I’m asked all the time how to effectively grow an email list. Here’s the honest truth: I didn’t do this right for the first eight years of my business. In fact, I really didn’t even see the need to work on building an email list. I know, can you believe it?
As the internet has evolved and changed, I’ve realized that social media is constantly changing. What works with blogging is constantly changing. But people still check their email inboxes — and most people check their email inboxes multiple times per day.
This is why email newsletters are so important. They give you direct access to people who are interested in your products and your business and they give you one of the most effective ways to build and nurture relationships with people.
I’ve come to believe that if you are a blogger or you own a business with an online presence, your email list is the lifeblood of your business. And if you’ve been wondering how to actually build your email list, I’ve got some great tips for you today — straight from the experts!
If you haven’t heard of Brilliant Business Moms, Beth Anne is an amazing entrepreneur who has some very valuable things to share. (All of these tips to build your email newsletter — even if you’re a newbie — were inspired by Beth Anne’s FREE 20 Brilliant Opt-in Offers download. Get yours FREE here.)
One of the most valuable tips Beth Anne shares with her readers is the importance of creating a “freemium” for your subscribers. It is pretty commonplace now that people offer freemiums with a newsletter signup. A freemuium is something that the subscriber will receive for free immediately after giving their information.
Here are some freemium ideas that Beth Anne suggests you put together to increase your email list:
1. Offer a free checklist.
People love checklists. I think it is because they want to know whether or not they are doing something right. They want that peace of mind that they have everything they need to do the task.
It is important to remember that whatever it is you offer should attract the type of people that will be interested in your content. Who is your target reader? Do you want to attract people that are interested in mothering? Marketing? Working from home? Cooking? Keep that in mind when you create your freemium.
Example: We offer a free downloadable, customizable chore charts for kids at the bottom of this post.
2. Create a free email course.
I’ve had a lot of success with this one. When I launched my third book, Money-Making Mom, I offered a free 5-day course to help moms who were interested in making a full-time income from home. I promoted this primarily on live video and built a list of about 20,000 people within a short time period just by promoting it almost-daily on live videos where I shared tips and encouragement for women who wanted to build a successful business.
Example: We also have a FREE 5-day course on how to make and save money with your smartphone.
3. Ask people to join a challenge.
Many people are looking for the motivation they need to make important changes in their lives. Putting together a challenge is a great way to get people to sign up for your newsletter. This will give them the accountability they are looking for.
Example: Sign up for our FREE 7-day Say Goodbye to Survival Mode challenge. Read more about how to strategically host reader challenges here.
4. Give access to free worksheets or workbooks.
You can offer a PDF workbook or worksheet that your subscriber can download. Again, you will want to make sure that what you are offering is in line with the type of people you want to attract.
Example: Sign up for my free 7-day Make Over Your Calendar course.
5. Compile a resource library.
Have you put together some great resources? If so, put them all together in one location and give free access to those resources to your subscribers. Every few months, you can release a new resource to the list as an incentive to keep people sticking around.
Example: Sign up for my library of all sorts of free printables and resources over on MoneySavingMom.com (this has been one of the BEST email-building campaigns we’ve ever done!)
We just launched a brand-new email opt-in for a FREE printable blogging planner. You can sign up for it for free here.
These are but a few ideas of what you can offer potential subscribers. The sky’s the limit when it comes to creativity here. Get a notebook and jot down some things you think might be a valuable incentive for your readers to sign up for your newsletter.
Take a look around at the valuable things you have put together on your website. You might be able to simply repackage something you’ve already created. Sometimes, all it takes is rephrasing something or adding a great graphic to get people’s attention!
For more helpful tips, check out this Email List Building Podcast from Brilliant Business Moms, read their post on How They Gained 5,000 Email Subscribers in a Week, and sign up for their FREE 20 Brilliant Opt-in Offers download.
Thank you for this list of possibilities. I find it difficult as a newbie blogger to come up with freebie ideas.
I’m really working on my email list this year. I’ve added a few content upgrades to some of my popular posts but have not gained much. I’m thinking I need to be more creative and maybe hire a designer to design them. Designing my opt-ins is just not a strength of mine. Thanks for sharing all these options. I will be trying all of them throughout the year as ideas come up!
I’m right there with you. Design is not my thing so I’ve found it so worth it to pay to have help there. You could look into hiring someone from a place like Fiverr.com to keep it really inexpensive.
Freebies are my major weakness! I think it’s because I’ve changed gears a few times. Trying to come up wit one for my target audience is tough, but This post promoted me to think again about how I can get to 1000 true fan subscribers by the end of the year ( and no more bc then I have to pay CK for more! Lol)
You can do it!!
Great ideas. Anxious to try a few.
Hello, Crystal!
This is wonderful to know some awesome tips!
I am also thinking of getting something up for me to really make it work for my email list!
Will really reference some best tips you shared!
~ Adeel
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found it helpful!
Thanks. Working on new opt-ins now!
Woohoo!
I finally have my Resource Library up and running!! So glad to have that completed. Planning on adding to it monthly. It does, as Christy mentioned, take awhile to decide what opt-in is most appealing to one’s audience.
Now I need to create a landing page for my free eCourse…
Way to go!!
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for your advice, I am a newbie blogger, inspired by lizzyainsworthbooks.com blog.
I particularly liked your older blog on not following the rules, pressures & blogging expectations of the blogging celebrity’s & blogging stardom!
Only having a few weeks experience in blogging, I am already feeling the pressure to preform…. until I stopped, became quiet & took stock of the reason I started blogging. A cup of tea & a tasty treat of deliciousness are great accompaniments for a time in reflection to do this!
I am a self published author of two works about overcoming grief in the deaths of my daughter, son & husband, so I am not a newbie to writing & that’s what I love to do…write! To share an encouraging word, life experience, inspiration, to encourage others in life’s tough times, that there is always hope & joy!
So…I will be breaking all the rules! I am writing to share my journey, to be uplifting, encouraging & just a little challenging along the way!
You are most welcome to drop by at teawithjennifer.blog with your favorite beverage & a tasty treat to reflect with me for awhile.
Jennifer
I love that you are breaking the rules! Go for it! I’m joining you right there in the rule-breaking — and it’s so freeing! 😉
Absolutely! keeping the main reason for blogging in the first place in mind, is so important & that in itself is freeing!
With freebies, I have been thinking of offering my second booklet on my journey as a free ebook, what is your opinion on that?
Or should I offer something different & not as personally invested?
Jennifer
I think you totally can — if it will attract the audience of people you want to read your blog!
Thanks so much for this! I love the idea of creating a free resource library. That would really create value for subscribers.
We’ve been shocked at how much people love it!
Great ideas, but how do you get the word out to people about your free offers, especially if you don’t have much of an email list yet?
Great question! I’d recommend emailing everyone you know and asking them to spread the word (make it easy by asking them if they’d take a few seconds to share your FB post or Pinterest post) and then consider emailing bloggers who post freebies and asking them to share, too.
Thanks Crystal!
This information is exactly what has been on my mind lately, thank you. In your opinion, what is the best free or almost free email service for a blog that is small but looking to grow?
Hi, Gina!
I recommend starting with MailChimp. They are free up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails sent per month, which usually takes a while for a blogger to work up to. From there, their paid plans are very reasonable. 🙂
– Katie
YBM Team
Thank you!
Thanks for all your help. So many ideas! Question, should I have a separate email address for on my blog? And should it be the same as my blog ? Have you any newsletters on how to put links on our blogs?
Yes, definitely have a separate email address! If you Google how to include links in a blog post, you should find some simple tutorials.