Since you found your way to this article, you probably already know the value of starting an email list. So, let’s talk about how to GROW your email list once you’ve gotten it set up.
Email marketing is an incredible way to connect with your target audience, fill their needs, and offer them assistance on a personal level. It’s also a great way to recommend tools, deals, products, and services that can earn you money (helloooooo affiliate marketing)!
But, how do we go from setting up an email list that has one friend on it, to growing a booming subscriber community that can’t wait to open our emails and buy from us?
In this article, we’re going to talk about the fastest and easiest ways to grow your email list, the best freebies to offer your audience, and what to send to your subscribers after they join your mailing list.
We’ll also talk about how you can keep your subscribers opening your emails week after week, without being spammy or salesy.
Let’s get to it!
{{ Our blog posts contain affiliate links. Full disclosure here. }}
SETTING UP YOUR EMAIL LIST
If you are just getting started, head over to this tutorial on starting your email list. It walks you through the process of getting started for FREE using Mailerlite (an email service provider).
I recommend using MailerLite as your email marketing service, and here’s why:
– Your first 1,000 subscribers are FREE
– They have an easy drag-and-drop design system for creating your emails
– They are known for high open rates because of their 2-step verification system
– The free automation system is super user-friendly and perfect for running on autopilot
It doesn’t necessarily matter which email service provider (ESP) you use, a lot of it is personal preference.
Some other good ESP options:
If you’re just getting started and you want something that’s free and user-friendly, then MailerLite or MooSend are both great options.
HOW TO GROW YOUR EMAIL LIST
There are three important components to growing your email list, and we’ll touch on all of them now. Understanding and implementing these things will help you to grow your email list quickly and maximize on that warm audience.
- You need to know who your target audience is and what they want from you.
- You’ll need something exclusive and valuable to offer them.
- You’ll need a system for collecting their emails and delivering the value you promised.
First, let’s talk about knowing who your target audience is and what they’re interested in.
KNOWING YOUR TARGET EMAIL SUBSCRIBER
The only people that you want on your email list are the people that are TRULY interested in the things you talk about, share, and offer. This is your target email subscriber,
For everyone else, you’ll just be wasting their time, and they’ll just be taking up space on your list for now reason. We don’t want that.
To get the RIGHT people on our list, we have to clearly identify them and their needs. We have to speak to them specifically. And we have to provide value for them that encourages them to hand over their email address for future communication.
So, who is your target audience and what do they need from you? Who are the people that can benefit from what you share and teach through your website and emails?
Get specific.
Age.
Gender.
Job.
Income.
Location.
Family makeup.
Likes and dislikes.
Pain points.
When they land on your website, what are they hoping to accomplish and how is your content going to help them do it?
Once you have this answer, you can address the needs of your audience by creating some exclusive value that is just for them (when they join your email list).
This brings us to our second component of growing an email list: the free value that you offer exclusively to your email subscribers.
OFFERING VALUE TO YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS
The specific value that you provide is going to be different for everyone, because your audience wants something different than mine. But keep in mind that people join our email list for one (or both) of these two reasons:
They want VALUABLE STUFF that we only offer to our email subscribers. And/or they want a personal line of COMMUNICATION with us.
But it allll starts with the valuable stuff that you offer.
Maybe it’s a free downloadable checklist, maybe it’s a free course or challenge, maybe it’s an ebook or a workbook.
Remember to work backwards.
Think about their needs, goals, and problems. Then create something that helps them fill that need, reach that goal, or solve that problem.
You can use a free design tool like Canva to create all sorts of beautiful freebies to share with your target audience.
A FEW EXAMPLES
A mom blogger has an audience that needs help homeschooling her elementary-age children. The mom blogger creates a 10-page e-book with tips, tools, and resources for getting started with homeschooling your Kindergartner. Everyone on her email list receives this e-book for free, along with weekly homeschooling tips to stay on track.
Boom – valuable content that helps your email subscribers accomplish their goals!
Another example: A business blogger has an audience that wants to start their own online business selling courses. The business blogger creates a 12-page workbook to help that aspiring online business owner create their first business plan. Everyone on his email list gets free access to the workbook and weekly business tips that he doesn’t share anywhere else.
The free exclusive value that these bloggers share with their email subscribers helps them to grow their email list on autopilot. How?
This brings us to the third component of growing your email list: your systems for collecting emails, providing value, delivering the goods, and growing on autopilot.
COLLECTING EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR YOUR EMAIL LIST
EVERY TIME someone lands on our blog, we should provide the opportunity for them to join our email list and receive some extra value that we don’t share with anyone else. To do this, we’ll create something called an opt-in form and place that form within every blog post we write.
Each email service provider is different, but all will have an option for you to create ‘subscribe boxes’ or ‘opt-in forms’. If you use MailerLite, you’ll go to Forms and create an Embedded form through their form builder.
When you create an embedded form, you’ll use the code to paste that form into your blog posts or pages. Looks like this:
That form will also come with a unique URL that you can share anywhere online (this is one of my favorite and best-performing email capture systems)! Looks like this:
Here’s an example of one of my subscribe boxes:
Now, having the subscribe box in your blog posts is only the beginning.
DELIVERING VALUE TO YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS
Once people put their email address into that subscribe box, they’re subscribing to your email list for two reasons: to receive exclusive value that you only share with email subscribers and to have a personal line of communication with you.
The first thing you need to do is DELIVER that exclusive value that you promised to them.
Here’s the easy way to deliver the goods: set up an automated email that all subscribers receive as soon as they sign up for your list. This is also called a ‘welcome email’ in a lot of marketing circles.
Most email services providers allow you to create an automated email as soon as people join your list. In that automated email, you can either direct people to a specific file or to a free resource library full of content.
Learn how to set up a free resource library right here.
Important note: don’t be click-baity in your presentation. Make sure that your freebie is actually useful to your target audience. There’s nothing worse than eagerly awaiting that valuable guide/list, and then opening your email to find sloppy content that is full of grammatical errors and looks like it was just thrown together without thought.
It doesn’t have to be STUNNING. You don’t have to be a designer. Just do your best to create organized, helpful, clean-looking, valuable content for your readers.
CONTINUE TO GROW YOUR EMAIL LIST ON AUTOPILOT
Filling your website and social channels with subscribe form links and strategic subscribe boxes will help you to grow your email list on autopilot.
If you have great freebies (also known as content upgrades) that fill a need for your target audience, and you’re getting those freebies in front of them on a regular basis, your email list WILL KEEP GROWING.
If you need help getting more eyes on your freebies, check out this article on boosting your blog traffic.
Remember: more blog traffic = more opportunities for people to join your email list!
HOW TO KEEP EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS ENGAGED AFTER JOINING YOUR LIST
Once you get people to subscribe to your email list, you still have more work to do. You need to provide personable and valuable email content to your subscribers on a regular basis.
Remember: they already got their exclusive freebies and they’re still here on your contact list. And that means, they want that personal line of communication with you.
Keep your email subscribers engaged by delivering interesting, engaging, valuable content on a regular basis – based on their wants and needs.
If they want weekly weight loss tips, deliver that.
If they want daily coupons and deals, deliver that.
And if they want tutorials and tips on growing their own veggies at home, deliver that.
This will vary by industry, but if you need help brainstorming, you can set up a personalized strategy session with me here.
BONUS!! IDEAS FOR THINGS TO SEND YOUR EMAIL LIST
Here are 7 things you can share with your email subscribers to keep them interested and engaged with your stuff.
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A PRO TIP YOU DON’T SHARE ANYWHERE ELSE
Give your email subscribers that exclusivity that they deserve. Offering some pro tips on topics that will benefit them is always a good idea. A photography tip, a gardening tip, a business tip, whatever will be useful or relevant to your email subscribers right now.
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FREE WORKSHEETS
Create a few free worksheets that help your subscriber accomplish something.
Examples: worksheets that help them write a business plan, start a DIY project, create a blog post template, or start a weekly accountability group on Facebook. Free worksheets could be used as your freebie/content upgrade to grow your email list or to provide additional value to existing subscribers.
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A PEEK INTO YOUR LIFE OR BIZ.
Remember, we want to reach our subscribers on a personal level and connect with them. There’s no better connection than honesty about our life and business. Let them know who you are, what you love, where you stand on world events, what your challenges are. Ask them to share their stories too!
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A HELPFUL GUIDE
Send them a step-by-step guide or tutorial that helps them solve a specific problem.
Examples: a guide to uploading blog posts on Pinterest, getting started with calligraphy, or starting your own Etsy shop. Helping your email subscribers to solve their problems is ALWAYS a good idea. Video tutorials are usually a huge hit!
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AN ORGANIZATION CHART
If you can make life easier for your subscribers as they’re working toward their goals or solving their problems, definitely do that.
Examples: a chart for organizing your house, your garage, your car, your business schedule, your college assignments, your summer travels, your homeschool cirriculum. Anything your readers might need help organizing!
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PRINTABLES
Examples: inspirational quotes, homeschool assignments, chore charts.
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LATEST NEWS, REMINDERS, AND BLOG UPDATES
Just because someone is on your mailing list doesn’t mean that they read all of your blog posts or follow you on all social channels. An email with your latest news and blog updates will keep your subscribers in the know and encourage them to visit your blog (yay for blog traffic).
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Let’s wrap this party up and make sure you have a solid roadmap to help you grow your email list.
First, make sure you have an email service provider, like MailerLite or MooSend, to create subscribe boxes, collect email addresses, and deliver valuable emails to your subscribers.
Then, make sure you have a solid handle on who your target email subscribers are and what they need from you, so that you can create valuable EXCLUSIVE content that is available just for them.
Once you have created that content, using a design tool like Canva or PicMonkey, you can deliver your content through email automation (such a beautiful thing)!
As your email audience grows and they see your value, they will spend more time on your website and pay more attention to the products and services you offer, and this means more income and impact for you and your business!
Some email marketing tools we love:
Mailerlite – A FREE email marketing platform to help you grow your subscriber list.
Contact Out – To help you find the email address of someone in your target audience.
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This has been so helpful Cate! Thanks so much <3
I’m so glad it was helpful!
Looved this post and sooo helpful! And what I wonder, is cerveza, and comal, I am sure delicious though. This post is so helpful. This area of blogging I very complicate d for me but you make it sound easy. I hope that when I buckle down to it it will come as easy as you make it sound. I will keep these great tips handy so I can review them when needed. And I wish I had a picture of my dinner tonight. But was interrupted by life while reading your post and dinner was done by the time I got to this part of the post. So next time. Oh and how I envy you, living out there in Cali and near the beech. Used to live near Venice beach, but now I am in the mountains of TN. So miss the beach. So this blogging thing needs to work so I can steal away to the beach and still make money. Thank you for all your helpful content.
You have absolutely made my night commenting on my post and sharing your feelings with me! My hubby is Mexican, his family is from Mexico and we are raising bilingual half-Mexican babies, so I try to pepper some Spanish into my website … really just to help me learn the language haha! Cerveza = beer and comal = a flat pan that heats tortillas on the stove! We have friends that moved from CA to TN and they are always encouraging us to come visit and try it out… you never know where life will lead you. I’ve never been to TN but I would absolutely love to visit… And, as clarification: blogging is awesome, but it is such hard work! I try to keep things as simple as humanly possible, but it’s still a lot of work. Once you have all the pieces in place, it gets easier… but learning and growing takes time and training. Give yourself some grace and try to enjoy the ride. You can do this!
Hello Cate, Thank you for this helpful article. I have a newsletter and I lost track of its purpose and usefulness. Your article has lots of great advice, like offering bonuses and freebies, exclusively to my readers. Thank you much!
Wow this is awesome! It’s so full of great info. Definitely saving this to refer back to! The good thing is that i see I’m on the right track. But i also see where I’m lacking. Thank you so much!
Thank you for your helpful articles…Thanks for breaking it down. I was stuck but you have ‘unstuck ‘ me. I can now take some more steps forward. Be blessed.
This makes me so happy to hear, I’m glad it was helpful. You’re going to do a great job of growing your email list now that you have the roadmap!
Thanks for reading, I can’t wait to see your progress and watch you grow your email list!
Thanks for reading! Can’t wait to see you growing that email list now that you have the steps to do it!