4 Action Steps to Start or Grow Your Email List.

If you Google the words email marketing, you will get approximately 4,000,000,000 responses. 4,000,000,000 is a HUGE number but think about it – how many emails do you get in your inbox every day?  There are emails from people that you want to know what they have to say or ones that you had to agree to be on their list to get a giveaway that they have that you want. I was going to count mine, but I quit at 50. Most of them I will never read. The influence of email marketing is more significant now than it has ever been.  With all the new emerging technologies, this is an exciting time for business owners and the technology will only continue to grow.

As the technologies continue to grow and evolve, it is pushing entrepreneurs to grow and evolve with it or be left behind. How do you determine what is the right combination of technology for you and your workplace? Which one is the most important for you? What are others in your field doing, and how is it working?

If people like me are out there who aren’t going to read what you’re going to write, why take the time to write? The reason is apparent: For ten years in a row, email is the channel generating the highest ROI for marketers. For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI ^[1]. According to McKinsey, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.

This is hard evidence on the importance of having an email list, but where are you going to start? You could read those 4,000,000,000 entries that Google returned, but before you do that, let me give you some ideas. I know in my businesses that my email list is invaluable to keep in touch with my clients.  So let me share some of what I have learned so far.

Are you looking to start or grow your email list, here are four action steps:

1. Choose the right email marketing service it will have a substantial impact on the success of your marketing campaign. It’s important to understand that a lot of your success with email marketing depends on the email marketing software because they are responsible for making sure that your emails get delivered.
2. Ask three people in person if you can add them to your email list. At church, at the pool, in the grocery store.
3. Write and send an email to your list like this:
   subject: A Question for You;
   Hey <Name>,
   I am updating my blog and have a question for you: What are you struggling with the most right now? Just hit reply and let me know. (I promise I’ll read your response).
   Thanks so much!
   <Your Name>
   Make sure to read every response and then reply to them to keep the conversation going. This will help you find your most engaged people.
4. Opt-in to other blogs and check out their process. Take notes on their process. What did you like? What would you improve? What can you learn to apply to your opt-in sequence?

I hope this serves you!

¹ According to VentureBeat, email is the channel generating the highest ROI for marketers.