Do you want to grow your mailing list?

Do you even have a mailing list? Mailing lists are essential these days for several reasons.

Everything is rented space nowadays; a mailing list is still yours.

Social media can drop your big page for no reason. You own your mailing list contacts, and you don’t have to worry about a company dropping you from them.

You can sell more with a mailing list.

You can build a loyal fan base with a mailing list.

And there are straightforward ways to grow your mailing list, and I’m going to show you a few great ways to do it today.

Grow Your Mailing List #1: Use a Mailing List Service

Don’t rely on some announcement software or service from your hosting service to grow your mailing list. You need to be using an actual mailing list service.

A regular web hosting service isn’t going to allow you to send a lot of people an email at once. This is because of spam purposes, and server resources aren’t made for that sort of service.

Instead, you need to go with an actual mailing list service.

I use Mail Chimp, it’s free when you’re just starting, and the paid plans are affordable.

Start with a free plan if you can accomplish it, and then work on ways to monetize your list through advertising, membership, pay gates, etc. After you start making money with your list, you should invest in paid features to make your list better.

Grow Your Email List #2: Show Your List on Your Website

The best way to grow your email list is to make sure you’re promoting it to the people who would likely subscribe to it.

Your website!

Whether or not you’re getting loads of traffic, you should still promote your assets on your website when people visit.

I make it a habit to put a block on every page on my website for visitors to subscribe to my newsletter. The theme I used allows me to make a global block, so it changes for all pages if I change the block. That helps me out.

There are also plugins available (which I also use) that make newsletter Call-to-Actions appear after scrolling through a page or trying to load a new page.

Some people think these features are annoying, but usually, more people subscribe to mailing lists using that method.

Grow Your Email List #3: Promote it on Social Media

If you have social media pages, promote your mailing list on those pages from time to time.

As I’ve preached in other articles, social media should always be about 80% native content and 20% external content. Trying to grow your mailing list on social media will be a part of that 20%. So, please don’t overdo it and promote it too much.

But if there is a spike in activity on your social media pages, you might want to give it a promotion and try to convert social fans into actual email list subscribers.

Just don’t spam people with it.

Grow Your Mailing List #4: Offer Something to Subscribe

Get more subscribers on your mailing list by giving potential subscribers something for subscribing.

A lot of brands and businesses offer eBooks or guides. Social Media Examiner offers an extensive annual report about social media marketing every year as a way to gain new email subscribers. Offer something big that is irresistible, and you’ll gain more subscribers to your list.

Some might subscribe, get the freebie, and then unsubscribe, but many will probably keep getting your newsletters and stick around for a while.

There are other things you could give away as well.

You could create a video or email-based course.

You could give away a private video about something related to your niche.

Templates and spreadsheets also make great giveaway items.

Just make sure it’s worth subscribing to gain access to it.

Grow Your Email List #5: Deliver Awesome Content

Getting new subscribers is one thing but keeping them is another monster.

You can easily keep your subscribers by simply giving them the best content possible. Ask yourself what kind of content would have to be present for you to remain a subscriber. Think back to a time when you did unsubscribe from a mailing list. Why did you? How can you use that to ensure that other people are not doing the same on your list?

Your content needs to be top-notch and the best content you can create.

If the content is that awesome, you’ll grow your mailing list and retain everyone who joins at that.

And that sums it up, use these easy methods to grow your mailing list, and you’ll start to see more and more subscribers getting in on your email action. But to get action, you have to perform an action for your mailing list.

About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers that follow this blog. Shawn also offers a variety of services for extra help in the area of content creation, blogging, forums, and digital marketing.