5 Steps to Build Your Email List

Last updated on June 5th, 2012Email marketing, How to1 comment

One of the best ways to engage with people who are interested in what you do is through email marketing. But before you put together a newsletter, you need to have someone to send it to!  As I’ve mentioned before in my previous blog, Are you making this critical mistake with your email marketing?, you can’t just add people to your list because you’ve got their business card or email address. 

So here are 5 steps to build your email list.

Sign up form.  The best way to get sign ups to your list is to capture the details of visitors to your website.  You can do this by putting a sign up form on every page of your website, preferably at the top of the sidebar.  If you’ve got a giveaway such as an Ebook, then put an image of it next to the form with a big button saying “Sign up now” to attract people’s attention.

Email signature.  Put a link in your email signature which takes people to a landing page on your website with a sign up form.  Include an image of any giveaway in the signature as well.

Social media.  Encourage your online contacts to join your mailing list by regularly posting links to your sign up form on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  Send people to a landing page which gives details of what they will get when they sign up, eg free Ebook, monthly newsletter etc.

Business card.  Don’t forget that your business card is a marketing tool too so put details of any special offers on to your card with the link to your website.  If you want to get really technical, you can add this as a QR code!

Public speaking.  If you’re someone who goes out and speaks to business groups, then these are great opportunities to get people on to your mailing list.  After the talk, you can offer people a free report, audio or any other offer associated with the topic you’ve been talking about.  NB: People will be more willing to hand over their business card to you if they think that they’re going to get something of value in return.

As with any of the options above, always be clear with people what they are going to get when they sign up to your mailing list.  Also, let them know that you won’t sell, rent or trade their contact details to third parties and add a link to your privacy policy if you have one.

For more information on how to manage your email marketing campaigns, download a copy of our free guide “The Essentials of Email Marketing“. This guide is packed full of information including how to stop your emails from ending up in the junk folder, what kind of content to put in your newsletters, and the best time to send out your emails.
Click here to download the guide now >> The Essentials of Email Marketing
 

Valerie Eaton

Valerie Eaton provides virtual PA and online marketing services to self-employed professionals who are feeling overwhelmed by their workload and want more time to focus on growing their business.

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