My Best Email List Growth Advice for Entrepreneurs
You know you need to grow an email list if you want to sell your digital products or courses, but HOW you actually get those email subscribers is a whole other problem.
There are so many ways you could work on growing your email list, from paid ads to dancing on TikTok and everything in between.
But I’ve found three list growth strategies that seem to work the best for small business owners who don’t have a lot of time, extra income or extrovert energy to spend, and I’m sharing exactly what I do to grow my email list right here!
Why you need to grow an email list
For the longest time, it felt like one of those important but hard tasks that I knew I "should" work on... but never quite managed to prioritize.
I think that's pretty common for those of us who start out as service providers (at least I think it is 😅). Because we only need a handful of clients to meet our income goals, it feels kinda pointless to put a ton of effort into creating this big list of people, most of whom would never buy our services.
But that's what I didn't understand.
It's not about creating a bit list of immediate buyers. It's about curating a community of people who are interested in what you're doing - and hopefully might become buyers or referrals in the future.
Your email list is a place to connect with and nurture relationships with people who like what you're doing and might be interested in something you offer - or share your offers with people they know who might like them!
And if you do decide down the line to sell anything one-to-many (like digital products, courses, programs, memberships ect...) you're going to need a larger engaged audience to sell to, which is what your email list is perfect for.
But it takes time to grow your email list. I won't lie, it can take a long time - especially if you aren't willing or able to pay for ads.
So if you haven't gotten started yet, this is your nudge to do so now - even if you don't really need it yet, future you will thank you for it, I promise 😉
And if you have started your email list but it's taking a loooong time to get that subscriber count up, here are a few things I've found work well for me as a low-energy introvert with very limited "desk time" in case that's you too 😘
Create a great freebie and share it EVERYWHERE you can!
It doesn't have to be complicated. Seriously, a clean 2-5 page PDF with a few highly targeted quick wins can work far better and more effective than those fancy quizzes and min-courses.
But the key isn’t having the “perfect” freebie…
It’s putting your effort into promoting your freebie!
Here’s a few places you can start sharing your freebie for free:
Your website homepage
A link in your website navigation bar
An announcement bar on your website
Your Facebook profile
Your Facebook business page
Your Instagram bio
Your LinkedIn bio
Posts to any and all social media platforms you ise
Sharing it in networking groups
Sharing it in other people's communities that allow self-promo
Get in front of other people's audiences
This has been my favorite and most effective way to boost my email list growth recently!
Finding people with existing audiences of the kind of people who might like what you're all about and getting yourself (and your business) seen by them. This is a great way to build that all-so-important know / like / trust factor which means those people are going to be far more likely to hop onto your email list to find out more about you.
Here are a few ways you can get in front of other people's audiences:
Pitch yourself to be a guest on their podcast
Pitch to write a guest blog for their website
Offer to share a valuable training or Q&A session for their free or paid group
Apply for any collaborative events they're hosting - like bundles & summits!
Here are some of my favorite places to find bundles and summits to apply for as a contributor:
Bundles of Bundles Facebook group from Bree Boucher
Summit Host Hangout from Krista Miller
Summit Speaker Collab Club from Wendy Brookstone
Collaboration Station Community (affiliate link) from Meg Burrage
I'm in all of these groups so if you join any of them let me know so we can say hi 👋
Host your own collaborative events
This takes a bit more effort but can pay off really well too!
Here are a few types of collaborative events you can host to grow your email list:
Host your own freebie swap and invite people with slightly larger but well-aligned audiences to participate
Host a podcast and pitch your guests to do a podcast swap so you can be interviewed for their podcast!
How your own bundle - I highly recommend my friend Dama Jue's outstanding Bundle Formula (affiliate link) if you're planning on hosting a paid bundle!
Host a summit - I recommend the robust Summit In A Box (affiliate link) program by industry leader Krista Miller if you're going to take this on, it's no small feat but so worth it when done well!
Final Thoughts
Please don't feel the need to try all of these - or even one thing from each category! Pick one or maybe two list growth strategies and give it a go - then see how you feel and how it's working for you and adjust from there.
