I am sure you’ve heard countless times…. That an email is important. Everyone says the same thing over and over… Grow your email list! To just about everybody in business today, whether online or brick and mortar (or a busy momma working out of her kitchen). The email list is crucial. I get it. You get it.
But how do you grow your email list?
That is exactly what we are going to do. But we aren’t just going to grow our list for the sake of numbers. Having a huge number of subscribers who aren’t engaging with your content, who aren’t clicking through to your content, who might not even be opening your emails at all, does not do anyone any good. In fact, this might be hurting you. Most email providers have an increase in cost based on the number of subscribers you have. Don’t get stuck paying money for those “numbers”.
Instead, we are going to develop a strategy that will grow your email list of amazing subscribers who WANT to hear from you. Who read your emails, ask you questions, interact with you and become a true relationship and not just a number.
If that rings true for you, let’s get started with a reasonable goal of (engaged) subscribers and grow that email list!
The Simple Strategy to Grow Your Email List by 500 Subscribers
Let’s start with a goal of 500 subscribers. You got this.
Set-up Your Email Service Provider.
There are SO many email service providers out there. It can be daunting to find the right one in terms of capability, ease of use, what your specific business needs are, your budget, etc. Lucky for you I have done the research for you!
In my Email Marketing Course I go into more detail about why I prefer these three email service providers.
I recommend three email providers broken down into “levels”. Taking into account the reality that you may not be able (or want) too add one more cost to your business. Especially when you are just starting out so here are my recommendations to grow your email list.
Level 1- If you’re just starting your business or new to blogging and don’t have the budget to pay for a more sophisticated provider, start using MailChimp. It is free up to 1000 subscribers. You can upgrade your plan, with the growth of your list. Compared to others in this level MailChimp really shines and it’s features compete with those of a more complex provider.
Level 2- ConvertKit. If you can, I highly recommend starting with ConvertKit. It has so many features that rival that of the higher end providers. You can build landing pages, really customize a lot fo the features, it is simple to use and it is a more affordable option than others that have these features and capabilities.
Level 3- Ontraport is a really robust email service provider. Landing pages, opt-ins, and an amazing ability to set up campaigns and funnels. It is fantastic for running membership sites or if you are doing courses, challenges, running other businesses as well. But it is expensive and has more of a learning curve to get used to it.
More Email Service Provider Information
How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Software
ConvertKit vs. MailChimp
Everything You Need to Know About ConvertKit
*You can skip this step if you are already set-up.
Create An Awesome Opt-In to Grow Your Email List!
This is your time to shine! Creating a free opt-in for your audience is an opportunity to serve them. Listen to their pain points, what can you do to help them with something, what can you offer them?
The best way to find out is, to go directly to the source, so ask them! Send out a survey, take a poll, or email with them and ask the following questions:
- What do they struggle with?
- If they could wave a magic wand over _____ what result would they like to see?
- What are their goals?
- What are their problems?
- What are their dreams?
You can always head over to our Facebook Group and ask for ideas there too. It’s a great place, with like-minded women that you can use as a sounding board.
There are multiple ways to deliver it as well. The most common are;
- Workshop/Webinars
- Templates
- Planners
- Ebook
- Ecourse
- Video
- Workbooks
You want this freebie to be something you don’t share with anyone else. We can go into more depth about Opt-In/Freebie creation later, but there are so many great free or inexpensive options at your fingertips. Time to get your creative juices going!
More Awesome Opt-In Information
How to Use Quizzes to Boost Your Email List
Time to Upgrade Your Content with Freebies!
Wait, wait, wait. Didn’t we just create an opt-in/freebie? Yes, yes we did. But once your audience/subscribers get to your content they are going to want to continue receiving not only the great content on your site/in your posts- but they will also want “content upgrades” occasionally. You do NOT need to create content upgrades aka freebies for every post.
For now start with 3. If you have been at it awhile, take a look at your analytics and determine what your most popular content is. If you have just started out, use your content pillars to decide where to put this. Again, use the feedback from your audience!
Once you have determined those three posts, base your freebie on the content in that post. For example, if you have a health & fitness post on “Tips for Staying Hydrated” you could make a printable graphic or recipe card with several fruit & vegetable infused water recipes.
Take a peek at these examples!
Awesome Opt-In:
Post for Girl’s Camp Food or Cooking for a Crowd:
Freebie (this handy pdf guide):
* Pro Tip: If you have a freebie that would be good to add to a few post it can be good to set up a landing page for that freebie, or anytime you start getting higher traffic.
4. Create Awesome Focused Content, Consistently
You need to be consistently creating content if you want to grow your email list. If you don’t post anything new, people will stop checking your site, right? If people subscribe for a specific freebie or are checking out a specific post, it is smart to continue serving them by creating content in that niche. They’ve already shown you they are interested in that topic.
For example, if you have a very popular post about “Setting Up Your Own Homeschool” with a freebie for a printable homeschool supplies checklist and a year of curriculum ideas E-book as your opt-in, you will want to continue creating posts on topics like: homeschool, teaching your kids, learning, etc.
While you may have several topics on your site that you are passionate about, focus on creating enough good content based on those 3 posts with the freebies, that will continue to give awesome information to your subscriber.
For example, write 6 posts about each of those topics. Get them posted, then you can start sharing other posts and branching out but you should still continue to create consistent content on those topics. This also helps with SEO! We will cover SEO next.
* Pro Tip: If you create a few quick, but useful posts to hold in the queue in case something comes up and you need a filler you can step back and focus on producing the content you really want.
More Ideas to Create Killer Content
How to Batch Your Blog Content
What Is Content Clustering & Why You Should Do It
5. Utilize Social Media & Search Engines to Grow Your Email List!
Way to go friends!
- Email Service Provider is Set-Up
- Opt-In Created
- Content Freebies
- Niche Content Created
You’ve gotten this far and now it’s time to get more eyes on all of your great content! After all, you can’t grow your email list by 500 people if you don’t get your content in front of 500 people.
Since you can’t be on all platforms and social media without either a team of people or burning out, determine what social media platforms are the best for you and your audience. Where are they hanging out? Focus on a few key platforms to share your content and that will help you grow your email list.
Next, the biggie- Search Engine Optimization aka SEO. You’ve probably heard this term passed around. SEO is the practice of optimizing content to be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results. Want to have your post on the first page when someone does a Google search? Increase your SEO rank. I highly recommend learning as much as possible and utilizing the best CURRENT practices for driving SEO.
Organic traffic is one of the best traffic sources to grow your email list – that means it is coming directly from specific Google searches. People who are actively looking for the content you have created. So that means they convert well. You also don’t need to schedule it separately or worry about ever-changing algorithms like you do in social media. You just need to put some effort into growing that traffic which is possible.
For More Social Media Information Check Out These Posts
The Pinterest Course
How to Use Pinterest for Business
A Girlfriend’s Guide to Pinterest
Instagram Course
How to Create Instagram Highlights
How to Utilize Instagram Live and Stories
Find Out More About SEO
SEO Secrets
Alright friends! Are you ready to grow your email list? I know you can do it. What freebies are you going to create? What Opt-in? I’d love to hear all about your ideas!
Ready. Set. GO!
-Michelle
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