Building an email list is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of your online business.  However, it is a crucial strategy for your business nevertheless, so you’ll want to make sure to include it in your plan.

Here are 5 steps to building an email list:

1. Incorporate an opt-in form on your website. This can be easily done with an email marketing service such as Aweber or IContact or a CRM (Content Relationship Management) service.  Some software even offer free newsletter applications.

Which one you opt for depends on how you plan to use your email list. If you plan on marketing your products and services via email, you may be better off with a paid email service since they give you more flexibility and options such as setting up auto-responders. If you are just using it solely to create a relationship with your list and keep them up to date with what’s new with your business, you may be able to get away with a free service.

2.  Ask them to sign up! If you don’t tell people what action you want them to take, it’s a good chance they won’t take it.

Let’s take McDonald’s for example. They don’t do this any more because of the health epidemic in this country, but it’s a good example nonetheless.  At one point in time if you were to order a value meal at McDonald’s, what was the first question out of the mouth of the order taker?  Would you like to super-size that? You may not have initially intended to do so but by them simply asking you to take action, more often then not, you were apt to do so.

So how do you ask your reader to sign up for your email list? One way is to add an opt-in form as I described in step one.  Ideally, you’ll want to include your opt-in form on multiple pages throughout your site, but at the very minimum have it on your home page.

Put it everywhere…why not? Make it crystal clear to your readers what action you want them to take.  Some other great places to include an opt-in form are right after copy (or post) or on your social media sites such as Facebook.

3.  Participate in joint ventures.  I have to admit, I have not done this myself as of yet, but I have read great things about it and can definitely see the value of doing so.

Basically how it works, is that the person you enter the joint venture agreement with agrees to email their list your product offer (often times free), thus exposing you to their customer base and potentially allowing you the opportunity to acquire those customers.

In turn you do the same for them.  For example, let’s say you have 200 subscribers, but the other person has 500.  They will email your offer to 200 of their subscribers and vice versa.  So you have the potential of acquiring 200 additional subscribers with one simple email.

First, make sure the person you are entering the joint venture with is offering a product that is relevant to your industry.  If your niche is dog training, it wouldn’t be relevant joining a venture with someone who sells kids products.

Also, it would be ideal to review the product/service before you recommend it to your list.  You’ll want to make sure it is something that’s going to provide value and is appropriate for your customer base. Your email list is like gold so make sure you treat it as such.

4.  Make an offer they can’t refuse.  I always wanted to say that .  What I mean by this is, offer your readers something of value in exchange for signing up for your email list, such as an eBook or eCourse.  Some would call it a bribe… I like to call it an incentive .

If you read my post on What Moves You To Take Action…, you will see what moves one person to take action on a product or service, may not move another.  So why not take that extra step and give them a good reason to join by offering this “incentive”.

5.  Spell out what is in store for them if they decide to sign up for your email list. If it’s a weekly newsletter…state that.  If it’s a 7 day eCourse…say that.  People like to know what to expect so there are no surprises.

List building is a process and I’m sure there are thousands of people out there who will tell you they have the magic formula to “build your list over night”.  The reality is that it’s going to take time, work and a bit of tweaking here and there until you see what works for you.

You enjoyed this article? Please feel free to share it.  And oh, by the way, while you’re at it, sign up for my email list.