Amanda Tradwick serves up a few ways to bump that email list of yours.

flockofstarlings 300x199 5 Ways to Grow Your Opt In E mail ListGrowing a large opt-in e-mail list is key to the success of your business and your blog. You can use it to cultivate relationships with your readers, build brand loyalty, promote your products or services, and grow your affiliate and ad revenue. Just like with any other aspect of growing your blog, targeted marketing efforts are required for effectively growing your opt-in e-mail list. Here are 5 easy ways to help you grow your list quickly:

Provide Multiple Options for Sign-Up

Not every visitor will come to your blog on the home page or another designated landing page. Perhaps they will find you through a link to a specific post, or by searching for terms that lead to another page on your blog. Make it easy for these new readers to sign up for your e-mail list by including a pop-up option that appears on each page at first visit. If you don’t like the pop-up option, you can include a permalink on your sidebar, header, or footer. The key is to make sure the option is accessible to readers no matter how they arrive at your blog.

Include Link in E-mails

Promote your e-mail list among your own contacts by including a link to it in your e-mail signature line. It provides an easy, low-pressure way for your contacts to sign up for the list or to share it with their own contacts. Be sure to also include the link in your e-mail newsletter so that your subscribers can forward it to others for easy sign up. The more options you make available to people to sign up for the list, the more likely you are to get new subscribers.

Promote It on Social Networks

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks offer effective ways to connect with new customers and subscribers. Be sure to include a link to both your blog and your e-mail list in your profiles on every social-networking site to which you belong. Then promote the link in your tweets, posts, and other shares. Be sure to share the link regularly, but not to share it so much that your connections start to view it as spam.

Offer Special Incentives

Providing added value for your readers will give them a reason to sign up for your e-mail list. There are many ways to offer this, depending on the types of goods or services your blog offers, including free shipping, discounts on products or services, or other special promotions. The key is to make sure these offers are exclusive to your e-mail subscribers and are not offered to just any reader of your blog. Otherwise, there is no incentive to sign up for the e-mail list to get them.

Offer Exclusive Content

Another great way to offer your customers added value for joining your e-mail list is to provide exclusive content. A free e-book or e-learning course is a great way to encourage your readers to sign up for your e-mail list. Be sure to offer new content or to rotate content so that your readers will be encouraged to remain subscribers. Once they have finished the e-book or the course, they may no longer find a reason to remain subscribers. Keep providing exclusive content to maintain that relationship.
Growing your opt-in e-mail list should be a key part of your overall marketing strategy for your blog. It allows you to build relationships with your readers and to grow a list of customer contacts to promote your services and products. Following these steps will help you grow your list more quickly.


About the author:
Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on minority grants and scholarships and west virginia education grants.