Learning how to build an email list for free is very important, especially for beginners who are just starting their online journey. I’m sure you must have already heard this over and over again. That the money is on the list. Or where you can print money while you sleep.
These are true to an extent and only if you are able to master the process of attracting prospects, building relationships with them online, and getting them to take action in the form of buying your product or service.
The reality is that most business owners like you don’t have the luxury of making instant connections with people and that is why email marketing comes into play.
In business, trust and relationship building is paramount and since you don't have that time, Email marketing is one of the best and fastest ways to build a relationship online especially if you are using a paid platform like getresponse that has autoresponder.
But what if you don’t have money to spend on paid email marketing platforms, then this article is the right choice for you because you will be amazed at the positive result you will get
What is an email list?
An email list simply means the process of collecting visitors' email addresses for a future business relationship. The email list may not be the number one marketing tool in building a business relationship but it is still among the best and most powerful if you do it well.
For instance, let’s say you are a business owner or a specialist in one field and you want to build an online presence and relationship which will lead to future sales if managed well, you will need to start building your email list right away because it will help you in increasing your income.
One advantage of email list communication is that you don’t have to be online all the time, yet your messages can still drop to your subscribers for either sales or valuable updates about any promotion or service. You can customize your messages and timing of when to drop with images or links leading to your sales page or services unlike video calls, instant messaging, podcast, phone calls, etc. that requires your full attention.
You may also like How to be Successful in Email Marketing
Why choose email list building
Email list collection or marketing is not time-consuming like other marketing platform; it does not need an urgent update and has a free and paid version. It helps you connect with people in your interest around the world without irritating them because they have control over whether to open your message or not.
Building an email list is very important in any business or service you wish to render to people on the Internet, it could be your online course or product sales both digital and physical products.
When your email list is large you have a chance of a certain percentage of people responding to any single email you send out promoting any product, service, or some URL directing them to any page that pleases you.
I highly recommend you start building your list because you are attracting people who are interested in the types of services you render as well as the products you promote.
These people subscribed to your list based on a certain interest and if you can deliver a piece of valuable information to them and they get to trust you, you are done and will really make fortune from it because they automatically become your loyal customers and will be willing to continue buying from you to the extent, they might even share their testimonies to their friends as well
The good news about the email list is that new people kept on pouring in and that means more sales and more money. As I mentioned earlier of the paid and free versions, you don’t have to worry because you can still make a fortune with the free version before upgrading to the paid version with more features when you must have made money.
In other words, regardless of when someone signs up on your list, you can talk to them based on when they did so.
How to build an email list for free
Create an awesome giveaway
Create an awesome giveaway that will make it impossible not to enter their email, people now prefer to get something in exchange for their email address, so you need to give them something very valuable, so it’s easier for them to type in their email address on your opt-in form. You don’t even have to write a 5,000-word eBook to use as a giveaway. If you’re selling something, you can use a discount code or maybe even a free 7-day trial period as your giveaway. One thing guaranteed if your giveaway is that valuable would force them to need more.
Promote your giveaway on social media channels
If you’ve got social media presence, you can announce your offer to your followers. Write your post in such a way that your audience will feel compelled to sign up to your list.
Make your offer sound so enticing that they’d feel bad if they miss out on it. Then ask them to also share your post with their friends so they can benefit from your wonderful gift. You can even try adding an incentive for those who successfully refer their friends to join your list!
Getting ‘viral’ success is entirely possible on social media – think outside the box and do your best to get your free gift in front of as many people as possible!
Make your opt-in form highly visible on your website
It doesn’t matter if you make the most amazing free gift for your email subscribers and promote it heavily on social media if they can’t see your opt-in form on your website! Put your opt-in form in places like your website’s sidebar, your site header, and footer, you’re about page, in your blog posts, and many other places.
Make sure your opt-in form stands out. Don’t make it blend with your website as it will render it practically invisible to your visitors. Don’t make them look for it. If you want to people to sign up, you’ve got to show them where they need to sign up.
Answer questions on Quora
The single most powerful tip I can possibly share on this topic is to aim your content at someone specific, and ensure your answer is directed to some people That means that it should be tailored for your ‘persona’ – the demographic that you think will want to read your content.
This works because it leverages the communicative nature of social media. Generally, we share content with someone to show that we are thinking of them or we share it generally because it in some way reflects our personality.
For either of these things to work, you first need to write your content in such a way that it will specifically appeal to that certain type of person and make it more appealing that they would want to continue reading, thereafter you can then drop a link to your website where you must have set up your opt-in forms
Post on LinkedIn
LinkedIn as we all know is a platform for business-minded people, so if you can post a useful article that solves people’s problems, they will be willing to connect with you to know more through your link. Make every visit an offer that they cannot reject once they visit your site but remember don’t overgive them the freebies so you will have something to sell when the trust is established.
Organize an event
Host an event and ensure they enter their email address when penning down their names at the entrance.
Get a complementary card
Give out your card and ensure your website and email address is written on it.
Podcast
Podcasts or other video platforms can help you get subscribers. For instance, if you are a specialist in weight loss products, you can offer a free video tutorial that explains the fastest ways to lose weight in six weeks and if you are in a relationship or marriage niche you can guide them on how to dress or choices of words to use
Create a forum
You can create a forum like mine no matter how little it is for a start to share ideas with your kind of people and at a point, it will grow
Create an online community
Create an online community like on Facebook, telegram or WhatsApp
There are other numerous social media platforms to use like Twitter, reedit, and StumbleUpon depending on your niche but don’t overpost your boundary. When you give out valuables that solve people’s problems, they will follow you.
Recommended email builder
We have different types of email builders but some are better than others when it comes to their terms and conditions, pricing and other features
Below are some of the lists I recommend don’t forget to do more research
- Getresponse
- Convertkit
- Aweber
- Mailpoet
- Constant contact
- Hustle pro
- MailChimp. But the issue with MailChimp is as if their policy does not support affiliate marketing platform
On the last note don’t forget to create a separate email account for your email list and some follow-up messages for different subscribers. You can go through my example below.
{First Name} – This is the personalization code from your autoresponder to insert your subscriber's first name.
{Report Name} – This is the name of the report your subscriber just requested.
{Support Address} – This is the e-mail address of your subscriber's e-mail for support.
{Helpdesk URL} – This is the URL of your support website.
{Your Name} – This is your name.
{Your Email Address} – This is your e-mail address.
{Your Web Site} – This is the URL to your website.
{PS 1} – This is your chance to make a final statement or even drop in an additional URL.
{Marketing Issue 1} – The first marketing problem.
{Marketing Issue Solution 1} – The first marketing solution.
{Marketing Issue 2} – The second marketing problem.
{Marketing Issue Solution 2} – The second marketing solution.
{Marketing Issue 3} – The third marketing problem.
{Marketing Issue Solution 3} – The third marketing solution.
{gift value} – The value of the bonus gifts that you are giving your subscribers.
{Bonus 1} – The name of the first bonus gift.
{Bonus 1 Features} – The features the first bonus has.
{Bonus 2} – The name of the second bonus gift.
{Bonus 2 Features} – the features the second bonus has.
{Question 1} – The question you will ask your subscriber to find out more about what they need in your product.
Final thought
I have come to the end of my guide on how to build an email list for free however having an autoresponder will provide you with valuable data that you can use to better manage your online business when you subscribe to any of the aforementioned because it will avail you the opportunity to know how many people that actually click through from the emails you send out, who deleted your emails without reading them, who read your messages, how long the average user spends reading your emails before closing it. You can use such data to work on what works and what your subscribers want to know
All these giveaway techniques are called the lead magnet report because it helps in attracting people to provide their email in exchange of whatever item you are giving out for free. But one thing you must remember is to give a valuable offer and not so valuable that you will be left with nothing to sell when a relationship and trust is established
I hope this article was helpful, let us have your comment at the comment section, and please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel… SHALOM
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