5 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Are you maximizing the power of email marketing for your small business? Growing your email list can seem like an overwhelming task; let’s break it down one step at a time so you can gain subscribers, craft winning newsletters, and use email marketing to land new clients.

Before you create all that fantastic content, build your email list to get the right eyes on your messaging. Use a multi-platform approach to get in front of as many people as possible (and give them a reason to hand over that email address).

1. Blog your little heart out.

If you don’t already, consider using blog posts to grow your email list. The benefits of blogging for small businesses are tremendous! The key to success is to craft quality posts that your ideal clients want to read. Consistently provide value to engage your reader and keep them coming back for more. Add a subscribe button so your readers will drop their email to stay up-to-date when you post.

2. Craft a stand-out opt-in.

Go above and beyond with your opt-in offer! Make it so compelling that your audience has to get their hands on it. You need to provide even more value here than your regular posts because you ask for their email address in exchange.

A few options for outstanding opt-in offers that grow your email list:

Mini E-book – Compile a few of your blog posts (and potentially posts from someone in a related

industry) into a comprehensive guide. If you're a photographer selling stock photos for small business owners, include blogs such as "How to Use Stock Photos for Social Media" & "How to Take Pro-Level Selfies" and "Craft Social Captions That Stand Out" by a copywriter friend. A comprehensive guide from related experts is a great way to give readers something they won’t find anywhere else.

Weekly Video & Worksheet – Choose a topic your readers would like to learn more about, and create a mini-training session. Send a weekly video and worksheet with a related topic each week.

3. Optimize Your Website.

Nobody loves pop-ups, but they work! The top 10% of pop-ups convert at a rate of 9.3%

(in conversion rates, that’s huge). Used properly, pop-ups can be a great way to gain subscribers and grow your email list.

The goal for a pop-up should be a friendly salesperson posing a question (not a pushy mall kiosk

employee roughly stuffing samples in your face).

How to Create pop-ups that don’t suck:

Make them valuable - be sure that the opt-in offer is irresistible.

Make them fun and engaging – Poke at the fact that no-one enjoys pop-ups by saying something like

“You’ll love THIS pop-up, I promise” or “Don’t close me yet…..” or “This pop-up doesn’t suck!” (Provided that’s appropriate for your target market).

Track the way people engage with your website – Keep an eye on your analytics, and place the pop-up in the best spot so that it will be seen and presented to your reader at the right time.

Make it easy to close – Part of the reason pop-ups got such a bad rep is they started as spam that leads the reader to an undesirable location, or that couldn't quickly be closed if you wanted to go on your merry way. Pose your offer but make it easy to close if they aren’t interested.

4. Promote your blogs and opt-in offers on social media.

Once you have created that stellar content, get it out into the world! Share your blogs and opt-in offers on social media, in networking groups, Pinterest group boards, your Google My Business listing, and anywhere your target market is spending time.

5. Hold a Contest.

People love to win free stuff! Holding a giveaway or offering a discount through your website asking for an email address to enter can be another way people sign-up to receive your emails.

In building your email list, remember to aim for quality over quantity.

It's much better to have 100 email subscribers who fit within your target market and are good candidates to become clients than 1000 subscribers who never open your emails.

If you need help getting started with email marketing for your small business, reach out to us on

LinkedIn. We’d love to connect!

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