You’ve probably heard no end of people talking about how important it is to have an email list. After all, what could be better (particularly for your business growth) than a list of people who love your brand so much that they have given you permission to send them regular content? These are people who actually want to hear from you.
An email list allows you to build long-term connections with your tribe and, in turn, develop a trusting relationship. Your email list is one of the few online assets that truly belongs to you. Unlike social media, which you have no real ownership over, your email list will not suddenly change, or develop new algorithms, making your content less likely to be seen. Sure, some people might change their email address, but this is the only risk to your one-to-one connection.
So how can you grow your email list?
The best way to add people to your list is to show them that you can provide something of value. This is most often done via opt-in incentives. Everyone loves to get something for nothing. If you offer something that solves a problem, or will benefit people in a specific way, most will be more than willing to give you their email address in exchange.
Start off with one core piece of content and focus on solving a specific problem. If you don’t know where to start, you can do a little research to find out what your target audience is after. Do you have a particular blog post that has done especially well? Start networking with the type of people you are targeting, and find out what problems they have that you can help solve.
Once you have your core piece of content, you can start to build upon this and add more opt-in opportunities. Content upgrades are known to be particularly effective. Take a look at your previous blog ones, and ones that you plan to publish in future. How can you add more value to these? Perhaps you could create a workbook as an upgrade to a ‘how to’ article, or a checklist for a new project. These should be added to the related posts so that your readers have the chance to download the content upgrade there and then.
Creating a Resource Library
So, you’ve created your core opt-in and perhaps a few content upgrades, and now you’re on a roll. A resource library is a great way to keep all of your freebies organised, and allow your subscribers to gain access to them at any time.
The easiest way to do this is to create a password protected page where your freebies are stored. When a new reader subscribes to your email list, they will receive the password for the library, which they can then browse at their own leisure. The plus side of using this method is that your subscribers will not need to re-enter their email address to download additional content. And it is much more appealing to exchange your email address for multiple resources than for one single download.
Opt-In Freebie Ideas
| Workbook | Cheat Sheet | Checklist |
| eBook | Guide | Blueprint |
| Webinar | Challenge | Tutorial |
| Audio Guide | Planners | Activity Trackers |
| Mini eCourse | Video | Case Study |