List Building Advice for Entrepreneurs New to Email Marketing

List building is the cornerstone of any successful marketing endeavor, and essential for any successful email marketing campaign. When used properly, email marketing works like gangbusters. It makes no difference what kind of service you provide or product you sell, email marketing will give your business a boost and take it up a notch or two.

The most appealing aspect of email marketing, what makes it an almost mandatory marketing strategy to utilize, is that it is automated. It works for you 24/7 doing the mundane tasks best left to automation software. Not only that, it is very affordable, especially when compared with other kinds of advertising.

But before you can capitalize on this marketing strategy, you first need to build a list of subscribers to send your marketing emails to. If list building is new to you it can be confusing and at times, somewhat overwhelming. In this article we’ll break it down for you.

The following are simple but vital list-building tips that new marketers should adopt to build their email lists successfully.

Tip No. 1 – You need an auto responder

In order to build your list, you need to collect names and email addresses. To do this, you need an auto responder. This is where it all starts. This is where you create your opt-in form.

You create an auto responder for the list you need to build then generate the code that will create the opt-in feature. This sounds simple enough but each auto responder service has their specific way of accomplishing this so you need to spend some time and learn how to use it.

Tip No. 2 – You need a landing or squeeze page

A squeeze or landing page is essential for list building. Most auto responder services include this feature or you could purchase any one of the many services on the market that allow you to easily create these pages.

Your squeeze page should be simple… don’t over-complicate it! It should include an attention-grabbing headline, an additional sub-headline or text that will entice the reader to subscribe to your list, and your opt-in form.

You may also want to include a free incentive such as a report your audience would be interested in. Otherwise, why would they subscribe?

Once created, you send your targeted traffic to the squeeze page.

Tip No. 3 – You need an opt-in form on your website or blog

Not only do you need an opt-in form for the squeeze page, you need an opt-in form on your website or blog. Make it as easy as possible for your visitors to subscribe to your list. You need to place your opt-in form on each and every page and make sure it’s clearly visible to all who visit your website or blog.

Tip No. 4 – Don’t send promotional emails all the time

You’re in business to make money and it’s almost inevitable you will be tempted to send offers with each and every email. Resist the temptation… it’s a big mistake! If you continuously send promotional offers to your subscribers and offer nothing else, many will just ignore you and your emails and send them to the trash.

Your objective is not just to build your list, but to maintain it as well by helping your subscribers; by offering them more than just the opportunity to purchase stuff from you. Does that mean you only send out one offer each month or something as equally preposterous?

No… of course that’s not the solution.

As with any campaign, you need to think it through and plan each step of the way. Once it’s set up and activated, you’re done! Therein lies the beauty of automation… that’s why you have an auto responder.

Done properly, you can send offers for multiple products without driving those on your list crazy or worse, to the unsubscribe link.

Did your squeeze page read “Subscribe To My List So I Can Sell You Stuff All Day Long?” If not, your subscribers want more from you than the “buy this now” email day after day. Yes, your job is to sell your products. But equally important is your responsibility to those who subscribed.

Offer solutions to their problems. That’s also your job. When you help your subscribers solve problems, they are more likely to trust you, and are more likely to buy from you.

Your subscribers signed up to your list for a reason and had an expectation of assistance or information in one form or another. Isn’t that what your incentive was all about? So now you need to live up to your end of the bargain.

Tip No. 5 – Keep the SPAM in the can, not in anyone’s inbox

Never send unsolicited email. What that means is never send any emails to those who haven’t given you permission to do so. It’s not worth the risk, plain and simple.

If you build your list correctly you will always be in compliance with anti-spam laws and will never be sending spam to anybody, intentionally or unintentionally.

Additionally, most email marketing services have systems in place that prevent marketers from sending spam email as the services themselves risk being blocked by ISPs if they allow spam to be sent from their servers.

Give Stuff Away to Build Your List!

In keeping with the spirit of building trust with those on your list mentioned above, giving something away to your subscribers every once in a while is a nice thing to do. You can give away things like free audio files, free videos, or free reports. People love getting free things, especially when it helps solve their problems.

Valuable information always builds trust. Giving it away for free will put a smile on someone’s face, so don’t be stingy. Just make sure your giveaway is quality and useful information; has value that exceeds the expectations of your readers.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it… a brief rundown, and I do mean brief, of what you need to do to start building a subscriber list for your email marketing endeavors. Make no mistake, there is more to learn and it won’t happen overnight. Take your time when setting up your email campaigns and watch your business grow by leaps and bounds. It will be well worth the effort.