3 Ways to Grow Your Email List Today Without Really Trying
March ’21: 0 → December ’22: 495
All screenshots by the author
You’ve heard this before. Write content, build your list, and start selling stuff.
I won’t labour the point.
But my email list isn’t a bunch of $$$s. It’s way more than that. I see my list as a portal for building connections.
People reach out all the time, and I love it!
I always respond back:
Alright, so before I show you the three methods, I should point out a few things:
My email list isn’t that big. It’s been a steady climb since March 2021, and I’m okay with that. Quality > Quantity.
My average open rate is 51.80%. Is this good? Is this bad? I think it leans to the good side.
My list could have 1,168 people on it. I unsubscribe those who haven’t opened one of my emails in 12 months, and some people haven’t confirmed their subscription:
That said, here are three ways you can start using to grow your email list today without really trying.
Zero dirt.
Zero sleaze.
#1: Cast Someone You Admire in The Lead Role
And tell them about it.
Last month, I wrote about one of my clients who achieved mega virality on LinkedIn.
Many people liked it, and a few weeks later, I realised my client might like it too.
So I opened LinkedIn and sent her a message:
Apart from insulting her grammar (oops!), the article was a hit.
She responded back 30 minutes later:
It took me aback when she asked if there was anything she could do to support it.
I wrote the article because it was an exciting story. For context, two of her LinkedIn posts have thousands of comments and over three million impressions.
Stories like this are just begging to be written!
So, even though this is a method you can use, it wasn’t my intent to grow my email list:
The resulting post?
Well, it blew me away:
Screenshot from the LinkedIn post
It was lovely reading the comments and connecting with people on LinkedIn.
It also led to a small spike in my email subscribers:
The post also gave me a testimonial I could put on my website.
Now there’s just one thing I should add: this method doesn’t work all the time.
I’ve tried something similar with someone I don’t know. I never heard back. It’s better to try this method with people you’ve already built a relationship with.
Make their day.
Cast them in the leading role.
#2: Lock Up Those Valuable Freebies
You know they’re valuable when people say things like this...
Last year, I published an article about becoming a full-time writer and included a document I’d put together. The doc was full of lessons from studying the world’s best writers.
Eva kindly left me this note:
Her suggestion was simple.
Instead of giving access to a resource that I’d spent hours putting together, why not add an email lock?
In other words, rather than link to the Google Doc, I should link to a landing page. On this page, someone enters their email address to claim the document.
I created the landing page with ConvertKit in less than an hour.
Almost single-handedly, it got me up to 179 subscribers in just over a month:
What is this “valuable” doc I refer to?
It’s nothing special. Basically, it’s a Google doc I use to pull together lots of information, and when I share it with new subscribers, I send them the “view only” link.
There’s no fancy design or formatting.
Just simple headings and juicy content:
#3: You Know This One Already
Think about your target reader.
I include a simple call-to-action at the end of my articles to drive traffic to various pages.
I currently have seven landing pages for different Google docs:
After confirming their email, the doc gets sent.
This happens automatically:
Over the next two months, they’re sent another five emails. This also happens without me pressing send:
I’ve replicated this strategy for other Google docs.
I love giving them away. My most valuable is called Everything I Did to Quit My 9–5 Job & Transition Into Profitable, Sustainable Solopreneuring.
(You’ll find it again at the bottom of the article ;))
Even better, growing my email list has led to other money-making opportunities.
Freelance writing opportunities have popped up, just like this one:
Do you recognise the face?
That’s right. This is the same client I talked about in method #1.
I didn’t know she was a subscriber.
We jumped on the call, went through my proposal, and have worked together since.
She said my newsletter was the reason she reached out.
Key Takeaways
Email lists can be small and mighty.
And you really don’t need to try that hard.
Here’s a quick summary of the three methods you can use today to start growing yours:
#1: Cast someone in the lead role — Surprise someone with meaningful content, and they’ll want to share it. Anything can happen after this!
#2: Lock up those valuable freebies — You don’t need to go crazy. Simple Google docs are great for this.
#3: You already know this one — Add CTAs at the end of articles and in social media comments on your posts.
Want to ditch the 9–5? Get my free 19-page guide: Everything I Did to Quit My 9–5 Job & Transition Into Profitable, Sustainable Solopreneuring :)
