliant bloggers out there, along with a huge link of more resources where you can learn about the topic. You can see more Brilliant Blogger posts or learn how to submit your link for an upcoming edition here.

This Week’s Topic: List-Building

There’s not a lot of blanket advice that I think it is appropriate for all bloggers, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a blog that couldn’t benefit from having a mailing list. Even with just a small mailing list of a few hundred or even a few dozen people, you can do a lot with a few simple emails. Send out a newsletter. Promote your projects. Sell affiliate products. you’re only limited by your imagination and business creativity.

Having a bigger list is undoubtedly better than having a small list (though loyalty does make up for numbers occasionally). List-building is one of the most talked-about topics among bloggers and Internet marketers; let’s look at the brilliant advice available across the web.

Advice from Brilliant Bloggers:

How to Build a List: Rich Man, Poor Man List Building by Ana Hoffman

What I love about this post is the fact that Ana shows you how to build a list regardless of your budget. She goes over the four elements of building your list and then has tons of tips for you to try out with your own list-building efforts. Check it out and then follow Ana @webtrafficcafe.

The Money is in the List: How to Build a Profitable Email Community

This post is actually part of a course called “From Planning to Earning” by the guys of Blogussion. I highly recommend the entire series of posts – it’s super high-quality and in this one about email lists, they give you absolutely everything you need to know to get off on the right foot. After you’re done reading, don’t forget to follow Bloggussion @Blogussion (authors Alex and Derek can be found at @afrais and @byderekj, respectively).

How I Accumulated 10,000 Email Subscribers in 13.5 Months by Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn is absolutely one of my favorite bloggers when it comes to learning how to make money online. In this post, he talks about his own list-building experiences, sharing how he accumulated over 10,000 subscribers and giving tips on how you can do the same. Check out the post and then follow Pat @patflynn.

Even More Brilliant Advice:

Did I miss your post or a post by someone you know about list-building? Unintentional! Help me out by leaving a comment below with the link!

Next Week’s Topic: Twitter Chats

I’d love to include a link to your post next week – and if you head to the Brilliant Bloggers Schedule, you can see even more upcoming posts. We all have something to learn from one another, so please don’t be shy! Head to the schedule today to learn how to submit your post so I won’t miss it.

Four Power Tips for List Building

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“Email is the most effective form of subscriber attention today.”

One of the sessions I had the pleasure of attending at BlogWorld New York 2011 Phil Hollows’ talk on list building. Phil is the CEO and founder of FeedBlitz, an alternative to FeedBurner, so I was really excited to hear his opinions on list building and email marking. He started by talking about how this is still one of the best ways to reach your audience, something that was echoed by other speakers, like Nath Lussier and Erica Douglass. During his session, Phil gave us a number of what he called “power tips” for building your list so you can start sending emails that really convert, whatever your goals may be. Here are four of them:

  • Make your subscription form visible.

Is your subscription form on every single page? Do you have to click around to find it? Do you have to scroll? There are some things that you should ask yourself. Phil also made a really good point – you know how a lot of sites have little icons for RSS, email, Twitter, and Facebook, all in a row? Why do we so often put RSS first? Even though we’re a really tech-friendly crowd, chances are that many of your readers don’t use RSS readers or even know what the RSS symbol means. Instead, put the email icon first – give them something friendly and familiar to click.

  • Enable social media cross promotion.

You want your list-building efforts to be retweetable and otherwise sharable. Ask for subscriptions on your Facebook page and make your emails easy to email to your friends.

  • Add incentives.

This is of course a tried and true method of getting people to sign up for your list, but it is one that deserves repeating. What do your readers get for signing up? Common giveaways include an email course, a weekly newsletter, or a short ebook, but you can get creative. The more incentives you can give your readers, the more likely they are to sign up. Make sure you publicize the incentives so people are enticed to sign up.

  • Make the most of offline events.

Conferences like BlogWorld are great places to get people to sign up for your mailing list, believe it or not. If you’re speaking, bring up a sign-up sheet. Create business cards that mention your mailing list and direct people to the right page. QR codes are also all the rage – Phil actually mentioned that he walks around with one on his t-shirt and people can scan him!

While I was able to stick around for a few more tips from Phil, all of which were as good as the ones listed above, I ultimately had to skip out a bit early to help the BlogWorld team with another task…so like you, I’m really looking forward to making use of my virtual ticket in a few weeks to learn the rest of Phil’s tips for building a list. Stay tuned for information on picking up your virtual ticket to listen to the recorded sessions!

Thanks, Phil, for a great session. Readers, make sure you read more about Phil and his company, FeedBlitz, on his website and follow him on Twitter @phollows.

Why Aren’t Email Lists Extinct in the Age of Social Media?

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Session Title: List Building for Bloggers
Speakers: Phil Hollows
Date: Wednesday, May 25
Time: 3:45PM
Location: Jacob Javits Center 1A07

So you’ve started your blog. You’re on Facebook and perhaps even have a Twitter account. You’re rocking this whole social media thing; why on earth should you bother with email? It’s so, well, twentieth-century isn’t it? Isn’t email extinct, dead and gone??? Why bother offering email subscriptions at all? ??Because you can’t afford not to. ??Here’s why:

•    Email subscriptions are WAY more popular than RSS.
•    Email subscribers are your biggest fans.
•    Email is everywhere.
•    Email is accessible.
•    Email is the most effective subscription mechanism available.
•    Adding email subscriptions to your blog is fast and easy.
•    Managing email subscriptions won’t take up your time.

You’ll grow your readership, build your community and monetize more effectively by combining your blog with email. It’s that simple.

Email Subscriptions are Very, VERY Popular
The facts are that email works: people want it. Email subscriptions – i.e. your newsletter or mailing list – are familiar to the vast majority of people online. They’re comfortable with the concept. When FeedBlitz partnered with FeedBurner back in 2005 to deliver their email services for them, email subscriptions were FeedBurner’s most requested feature.

Moreover, the evidence shows that email subscriptions are significantly more popular than their most frequently cited social media equivalent, RSS feeds.

Need some data? HubSpot ran a survey in 2009 and found that email subscription rates varied by audience, but could be as much as 12 times (not 12 percent, 12 times) more popular than RSS. See the article here.

??Darren Rowse, (@ProBlogger), revealed at a session Blog World 2010 that ~75% of his subscribers were email-based; that’s three times the number of ordinary RSS subscribers.??Based on these data points, if you don’t offer email subscriptions you’re potentially missing three to ten times your potential subscriber base. ??Your mileage will vary, but clearly the opportunities lost to connect are significant. Can you really afford not to grow your subscriber base that much with a simple step? ??Put another way, if someone told you that you could boost your subscriber count four-fold or ten-fold with five minutes’ work, wouldn’t you leap at that opportunity? That’s what having email subscriptions on your blog can deliver over time.

Email is ten times more impactful and responsive than just about any form of media ever developed.
~ Seth Godin

Why is that?

These days it’s work – it takes commitment – to subscribe to a properly run mailing list, what with CAPTCHAs and dual opt-in. The email subscribers on your list have made this commitment to you, and they are inviting you to barge right in and occupy their inbox (you need to do this respectfully, of course, but that’s for a later chapter).

Many people follow hundreds of “friends” on Facebook, Twitter accounts; all those teeny-weeny, unbranded, untracked, undifferentiated, easy to miss messages simply fly by. Listen to how Jay Baer (@JayBaer) questions the current vogue of trumpeting the number of Facebook fans and compares the trend to email subscriber valuation:

“The psychology of Facebook “likers” is similar to email newsletter subscribers … However, in comparison to your Facebook fans, your email subscribers usually provide far more important information to your business when they subscribe. It takes a lot more than one click to subscribe to an email list.”
~ Jay Baer

Compare and contrast. Your email to a subscriber is in their inbox, by invitation. Fully branded. Content rich. Tracked. Customized. Personalized.

A Tweet? A Like? Not so much.

Adding Email Subscriptions to your Blog is Fast, Easy and Won’t Add to your Workload

Here’s the really good news. Setting up email subscriptions for your blog won’t take very long and, if done right, won’t need much work from you once you’re up and running. In fact, if you’re spending more than five minutes a day on your email list once you have it going successfully, I’d say that something is very wrong. There are several options you can choose from, such as using capabilities that might come with your blogging service, using your own email systems, all the way through to external service providers, like FeedBlitz, who can manage this for you. Some are free, some premium, and all have different features, pricing approaches and so forth. The key is to make a start. You can always export email subscribers for transfer later on if you want to switch vendors. But start.

You can’t afford not to.

Check out the “List Building for Bloggers” session at BlogWorld NY on May 25th!

Phil Hollows, is the Founder and CEO of FeedBlitz, the premium FeedBurner alternative, and author of the book List Building for Bloggers.

Phil will be giving the session at BlogWorld NYC on “List Building for Bloggers” on how to start, grow and make the most of your blog’s email marketing list. If you’re concerned that you’re not making the most of your blog’s most precious resource – your email subscribers – attend the session to learn proven email strategies that build your audience, increase engagement and grow your income.

Are Free Ebooks A Waste of Time?

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It seems like every blog these days has a free ebook. To get said ebook, you have to sign up for a mailing list in most cases, though some blogs are offering them with no strings attached. At one time, the free ebook was certainly a way to draw people in, enticing them to get on your list or become a member of your community. But with so many free ebooks out there, does it still make sense for you to offer one to your readers? Or is creating this kind of content just a waste of time?

Perceived Benefits of Free Ebooks

People are attracted to the word free. At least, that’s what bloggers count on when they offer a free ebook. Even if your name doesn’t get stuck on a mailing list of some sort in order to get the ebook, bloggers wouldn’t create them if there wasn’t some sort of benefit, right? You may notice links throughout the ebook, and most ebooks have a strong call to action at the end so that you do sign up, even if it wasn’t originally required, or (if you’re already on a mailing list) you buy something. Free ebooks can also help build your brand, because the hope is that someone will download the ebook (since it’s free) and get to know you, even if they would have more quickly clicked the back button on your website after getting the information they needed.

There are other benefits as well, but I see those as the big three: collecting names for a mailing list, getting people to do something you want, and building your brand.

There’s a reason I headed this part of the post “Perceived Benefits,” thought. While these might be the benefits that you hope you get from a free ebook, are you really going to get them? For some bloggers, the answer is no. Why?

  • Many people will sign up for a mailing list to get something for free and then immediately unsubscribe or never actually read your emails because they aren’t really interested.
  • People who download something for free often ignore a call to action at the end, especially if it is trying to sell something. Some even get angry that you aren’t providing more stuff for free.
  • Free ebooks can hurt your brand if they aren’t high quality, but if they are high-quality, you might not be able to afford giving it away.

Of course, this isn’t the case all of the time…but are you really getting the most out of the time you spent creating a free ebook? Maybe. But maybe not. Unfortunately, most bloggers don’t really think about it. They create free ebooks because “it’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“Free Ebooks Work!”

Whenever I bring up the free ebook debate, there’s always at least one person who points to the fact that his/her free ebook is “working.” Because you wrote a free ebook, you’re getting people to sign up for your mailing list or you’re making sales. But how do you know?

Because you have the numbers to prove it?

Maybe, but few bloggers actually do have proof, they just have flawed stats. Just because your mailing list is getting 100 new sign-ups a month doesn’t mean that your free ebook is the reason. Here’s a good example: I used to offer a free ebook on After Graduation for new mailing list subscribers. Then, I got curious and added a sign-up box at the end of each post which didn’t mention the ebook, but rather just said something like “keep in touch with me.” When comparing the numbers after three months, the sign-up box featuring the free ebook performed only slightly better than the sign-up box that did not, and this might have been attributed to other things, such as placement on the site and word choice.

Or, here’s something else to consider: are the people who sign-up because they want the free ebook really high-quality mailing list subscribers (i.e., they’ll buy something from you in the future). The people who are truly interested in your products might sign up even if you don’t offer something for free. If your free ebook brings 100 new people to your mailing list, but not a single one of those new people actually buys anything from you, ever, does it really matter?

My point is this: before you claim that your free ebook works, take some time to actually think about the stats you’re tracking. Even if your numbers go up, that doesn’t mean your ebook was worthwhile.

Ebook Fatigue

I’m not totally against free ebooks, despite what I’ve written in this post. I think they can be useful for some people. Actually, when a new blogger asks me for advice, a lot of the time, I recommend that they consider creating a free ebook to build their list. I think what is important to remember here is that your audience is probably not the same as the audience of some of the blogs you read.

In other words, if you’re a blogger, you probably read a number of “make money online” type of blogs – i.e, blogs about blogging, social media, affiliate sales, and so forth. Tons of bloggers in this niche have free ebooks. We’re all kind of ebooked-out. But keep in mind that your readers probably don’t see free ebooks offered every day.

For example, my mother would never get online to read this blog or Problogger or Social Media Examiner or any of the other blogs many of us read daily. What she might read online is a blog about sewing (my mom is a crafter). She would probably search for something on Google, say “sewing patterns,” and a blog might pop up. When she goes to that blog, if there’s something available for free (and she likes the blog so far), my mom is likely to sign up. She isn’t getting attacked on every site she visits with offers of free ebooks because most of her time online is spent checking her email or visiting non-blog websites.

It is sometimes hard to remember that our often audience has a much different experience than we do. So a free ebook might be right for you, even if you’re personally so sick of seeing free ebooks that it makes you want to puke. So, what’s the answer to the question I posed in the title? Are free ebooks a waste of time? They can be. It’s a question you have to ask yourself, and not everyone’s answer is going to be the same.

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