Having an email list is one of the most valuable tools a business can have at their disposal. There is no algorithm, no real rules to play around (beyond the classic “Don’t be evil”, but you knew that already), and it is a great way to get your crafted message in front of people who are interested in your products.

However, the trouble can be in growing your list to begin with. People are incredibly protective with their email addresses and getting it in front of the right people could be tricky. However, here are some tips that I’ve found useful in growing your email list.

Give away something for Free

As stated above, people are protective of their email addresses, so they probably wouldn’t give you it for free. It happens, but it is rare.

However, if you create something, and give that away to subscribers, and promote it, that can help grow subscribers.

Here’s the thing though, people think what you give away needs to be something huge. It really doesn’t have to be. Even just something more convenient is something. Here’s a few ideas:-

  • Collate 10 of your blog posts into an ebook.
  • Do some research on something and collate it into a white paper.
  • Rip out some cool functionality from a theme you made and turn it into a WordPress plugin.

All those will work. Sure it will be one of the more slower ways of growing your list, but it is remarkably effective, and once done you can return again and again to this resource.

Run a Competition

It is scary how well this works in terms of buzz and building a list.

Running a competition is a great way to get eyeballs on your products and grow a list. However you need to be careful with who signs up as usually the people who sign up are usually entrants into your competition but not interested in your product.

With that said, if you promote your competition to relevant places, as well as have relevant prizes, then you could get some interested participants.

Offline Events & Sponsorship

Another way to easily get your list in front of eyeballs if you sponsor an event. You have relevant eyeballs and also you can make a personal connection with these people at offline events. Particularly if you run a competition you can get your product in front of eyeballs who may not traditionally see your product.

Of course, the problem with this approach is that it can be expensive, and no guarantee of return, but it could work for you.

They are my tips for growing your list. Do you have any? Please let me know if you have any tips and put them in the comments!

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