List Building Strategies for Small Biz Success

Whether your business is offline or online, you must begin the process of building a list of subscribers as quickly as possible. And list building is not an activity to shy away from. Rather, list building is one of the activities to embraced in your business in order to have a greater measure of success. Building a list of subscribers who have raised their hands to say, ‘Yes, I want to hear from you’ is vital.  Internet Marketer, Seth Godin, refers to this as permission-based marketing.

Five subscriber list building strategies

1.  Opt-in box or subscription box

Place one or more opt-in boxes on your blog or website.  The key is to make at least one of them appear above the fold on your website and be readily seen.  Your visitors should not have to scroll down to find your opt-in box.

Make it eye-catching by using bold arrows and text that clearly states what the reader should do.  You may also add another opt-in box at the end of each page so that if someone gets distracted and forgets to sign up, you give them another reminder at the end of the blog post or the information they’re reading.

2.  Email Service Provider

Make sure that your opt-in box is connected to an email service that meets the CAN SPAM Act.  One important clause of the Act is that your email must give recipients an opt-out method.  Never send emails from your private email address.  The service I use and recommend is AWeber

3.  Create a landing page

Whether you create a separate landing page where the only option readers have is to subscribe or not to subscribe, or use the opt-in boxes mentioned above, you have to entice them with a valuable offer.  Gone are the days when people readily signed up just for Newsletters.

Your offer has to provide value and answer a burning question or solve a pain your visitors are experiencing.  Make it an irresistible offer! It can be an e-book, an MP3, a video training series, or an e-Course. People are busy and very few people have the time or the inclination to read a 50 page ebook, so if your product of choice is an ebook, I recommend a 5-10 page book with high-quality content that someone would be willing to pay for.

4.  Good Content

Once your subscribers are on your list you want to keep them there so they don’t unsubscribe as soon as they’ve downloaded your offer.  This is where content marketing is critical.  Research and write content that your market is interested in. Study great headlines that will motivate them to open your mail. This way, not only will you keep your subscribers happy, you will also boost the amount of people who will recommend you and the information you provide to their friends.

5.  Update your blog/website

Update your blog frequently and consistently and include a call to action in each post, or in several posts inviting people to sign-up for your offer.  Post your blog posts in various blog directories so that your posts get out to a larger audience, hence your call to action will get out to a larger audience.  Your goal is that people will find your content and visit your website where they’ll decide to opt-in to get your free offer as they want to learn more from you.

Engage in some form of marketing every day.  You should also be engaged in list-building strategies on an ongoing basis.  Keep the goal of adding subscribers every day or at least every week.

Which list building strategies are you using on a regular basis?  Which have you found to be especially effective?

About the Author

Yvonne A Jones is your Client Retention Mentor|Social Media Strategist| Small Business Consultant. She supports small businesses and highly-motivated Entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between client attraction and retention.

Her Mission is to help business owners bring the FUN back into their business, spend more time doing what they love to do, and less time chasing new clients.  You can learn more about how she serves others at her website: www.YvonneAJones.com

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List Building Strategies for Small Biz Success!

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