In this blog post, you’re going to discover the 3 crucial steps to building your email list. I tend to work more with online entrepreneurs, but even if you run a brick-and-mortar offline business, an email list can help you grow your customer base and build deeper relationships with them. Through the content you share with them there, they’ll become buyers and brand advocates.
Building your email list can be hard, but there are 3 crucial steps you MUST do in order to create an engaged email list that creates a constant stream of sales for your business. When you’re done reading through this post, you can join my free Lead Magnet Mini-Course to dive deeper into building your email list.
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1 – Get the Right People to Sign up for Your List
The first step to start building your email list is to get people to sign up for your list. I know, I know… this isn’t mind-blowing information, but hang with me here. First, I want to just say that if you build it, they don’t come. It just doesn’t work that way. That and you don’t just want all people joining your list. You want the RIGHT people joining your list. You want your perfect, high-quality prospects. Part of building your email list is marketing your list. You can advertise your list in your offline marketing materials, but the best way is to do it online. Offer a lead magnet that people can download for free in exchange for their name and email address. Customers download the free gift and enjoy the unique value it offers, and then start receiving email messages from you. The key here is to ask for as little as possible. Name and email address is enough. If you make it difficult, people won’t sign up. The other key is that the lead magnet has to be valuable. It could be an eBook, a free report, a video, or any other type of content that helps people solve their problems. I have personally grown my own email list by creating valuable freebies and marketing them on Pinterest. Here are a few resources to help you get the right people opting into your email list:- Lead Magnet Mini-Course – This is a free mini-course that will walk you through getting your perfect prospects raising their hands for your offers. In this 4-part series, you’ll discover how to create the ideal lead magnet for your target market, define your goal & ideal customer, pick the topic & best format for your lead magnet, create your lead magnet, and learn how to create a compelling opt-in page. This mini-course is MEATY and it’s free, so grab it now.
- If you’re looking to get started on Pinterest, grab my free Pinterest Setup Checklist here.
2 – Engage Subscribers with Valuable Content
When you start bringing your new prospects in and building your email list, don’t start promoting to new subscribers right away. You started a relationship with them by offering helpful free content, so you don’t want to turn all used car salesman on them & get pushy with them about buying something. Let your subscribers get to know, like, and trust you a bit. Give subscribers helpful tips and information that they can only receive through your list. For example, if you sell makeup and your freebie offer drew busy moms into your list, offer some 5-minute makeup tips. Share your knowledge with your email subscribers and this will start to build a relationship with them. Just make sure the topics make sense to your audience. Otherwise, you’ll see people unsubscribing. Offering free content through your email list will also help you gather feedback from your market. You’ll see which sub-topic areas they like and how they react. Keeping in line with the makeup example, you might have a few links in an email leading people to some blog posts on your website about skin care. Your email autoresponder program will give you data on what people click and don’t click.3 – Reward Your Engaged Subscribers with Exclusive Offers
Gradually start making offers and promoting products and services, such as online deals or coupons. Create a balanced mix between informational content and offers. Just like with your content, exclusivity is enticing. Emphasize that these deals are only available to your email subscribers. You’ll earn directly from the offers you make to your list, but you’ll also gain valuable strategic information. You’ll likely find that some subscribers take advantage of offers while others don’t. Some will just enjoy the free content (and they may even send their friends to your freebies). The ones that buy are your qualified leads. You can lead them to make bigger and bigger purchases. It takes a great deal of effort to successfully build and run a list. I speak from experience when I say you need to provide constant high-value content. The times when I’m inconsistent about mailing my list, I see a drop in my income. You also have to first gain a keen understanding into your target market and what issues they face. But this method of growing, engaging, and selling to a highly-targeted audience is invaluable. Miss any one of these steps & you’ll find your piggy bank getting thin. Do you want to learn more about how to build your email list? Check out my free Ninja Lead Magnet Mini-Course, where you’ll learn the A to Z of building your email list of highly-targeted leads to grow your business.
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About the Author: I'm Misty, wife to a handsome fella & momma of two amazing kiddos that I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with. I did a lot of struggling in home biz quicksand before I started researching, learning from, and invterviewing top earners to learn their exact systems for getting customers and recruiting... and began sharing their secrets. I quickly got overwhelmed trying to #DOITALL and realized home biz success boils down to having solid systems and implementing consistently. Now I'm peeling back the curtain for you so you don't have to waste time & mental calories (like I did) trying to create success while also saving your sanity. Come join the conversation in our Free Life Ninjas Community.