Did you know that every $1 spent on email can give you an
ROI of $40?
Email has an ROI much more higher than any other promotional
channel including banner ads or SEO.
But still people are not giving 100% focus on building and
growing their email lists. If you are just starting out and looking for proven
ways to build a massive list from scratch, this post is for you.
Let’s talk about few incredible strategies most bloggers and
businesses use to quickly build money making email lists.
#1. Use list goal
I’m a big fan of Bryan Harris (founder of Videofruit). He
created a smart chrome extension called (free btw!) List Goal
It’s basically an email list coach that keeps you focused to
build and grow a big email list. It helps you grow your email list by doing
three things:
- Keeping you focused on growing your list
- Real-time email statistics dashboard
- Giving you personal coaching with exact strategies to grow your list
Here’s how it works.
- Pick a personal list goal (based on your current list size)
- You see your email list progress daily, every time you open a new tab on chrome
- You’ll also get regular tips on how to boost your email list
All in all, list goal is a great FREE tool for quickly
growing your list.
#2. Smart guest blogging
Did you know that Gregory Ciotti generated 36,733 email
subscribers for Help Scout through guest blogging?
Guest posting is not dead. If done right, it’s the #1 way to
build and grow your audience from scratch. Even the million dollar online
businesses like Groove, Buffer have used guest posting to generate their
customers.
So if you are looking for a PROVEN way to build a massive
email list, write guest posts. Not just any guest posts but “smart guest
posts”. Here are few powerful tips for smart guest blogging.
- Before writing guest posts, build a list of 20 to 30 blogs in your industry. Find out how many social media followers each blog has (along with their email subscriber count). As a rule of thumb, try to write guest posts for those blogs with at least 10,000 subscribers or social media fans.
- Use tools like Quora or Buzzsumo to come up with topic ideas for your guest posts. Also check out your targeted blog’s popular content section to know what attracts their blog’s audience.
- Start writing. Before you pitch other bloggers with your guest post ideas, write first. Make sure to spend quality time in researching and crafting your guest posts.
- Mention your eBooks or blog’s content within your guest posts and persuade people to click on your website’s links smartly. That’s how you can capture more emails from guest posts.
#3. Turn your homepage into a landing page
One of the simplest ways to quickly turn more blog visitors
into email subscribers is to tweak your blog’s home page. Use it as an email
list capturing machine.
On my newly launched blog Conversion Yoda, I’m using only a
simple landing page to capture as many emails as possible. My only goal is to
build a massive email list from that blog. So I used nothing but a landing page
by offering an incentive along with a strong call to action.
The result? I’ve collected hundreds of emails just within a
few weeks. That’s the beauty of using landing pages, they really convert well
as they provide less distraction to your visitors.
Here are tips you can use to create high converting landing
pages to grow your email list.
- Turn your homepage into a landing page. Give away something for free to collect emails (it can be anything from an eBook to video to email course).
- Use social proof. Get testimonials about your blog, products or content.
- If your landing pages are not converting well (less than 10%), try a different incentive to collect emails. Perform A/B testing to know the high converting landing page among two different pages.
- Use compelling headlines on your landing pages. Provide benefits. Use bullet points and keep your copy short.
#4. Use content upgrades
Even if you are talking about pets, you still can find ways
to provide convert your website visitors into email subscribers by providing
content upgrades.
Content upgrades are simply “bonus extensions” for your
content. If you are writing a blog post around SEO, a cheat sheet, an eBook or
a video related to that topic can become your content upgrade.
You just need to use it to grab email address of people who
are interested in your topics.
Here’s how a content upgrade generally looks like.
Here are few effective ideas that you can use for creating
content upgrades to skyrocket your email list growth.
- Offer your existing blog posts as PDF reports or eBooks. Ask people for their email to grab them.
- Turn your content into videos or podcasts and offer them as content upgrades to get more emails.
- If you write long form of content, provide cheat sheets or checklists. That way people can get more benefits from your content without spending too much time.
- Create a bigger list. Use half of it as a content upgrade. If people like your stuff, they will gladly join your list to grab the remaining stuff.
#5. Run giveaways
Noah Kagan built two million dollar online businesses and a
million subscribers email list mostly by using giveaways. He’s the king of
giveaways. He knows running giveaways can attract more people to subscribe.
Not only they help you grow your email list but giveaways
also help you boost your social media fans, backlinks and overall brand awareness.
If you are just starting out, use a small budget ($100 to
$500) to giveaway any product relevant to your industry. If you are running a
marketing blog, try to giveaway an SEO plugin instead of offering iPads. That
way you can attract “really targeted people” to grow your email lists.
#6. Do email outreach
Let me tell you one thing: email outreach is hard.
It’s hard because most people start reaching out to other
bloggers with just one thing in mind: getting help. Instead of asking others to
help with something, offer help first.
That’s how you can get faster responses. Also make sure to
learn how to write compelling emails. Keep your emails short and sweet instead
of writing long and boring emails.
No one likes to read a long email especially when it comes
from a stranger.
While doing email outreach, remember the following things.
- Always use people’s names. Don’t start with “Hi there!”. It really sucks.
- Use compelling email subject lines. Instead of using corporate words, use friendly tone.
- Always ask yourself “what’s in it for them” before pitching someone with your emails.
- Find out how other top bloggers in your industry are creating their email series. Learn to steal their strategies and use them to your own benefit.
Over to you
Email list building can be a lot of fun if you follow the
right strategies such as guest blogging, using content upgrades, blogger
outreach etc.
Give #1 priority to growing your email list for next 30 days
and you will see amazing results. And make sure to use a free tool like List
goal to hit your email list goals. So what are your thoughts?
Do you have any more list building tips?
