Now you know what an email list is, and you know how it can benefit your company. What you’re wondering is, “How do I build one?” There are a lot of effective ways to build a good strong email list. Which way you choose to do it will depend on the business you operate, and your own personal preferences. The best way to do it is by doing it in a way that works for you. If you try one and it doesn’t work for you, try another. Try many different ways at the same time to do it until you find combination that is effective for you.
There are many methods you can use to build your list. There are also some things you should do and not do. Below is a compiled list of 100 tips you can use that will help you in growing a quality email contact list that can help your company grow:
1. Ask people for their contact information—You were probably taught as a child, “If you want something, ask for it.” It’s so simple that a lot of people forget it. Whether you’re at a trade show and meet the people in person, or whether it’s online, asking is so simple. Think about it. If someone reads all of your article, they’re definitely interested. They must like the way you write, or they would have clicked out. The end of the article is a perfect place to ask people to sign up.
2. Post “Popular Posts” on your site—This can work two ways. People may read your post and it may not be what they want. They can see all your other titles and see something else that does give them what they want. They may also read your article and think it was good. When they see you’ve written a lot of other related posts, it will give you a certain amount of credibility. This may make them want to sign up for your email newsletter.
3. Give them valuable content—If they read something you post and it’s valuable to them, they want more. Give them the opportunity to sign up for more, and they will. On the other hand, give them content that stinks, and they will never want to look at anything you have to offer again.
4. Encourage your email readers to reply—Give them a real email address to reply to.
5. Encourage people who read your posts to write comments—When they leave a comment, make sure your comment box has them fill in their email address. This way you’ve begun the relationship immediately.
6. Tell them what you want them to do—People read your posts and wonder what to do next. You don’t want them to just click out. Give them a clear call-to-action message. Tell them to sign up for your newsletter or ebook. Tell them to subscribe to your posts. Give them something to do next that will give you their contact information.
7. Don’t clutter your sidebar—Don’t overload with widgets, links, categories, etc. This can cause it to work against you. Make sure your signup form is at the top of your sidebar.
8. Make sure your sidebar has these four things—email signup form, search bar, ads (if you have them) and popular posts.
9. Use pop-ups—People are so used to seeing these now that they simply type in their name and email address without giving it a second thought. Some people, however, are annoyed by pop ups. This is where knowing your target market helps. If you have a market that you feel will be annoyed, then don’t use them.
10. Include more than one signup form—Not everyone reads every part of your posts. If you just put your sign up form in one place only, they might miss it. If you have it in several places, however, you increase the chance that they will see it and be able to sign up on your list.
11. Offer your readers an incentive to sign up—People love to get things for free. Giving them free videos, reports, ebooks, or even free gifts of some sort is a great reason for them to sign up. Make sure your incentive is relevant and provides value for the person subscribing.
12. Make testimonials available—If someone is debating whether or not to sign up and they see others like what you have to offer, they’re more likely to give you a try. Testimonials can be a strong influence. Be prepared, however, people may leave negative comments. If they do, use these as a chance to learn how to make your business better.
13. Go half-and-half—Give them half of a post with valuable content and have them sign up to get the second half. It’s kind of like a cliff-hanger in post form. Cut it off right at a point where they have to know what the next thing you have to say is.
14. Offer credentials—This will stress that the information you have to offer them will be of value to them. It gives you a sense of professionalism.
15. Craft your welcome message—While this may not truly be a tip to getting someone’s email address, it certainly is a tip to keeping them on your list. Your welcome email is their first correspondence with you. Make it something that will make them glad they registered.
16. Encourage your readers to ask questions—When someone reads your post, if you encourage them to ask you questions, you can have them give their name and email for the answer.
17. Give them a “teaser” question—Make it something they feel they need to know the answer to. Promise to answer it in the first email.
18. Give them content that only subscribers can get—Make it something valuable, and they’ll want to sign up.
19. List interesting topics that will be in your upcoming newsletter—Make them interesting enough for them to want to read it.
20. Make sure to utilize your cards—Your business cards are a valuable list building tool. Make sure to include all your contact information including your URL. This will give them the chance to see your content and signup for your email list.
21. Networking and referrals—From time to time, send out a “thank you” email to your current list members. Thank them for being a part of your list, and ask them for referrals.
22. Offer a gift for referrals—You could offer a free ebook to people that refer a certain amount of referrals. Another option is to give them a discount when that number of referrals is given.
23. Add “Opt-in” boxes—These can be on your blog or website and give your readers a chance to opt-in.
24. Give them the ability to “unsubscribe”—This will help to insure that those who are getting your emails are those that want them.
25. Don’t sell—People are more responsive if you serve instead. When you serve them, they’re more likely to give you their business.
26. Remember your “About” page—Google Analytics show that the about page is one of the most popular pages on any site. When they read about you, give them the chance to sign up for your email contact list.
27. Don’t spam people—Make sure you only send your email to those who want it.
28. Use the “double opt in” process—Have them sign up, and your auto responder sends them an email to confirm their subscription to your email list.
29. Create a hook—You want to hook them. You can do it through enticing information, or through a free gift that is valuable enough for you to sell, but you’re giving it away. Anything that draws them to you.
30. List information/products in addition to your free gift—Try to find information or products you feel your target market will be most interested in and provide information about them in addition to the free gift.
31. Have a squeeze page—Make it a page dedicated to signing up and your free gift.
32. Create a newsletter—If you don’t have one yet, start one. Newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your customers and give them updated information.
33. Let them get to know you on a “trial” basis—When you first meet someone, pushing the sell can hurt you. Push a newsletter instead, and let the person get to know you a little at a time. If they try you and like you, they’ll buy from you in the future.
34. Contact professional trade organizations—Some trade organizations will give you their membership list for free and some charge a small fee. Once you get the list, you can contact them with a direct email and offer them your free newsletter.
35. Share the wealth—If you have subscribers and you find another great newsletter you think they’d enjoy, recommend it. They’ll appreciate you for it, and the company you referred will feel obligated to recommend you to others.
36. Include newsletter info in presentations—When you give presentations, don’t just tell them your newsletter/email information. Make it part of your PowerPoint presentation. Put it up on the screen along with your company name and your URL.
37. Press releases—Write a good quality, no cost guide that people who visit your site can download. Then write a press release about the guide and send it to trade publications. Give them the choice to sign up for your email list when they download.
38. Make it easy for them—You want to make it as easy for people to join your subscriber list as possible. Be sure to include things in your online communications such as Join My List link and/or share it with your social network.
39. Get contacts on-the-go—You always want to be prepared to meet new contacts to sign up. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, there’s an app that will let you can collect contacts anywhere.
40. Have a staff competition—Give a prize for the staff member who collects the most email addresses from customers.
41. Promote your email campaign in print—Use direct mail, brochures, or business cards that encourage customers to sign up online.
42. Use your email signature—In your email signature you can include a your Join My List link. These hyperlinks make it easy for the subscriber.
43. Have a prize drawing—These can be simple. The point is to have a prize drawing once-in-a-while for people who join your list. One simple way is to put a container near your register so they can drop business cards. Offer a prize and announce the winner in an email.
44. Join forces with other businesses—Have another business featured as a guest writer in your newsletter, and have them feature you. When write, give people the information about how to join your list.
45. Use an email marketing service—People tend to be more willing to register because they know they can unsubscribe safely.
46. Use social media—Put your sign-up form on your Facebook business page and encourage fans to sign up.
47. Learn your market—Know what tactics work for them. If you try something and they don’t respond to it or you get negative feedback, stop it.
48. Have a visible privacy policy—This will help you to build trust. People are hesitant to sign up if they feel their information is going to be shared with others.
49. Request Customer Information—Keep sign up list at your checkout counter so people can register.
50. Stay organized—Building a contact list requires organization. If you don’t have a spread sheet, you probably should create one. It will make it easier for you to keep track of your customers.
51. Be honest, persuasive, and clear—Subscribers will want to know what they will be getting by joining your list. Be honest and clear about it, and persuade them to join.
52. Don’t bury them—Send them a regular newsletter and occasional emails with updates and promotions. Don’t bury them in unnecessary email or they’ll unsubscribe from your list or spam you.
53. Give them a sample newsletter—Have a link on your site that they can visit to see a sample of your newsletter so they will know what they will be getting before they sign up.
54. Archive past newsletters—Put these past newsletters on your website and make them available. This will also increase organic search traffic.
55. Link to other websites—Offering your customers links to other sites or newsletters you feel they will enjoy will be appreciated.
56. Joint ventures—You can join a JV with other newsletter publishers and mention each other’s publications.
57. Write an ebook—This will give you credibility as an author, and it’s something you can give away as a sign up bonus.
58. Conduct a webinar—Make it one your viewers have to register for. Ask for permission to send them future email mailings.
59. 17. Mention your newsletter during your webinar and provide a subscription link. This will give those who haven’t opted-in an additional chance to do so.
60. “Tell-A-Friend” buttons—Add a link or a button on your newsletter or website so your subscribers can be able to easily invite a few friends.
61. Allow for reprints—You can allow others to use your newsletter as long as you make sure to specify that the content and/or links aren’t modified. You’ll also want to make sure it contains your bio box and it isn’t altered in any way.
62. Place a “subscribe” button on the newsletter—You’re probably wondering why you should do this if they’ve subscribed already. Sometimes friends will forward your newsletter to their friends. By adding a subscribe button or a link you’re giving their friends who enjoy it a chance to subscribe.
63. Optimize for rankings in search engines—Use keywords effectively so your newsletter will show up in search results.
64. Make it “newsy”—Do something like have subscribers complete a controversial survey. Take the results of the survey, turn them into a story, and let the world know about it. You’ll get free exposure.
65. Use customer satisfaction surveys—When they are completed, ask for permission to post their results in newsletters and/or promotions.
66. Don’t guess about effectiveness—Actually track how effective your methods of advertising. There are services available to help you. Keep what works and discard the rest.
67. Pre-recorded audio messages—You can enhance your squeeze page with a pre-recorded audio message that tells all your visitors why they should subscribe.
68. Squeeze page videos—You can also add a video message that will allow potential subscribers to both see and hear you.
69. Start a free blog—You can use services that are easy to use. Blogs are yet another way to communicate with your visitors and helps with email list building.
70. Put your newsletter subscription form on your blog—Make sure you put the form on every page of your blog so those who read it can subscribe.
71. Blogs and emails work together—You can remind your subscribers when your next blog posting comes out so they won’t miss it.
72. Use a list-building service—Services like GetSubscribers are responsible co-registration services that can help you increase subscriptions.
73. Advertise your newsletter in other newsletters or ezines— You can find several services online to help you find newsletters that can help you reach your target viewer market.
74. Industry directories/websites—Use these for the promotion of your newsletter/emails.
75. Sponsor contests that are offered by others—By sponsoring other people’s contests, you can gain exposure without having to give anything else away.
76. Write articles—You can write articles many different “article” sites online. You’ll want to be sure to add a bio box. In the box, put the link that leads to your site or your email address.
77. Start conversations online—Go to discussion boards or forums to talk to people. You can even visit chat sites like Yahoo. Answer their questions and let them know how they can subscribe.
78. Use credit card receipts—You can place an “opt-in” link on the credit card receipt of your customers so they’ll have it with their purchases.
79. Invoices—Include a message to sign-up on all your invoices 80. Attend conventions and/or trade shows—If you network at these events, you can get a large number of new subscribers.
81. Give away forms to sign-up—When you speak to people or hold seminars, hand out these forms to promote your newsletter.
82. Trade show lead generation forms—You can include newsletter subscriptions in them. Ask each booth visitor for if you can send them your newsletter.
83. Advertise email promotions—You can put these promotions or things like shipping containers, cards for direct mailing or packing slips that all have links advertised they can use to get to your site.
84. VIP status—Allow your customers either VIP status or some type of loyalty program membership when they sign up for the list.
85. Let your employees help—Ask them to include things in their email signature. This can be something like “subscribe to the (your company) email/newsletter.”
86. Call center customer service/sales—They can ask customers and prospects and take their information if they’d like to receive newsletters or promotional emails.
87. Direct mail, print adds or catalogs—You can print and use these to encourage email subscriptions.
88. Send postcards to all of your customers that offer them a special if they sign up for the email newsletter—This works great for offline businesses with physical mailing lists.
89. Review your offline advertising—Find creative ways to insert opportunities for people to subscribe.
90. Traffic—Find more ways to increase traffic to your site. The more people that visit your site, the more people you can sign up.
91. Collect email at every contact point—This can be done with both customers and potential customers. This way you know they won’t miss the chance to sign up.
92. Be proactive—Email lists won’t build themselves. You have to take an active role in building it. Sure you can offer them the chance and think, “If they want it, they’ll subscribe.” That’s one step. What if you put that offer in the wrong place? They may never see it. That’s why you have to review your strategies and try new things. You never stop working to find new, creative strategies for building your list.
93. Don’t promote for the sake of promoting—If you’re going to promote another business in your newsletter or email, make sure they’re a quality business. Also make sure they will be offering your customers something of value. The businesses you promote should compliment what you do.
94. Consider making your free gift in print format—People are busy. They can’t skim audio or video gifts. With a written format, such as an ebook, they can skim it, highlight it, write on it, etc. This lets them get a lot more value from it.
95. Personalize your emails—You’ll have your subscriber’s names, so use them. You can also get other target market information from your contacts such as location or age. This helps you add bits of information in your emails that make them feel personal. It makes it easier to form relationships with these people. It also makes them feel like they know you well enough to share your information with their friends.
96. Let them know how they’ll benefit from signing up—People want to know what they’re going to be getting. Their main thought is, “How will this benefit me?”
97. Ask yourself, “If it were me, why SHOULD I subscribe”—This can be powerful. Read your material and think, “Do I think this is valuable enough to register for myself?” If it’s something you wouldn’t register for, why do you think others will?
98. Put yourself in their place in each email—Ask yourself, “Why shouldn’t I hit the delete button?” Make it good enough that they will want to save and share.
99. Pay attention to unsuccessful sends—These can happen for a number of reasons such as: the server may be busy, the recipient’s box may be full, they may have given you an invalid email address, or you may have entered it incorrectly. After all, it’s very common for people to accidentally type .con instead of .com.
If the email was returned due to a busy server, you’ll want to try to send the message again later so they won’t miss your email. If it was an invalid email, you’ll want to delete them. If you’ve entered the wrong information, then you’ll want to correct it immediately and send the email again.
100. Utilize traditional marketing tools—You can use things such as brochures, articles, whitepapers, etc that highlight your business. In each one, of course, give your email information and the opportunity to subscribe.
The above are the 100 tips to building your list. This probably seems like a lot of information to you. The good thing is, that with that many tips, surely you’ll be able to find a few that work for you. You obviously know you want to build a successful email campaign, or you wouldn’t be looking for tips to do it. The next step is to DO something. That’s the only way you’re going to build a successful email campaign. These tips are useless if you never put them into use.
Do You Need A Genuine Source Of Income Daily Online?
OR
Are You Interested in A Simple Business With Just $10 Startup Capital Making Money Weekly Click Here
OR
Click Here For The 10 Most Profitable Business Online Guide
OR
If you are interested in a ready made, done for you money making website with Information Marketing, Affliate & CPA Companies that are ready to pay directly into your bank account Click Here
Are You Still Battling With Forex Loses?
Click Here For The Final Solution
If you are Interested in 1 on 1 Training Click Here OR Call: 08023901675
Please if you find this helpful, kindly assist your friends in facebook or twitter by sharing this page. Click on the Facebook or Twitter share button below and click share link. Thanks