24 Ways To Grow Your Email List

Their are many ways to get someone to sign up for your email marketing list. We put together a comprehensive list below to get you thinking.

1. Giving something for free like a PDF or Video. Make visitors sign up to your opt-in form before you let them download it.
2. Include a newsletter sign-up link in your signature of all of your emails.
3. Send an opt-in email to your address book giving them something valuable (Link Bait) and ask them to join your list.
4. Host events- Art galleries, software companies, retail shops, consultants (lunch & learn) can all host an event and request attendees to sign up.
5. Incentivize employees – Give a reward for collecting email addresses for qualified leads.
6. Referrals – Ask you customers to refer you, and in exchange you’ll give them a discount.
7. Giveaways – Send “bulky mail” and ask for their email address as well as their postal address.
8. Do you have a snail mail list without emails? Send them a direct mail (use a postcard) offer they can only get if they sign up to your email list.
9. Include newsletter sign up or other “link bait” opt in forms on every page on your site.
10. Use exit popup windows – When someone attempts to leave your site, pop up a window and ask for the email address in return for “link bait”.
11. Include a forward-to-a-friend link in your auto responder emails just in case your recipient wants to forward your content to someone they think will find it interesting.
12. Include a share, post and forward-to-a-friend on every page of your site.
13. When telemarketing, don’t let your callers hang up until they ask if they can add them to your newsletter.
14. Trade newsletter space with related businesses, include a link for their opt-in form and ask them to include yours in their newsletter.
15. Put a fishbowl on your counter and do a weekly prize giveaway of your product – then announce it to your newsletter. Add everyone who put his or her card in on to your newsletter list.
16. Host your own group on Facebook, LinkedIn, Biznik and other social networks and invite people to it and post new links and invite others to do the same. You can also promote your own newletter list as long as you don’t over do it.
17. Post your blog and a link to your newsletter into Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks.
18. Have newsletter and “link bait” sign up applications on your Facebook Fan page and other social network sites.
19. Tweet your content (link bait) and newsletter topics to get sign ups.
20. Put an offer on the back of your business cards to get people to sign up for your newsletter.
21. Offer a birthday club where you give something special to people who sign up.
22. Tradeshows – Bring a clipboard or sign-up book with you to tradeshows and ask for permission to send email to those who sign up.
23. Join your local chamber of commerce, email the member list (if it’s opt-in) about your services with a link to sign up to your newsletter.
24. Trade shows – Collect business cards and scan them into a spreadsheet. Make sure you ask permission to send email to them, then mark the card.

What did I leave out?