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Keys to Building an Opt-In Email List

Building an Opt-In email list isn’t easy and it’s not fast. However, it can be very, very effective.

To keep your emails from ending up in your audience’s spam folder,

1. Ask for the Email

I know it’s a novel concept, but having a pen and paper sitting next to your cash register doesn’t count as asking.

The crux of earning the right to communicate to your audience via email is permission. Gaining permission comes from explicitly letting your email subscribers know what they’re signing up for.

Many organizations buy email lists or just scrub emails from current customers or email accounts. While this isn’t totally taboo, those folks haven’t specifically opted to receive your emails. Explicitly ask for the permission to communicate further and you’ll be set.

2. Offer Amazing Incentives

You can’t expect your audience to just jump into an email list without an incentive. Email inboxes are flooded more than ever these days.

You’ve got to offer something of remarkable value if you want to build a significant email list. Earning the right to continually communicate to your audience is huge. Whether it’s a free industry report, a ridiculous discount or exclusive content; be sure that it’s an enticing offer.

Many digital marketing campaigns fail because the organization has too weak of an incentive. 5% off or $5 discount are no longer interesting to folks. Give people awesome offers. Make it hard to ignore.

3. Only Send Amazing Content

Personally, I subscribe to hundreds of lists. But there are only 4 that I actually CANNOT miss.

Everything from The Domino Project, Danielle Laporte, Huckberry & The Wizard Academy gets read. Every single word.

The authors of those emails go to painstaking lengths to keep their content engaging, relevant and devoid of too many sales pitches. Instead, they offer ridiculously concise and helpful insight.

Don’t skimp on your email lists. Make sure your subscribers are getting your absolute best content.  It’s better to be less frequent and only send awesome content.

When you give them emails that are ultra-engaging, they’re going to forward them to their friends. I often send or share interesting emails with my friends and social networks. If you write earth-shattering content, your email list will do the same.

4. Be Consistent

Far too many organizations start sending emails every day, then forget, then send monthly, then forget for another 3 months, etc, etc.

Be sure that you’re being strategic and consistent with the content you’re sending. Keep a calendar, have a schedule. Make sure each message builds on the last without leaving new subscribers in the dark.

5. Make Subscribing To Your List Easy

Whether you’re integrating an email opt-in with your website or inviting subscriptions across your social media networks, be sure to make signing up a snap. Simply setting up a subscription feed isn’t enough.

First, you’ll want to select an email marketing platform. At Shout Out Studio, we use MailChimp because of its ease of use, clean user-interface, and scalable pricing. Other options include Aweber, Constant Contact, and iContact.

Our subscribe page – see it here – is a hub to which we can direct fans. Having all of your subscription options in one place is very user-friendly. You’ll be able to get a new fan to engage with you across more channels if you make it easy for them to see all of their options.

Photo Credit: Menno Van der Horst