Growing your email list is essential for any business looking to build your business.
There are two key steps: 1) having a great incentive for people to join your list and 2) getting yourself out there so that more people find out about you. Kate Doster calls the latter “getting more eyeballs” on your stuff.
In this blog post, we’ll run through 9 effective strategies to help you grow your email list by getting your stuff in front of more people. We’ll also highlight what you need to have place for each of these audience growth methods.
1) Summits
What are online summits and how do they help you grow your list?
Summits are virtual events that bring together experts and audiences in either live or pre-recorded video talks.
The format of a summit typically includes presentations, panel discussions and Q&A sessions, allowing participants to delve deep into various topics and learn from industry leaders.
You can usually share your lead magnet with participants.
Requirements:
- prepare a talk/presentation that fits with the theme of the summit (usually 20-40 minutes long)
- connections to someone hosting a summit or a willingness to organise one (it’s a big task!)
- a compelling lead magnet to get summit viewers to join your list
2) Giveaways
What are giveaways (also known as bundles) and how do they help you grow your list?
Giveaways, also known as bundles, are where you offer one of your paid digital products for free, in exchange for email addresses. Giveaways can help you gain exposure as all the bundle participants share the collaborative giveaway with their own networks. Bundles can have anywhere from 5 or 6 businesses giving away one of their offers, to 50 or 100 business owners taking part.
By participating in bundles, you can attract new people to your list who are very interested in what you have to offer.
Requirements:
- a low cost digital product* (eg. ebook, video training, checklist or toolkit etc) that costs $7 – $99 dollars for free bundles and/or a premium digital product ($99+) for paid bundles
- promote the bundle to your own audience via email and/or socials (each bundle has different rules)
- some bundles have a minimum list size of 50, others may have minimums in the 1000s, others have no minimum at all
* Insider tip: often your digital product can be brand new. Check the contribution guide carefully but sometimes it just needs to be sell-able and available on your website, but not necessarily a product you have already sold. I’ve used bundle deadlines to kick my butt into gear and get those products I’ve been meaning to create published and ready, like Excellent Thank You Pages.
3) Freebie exchanges
What are freebie exchanges and how do they help you grow your list?
You pair up with another business owner who has a similar target audience but serves them in a different way. You each email your lists (and or promote on socials) telling your audience about each others’ freebie.
How do you find someone with swap lead magnets with? Well, luckily for you I host a freebie exchange directory right here.
Requirements:
- a compelling lead magnet
- an audience of some kind (depending on the exchange, sharing with your audience on socials may be fine)
- finding another business owner with a similar target audience
4) Go live with someone else’s audience
How does going live with another business owner help you grow your list?
By collaborating with someone in a similar niche, you not only gain access to their audience but also establish yourself as an authority in your field. During the live session, you can encourage viewers to sign up for your email list, offering them exclusive content or freebies as an incentive.
Moreover, going live with another business owner can also foster a sense of trust, as viewers see you collaborating with someone they already know, like and trust.
Requirements:
- connections to someone with a similar target audience but different services
- a compelling lead magnet
5) Deliver a free training to someone’s audience
How do “guest expert” presentations you grow your list?
Guest presentations in others’ memberships or private communities can help to establish your authority and credibility in your niche. You create and deliver an engaging and informative presentation that serves their audience and will resonate with your ideal clients.
To make the most out of these guest presentations, ensure that you choose people with audiences who align with your ideal target audience and have a compelling offer in your call to action at the end. This could be your lead magnet, but this method is also good for selling courses or digital products.
Requirements:
- connections to someone with a similar target audience but different services
- prepare a talk/presentation that will help their target audience
6) Guest on podcasts or YouTube channels
How do guest appearances help you grow your list?
Similar to going live, this gets your voice/face in front of new people and builds the know, like and trust factor.
It’s a longer game than going live as it may take a few weeks/months for the podcast/video to be published. YouTube has the advantage of being searchable, so with a good video title, people will keep stumbling across this video for years to come.
Requirements:
- connections to a podcaster/YouTuber with a similar target audience but different services
- ready to speak about topics you’re passionate about, tailored to their audience
- a compelling lead magnet
7) Create searchable long-form content
What is long-form content and how does it help you grow your list?
Long-form content can be written (blog posts published on a website) or videos (specifically YouTube as it’s sometimes called “the second biggest search engine”.
Blog posts and YouTube videos are both searchable – potential clients look for solutions in Google and on YouTube. When your content ranks highly, you get a steady stream of potential clients month after month.
This is the slowest option but also the most evergreen that, done well, should generate you consistent leads for years to come when your videos and blog posts rank well in Google/YouTube.
Requirements:
- SEO strategy (yes, even for YouTube)
- calls to action to sign up for your lead magnet
- time and patience
- writing/editing/video editing skills or the willingness to learn/outsource
- a website to host your blog and/or a YouTube channel
8) Write guest posts
An alternative if you don’t want to start your own blog.
What is guest posting and how does it help you grow your list?
Guest posting is writing and publishing an article on someone else’s blog or website. By doing so, you gain exposure to a new audience which can attract new subscribers to your email list.
Additionally, guest posting allows you to establish yourself as an authority in your niche and again you benefit from the trust factor of the blogger and their audience.
Another option is guest posting on Medium.
Requirements:
- writing skills or the willingness to learn
- ability to pitch your post idea to big blogs
9) Ads
If you have a proven lead magnet and a landing page that you know converts well, ads can be a quick and effective way to grow your list.
Requirements:
- an optimised and high-performing lead magnet
- ongoing financial investment
Conclusion
Each of these approaches can help you boost your email list numbers, yet each has pros and cons. For maximum growth, use several of these list-building techniques.
Over to you: Which are you going to try in Q4?
—
Sign up to my insider scoop to get tips like these in your inbox.
The form you have selected does not exist.