MEERA KOTHAND

43 Bite-SizedHacks To Grow

Your Email List inAn Hour Or Less

It's not entirely your fault...

It is getting harder to get subscribers these days. Can you blame them really?

Every site has an opt-in form.

Everyone gives you free stuff.

Your inbox is probably exploding at its seams with subscriptions from a million

different blogs. So imagine...the reality is the same for your subscriber.

Your aim shouldn't be to just grow your list but to engage with your subscribers

so that they stay on your list, love your work and promote your list for you.

There are several things you can do beyond the strategies in this resource guide

that will help you grow your list. You could start a Facebook group for instance

or organise and conduct a webinar.

But the strategies listed in this resource are bite-sized hacks that will take you no

more than an hour to implement. Some can be implemented in less than 30

minutes. The idea is to make small actions that cumulate to give your list a much

needed boost.

List building takes time and we all start from scratch. But it's also important to

remember that none of these strategies would make a difference if the offer

(opt-in freebie) we have on hand just doesn't work. Set a solid foundation with

your opt-in freebie, landing page and website before trying out any list building

strategy.

Here are some free resources:

How to survive your first opt-in freebie and be successful at it

Does your opt-in freebie suck? Here's how to create one that converts like

crazy

Introduction

If any of these work for you, I'd love to hear about it. If you have questions too,

drop me a note at meera@meerakothand.com

Lots of success to you!

Meera Kothand

Certified Email Marketing Specialist and blogger at Meera Kothand

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1. Get a name@yourdomain email address using Googleapps

According to a recent Gmail DMARC Policy, even if you use an email service

provider such as Convertkit , Getresponse or Mailchimp….

….the from address (a.k.a sender’s email address) should not be from a

@gmail.com, @aol.com, @yahoo.com.

Emails from these sender email addresses will go to spam. Build your list on a

solid foundation.

2. Pick an email service provider

My personal choice is *Convertkit (aff) because it's simple to use and yet has

several advanced features like subscriber segments and tags.Other value for

money options are Getresponse* (aff) or Activecampaign

3. Set-up your welcome email

A welcome email should have a few critical elements

Who you are

Why you are the best person to help them with this

What they can expect from you

When they can expect to hear from you

Testimonials or featured in publications

Sweeten the email by providing a quick tip or takeaway

Open a discussion with a postscript (P.S.) asking them to get in touch with you

4. Prepare your welcome series (about 3 emails). Here's what you can include in

43 list building hacks thatyou can implement in anhour or less.

a welcome series:

Links to your top archived blog posts

Your brand story and business beliefs

Offer an unexpected freebie

For more details, read this post: How to write a staggeringly good welcome

email series

5. Create a 'Thank you' page

Here are some elements you can include in your thank you page:

A clear message on what they should do next (nudge them to click confirm in

their inbox)

Tweet or Facebook links to share your email list

Testimonials

A request to share your site/freebie

Links to your best content

6. Set up goal tracking using Google Analytics (GA)

Install a free plugin like Google Analytics Dashboard for WP which adds the

tracking code to all the pages on your site.

Go to Google analytics and sign up for a free account.

Step 1: Log in to you GA account and click on AdminAdmin in the top navigation bar

Step 2: Then click on 'Goals' in the right hand column

Step 3: Then click on 'new goal'

Step 4: Click on 'goal description' and enter something like email confirmation or

email sign-up an then click 'destination'

Step 5: Enter your goal details

Under goal details, click the drop down and pick 'begins with'. Enter the forward

slash url for the page the subscriber lands on (minus your domain name)

If you are delivering your opt-in via a page on your website, then you should

repeat the steps above for your confirmation page.

7. If you have an existing audience, ask them what they are struggling with and

send out a survey.

8. If you don't have an existing audience, find Facebook groups with your target

audience, use the search box and type in "struggle with", "question about",

"problem" to find out what your audience are looking for.

9. Put your opt-in freebie together and run it through this quick checklist.

Is it aligned with your vision for your business and what you want to be

known for

Is it easily consumable

Does it provide a quick win

Is it highly specific to your audience

Does it talk about one main idea only

10. Create a landing page for your opt-in freebie using a budget friendly tool like

Thrive. Here's what you need:

The title of your opt-in freebie

The hook of your freebie

What is the main benefit or main promise of your opt-in freebie

What does your freebie teach/or what will they learn out of it?

What pain points or problems does your opt-in freebie solve?

What will they achieve or overcome by consuming your opt-in freebie

Testimonials

A screen shot, mock-up or visual of your opt-in freebie

Check out this post: How to get started with landing pages without losing yourHow to get started with landing pages without losing your

mindmind

11. Create 2-3 vertical pins on Pinterest. Write a compelling description with

keywords. Head over to your Pinterest profile, find the 'plus' sign and upped

your image. Link the image to your landing page.

12. Add a link to your opt-in freebie in your navigation bar

13. Add an opt-in form to the top of your site.

14. Add an opt-in form to your footer

15. Add an opt-in form to your resources page

16. Have a look at the words you have used in the button. Avoid subscribe or

submit and replace with action oriented words in first person.

17. Avoid asking for additional information beyond name and email address

18. Add an opt-in form to your 'about me' page. This is one of the most visited

pages on your site.

19. Add social proof to your opt-in forms

Social proof adds to your credibility and can take many forms.

Here are some:

'As seen in' logos

product or service testimonials

Number of social media followers

Number of subscribers

Formula tip: I [what did you achieve] . Want to know how I did it? Subscribebelow.

20. Create a Facebook promo day schedule with a list of all the groups yourtarget audience hangs out.

21. Promote your opt-in freebie with a call to action on social media (Facebook

groups). Write a short description and tell the why they should download your

freebie.

22. Share your opt-in freebie on social media

Don't just share your articles and posts on social media. Make separate images

for your opt-ins and share those as well.

23. Replace your social media profile link. Don’t add your home page URL in your

social media profile. Add a link to your landing page or subscribe page

24. Create a subscribe page.

This is a dedicated page to promote your email list.

A subscribe page should have

A strong headline that states the benefits your list offers

What they can expect to receive in return for their email address. If it’s a

digital report or guide, a mock-up or image of it should be placed

If your newsletter is filled will tips and strategies, consider having a a sample

or 2 of the emails that you actually send out. Here’s a snapshot from my

subscribe page

25. Make a separate vertical pin for your email list and connect it to your

subscribe page

26. Twitter cards - lead generation cards

No, you don't have to pay for this at all.

You can promote your list and lead magnet through lead generation cards

without paying a single cent.

Here's how you set-it up.

Click your profile on Twitter > Then click Ads

Ads > Click on Creatives > Click on Cards

Choose lead generation card. You need to make a graphic that's at least 800

px by 200 px (4:1 ratio)

27. Use your 404-page to build your email list

Get a plugin like 404page - your smart custom 404 error page that allows you to

change a Wordpress page into a custom 404 page. Then add an opt-in form on

the page.

28. Get your subscribers to proclaim their love. Include a 'click to tweet' within

one of your emails.

29. Create a Content upgrade for your top 5 most popular posts.

Here are some ideas for content upgrades:

Templates

Cheat sheets

Swipe files

Tools list

Checklist

Mini email course

30. Add a mock-up of your content upgrade and freebie to your blog post pin

31. Add keywords to your social media profile

32. Mention your content upgrade atleast twice in your post

33. Make sure your social media URL links to a dedicated landing page or start-

here page

Most social media platforms allow you to use 1 URL. Don’t link to your

homepage. Include a link to your lead magnet landing page or subscribe page.

34. Make sharing your posts ridiculously easy

The more you get your posts in front of people, the easier it will be for new

readers to subscribe.

Use a plugin like* Social Warfare that gives you the option of placing share

buttons at the top and bottom of each post. It also lets you share the correct

image sizes for each social media platform without any weird cropping.

35. Add Click to Tweets within your blog posts

Click to tweets are quotes or punchy sentences within each post. If you use

Social Warfare, you can easily create Click to tweet boxes within your posts like

I’ve done here:

You can also do so by downloading the free Click to tweet plugin

36. Add sharelinks to emails and thank you pages

FacebookFacebook

http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=INSERT YOUR LINK

It’s as simple as that. You can hyperlink that link to a word, Facebook icon or

image. Whenever someone clicks on it, the Facebook window will open up with

your image and link.

You can’t type in the message for them. They have to do it themselves.

TwitterTwitter

Head to Bit.ly and shorten the URL of your landing page.

Then head to Click to Tweet and type in a custom tweet.

37. Add an exit intent pop-up using a tool like *pop-up ally.

38. Remove the noise from your blog

Remove categories from your sidebar for new blogs

Remove ads

Remove unnecessary widgets

Give them fewer options

39. Add a sign-up button to your Facebook page

40. Add your blog name to your personal Facebook page so that people can see

who you are when you interact in Facebook groups

41. Keep people on your site longer by adding related posts

The longer your readers are on your site, the higher the chances of them signing

up for a content upgrade or lead magnet.

UpprevUpprev

This is a free plugin that recommends a post for you at the bottom of the page.

This is how it looks on my site.

Add Related postsAdd Related posts

I use Related posts by Zemanta which adds images of related posts right at the

end of the post. This is also used by Abby from Just a girl and her blog.

Another plugin you can use is Contextual Related PostsContextual Related Posts.

This is how it looks on my blogging friend Raelyn's site.

42. Make use of whitespace by adding a sticky sidebar widget

How do you make use of the whitespace in a sidebar after a reader scrolls down

a certain portion of the page?

You can do this by adding a sticky widget such as the Q2W3 Sticky widget that

follows along the length of the page with the reader.

43. Remove the noise from your blog

Remove categories from your sidebar for new blogsRemove categories from your sidebar for new blogs

If your blog is new and you don't have a lot of posts, don't add categories to your

sidebar. When a user clicks-through, it doesn't reflect well when there are only 1

or 2 posts in each category

Remove adsRemove ads

If ads are a big part of your monetization plan, you can leave them there. But if

they are only earning you a couple of cents a month, it's wise to remove them.

Remove unnecessary widgetsRemove unnecessary widgets

Avoid adding unnecessary widgets like Facebook and Pinterest widgets that

make the reader click away from your blog.

Give them less optionsGive them less options

Don't clutter your sidebar with several opt-ins, banners and affiliate products.

When you give readers too many options, they take none.

Pick 2-3 of your most valuable offers, affiliate products or opt-ins for your side

bar.

Need help with your opt-ins? Check out my eBook tocreate your own high-converting opt-in.

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