How to Grow Your Email List and Sell More

I bet you’ve heard other business coaches say say that “the money is in the list”. And while this may be cliché, it's still true.

To make more sales and grow your business, you need to build an email list of subscribers who are interested in what you have to offer. Sounds simple, right?

Well, yes and no, which is why I’m sharing some simple tips to get started with growing your email list and selling more through email in this blog post.

5 Ways to Grow Your Email List

1) Create an irresistible lead magnet

One of the best ways to grow your email list is by creating an enticing lead magnet. This is an incentive that you offer potential subscribers in exchange for their contact information - aka you give them something for free and they join your list.

Your lead magnet can be anything! From a free guide, e-book, video tutorial, event or any other type of content that's relevant to your niche.

The idea here is that when people see the value in what you're sharing for free, they are more likely to stick around on your email list. And once they are on your email list, you can nurture that relationship to encourage them to consider buying from you!

2) Segment your email subscribers

Another way to grow your email list is by segmenting it. This means dividing your subscribers into different groups based on their interests or demographics.

I know that sounds counter-intuitive, that dividing up your list can help it grow, but let’s use an example.

Let’s say you’ve got a lifestyle blog where you write about things like gardening, cooking, parenting etc… And you hope to sell these people on some of your digital products around those same topics.

Well, if you simply lump everyone into one big list, you may end up pitching a cookbook to people who wanted to learn more about parenting, or sharing a toddler sleep training class to people who joined your list to learn more about home gardening… not exactly a good match, right?

So if you segment your list according to the different types of people you’re talking to and the problems you can help them solve, you can be more targeted with your email content. This also means that the people who do get those emails about your cookbook or toddler sleep training course will be far more likely to open your emails and buy your offers, because they’re well-matched to what they’re looking for.

Segmenting is particularly essential if you have a variety of offers or are a multi-passionate entrepreneur with several ideal audiences!

3) Don't Let Your Email List Go Cold

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not sending enough content to their email list, which can cause subscribers to lose interest and eventually unsubscribe.

Imagine how jarring it would be to sign up for someone’s email list to learn more about a topic… only to never hear from them again until months or even years later when they have something to sell you!

Pick a rhythm or schedule that works for you and regularly email your list. Whether that be once a day, once a week or even once a month, whatever works for you and your audience is key here.

4) Promote Your Lead Magnet Everywhere

Remember that lead magnet I talked about earlier? Just plopping that free gift on your website is a very slow way to grow your list because you’re banking on your target audience landing on your website, finding your freebie and signing up for it before closing out your tab.

Increase your chances of people signing up for your lead magnet by sharing it everywhere you can.

Check out this blog to learn how to embed your ConvertKit form on your Squarespace website.

Yes, definitely put it on your website - in fact, most of my lead magnets are in at least 7 places on my site! But you can also share your lead magnet on social media, YouTube, Pinterest, Google My Business, inside niche communities… basically anywhere that promotion is allowed is a good place to share it!

You can also consider running paid traffic to grow your list- whether that's via Facebook ads or Pinterest ads. Lead conversion ads for free offers are one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your email list and audience. But I recommend you don't spend money on ads before you have your segments and nurture sequences in place, or you'll just be wasting money.

5) Use Your Data and Make Adjustments

So many entrepreneurs don't utilize their data to make key content and marketing decisions. Measure the success of your email marketing campaigns by looking at the open rates and click rates on the previous emails sent to your list.

You'll start seeing some trends and be able to use this data to improve future emails to your email list.

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for ways to grow your email list, grow your business, or make more sales in general - then these tips should help! Remember that it's not always about the size of your email list but rather the engagement on those emails, so focus on adding value and consistently sending emails to your subscribers.