Today we are going to learn about building an email list.
All kinds of relationships in life are built on mutual understanding and trust with one another.
It’s these two qualities that build healthy personal relationships, friendships, and business relations.
The most successful bloggers or online businesses take the time and effort to get to know their audience and build a repertoire. You have your loyal followers. They read all your blogs, and they like all your posts.
They are essential to the popularity of your blog, but if you turn them into loyal subscribers, then they are essential to the prosperity of your blog. Doing this will not only increase your credibility, but it will also increase your sales. This is why you need an email list.
An email list is a collection of emails of your subscribers that you have acquired from your blog. They are the ones that are really invested and want to learn more or get more from you. They simply love who you are and what you do.
HOW DO YOU GET THE EMAILS?
You can either use opt-ins or lead magnets. This is an exchange for something free for a person’s email.
You could offer,
- Free courses
- Free worksheets
- Printables
- Resource guides
- Email courses and much more
- Facebook Group Access + Freebies
Whatever you offer them, make sure it is something you think your audience needs and relates directly to the content on your site otherwise, people won’t sign up.
You have to know your target audience and offer them something very valuable.
The easiest opt-in to offer is a checklist or a list of tools.
This could be an easy to follow list-of-steps to get a desired result (ex. 10 steps to Organizing Your Life) or could be like a list of tools or resources (10 life-changing tools that helped me lose 50 lbs.).
If you are good with Microsoft Office or Google slides, you can create something stylish pretty quick. Canva also has some great free templates to help you get started.
Here is an example of two different opt-in examples I created—one in Canva and the other with Google slides.
Use your opt-in to solve a problem, create a simple landing page with a tool like Elementor, and then start promoting your freebie.
If you position it well and you are truly solving a problem, you will get opt-ins.
Once you get their emails, this is the time to have a mini celebration and to get those ideas going!
Getting their emails means you can start building that relationship we have been talking about. That is why it is so important to treat these emails with care.
Don’t just send them anything you want. It needs to be a steady exchange between you and your subscriber. You can’t just bombard them with emails telling them what they should buy. In fact, the less your emails seem like a sales pitch, the better.
Try to add value and then occasionally ask for the sale. Send them new blog posts, exclusive freebies, or teach something new that is relevant to what they opted in for.
WHAT TO DO ONCE THEY OPT-IN TO YOUR LIST
Once they opt-in you will want to send them through a welcome sequence. This will help them get to know you and hopefully turn them into a long-term reader.
This is also an opportunity to establish your authority in your field and share your best blog posts and even share affiliate products or your own products.
WELCOME SEQUENCE STEPS
1. Send them a welcome email. – Thank them for subscribing, include their opt-in and let them know what they can expect from you.
2. Let them get to know you – Next, you can email them about who you are. Tell them little details about you that would make them trust you more. You can also share your story as a blogger and what your goals are for your blog. Doing so makes you seem more human and sincere. Your audience will feel closer to you.
You can also ask them to share a little about themselves; that way, you will also get to know them more, what they need and what they want from the relationship. Ask them what they think about your blog and treat it as constructive criticism.
3. Send valuable content – Continue to send them content that is relevant to the topic they opted in for. This can be your weekly newsletter, supplemental content, or freebies just for your email subscribers.
4. Introduce your paid products/services – Once you know each other a little better, you can now slowly offer them what you are selling. Remember, don’t make it sound like a sales pitch! You need to always offer them something free and valuable in your email. It could be as simple as advice, tips, what the latest is on your blog, and other kinds of newsletters you can come up with.
Remember! It is also good to send emails in between that offer them exclusive items. This will help your retention rate! You can give discounts to your product or affiliate links, exclusive content, or freebies. Or give a sneak peek at a new blog series, ebooks, or online courses that you will be launching.
If you keep them posted on all the new and exciting things on your blog, the more you encourage them to participate.
Always answer your emails and offer them help. As I said, you need to nurture your relationship, and part of that is to keep in touch and be someone they can turn to when they have an inquiry, problems, or even questions.
This will make them feel closer to you, and when that time comes when you need help from them, they will most probably return the favor.
MORE EMAIL LIST BUILDING TIPS:
7 Emails To Send To Your List
How To Create A Free Course To Grow Your List
Free List Building Email Course
EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Now it sounds like having an email list is a lot of work. Well, it can be! But, luckily, we have email marketing services that we can use to do most of the legwork for us!
1. MailerLite – MailerLite is one of the most popular email service providers. They offer a free account up to 1,000 subscribers. If you sign up for a paid account, you pay more, but the amount depends on how many subscribers you have.
MailerLite is a great choice if you are just starting out and are not yet ready to invest in a paid provider.
2. ConvertKit – I have used ConvertKit for 2.5 years and absolutely love it. The features on ConvertKit are more robust. You are able to tag and segment subscribers, so they are only seeing content relevant to what they opted in for and set up more complex funnels.
I have found ConvertKit to be well worth it!
Helpful ConvertKit Resources:
- How To Use ConvertKit Automations
- Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers Webinar
- ConvertKit Sales Funnels Webinar
Having an email list is like an investment. It takes time and smart decisions to earn from it.
Always remember that there is an actual person on the other side of that email, so write it like you are sending a message to a friend. I try to do that, and my readers have thanked me for it!
So far, we’ve covered launching your blog, setting up hosting, installing your theme, coming up with blog post ideas, how to promote your new post, Pinterest, and now list building!
Tomorrow I’m going to teach you how you can start making money from your blog!
When you are ready CLICK HERE to go to Step-Six!
