Let’s start at the beginning: What’s an email list and why do you need one?

An email list is a database of email addresses that you can use to send marketing messages to your customers and prospects.

There are many benefits to having a large email list, including the ability to reach out to your subscribers any time you like, increased brand awareness and improved customer relationships.

My favorite benefit is any time I want to see my bank balance grow, I can send out an email with an offer to my list. This includes planned emails that come out sequentially as well as emails I do on the spur of the moment, letting my subscribers know about special limited time deals.

One of the best ways to build an email list is to offer something of value in exchange for an email address. This could be a free report, eBook, or access to a webinar or video series.

Once you have collected this valuable information from your website visitors, you can begin building relationships with them by sending targeted emails.

Email marketing can be an extremely effective way to reach your target market and improve your bottom line. And if you don’t yet have an email list of your own, I highly recommend you start building one today.

One note: Quality of your list is far more important than quantity. A list of 1,000 highly engaged buyers on your list is far better than 100,000 subscribers who don’t open your emails.

How do you get started building your list? First, you need to…

Choose an Email Autoresponder Service

Your autoresponder is where you’ll be creating your sign up forms, maintaining your email list and adding the emails that go out automatically when a person joins your list or buys your product.

There are many different email autoresponder services to choose from, and it can be difficult to know which one is right for your business. Some factors to consider when choosing an email marketing provider include the features offered, the price and the level of customer support.

The most important thing is to find a provider that offers the features you need at a price you can afford. Once you have found a few potential providers, it is helpful to read reviews from other businesses to get a better idea of which one will best suit your needs.

You might begin by looking at some of the bigger and well known services such as Aweber, GetResponse, Mailchimp and Constant Contact.

Once you’ve got your autoresponder, you’ll want to…

Brainstorm Incentives for Subscription

In order to get people to subscribe to your email list, you will need to offer them something of value in exchange for their email address. This could be a free report, eBook, access to a webinar or video series, etc. Think about what would be most valuable to your target market and then offer that as an incentive for subscribing.

Think of your end goal – is it to sell a particular type of product? Next, think of your ideal target market. What does your ideal customer want and need most? When you have this information, you’re ready to brainstorm ideas for your free offer for joining your list.

Here are some freebie ideas for email list building:

Free ebooks, guides, checklists, reports, templates, cheat sheets, infographics, software, etc.
Toolkits and resources bundles
Free samples
Podcasts, audio recordings, videos
Discounts
Mini-courses
Access to a private community
Special subscriber only sales
Early bird access

Once you’ve got your freebie(s) created, it’s time to…

Design Email Subscription Forms

Email subscription forms are one of the most important elements of a successful email marketing campaign. They are the first point of contact between you and your potential subscribers, so it is important to make sure that they are effective.

Your Subscription form will have:

A header/headline that is short and catchy
Body text that explains what you’re giving away
Call to action telling them to grab their freebie by filling out the form
Sign up form where they enter their email address and name
Button to click once they fill in the information

There are a few things to keep in mind when designing email subscription forms:

Keep them short and simple. Include only the essential information that you need from your potential subscriber.
Make sure they are visually appealing and easy to understand. Use images, colors, and whitespace to guide the eye to the form.
Use strong calls to action that encourage people to subscribe.
Place the form in a prominent location on your website or blog where it will be seen by visitors.
Test different versions of the form to see what works best. A/B testing can be a useful tool in this process.

Once you have designed an effective email subscription form, test to make sure that it is properly connected to your autoresponder service. This will ensure that all new subscribers are added to your list and receive your marketing messages.

Now it’s time to…