7 Simple Strategies To Build Your Email List

With the rise of social media and pay-per-click advertising, the future of email marketing seems to always be getting called into question. Poor little email.

Knowledge Commerce business owners seem to constantly be wondering where they should dedicate their time and budgets. And with so many mixed messages, it can sometimes be difficult to come to a conclusion. Especially if you’re just starting out.

Thankfully, the facts speak for themselves, and they show that list building should always a top priority for new and seasoned digital entrepreneurs.

According to The Data and Marketing Association, “email list segmentation and personalized emailing were the most effective email strategies of 2017”.

So while everything in our digital landscape seems to constantly be changing, one thing seems to remain certain...building a list and communicating to that list is one of the best uses of your time, budget, and attention.

But what are some simple ways to build your lists?

Specifically, if you sell online courses, coaching, or other digital products?

What can you do to get more email subscribers without feeling pushing or annoying?

Because as you probably already know, and as the facts above attest to, the development of your email list which you can segment and use to reach specific customers is essential.

So if you don’t already have 100,000 people on your list, don’t worry!

In fact, it’s one of those “online marketing myths” that says the bigger the list the more successful you are or the more money you make.

Your success has more to do about the quality of relationship you have with your subscribers than the quantity of your subscribers.

So whether you’ve got 1 or 100,000...below are seven simple strategies for getting more of the right kind of people joining your tribe...

Ready? Let’s get down to it!

Home Page Opt-In Forms

Having a highly-visible, easily accessible opt-in form on your website is one of the most effective list building techniques available to both online and offline business owners.

Take a second right now and perform a quick audit on your own site.

If you were a complete stranger who somehow ended up on your site, can you find an opt-in box within the first 10 seconds? If the answer is no, add that right now.

If someone is already on your site then the chances of them wanting to receive some form of updates from you is far higher than trying to approach them off of your website. So make it easy and convenient to find and opt-in to your email list from your home page.

Inside Kajabi’s website builder, at the click of a button you can choose to include custom made opt-in forms, exit pop ups, and even email opt-in form bars which take up the width of the screen,

You should aim for a minimum of 10% conversion rate on any kind of opt-in form on your website or landing page. Preferably continue tweaking until you get it closer to 20% or higher.

Fortunately, within Kajabi each one of your forms and pop-ups has built in analytics allowing you to track your number of visitors and conversions.

This is probably the simplest list building strategy of all and is as close to “set it and forget it” as it gets. But just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it isn’t highly effective.

Blogging

When done correctly, blog posts can be a huge part of building an email list.

Just imagine if every person who read your blog posts decided to subscribe to receive your email updates as well. How much would your subscriber list grow? Remember, your blog posts remain on your website for months, if not years. How many people are visiting your blog posts every day, only to click away from your site and never return?

This is why it’s so important to include a targeted, compelling opt-in opportunity on each of your blog posts.

As Knowledge Commerce online business owners, many of us are already creating content in one way or another to help educate and provide value to our niche.

Kajabi has made it as easy as possible to continue blogging, ranking for SEO, and providing the opportunity for people to opt-in to your list from your article with our built in blogging feature. No plugins or custom coding required. Yet the majority of all the bells and whistles still offered by other straight blogging platforms.

Yes, you can even include Facebook comments on your blog as well!

Remember, the visitor is already interested in what you have to say. They’ve decided to click on your article because something about it piqued their interest. Why not entice them by letting them know they can receive even more exclusive updates by signing up to receive emails?

Similar to how we do right here using this exact article.

Social Media

Harnessing your social media network is another proven method for building an email marketing list.

As we all know, word travels fast on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. It only takes a few “shares” before your message circulates and is seen by hundreds of people, and all your friends of friends who are connected to one another.

Using social media platforms can give you the ability to put your message in front of the most likely receptive market. You can use specific hashtags, post in targeted groups, or simply call out your audience in the content you create.

This is why many business owners trust social media as one of their primary list building techniques.

One common way to utilize social media as a way of gathering email subscribers is to offer a limited time promotion or contest.

You can use Kajabi’s pre-built “Promotional Pipeline” which creates your email capture page, sales page, and checkout page all at the click of a button. Then post that on your social media platforms.

Or you can simply offer those who opt-in to your email newsletter the chance to win some sort of prize which you decide on.

It’s also smart to just let your social media followers know that you actually do have an email newsletter. Many of them would be happy to subscriber if you just offered them the opportunity.

Guest Posting

The difference between blogging and guest posting is that instead of focusing on your company blog, you reach out to other online content publishers who have audiences which may be interested in your company and the products or services you provide.

Many online publications or other Knowledge Commerce business owners welcome the opportunity to have other people write posts to be included on their sites, allowing those who do to link back to their sites or include calls-to-action that benefit their business.

So, why not write a blog post for an online publication and include a call-to-action at the bottom which welcomes readers to subscribe to your e-newsletter if they’d like to learn more about the topic you’ve written about?

Or to opt-in to receive what’s called a “content upgrade” which is typically a more in-depth guide on whatever it is you just posted.

Start today by identifying 10 sites which might have audiences who’d resonate well with the products or service you offer. Then come up with a headline, lead, and 3-5 of the main bullet points of your article and email it to them letting them know you’d like to finish it if they’re interested.

You’d be surprised how many email subscribers you can add just with this one simple strategy.

If you wanted to go above and beyond, you could even create a unique page on your Kajabi site just for them which contained that brief summary of your guest post. This kind of personal touch goes a long way to them saying yes and trusting you.

Referral Incentives

Unlike the other list building strategies we’ve included in this article, this tip focuses on encouraging the subscribers you already have to become ambassadors for your newsletter. But why do this? What’s in it for them?

Since your subscribers already see the value in the content you’re sharing, who better to communicate the advantages of your updates than the people who’ve continued to read them month after month?

By creating a special offer specifically for your existing subscribers, you give them something to be excited about and add value to their customer experience.

Whether your subscriber gets to enter their name for a chance to win a cash prize every time one of their friends subscribe, or they receive a discount code for a percentage off their next purchase, you can be assured that you will see results.

“One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” - Jim Rohn

Using Other People’s List

This is one of the most impactful list-building tips available to digital entrepreneurs.

Since there are already hundreds of email publications sent out to subscriber databases in every niche, tapping into an already existing newsletter is a quick and easy way to expose your business and content to audiences who share common interests.

You can start by reaching out to business owners who have audiences similar to yours and see if there’s some sort of a partnership structure you can create. Maybe they allow you to send an email to their list in return for a percentage of all first time purchases from those customers.

Or maybe it’s something completely different.

They key here is to lead with how you can provide over the top value to both that business owner and their list. Do your best to create joint venture offers which almost feel clearly one-sided for that other person.

This helps build trust and you can create a business ally for years to come.

Sometimes it’s even as easy as offering a small cash payment for a one-time email promotion. If they have a good relationship with their list this can definitely be worth it!

Webinars

Remember, there are always people looking to learn new skills, or improve their understanding of concepts related to their industry.

Offering free webinars is a wonderful way to not only establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field, but also allows you to get new subscribers whenever you want.

Since this sort of training carries such a high perceived value, people are far more likely to opt-in for it than without any additional sort of bribe.

But how can you make sure your webinar builds your email subscriber list?

Firstly, be sure to promote your webinar ahead of time. A great way to do this is by writing a blog post about your upcoming free training and share the post out across your social media pages. Be sure to include a link to subscribe to your email list, and another link that leads to the registration page.

You can let everyone know the “big idea” of your training, but that any question they submit will also be getting answered on the webinar as well.

That way those of your followers who haven’t opted in for the webinar will feel more enticed to come onboard and hear the answer to their question.

Inside your Kajabi account you can create a special opt-in form just for that upcoming webinar training, or make it a part of entire webinar pipeline.

From Idea To Your Online Course In Just 3 Days

If you’d like more list building strategies and some additional guidance on how to go from “idea stage” to your first mini course in just 3 days, we’ve recently put together a new, completely free, 3-part video training series which takes you through the entire process.

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