Not building an email list means you’re leaving sales on the table

Despite many of us not liking lots of emails in our inboxes did you know that email marketing is still the highest converting form of online marketing?

No other online medium even comes close.

If you’re not building and using an email list then you’re leaving sales on the table.

So here are my 5 best tips for building an email list.

1. Ask them lots

Yeah I know popups can be a pain, but you don’t have to use a popup to get an email subscriber. On my personal site I use a plugin called Leadin and it provides me with a tidy slide up box which appears after a user has scrolled down the page.

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That’s not the only place I have my email opt-in though. Right at the top of my homepage I’ve got an email opt-in. Adding that to my homepage meant a 10% increase in email subscribers right away.

How about your sidebar, does it have an email opt-in box?

I know it may seem overkill, but you typically have to ask 4 – 6 times for an email address before you get it. When I added more places to opt-in to my email list I had users that had been on my site for over a year finally opt-in.

2. Do a Hangout

Call it a Webinar or whatever you want, you’re an expert in your field and that means you have awesome advice to share.

Put together a presentation outline and then schedule a webinar with Google Hangouts On Air. Provide your notes to the users at the end along with a sheet giving them bullet point take away items and ask for an email in exchange for the extra information.

3. Have a contest

When I started giving away a business book a month on my personal site I immediately gained subscribers.

In fact every time I’m setting up the giveaway I post about it on Twitter with a link to my email subscribe page and add 10 – 15 users to my email list.

The giveaway costs my around $15/month but increases the reach of my list (and my potential customers) in a huge way.

4. Add a giveaway for the email

Currently I entice new subscribers to sign up for my email list by giving them the 5 best pricing resources I’ve found.

The big thing to remember is that the giveaway content should be almost totally free. In my 5 best pricing resources I only link to one paid resource, and it’s not even mine.

I’m working on a short book to giveaway to all any new email subscriber all about running a business properly. Sure I might sell it on Amazon as well, but it’s meant for my email subscribers as a free item.

For this site I’m working on a guidebook on the 5 biggest eCommerce design mistakes I see which will be a free resource for new email subscribers.

5. Actually use the email list

If you’re going to put in the time to build an email list you better actually use it. It doesn’t have to be weekly, but how about a monthly email with 4 of the best articles you’ve found in your field?

They don’t all have to be your articles, in fact they should be from competitors as well. The point is that when your email subscribers sign up they get awesome information from you every month.

Even if you’re sharing competitor’s content, you’re the one that’s actually giving new information to the client and being super helpful.

At the end of each email ask your subscribers if they know someone who would benefit from the content and ask them to send it to the friend. A personal recommendation goes a long way in enticing others to join the list.

No email isn’t the sexiest thing around and everyone talks about social media as the ‘big thing’ but email is still the highest converting sales tool you have online.

So get out there and use it.

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One response to “Not building an email list means you’re leaving sales on the table”

  1. […] Last week I talked about the fact that if you’re not building an email list you’re leaving sales on the table. […]