You’re on the right page if you’re interested in learning how to build an email list for free and get it done right and fast. I’m sure that you’ve heard at least once that you need an email list. As an internet marketer, I have heard the expression “The money is in the list” or variations of that expression numerous times.
What is an Email List?
It is a collection of those who sign up to receive your content and updates via email.
I call it an email list, but it comes in many names: subscriber list, mailing list, list, dedicated subscribers, etc.
Email may seem like the ancestor of Internet marketing, but it has been proven statistically that email, to this day, brings the highest return on investment for the majority of businesses in the US.
In fact, according to Hubspot, every email generates $42 for every $1 spent. This generally amounts to 1,200% ROI, which makes marketing via email, the most effective solution to date.
This is called Email Marketing.
I can personally attribute a lot of my success online to the fact that I have an email list.
Having an email list has opened different opportunities, such as:
- Promoting offers as an affiliate and earning commissions passively
- Creating an online course where I share my experience with list-building.
- I offer freelance services for myself, clients, and as an affiliate.
- Drive a lot of traffic to websites, stores, or social media sites.
All this sounds great but how does one really get started with building an email list?
That is a question that many entrepreneurs ask at the beginning of their careers.
If you search the web, you will find that people can grow their email lists by following a variety of solutions.
This article will cover how you can grow your email list this year by using free methods.
Why is it essential to grow your email list?
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend that has grown over the years: the trend of chasing the vanity metrics of social media followers.
It is great to see that a certain individual has a large number of followers.
Unfortunately, an individual is never able to reach all his/her social media followers with a single post.
It’s just not possible because the nature of these social media platforms simply cannot display everyone’s messages to…everyone.
When it comes to email marketing, no one can really tell how many email subscribers you have.
Those are numbers only you know and can choose to share publicly if you want.
There are also far fewer regulations when it comes to emails. You control the message to your subscribers; messages can be scheduled in advance, and you can send specific messages to your audience based on what they like.
You can nurture a relationship with your customers.
Having an email list allows you to communicate with your subscribers directly in their mailbox.
Or as the cool kids call it nowadays, having an email list gives you the power to DM all your subscribers at once. You can communicate as often as you deem necessary.
There are marketers who communicate with their email lists once a month, once a week, once a day, or several times a day.
There is no limit to how many times you can appear in your subscribers’ DM.
So tell me, which type of email marketer type are you?
I message my subscribers once a day, but I’ve also mailed up to 8+ times, especially when I’m running a time-sensitive promotion to my email subscribers.
You can influence the customer’s experience and communication
Email marketing is different than other types of marketing because it has more of a conversational approach.
The messages are directly from the vendor to the consumer, so naturally, the vendor will communicate in ways that make their customers comfortable and engaged enough to take the desired action.
When I write to my subscribers, I communicate as if I were talking to a friend.
The conversations are friendly and platonic, and communicating in this way keeps email providers from flagging your messages as promotional or, worse, spam.
So, with email marketing, assuming you have a great Email Service Provider like Aweber, for example, you can send an email and evaluate its results.
You will know:
- How many people opened the email?
- How many people clicked on a link or which link they clicked on if you have several?
- Segment based on the actions taken by your email subscribers.
- Make a sale and know who bought your product
- Automate email series or sequences based on your subscriber’s behavior, etc…
Other social media platforms lack in comparison when it comes to the options available for communicating with your subscribers and the additional bells and whistles, such as metrics, that can be used to grow your business.
Your email list belongs to you and only you. The chances of you being blocked in a similar manner to other social media channels block offenders are quite slim.
However, there are still a few sets of guidelines that you need to follow.
Emails are written with a purpose
To begin, people join your email list because they are interested in getting updates directly from you about something specific.
It is your responsibility to continue thus to provide that specific information in ways that keep your subscribers engaged and entertained.
Emails are friendly and conversational
When you send an email, you have a direct conversation with the reader.
In other words, there are no distractions, and you can manage the feel of the conversation.
Email Service Providers like Aweber provide tools that enhance the likelihood of your message appearing conversational.
You can address the reader based on the information gathered, such as the reader’s name, location, favorite pet’s name, etc.
Email marketing is the lowest-hanging fruit for marketers
There are a lot of decisions to be made when running a business.
One of the most effective things you can do as a successful entrepreneur is eliminate mundane tasks, which require a lot of effort and research.
It is more worthwhile to outsource activities such as those so that you can focus on growing your business.
When it comes to marketing, the method I have found to be the most impactful is email marketing because it requires the least amount of time and effort, and the results far outweigh all other marketing channels.
You can determine your ROI with email marketing
I recently read an article that stated that consumers who purchase products through email spend an average of 138% more than those who do not receive email.
In addition, it seems that over 70% of Millennials have listed email as their preferred method of communication.
How to Grow Your Email List For Free
1. Choose the Best Email Service Provider
When you’re running a business, email is mainly used as a communication service, therefore it is highly recommended to use a reputable email service provider as the best way to ensure deliverability and best way to obtain the specific reports that are important to your business.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering an email service provider:
- Have the ability to build a database of subscribers
- Have the ability to send emails to several people at the same time
- Have the ability to create an automated email series
- Have the ability to create sign-up forms that can be integrated into web pages
- Have the ability to tag or segment users
There are a lot of different options available on the market when it comes to email service providers.
For the sake of simplicity, there are great options for getting started for free.
I’ve personally used Aweber and Getresponse for years now and highly recommend them. The best thing is that you can open an account with either of the platforms for free, with no need to use a credit card.
Here are just a few reasons why I recommend the solutions above:
- Easy platform to use and self-explanatory
- Great automation tools for segmenting your list based on actions they take
- It is easy to create campaigns or broadcast a targeted list depending on their level of interest
- Amazing customer support; they are courteous and accommodating. I wrote a post several months back about how I was impressed by one particular service they provided me.
2. Create a Lead Magnet, an Irresistible Incentive for Signing up
Now that you have a good email services provider like Aweber or GetResponse, the next logical step is to start growing your email list every day.
The best way to grow your email list is to provide something that will persuade your visitors to sign up to receive that “something.”
In the world of internet marketing, that “something” is known as an irresistible offer. Having an irresistible offer is essential to building an email list.
Irresistible offers are free downloads that are usually delivered as PDFs, Spreadsheets, Documents, Videos, Checklists, etc.
When you’re starting, it may be a little hard to develop an incentive. I’ve found that checklists are pretty famous and easy to consume.
The very first irresistible offer I created was a collection of interviews I recorded with some experts in the household niche, and that was an experience as I was fortunate enough to interview a New York Times Best Seller.
Creating an irresistible offer can be challenging. That’s why if you are curious and need a little extra guidance, I recommend that you read the following posts:
- 12 Ways to Create a Lead Magnet
- Attract Better Clients with Lead Magnets
- How to Get More Clients with Lead Magnets
3. Create an Opt-in Form
An opt-in form is a mechanism that allows visitors to enter their contact information to become subscribers and obtain a deliverable.
This makes an Opt-in Form a powerful tool for audience growth. Opt-in forms are simple to create and integrate on your website or social media pages. Here are some examples of opt-in forms you can build with
Here are a few tips to take into consideration before you start building an opt-in form:
- Choose a short but descriptive headline: this headline should describe a significant benefit your potential customers will receive when they sign up.
- Include a benefit-centric description: A clear and brief description will improve the likelihood that your visitors will submit their contact information to obtain what you are offering.
- Include a call to action: The image you see above generated 35,859 leads
4. Create a Landing Page
A website landing page is a page a prospect would land on while obtaining more information from you.
A landing page is designed to promote and sell your products and services.
It is one of the most effective ways to increase your conversions because one of the following actions is bound to happen when an interested prospect visits your landing page:
- Subscribe to your email list to receive something they want
- Purchase a product or service you are offering
- Get your contact information.
Luckily, you do not need any web design skills or experience to create your own landing page.
Also, since we are continuing the theme of building your email list for free, you’ll be happy to know that the recommended Email Service Providers, Aweber, and Getresponse, both have a feature where you can build your landing page for free.
See the tutorials below for inspiration.
Create a Landing Page with Aweber
Create a Landing Page with Getresponse
5. Create Original Content
Creating original and quality content is one of the best ways to attract an audience.
Before writing content, it’s important to know who you’re writing to if you want your efforts primarily focused on driving sales to grow your business.
Knowing your audience is great because it allows you to craft content that not only answers their questions but also ranks you highly relevant to search engines.
This makes your website more likely to be seen when a potential prospect enters a relevant keyword in their favorite search engine.
If you’re new to Search Engine Optimization, I recommend that you read The Definitive Guide to On-Page SEO.
It is highly recommended that you have a solid content strategy for growing your email list.
6. Host a webinar or workshop
I’ve seen plenty of case studies of marketers quickly growing their email lists and sales with webinars.
Offering a free webinar is a great way to engage prospects and encourage them to join your email list.
If you have an audience, you can prepare them by announcing the date of a free webinar.
I would create a landing page, as explained in example 4, and share the link to the landing page, which would have a call to action to register for the free webinar.
Your audience can share this link, attracting other potential customers who found out about your free webinar through their friends’ sharing of the link on their social media pages.
You can host a free webinar using Zoom, YouTube Live, Facebook Live, etc…
Here’s something cool: Because I’m an affiliate marketer, I’m always looking for offers that are useful to my list and from which I could earn a commission.
I promote several free webinars, and as an affiliate, I earn commissions, and my readers don’t have to purchase anything.
Here’s such an example: Free Webinar, Refer visitors to a webinar and earn commissions
7. Include an email Sign-Up form on all your social landing pages
Social media is huge!
One of the best ways to grow your email list with social media is to leverage the different social media channels to connect with your audience and present them with opportunities to provide their email address.
In example four (4), we covered creating a landing page. Once you have a landing page created, the next step would be to share the link to that page on your social media pages.
Your followers will click on that link, see the landing page, and enter their email addresses.
That said it is essential to remember that you must have something your follower wants for them to provide you with their email address.
For example, if your audience is interested in using air fryers, your message could be ” Enter your email to download my best air fryer recipes.”
8. Use a Captivating Call To Action
A call to action (CTA) is a written direction primarily used in marketing campaigns to guide prospects toward completing the page’s desired action. A CTA comes in many forms:
- An image
- A button
- A hypertext link
Usual examples of call-to-action messages are:
- “Click here to download, etc…”
- “Enter your email address to get your bonus.”
- “Buy Now,” “Download Now,” etc…
Our friends at Aweber shared how to create a call to action using their free email software along with another free tool called Canva.
Get Started with Aweber for Free
Now, because CTA is simply a method of conveying a message, you can be very creative. Here are some useful links to inspire you to create CTAs:
- 7 Tips for a Killer Call-to-Action, by WordStream
- 15 Call To Action Examples, by Adespresso
- 8 Tactics for Creating Call-to-Action, by Neil Patel
9. Capture an email after an online sale
I hear from many marketers that “email [as a form of marketing] is dead.”
That’s interesting since most consumers prefer to receive an email receipt after making a purchase.
In addition, email is used by most vendors to keep their customers up to date on the status of their orders. For example, here are some notifications from Amazon:
You can see evidence from the image above that email is used by Amazon (the vendor) to notify me when an item I purchased is running late, delivered, promotional opportunities, etc…
The majority of online shoppers expect to provide some form of personal information, including their email addresses.
Customers are more likely to enter their best email address because they know the vendor will provide key information necessary for obtaining their purchase.
Customers are very valuable to your business, so capturing their email addresses after purchase allows you to have more of an intimate relationship with your customers.
This can yield feedback that can be used to improve your product and or grow your customership.
10. Use Pop-up surveys or quiz
We all know what surveys are, but did you know you can use them also to grow your email list?
Surveys or Quizzes can act as a feedback loop to learn more about your potential customers or to educate them.
Using Pop-up Surveys or quizzes would entice potential customers to join your email list for the purpose of receiving something in return.
Here are examples of email list-building quizzes to inspire you.
Related: Create a pop-up with Leadpages
11. Host giveaways
Giveaways are self-explanatory, and people love to participate in giveaways for the thrill of winning something cool.
Hosting giveaways and contests is a great way to grow your email list.
There’s a caveat to giveaways, which I quickly learned in my early days as an affiliate marketer.
Giveaways are great for attracting people to you, but most people who visit your offer will not be engaged with your emails.
They simply enter their email address, hoping to win something.
As a marketer, when growing your email list, it is important to know who your ideal customer avatar is so that you can construct your free giveaway in a way that only attracts prospects who will engage with your content.
12. Repurpose content
Writing niche-specific content is an effective way to grow your email list.
Once you have a winning article that you know gets your audience engaged, the next step to maximize those results and grow your audience is to repurpose your content and package it in a different format for your readers, viewers, or listeners.
Some bloggers, for example, use their most viewed blog posts as scripts for creating videos that they publish on their YouTube channel.
Once you have the video published, here are a few things you can do to grow your list:
- Add a call to action to lead a view to your landing page.
- Add the video to the blog post for enhancement
- Share the video with your social media following
- Share the video with your email subscribers
- , which is embedded in the blog post, to add enhancement. The results of using such a method are quite effective.
I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers / YouTubers are using this method very effectively. So why don’t you give it a try and share the results with us?
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this far. The strategies shared here are great strategies to consider when starting to grow your email list for free.
Pick one strategy and implement it today and for the next six months.
You will see how quickly your email list will grow over time.
The more strategies you combine, the more impactful the results will be, but make sure to focus on mastering one strategy before adding another to the mix.
So… which of the list-building strategies shared above do you find the most interesting to try?
I’m curious to know your thoughts on whether you have tried these. What were your results?
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